46 46. The beginning

Liam stared in shock and confusion at the figure of the supposed goddess of this moon scream, something must have happened with only a few options he could suppose of on the go, the RDA being at the top and how he could roughly guess.

From the scream to the air and part of the skull being ripped out and how external damage on the tree translated to the spiritual form then by that line of thought damage to another part might show it here, and what was damaged was…

One of the Tree of Souls was destroyed, the most sacred and important place of connection between Eywa and the Na'vi, from Grace, Marali, and the All-Mother herself; he was perfectly aware that these trees were far more than simple sacred plants.

They were an integral part of Eywa, the tip of the iceberg that she was but a majorly important one compared to anything and everything else. If a regular tree might be a singular cell then for comparison one Tree of Soul was like a limb, one of her many, many limbs but still one.

A very notable difference.

Its purpose again from what he got was the transfer and storage of Minds and Souls, whatever it exactly meant either at distance or by direct physical contact but the latter offered a better journey of the two. So either it was a belief or both of those aspects could get degraded.

Those trees served as the clearest and direct bridge between the living and dead, between Eywa and her children. He could, somewhat, understand what such a loss represented, this concept was the one he was the most familiar with after all.

His shock and confusion were short-lived, barely a microsecond if it were to be outside he would have felt panic rise rapidly but that wasn't the case and he was perfectly clear-minded.

So he acted, even if not sure of what to do, it was an ugly and disturbing sight, and he felt pity even, he didn't like such a sight, wanted and needed to stop for the simple reason he had more to speak but with this even if completely unrelated will prove his point. 

He approached the various piece of metal he was protected within slowly decreasing in velocity, the crimson blood floating within the 'air' started to shift to black then back to red in an endless as he placed his ever-shifting hand between his skin and a soft blue translucent skin full of purple and blue vein and nerve.

As soon as it happened her scream got lower but just as visceral yet he didn't stop at that, pressing his palm further the 'barrier' became visible composed of thousand and thousand of hexagon molding against his hand.

Distance not being of importance in such a place but intent, emotions, and feelings were, an antithesis to the physical world, a fact he was deeply instinctively aware of but held little control over due to his own inexperience and that this place was not solely his own.

And as such the 'room' they were in fizzled, becoming smaller as the finger his outstretched arm protected by a film of shield came into contact with the middle of the All-Mother's chest, he could feel through the shield he instantly remarked.

It was a type of rugged yet smooth bark through the shield, root tendrils grew out but not in a way to trap him, as it was simply holding on him.

The 'bark', her skin in a way he noticed both hot and cold, he could feel her strong heartbeat fused with many many more some weak, some powerful, some beating for the first and some for the last, each living being connected to her, her children, part of her, all functioning in complete harmony amidst the chaos that they represented, it was… Impossible to describe with mere words what he felt.

And he could feel a fraction of the emotions she was going through almost as if they were his own and the same was for the pain, both spiritually and physically. Many he couldn't even begin to describe with how alien they were to his mind.

But his current nature made it so all were but a minor distraction, just as he could feel her general state of mind she could as well, even in such a state. 

His mind was cold, calm, organized, calculating, filled with curiosity, and with many more incomprehensible aspects but to her it was beautiful; it was both artificial and natural, a work of art, one that constantly grows and adapts. Yet it was incomplete in a way her near billion years of experience couldn't manage to give an exact answer to.

But behind all of this she caught glimpses of deep anger, grief, loneliness, sorrow, and more but none of fear or resignation or despair, there was hope present as well at the forefront of them was a hint of worry mixed with empathy and understanding. 

Something no one had ever directed toward her, pity hidden as worry as if she were an hapless prey in front of a predator, and in many ways he would be correct. Not in the exact way the Lost Child might think but it was not far from the truth either… Many dangers lurked.

But it was strange all the same and not in a bad way, this has never happened before. This moment couldn't continue eternally as much as she and almost he wanted.

Her scream suddenly stopped, and the 'blood', if it could even be called that, froze and as time was put in reverse flowed back into the open 'wound' that closed but the air in that area didn't grow back. 

