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Disclaimer: Blah, Blah, Blah. I don't own Avatar; James Cameron does. All the Avatar stuff belongs to him. However, my Na'vi character, myself, the Dragon Weyr and its technologies, and the Pandoran animals of my menagerie are all mine. The Protoss - apart from my characters - all belong to Blizzard Entertainment.

Pandora's Templar

A Work-In-Progress Story by Coranth Dehanae

Chapter 33

(Continued from Chapter 32...)

"Regardless of whether I actually struck Jake or not," I replied, "the fact remains that I physically lashed out at him - I used a physical attack - and that is a breaking of the Oath of the High Templar, a breaking that can only be undone via Penance of some sort; you know the Laws, Ieesha. For now, let's get me back to the Kelutral; after I'm better I'll... have a civil talk with Jake, apologize for my behavior, and then we'll work out what my Penance should be..." And so it came to be that I was carried back to the Hometree of the Omatikaya Clan where, roughly three weeks later - after recovering from my concussion under the watchful eyes of Ieesha and the Omatikaya Healers - I knelt before Jake Sully as the Penitent Man kneels before God.

"You would seek punishment for this action - almost striking me in anger - when it was I who caused you to lash out in the first place?" He asked. When I made no move to answer - as the Shamed, I couldn't speak without permission - the formerly human Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya Clan sighed wearily before he said, "Rise, Txa'vit. You may speak." At his words, immediately, I rose to my feet and snapped to attention - giving him a formal salute - before I dropped my hands to my sides and stood at ease. "I would do Penance, Olo'eyktan, for although I technically did not break my Oath, the fact remains that I did lash out and nearly strike you in anger; an action that I should not have done and for which I am deeply ashamed. Ngaytxoa, ma Olo'eyktan." I answered in formal Na'vi.

"The Oath of the High Templar dictates that we are not to engage with an enemy in combat by any mundane means, even from a distance. Although I did not strike you physically, by lashing out at you the way I did I broke that Oath. Thus, I am no longer High Templar and must work to regain the Rank... and - above all else - better control of myself, sir." As I finished speaking and fell silent once again, upon Jake Sully's face I expected to see a look of delight, or perhaps triumph. Instead, what I beheld was an expression of sadness that had settled into his very soul. Closing far-too-aged eyes, he thought for a moment and then, opening his eyes to gaze straight at me - straight through me - he replied, "Whilst you believe you broke your Oath, I believe that you did not... as does Ieesha--vehemently!"

He paused for a moment, before continuing, "On this, we can agree to disagree. If you must truly do Penance for your supposed wrongdoing, then your Penance shall be this..." At his words, I leaned forward attentively. 'What'll he have me do? Hopefully a worthy thing of punishment, the more humiliating the better...' I thought. Seconds later, my hope for true punishment was utterly shattered when Jake Sully - acting every bit the great Olo'eyktan he was - boomed, "I challenge you, Khassar de Templari! I challenge you... to return to the Site of Old Kelutral. I challenge you to find out why Eywa has not been able to heal the land there since the Great War ended. And I challenge you to fix what she has been unable to. This thing shall be your Penance: to close the past and put the wrongs of your former People to right!"

Utterly gobsmacked for a moment, I just stood there, my jaw hanging open. 'What?' I thought. 'This... this isn't a Penance; this is...' But a moment later, I was unable to continue as my beloved Ieesha - weeping with joy, her tears streaming down her face - embraced me, folding a wing down over my body and nuzzling me gently, her silvery tears staining my skin. Then, a moment later - keeping her wing firmly folded over me - she turned to Jake and said, ~The Penance for my beloved's actions is accepted; that he may regain his honor and rank. Thank you, Jake. Thank you. But... why would you do this?~ At her words, Jake Sully winced in pain before he replied, "It was Neytiri. Before you all got back here she tortured me; pulled my ears!"

At his words, Ieesha winced in sympathy. Long, long ago, when she and David had once lived on Earth, she and her beloved occasionally used to travel to parks and football fields as part of organized events where she could 'meet and greet' the people of his native Homeworld and show them that she wasn't the damsel-eating, treasure hoarding monster of fairytale and myth. During these events she often encountered parents and their children, most of who were well behaved; she would allow these little humans to climb on her and touch her under her beloved's supervision.As with all things, however, sometimes these events did not go well; sometimes she would encounter parents who wouldn't let their children near her - no matter how much said children begged and pleaded - for fear that she would eat them.

Sometimes she would meet the occasional child whom was a spoiled brat and a bully. Those children were the ear-pullers and their mean, grabby hands had hurt until David became aware of the situation and put a stop to it, sometimes having to intervene directly, rather than letting the parent or parents deal with the situation! Soon, she was pulled from her thoughts as Jake Sully continued talking. "... Tell her the whole story, and believe me, she wasn't happy, at all!"_Gently cocking her head to once side, softly, Ieesha said, ~I'm sorry, Olo'eyktan, could you repeat that, please?~ The Olo'eyktan of the Omatikaya Clan nodded and then - after inhaling a breath - he responded, _"I said she made me tell her the whole story."

