Prologue: Steel Flames

As night set over the vivid jungles of Pandora, the sky was dominated by the spinning cyan and white orb of the gas giant Polyphemus. There was no sign of the normal serene bioluminescent landscape as huge flames flickered into the sky, lighting it up. Screams of terror and panic took the place of the typical nocturnal animal cries in the night sky.

In the heart of Pandora's jungle, ash fell from the sky and covered everything as thirty Na'vi huddled together in a clearing that was encircled by the flaming wreckage of their village. They clung to one another, wailing and crying, as the remains of their loved ones were strewn around them after an unexpected battle broke out when they were preparing their evening meal. The only survivors were those who had been injured and were either too young or too old to take part in the battle.

These people were the last of a peaceful tribe that had lived in the lush jungle of Pandora for endless generations; their only crime up to this point had been to settle in a place too close to where the RDA planned to build a new facility. There was neither a warning nor a threat provided in advance to relocate elsewhere. Without prior cause, they were attacked.

Surrounding them were a dozen human soldiers, the dreaded "sky people" they've heard so many stories about. Some of them were torching what remained of their village with flamethrowers while the rest held their guns trained on them. A patrol aircraft hovered overhead as a cyclone of fire and ash whipped around them. The landscape seemed like something from the depths of Purgatory.

A Lieutenant, who was outfitted with one of the recently developed exoskeleton suits known as Skels, served as the group's leader. These cutting-edge lightweight suits made a human as tall and powerful as a Na'vi. His freshly-shaven face had a look of utter malice, and the Na'vi could see his diabolical expression in the flames' reflection. The robotic hand of his suit gripped a young Na'vi girl by the neck while her mother sobbed hysterically.

More soldiers would arrive, bringing three more prisoners at gunpoint. One of the prisoners was cradling an arm that was bleeding from a gunshot wound. The soldiers cursed and mocked them, calling them "blue monkeys" and some offensive words in badly broken Na'vi they had picked up. They coerced them in the direction of the other detainees at gunpoint, and once there, they joined the ranks of the other captives.

The Lieutenant watched the scene without a hint of remorse and signaled his soldiers to look over the prisoners with a brief hand motion. His troops acknowledged him with nods and they moved into a new position to look over them. After this, he looked to the man next to him. "Ask them about the rebel leader, Sergeant…"

The man next to him took a few steps forward, draped his weapon over his shoulder, and then pulled a PDA out of his bag. After pressing a few keys, a picture of Jake Sully showed on the screen, along with the words "Rebel leader, Wanted Alive" in English underneath it. He then cleared his throat, and began speaking to them in Na'vi while displaying a photo of Jake Sully to them at the same time. {"We are looking for this individual. Anyone who steps forward with information about his whereabouts will be allowed to leave unharmed."}

The Na'vi watched in bewilderment since the majority of them were too young to recognize him, and the Elders had not seen him in almost a decade since the last conflict with the sky people. They were trapped and unable to flee or take any action since they were encircled by soldiers who were armed.

"I'm confident they'll understand what will happen if they don't cooperate." The Lieutenant said as he tightened the suit's hold on his hapless victim's neck while grinning menacingly. There was a brief period of tense silence before the prisoners began to speak.

{"We don't know who that is!"} Someone raised their voice and shouted.

{"He hasn't been here in many years!"} shouted another.

{"Let us go! We have done nothing to you!"} a shrill cry came from a village elder.

{"Take me instead of my daughter, please!"} a desperate mother pleaded.

All the voices started shouting incessantly, drowning each other out as the majority cried out for their lives. A single soldier fired a shot above everyone's heads, and the cries abruptly ceased. When the helicopter patrolling overhead came back around for a second time, the rising smoke and ash caused the Na'vi to cough and lose their vision temporarily. The humans weren't troubled by the ash and smoke thanks to their rebreather masks.

"Ask these liars again," The Lieutenant called out to the Sergeant. This time around, he had a somber tone to his voice. "Sully wiped out good men last month, and don't think I'm not ready for some retaliation for my brothers and sisters.."

Most of the soldiers around the Lieutenant nodded in agreement. Over the previous few weeks, they witnessed far too many corpse bags being brought back to base camp. The fact that the Na'vi glared back at them with the same mutual loathing in their eyes was of little concern to them.