The root growing around Liam's hand, holding it, receded slowly within her chest as the deeper connection was severed. And both took a metaphorical breath, with the man taking multiple of such and much deeper one.

"Our deepest apology to you for what you must have seen and felt, Liam, we are grateful to you for having done what you have done. This was… What happened was the proof that your words are true, our tolerance has reached its limit since long past.", she said, moving slightly backward, her voice going from warm to frigid.

"You are welcome, Eywa… Though I wonder, you must already know a lot about what I and the Olangi have been working on. I would like to know what you could potentially do. Winning now will not be enough, the RDA and the humans in charge will come and come and come again. They will not abandon, either because of pride, or greed, for the resource and me. What is going to be a Time of Great Sorrow will be but the first true skirmish of a great war, Eywa.", Liam said gravely, his gaze never leaving her eyes as he shifted back into his cocoon of metal, his being feeling overall strange by what he just did.

He could still feel the connection a new thread was forming, of different nature than his tame, it wasn't dangerous but he could feel it from the deepest part of his being. Actions have consequences.

His words weren't pleasant to hear but beating the RDA once wasn't going to cut it, in fact, it would be the start of something greater, oh so much greater. It was but the start, Liam didn't delude himself on that. 

And that was how the discussion for the imminent future went between the local deity and the local anomaly, the two most prominent 'creatures' on this moon, both for the goal of securing their survival and livelihood.

Any obstacle between this goal will either submit or be removed by force.

A dozen hours later within the confine of Hell's Gate BIO lab. 

Grace Augustine stared emptily at the mug between her fingers, while to her left Norm Spellman was looking blankly at the wall and Jake Sully at her right was lazily browsing through one of the many books about Pandora she wrote.

All three were forcefully brought from Site 26 to here as Jake while using his Avatar destroyed many of the cameras from an RDA Bulldozer, a giant machine of metal bigger than the vast majority of tanks with the sole purpose of clearing terrain and what was in its path was the Tree of Voices.

"They bulldozed a sacred site on purpose, to trigger a response. They're fabricating this war, to get what they want. And they are succeeding at getting it.", Grace said all of a sudden, breaking the heavy silence.

"I can't believe it.", Norm mumbled in incomprehension and the sheer madness and needless violence that was unfolding. He couldn't, no, he didn't want to accept why it was happening but he knew. Denying reality sadly didn't change it.

"Yup. That's how it's done, how the world works. When people sit on shit you want, you make them your enemy. Then you're justified in taking said shit. Work every fucking single damn time.", Jake added, gripping the book harder in visible anger.

Running toward them was a young woman, Trudy Chacòn, one of the most talented and experienced pilots present on Pandora within the SecOps. 

"SecOps is running the gunship! They're gonna hit Hometree!", she said breathlessly, Grave would like to say she was surprised but she wasn't and that told too much, Norm barely reacted at such an announcement, still in shock at what happened.

"When?", the crippled ex-Marine asked on instinct, face serious and voice concise but heart heavy. He needed to warn them, to warm the Omatikaya, to warn Neytiri.

"Now. We're spooling u-", she stopped as Grace gripped her hand, the xenobiologist had a conflicted face.

"Stop, missing a few incendiary rounds won't change the end result. Quaritch thinks it's a game he won't stop this mission if one of his pilots goes missing. At this point, the supposed hierarchy can go fuck itself. Trudy, you will take us back to site 26, immediately, we can't stay here, and Jake… We will arrive on time. I know what you want to do.", Grace said in a low tone, standing up she made a following with her head and tapped on the screen of her smartwatch.

Trudy's expression was conflicted for a short time before she nodded and said, "Does this make us traitors or terrorists? Ah, who cares… Better be that by the Solar Unity Laws than be on the other side."

Max on his side felt his own smartwatch vibrate, a blue pictogram appeared on the screen and a pit formed in his stomach. They needed to go ASAP but he needed to do something else first.

He took from his pocket a small black device, a USB key, his mind going over what Liam had been talking about in Overseer, he hated that the man was right and that it was needed.

