It was the witching hour. Polyphemus had cloaked himself in gathering clouds, but his halo was still visible through the diffusing gauze. Many Na'vi collected on the outskirts of the kill zone. They stood like specks in their enemy's presence, but the dauntless warriors were unphased as they brooded over the city that never sleeps. The Sully family walked to the very edge of the scorched earth. All throughout the flight, Jake was wrestling with apprehension about sending his mate into the lion's den. Now, here they were, at the point of no return. |"You ready?"|
She lowered and raised her head.
Neteyam clasped his mother's arm. |"Eywa be with you, Mother."|
She could not keep her face as the stone; the mother pulled her last remaining child into her before her heart could tear any further. The father came in and set his arms around both, and the dwindling family embraced one another like tomorrow would never come. Whether a decade or a century, the three knew they were blessed to have even one second.
"Get our girl back, Sheila."
Neytiri had her infusion of courage. Ready, she mounted her ikran, lowered her visor, and shouted, "Sivako!"
"Sivako!" Jake and Neteyam rallied with fists in the air, and the accompanying party did the same.
The mother of unwavering spirit soared for the beast to pry out her young from its jaws. Though fate was uncertain, the Na'vi woman trusted in this: her family made against all odds was also strong enough to withstand them.
⊕
Secure in Bridgehead's control tower, a beep notified an employee of a mass, two and a quarter miles out, forming in the southwest section. Concerned, he waved over his superior and showed him the readings. They checked security cameras and zoomed in on the party of three hundred Na'vi warriors.
"Do we do something?" the subordinate asked.
"Oh, sure. Maximum threat. Set off the alarms. Code red. Code red," the boss laughed, slapping the chair rest.
"What are they doing?" chuckled another. "Holding a siege?"
Others joined in on the joke, but the man who first spotted them was not at ease. "But why would they gather unless they're planning something?"
"What are they going to do? Raid us? Great, the kill zone can deal with all of them at once."
"But we already had that attack a few hours ago. Shouldn't we at least be concerned?"
"Don't worry about it," he chuffed, then, turning irritable, looked to his left. "Hell, Claire, call the repair crew and get that thing fixed already."
"Sorry, sir. It's those stupid recom banshees. They keep flying around the wall and setting off the instruments."
"Thought those things were trained..." The boss switched back to his worried employee, patting the shoulder. "Keep us updated if the noble savages try getting through. That should be fun to watch."
"Yes, sir..."
⊕
Meanwhile, Neytiri landed on the gargantuan wall. Dark was that particular night as she eyed the glinting city beyond. For the first time in her life, the Na'vi princess had a full view of the kind of world her husband escaped from. The deadness, the false light, the miles and miles of spiritless terrain—it was truly a nightmare. She was distracted by a banshee shriek to her right and noted the restless flock of militarised ikrans only a few meters away.
"Neytiri, do you copy?"
|"I am here, Jake. I am on the wall. The demons' ikrans are also here. They are very agitated."|
|"By you?"|
|"I do not think so. Something scares them."|
Glorious crawled over the turrets and roared at Neytiri. The princess pivoted her ikran and bared Snatanhì's teeth to warn the matriarch back when a boom in the distance distracted them both. Then, emitting from the city rose a drone of sirens. Glorious forgot all about Neytiri and hissed a command at her flock, leading them off into the night. Neytiri turned her head towards the source of the boom and espied, over the waters, a brief flash of pink light—a plasma storm was manifesting. Undaunted by both warnings, Neytiri braved onward.
⊕
A few scientists who chose to burn the midnight oil paced about their underwater laboratory in apprehension. Though they were perfectly safe beneath the waves, the plasma storm above still caused dread, for it was, after all, one of the most deadly events to occur on Pandora. One man, however, was completely unbothered, and that was Ian Gavin. Staring into the foggy abyss, he saw the giant blur that was Bloop, outlined by his constellations. His aquatic song was reaching into the lab, and it was unlike any of the ones Ian had heard so far—coarse, not serene, loud and abrupt; it made Ian's heart palpitate and caused horripilation on his arm. Gavin observed his overwhelming desire to run away with pragmatic interest and suspected it was not the reported storm that was causing his co-workers' agitation. He carried on with studying his marine friend when his full attention was seized and had to shift his glasses up and down to rule out any possibility of a mistake—but it was no mistake; Bloop's biolumen lines were, in fact, flickering, and if the scientist wasn't so engrossed with the phenomenon, he would've also noticed the overhead lights, rising and falling under the same hypnosis.