Before the Sergeant could utter another word, the sounds of stomping feet were heard off in the distance, indicating that something heavy was arriving from within the burning settlement. The Na'vi were horrified by the mechanical sounding footsteps and the steady, slow approach. Their panic increased with each stride, but the human troops seemed unfazed, as if they had heard it all before.

As though from a nightmare, another human machine sprang from the flames. In terms of height, it was comparable to a Na'vi or Skel suit, but it was more stockier and heavier. It was distinct from the other machines that the humans employed due to the absence of a cockpit and a human operator. It did not carry a gun since its right arm was equipped with an internal machine gun. With another dead Na'vi warrior securely grasped in its left hand, it dragged it along with ease as it approached the humans.

As the memories of that machine came flooding back to them, a few of the Na'vi became paralyzed with horror. The village elders had assembled for their customary evening rite to honor their ancestors before dinner when abruptly and without any prior warning, that machine came from the jungle. A number of the warriors sprang to their feet, grabbed their weapons, and made a dash for the machine, but they were shot down before they could even get within striking distance. Following this first attack, the humans immediately launched their ground and aerial strikes from sites within the jungle that were carefully concealed. The battle was over in less than ten minutes.

The machine certainly appeared to have seen a lot of action. Its armored exoskeleton was covered from head to toe with dozens of dents, scrapes, and dings of varying sizes. The battle with the Na'vi had left him with a few fresh scratches, including one on his arm. The two bright red optics on its head looked down at the frightened Na'vi as though they were peering directly into their souls.

The heat of the blaze had partially burnt away the paint, revealing the silvery armor plate that was behind the jungle-themed paint job that had been applied to it. On its right shoulder were the partially melted red letters "RDA," and below that were the letters "A.H.K. GHOST 001."

After discarding the corpse it was dragging, it appeared to gaze at the Lieutenant as if to inform him that it had finished its mission.

"The fuck you been off too, you useless drone?" the Lieutenant scoffed out, "You know you're off to the trash heap after this mission, right? I got the order today that this is your final mission."

The machine gave him what he imagined to be yet another defiant glance as it looked back at him like it was making an effort to be condescending toward him at every opportunity. As of late, it began to challenge his instructions by enquiring about their reasoning or pointing out flaws in his plans. The technicians assured him that it was usual behavior, but he didn't believe they were telling the truth. He was relieved to get free of it finally.

The fact that the machine was a cheaper and more efficient option for hiring the lieutenant and his men was another valid cause for the lieutenant's dislike of it. There was a rumor among his men that similar drones would eventually replace all human soldiers and pilots over the next few years. They could be manufactured for less money and with greater efficiency, and they did not need to be transported for four years from Earth. Not only would he have to give up his large pay, but he would also have to deal with the challenges of surviving on his home planet; which was deteriorating. On Pandora, he had a chance, at least.

The machine kept a wary eye on its surroundings, probing for new dangers with its unsettling red optics that could peer into the darkness.

"As I was saying…" the Lieutenant gestured to his Sergeant before he was rudely interrupted. The prisoner, still held in his hand, let out another sob before staring up at the drone, whose eyes met hers. As she recalled what it had done, she could not contain her shrieks. Her two older brothers had been murdered, and their blood was on their hands.

After clearing his throat once again, the Sergeant repeated his earlier query, this time in an attempt to speak with the locals' accent, inquiring where Jake Sully was; which he failed miserably. The villagers remained quiet as nobody approached with their desired answer. He looked back to his Lieutenant, and shrugged.

After that gesture, the Lieutenant threw his young female captive into the pile of other hostages. Her mother and younger brother rushed to her side as soon as they could. The two glared up at the Lieutenant, snarling and baring their fangs in rage.

"Mop it up," the Lieutenant commanded his soldiers before reaching up and hitting his comlink button, "We need an extraction, back to base camp." Several privates nodded and headed back towards one of the descending patrol helicopters. The village's fire was spreading into the surrounding bush and revealing their location in the dark of night to everyone within miles. In addition to that, the temperature was rising to intolerable levels.

"What about the prisoners?" the Sergeant asked his superior with a hint of hesitation. He hated the Na'vi, but killing helpless women and children wouldn't sit well on his conscience. The Na'vi detainees watched helplessly, not knowing what would happen to them.