As more time went on it was clear Liam put himself as an enemy of the RDA, for more reason than simple self-righteousness. His life was on the line, and now all of their lives were. 

Liam had said to transfer this packet of data if things turn for the worse, Max didn't know what it was but it was easy to guess it was nothing good for the system. He might have just given everyone here a slow and painful death for all he knew.

Max advanced toward the main computer, his breath was shaky he entered several passwords and confirmed his biometric and with a second of hesitation plugged the key in and waited a few minutes, taking files in and out before disconnecting his account.

"I have to go to the bathroom.", he said aloud, it was evidently a lie but it gave him a valid excuse, and so he walked at a brisk pace toward where Grace and her group were dancing.

Without wasting time he lied that he needed to do something else and rapidly moved toward the location of the group of four that Grace just gave him. 

He didn't take anything but an exopack, a device to breathe Pandora's toxic air, he was in a panic as he almost ran toward the vehicle maintenance hangar, he ignored everyone, rushing toward a particular lone Samson. 

It was easy, the noise of aircraft starting their flight and the general ordered chaos made it so. And that not every last of the SecOps knew who he was and they didn't have any instruction to stop him.

A few seconds later he arrived at his destination, the blades spinning faster than he could perceive and at the last moment however, his eyes locked onto the one of Colonel Quaritch in the far distance who frowned at the sight before anger exploded on his face as he barked orders.

The Colonel grabbed a rifle from one of his men, aimed, and shot, the sound of the gunshot muffled by everything. 

At the same time.

"Grab my hand, and someone grabs my fucking legs!", Jake yelled his lung out, pushing himself off his wheelchair as he expected his hand, Grace behind did as ordered, grabbing the ex-Marine legs while she put hostile in a safe position to hold everything.

Max's eyes widened at that, a smile mixed with anxiety and relief formed, his body not stopping however, he grabbed the extended hand from the slowly taking of Samson 16 with all his might, Max used both hands as traction, but immediately all noticed Jake was simply physically weak.

It was logical, he did exercise but not with his real body, the lower gravity had a pretty negative effect on humans causing in short and long terms muscle and bone atrophy without a good diet, medicine, and a strict exercise routine.

A problem that was amplified by staying most of the day within a Link Unit, adding the lack of care, be it either hygiene or the basic necessities of hydration and alimentation and the consequences were evident for all to see.

"Let me help you!", Norm placed his belly against metal, leg around a metal bar, he grabbed his friend's hand and started to drag him up, the positive results showing themselves instantaneously.

The first bullet missed, grazing Max's neck and leaving a thin trail of blood but the second immediately after didn't. 

Max felt intense burning hot pain for the briefest of instants as the bullet existed on the other side of his neck, shredding his carotid, a portion of one of his vertebral basilar arteries, and cutting straight through his spinal cord.

'Huh, so that's how I die. At least I did serve something.', thought Max, smiling deliriously as nearly all feeling from everything below his neck disappeared just as the strength behind the grip of his hands did.

He heard the horrified scream of who he assumed was Grace and that of Trudy screaming that they needed to go as he fell and saw the Samson fly away with his rapidly darkening sight. At least they managed to get away.

"Nice shot as always. He really thought he could go away like this. Do we follow and shoot them down from the sky, Colonel? Or do you want to do that personally at a later date to teach them a lesson?", a bald man, Corporal Lyle Weinfleet, asked with a smile on his face as his amused gaze focused on the limp bleeding, and dying scientist on the cement while Samson 16 was flying away at speed breaking past the RDA reglementation within the base.

"It's a damn shame, Trudy was one of our best pilots but that's a small loss. She was a bad soldier, always hesitating on orders… No, we will not follow them for now, we will let the birdies with a love of blue cheeks fly away. We have more important matters to take care of, such as to bring the knowledge of what a real fire is to the native.", Quaritch said, a feral smile finding his way on his face.

This was going to be fun, this was what he waited for decades, he got the chance to do it and he will.

 *

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