⊕
Deeper beneath Gavin, in a laboratory where AMP suits were stored, a very tired Max was slapping himself constantly to stay awake.
"Tired eyes make for lazy work, Maxwell. If you are not able to keep up with my pace—"
"I'll be okay, Mr. Kilkiri," he insisted, his reply morphing into a yawn.
The disappointed African man arched his body away from the technician. "It seems you have a long way to go to reach my level. Come with me. You need rest."
Max was compelled away from the workbench by the dark hands clasping his shoulders. He staggered before his superior. "I'm sorry, it's just— I guess I've always been stubborn when it comes to pulling away from work."
"The nature of my children's paralyzing song."
As they headed away, the workshop inexplicably dimmed, and their shadows began rotating around their feet.
"Something wrong with the power?" Max observed.
⊕
Neytiri was soaring high over the city when she heard the unnatural wails beginning to shift; the unbroken moan started fluctuating like the world itself was breathing. As the haunting choir sang its sickly melody, the rider discovered the city lights were in compliment: they were not flickering sporadically but methodically, all across the land. Whether building or vehicle or ship on the water, anything that emitted light succumbed to the effect. Excited, Neytiri followed the luminary ripple towards the epicentre where the rings were cinching.
Meanwhile, Jake stood with his men by the kill zone, discomforted by the pall he spotted beyond. He worked his throat mic, |"Neytiri, there's a storm developing over the ocean, and it's dangerously close. We can't stay here long."|
|"Jake! Something is happening in the land!"|
|"What do you mean?"|
|"It beats! It beats with Eywa! She is showing me the way!"|
|"Neytiri, what are you talking about?"|
He received no answer.
⊕
As Ian let his hands remain on the panel, he noticed Bloop was acting strangely: the crest bucked, the fins shook, the whole body turned as the marine giant began swishing in the water like he was under attack. Gavin was worried. "What's going on, Bloop?" Then, without warning, the captive of Bridgehead orientated himself for the windows. The water Titan let loose his mastodonic jaw, and a seismic assault was unleashed upon the base. Scientists doubled over, squeezing their aching ears, but Ian returned his eyes to Bloop, whose murky silhouette was rapidly growing larger. Gavin took a step back, then another, and another until he fell over the person behind him. He scrambled back up and ran for the fire alarm. "Everyone get—" The windows were struck. Over eight hundred tons of muscle rammed against their acrylic bulwark, jostling beams and sending jets into Hades. Within seconds, the scientists were drenched by the stinging seawater. "Don't let any get in your mouth!" Ian shouted, his throat already burning from the native astringent chemicals. For a brief moment, as he helped a fallen man, he caught Bloop hovering by the window, seemingly watching the people as they escaped. He was too busy to think it then, but when Gavin later reflected on the event, he wondered why Bloop had ceased after only one hit.
⊕
Every level of Hades panicked with alarms, including one particularly sensitive den. Fahid turned pale with fear. "The area has been breached! Everyone to the emergency elevators! Go, Max! Go!" He grabbed the Indian man and thrust him towards the fleeing others.
"What about you?" Max cried.
"I will be joining you! Go!" Fahid disappeared, and Max rushed to keep up with the evacuation.
Kilkiri threw his body against his office door as he forced it open and stumbled for his desk, where he madly gathered his files, speeding for every invaluable piece of research like it were his young. He stepped out of his office when, just then, the lights went out, and Kilkiri was in total darkness. For a moment, he remained blind, then the lights were restored, but not the white overheads of before; instead, all was bathed in hellish red.
⊕
Neytiri followed the beating trail to a cape that marked the end of the marina. Only here, in the unusable rocky terrain, did the city allow greenery to exist, if it counted as greenery. The tough flora was rubbery and travelled over the surface before growing up into perforated trunks, fanning out into serrated leaves. The flora's bioluminescence also pulsated, and the desperate mother leapt from her ikran and chased the energy wave through the coastal forest when, unexpectedly, all the lights went static. She stumbled forward and gasped, clutching the trees that no longer guided her way. The mother moaned wretchedly; she had not found her daughter, and her one clue had come to an end. With the city utterly silent, all she heard were the waters crashing against the cliff face and the storm continuing to brew in the distance.