"You saw our orders from the General. All "squatters" in this sector are getting evicted. And she doesn't care what we do with them." the Lieutenant said, looking over the group of Na'vi like they were rats in a cage. "They're too dumb for labor work and you can't trust them anyway."

He could sense the apprehension from the Sergeant and a few other soldiers surrounding him. Were they about to serve in the capacity of an execution squad? They shared his hatred of the blue monkeys, but this seemed excessive. The execution of Na'vi detainees was not precisely part of their paid job description either. No one, however, would voice their concerns for fear of being sent to court martial or disappearing into the jungle.

"Fine then," the Lieutenant had an easy solution to their hesitation. "Kill the prisoners, drone", he commanded.

The machine immediately responded to the instruction and pivoted, lifting its right arm machine gun and aiming it squarely at the captives. Shrieks of terror rang out in the air as the Na'vi backed away as far as they could. However, it did not fire after what seemed like an eternity.

'Is it out of ammo?' the Lieutenant questioned the Sergeant.

The Sergeant quickly browsed through a few more screens on his PDA until he found the right one. "No sir, he still has over 100 rounds left."

The helicopter pilot spoke over the Comlink, "We're waiting for you, Lieutenant."

The Lieutenant paid no attention to that. "Are you broken or something? Kill the prisoners!" He shouted at the machine. The Na'vi watched in bewilderment as the human yelled at the machine in their alien language to no avail.

The argument went on for a few more seconds before the machine lowered its right arm, and responded in a deep, synthetic, masculine voice, "Negative." It said before it turned its head and stared squarely at the Lieutenant as if it were challenging his authority.

The Sergeant gaped, shocked. "Did it just tell you no, sir? It's not supposed to be able to do that…"

This machine was designed to follow commands as faithfully as a well-trained canine. If it was ordered to jump, then that was the action that was expected to take place. At that very moment, the Sergeant realized all his superiors' supposedly unsubstantiated objections about its intelligence were vindicated. More talk of departure was heard on the radio.

The atmosphere appeared tense as some soldiers exchanged eyes with one other as though they were wondering what was going on.

Not to be intimidated, the Lieutenant approached and assessed the drone. While wearing his exoskeleton suit, he stared it dead in the eye. "I am giving you a direct order, drone. Kill the prisoners, or you're being shut down for good right now." He indicated to the Sergeant, who was about to press a button with his finger on his PDA.

The machine turned back toward the Na'vi and lifted its machine gun again as the Lieutenant watched, pleased. The Sergeant averted his gaze because he simply could not bear to watch...

The sound of gunshots pierced the silence of the night as the Na'vi wailed in terror, and parents flung themselves on top of their children's bodies to shield them. The prisoners waited for the firing to cease, slowly raising their heads, fearing the worst. Aside from the radio transmissions inquiring about the status of the human soldiers, there was complete silence.

The young prisoner, whose mother was still hugging her closely, raised her head and looked down at the pool of blood in front of her. As she moved her head higher, she saw her captor lying on his back with several large holes blown through his chest. His suit flashed with sparks and jerked slightly, riddled with bullet holes.

The machine stood over the dead Lieutenant, looking down at his body as smoke rose from its arm machine gun. It quickly walked over his body and smashed its foot upon the bloody PDA the Sergeant was holding, shattering it into pieces. The Sergeant, who had been standing next to the Lieutenant, lay a few feet over along with the rest of the soldiers who were guarding the hostages. They were annihilated before they even had a chance to return fire. As more names of the fallen failed to respond promptly, the radio discussion became increasingly frantic.

The Na'vi were in complete disbelief at what they saw. The young girl prisoner gazed with an intense mix of resentment and profound bewilderment at the machine. She lost both of her brothers to it. She'd never forgive it, but why would it murder its master?

The machine rotated its head and fixated its gaze on the captives for a few seconds. There was complete silence from them since nobody knew what was going to happen next. Then all of a sudden, it veered to the left and started walking towards the jungle, away from them and the humans.

The prisoners exchanged glances with one another, almost as if they were wondering whether this was some farce. Many parents quickly abandoned their initial reluctance to act and instead gathered up their young and ran in the other direction from the machine, further into the jungle. As they escaped, their misery increased with each step as they passed the charred ruins of their houses and the bodies of those killed. The sounds of gunfire could be heard in the distance before they had made it halfway through the scorching village. The night was filled with the reverberations of explosions and the cries of dying men.

Despite the heat and the heavy smoke that made it difficult to breathe, they continued moving forward until they reached a clearing. Amid all the chaos and disarray, a voice could be heard saying the same thing repeatedly.

"Kiri, wake up…! Kiri, wake up!"

Kiri was startled out of her nightmare when she suddenly found herself gasping for air and clutching a palm to her chest. Her heart was beating so quickly that she was afraid it might burst. The heat emanating from her body was almost as intense as the raging fire she had seen in her nightmare.

She glanced around the makeshift tent inside the wet and gloomy cave far from where she lived in the forest. She wasn't used to this type of darkness because it was so late in the day; outdoors, it was never darker than dusk.

Her younger step-sister Tuk sat by her side, holding onto her arm. "Did you have another nightmare?" Tuk inquired while a little lantern hung in the tent, illuminating her face.

"I…" Kiri spoke slowly, deepening her breaths to make her heartbeat slower, "It's nothing. Don't worry. Just a bad dream, is all." She said while sporting a phony smile, feigning optimism for her younger stepsister.

"You were talking in your sleep…" Tuk frowned and squeezed her hand reassuringly. "Do you want to talk about it?"

When Kiri thought about it, she pursed her lips into a little frown as she remembered her nightmare. The village on fire, the cries of the victims, the bodies, and the machine all flashed before her eyes. In her dream, she was the prisoner girl that the Lieutenant was holding, and the machine was responsible for the deaths of both of her brothers.

What did this mean? Was it a sign? Was Eywa attempting to forewarn her of impending danger? Should she tell her parents? Was it just a bad dream? Her thoughts had started to run again; she was prone to overthinking.

Her step sister gave her one more squeeze, and that was all it took to snap her out of her trance.

"Uh, I'm sorry. I don't want to talk about it." Kiri said with a tiny head nod, "Let's go back to bed…." She murmured softly before repositioning herself on their makeshift sleeping mat inside the tent after giving it a little patting. After her adoptive sister joined her, they embraced one another warmly.

Kiri inhaled deeply once more, this time from her abdomen. The thought of going to check on her two adoptive brothers was quite strong, but her rational mind kept telling her it was all a horrible dream. Aside from that, they would most likely become irritated with her for waking them up at such an ungodly hour, and Tuk would be unhappy to be left alone. Since she was the older sibling and Tuk was so much younger, her duty was to look out for her.

"Do you want me to tell you a story…?" Kiri asked since she knew her tiny step-sister adored her stories. But the tale wasn't truly for her. She just wanted to get her thoughts somewhere else.

Tuk moved closer to her on the mat, and they started to cuddle. Kiri sighed and glanced at the cave ceiling, racking her brain for an easy solution. Polyphemus's gentle illumination reflected off the moisture on the ceiling, making it look like the stars in the night sky. Then, suddenly, she recalled their mother, Neytiri, and the fact that "The Archer" was one of her favorite bedtime stories. It was a story of a warrior who was so skilled that he shot down a star as a gift for his sweetheart.

Kiri whispered lightly so as not to wake up their neighbors."Okay, well. How about that time when Tsipayinu shoots-"

"-Shoots down the star for Kana!" Tuk squealed excitedly, her tail whipping back and forth.

Kiri smiled, shushing her. "Well, alright then. So deep down in the forest, where the rivers flow deep, and the trees are thick, a child was born so blessed that he held a bow before he could walk…."

She went on to tell the story of Tsipayinu's life as an adult when he met Kana, a member of a separate forest tribe. His efforts to gain her father's approval progressed to the point where her father issued a challenge: shoot down a star. She was about to get to an amazing part when she saw Tuk was sleeping and breathing gently. It was then she felt a weight lift off her shoulders, and she went to sleep, where thoughts of fire and steel could not follow her.

Author's Note: Reviews are welcome if you enjoyed any of the chapters! :)

Edit: Chapter was reuploaded with a rewrite on 1/8/2023.