Then, looking at my beloved in concern, he asked, "Are you alright?" At his question Ieesha briefly turned to look at me and we shared with each other a fond smile. Then, returning her attention to Jake, she answered, ~Yes, I am. It's just... When you mentioned Neytiri pulling your ears, it... it brought back some old memories. Please, continue. You were saying that Neytiri made you tell her all that happened?~ Jake Sully nodded and then - after wincing again - he replied, "Srane, she did... and she wasn't happy... at all! In fact... well... she was pissed! She verbally kicked my ass and brought home to me some very, very painful truths about the prejudice that I was displaying towards your yawne - that I was deeply wrong about him and his character - and so this is why I have given him such a light Penance. She... she challenged me to learn to See him. And I will."

Two days later, I returned to the site of Old Kelutral, dressed not in my High Templar attire but in the powered Encounter Suit of a Protoss Zealot, which I had asked the Dragon Weyr to shift to me via Warp Gate. Clustered behind me six Probes - also sent by the Weyr at my request - patiently waited for my commands, their many complex tools and highly attuned sensors at the ready. At my side - clad in sealed and pressurized barding and helm - Ieesha shifted uneasily as she and I gazed warily at the remnants of the Omatikaya Clan's former home. "It's odd, isn't it?" I asked her via the transceiver in my helm. At my question, curiosity filled my thoughts as Ieesha turned her head towards me, her expression one of puzzlement as she asked, ~What's that, sweet David?~

In answer to her query, I gestured to the burned Hometree as I replied, "This. The fact that - after all this time - nothing has grown here. I don't understand it, Ieesha; it's been 142 years since the Great War between the Na'vi and the RDA ended so Eywa should have made all this..." - I gestured to the ruined Kelutral again - "... disappear under new growth. And yet... she hasn't. Why? I don't like it..." For a few moments, Ieesha paused to ponder my words and then, softly, she replied ~Perhaps it is because Eywa wishes all to remember what occurred here during the final dark days of the War, when Administrator Parker Selfridge gave Colonel Miles Quaritch the go-ahead to bomb the old Kelutral.~

At her words, I frowned for a moment, thinking, before I responded, "You could be right, Ieesha, but... I don't know... It just... doesn't seem like something that Eywa would do. You've seen the historical Video Archives of what happened at the Hell's Gate complex, right?" When my beloved Ikran nodded to me in acknowledgement, I continued, "You saw what happened. Eywa's animals smashed that place to pieces, and when humankind was sent packing back to Earth after the Great War ended, she reclaimed the land upon which Hell's Gate had been built within less than a year! Why hasn't she done the same with this place...?" Wrapping the thumb and index finger of my left hand around my chin - my own version of the 'thinker's pose' - I thought for a moment, my eyes narrowing to hardened hazel chips as a frown creased my features.

'Why has nothing grown here?' I wondered. 'Why?' Then, a dreadful suspicion suddenly seized my brain and - upon feeling it flash into her head through our bond, Ieesha swiftly turned to face me, her eyes narrowing to slits through which the blue of her irises sparked like inlaid sapphires. She didn't move or acknowledge me for some time; instead, she watched me quietly - trying to make sense of what I felt and thought - before lowering her head, a soft exhale of recycled air escaping her as she finally responded, ~You suspect foul-play on behalf of the RDA?~ Returning my attention from her to the burned Kelutral again, I scrutinized it thoroughly for a moment, before I softly uttered, "I do."

Then, turning to face Ieesha once more, I continued, "It's the only explanation I can think of, Ieesha. When land is devastated like this, it... it doesn't just die. Years after the calamity the land will usually recover, especially in a place such as this, where there's lots of life; plants and trees to spread their seeds and animals that inadvertently till and spread the soil as they move. Under Eywa's watch, this place should have recovered ages ago. There must be something here which is actively preventing her from reclaiming this area - perhaps a remnant of the RDA's technology - and if so, I intend to find it!" As I spoke, Ieesha gasped softly, her midnight-blue eyes widening as a thought suddenly occurred to her.

~David~ she uttered softly, ~you've studied the History Archives more than I have. When the RDA routed the Omatikaya Clan from here, and then destroyed the Hometree, what weapons did they use?~ At her question I assumed my thinker's pose as I replied "Oh boy, uh... I had a look through the Archives before I came to Pandora, Ieesha, but it's been a long time since then. Let's see..." Lapsing into silence, I thought for a moment - remembering the details of what I'd seen in the archival footage - and then I finally continued, "Well, uh... first the RDA bombarded the Omatikaya with Tear Gas Grenades fired from the 40mm Rocket Launchers attached to their Dragon Assault Ship; they used Tear Gas to rout the Clan from the Tree.

After the Omatikaya were forced to flee to the Tree of Souls, the RDA launched High Explosive missiles - dumb-fired ones, I think - to destroy the Hometree such that they could gain access to the Unobtanium deposit beneath." Cocking my head, I gazed at her curiously for a moment, before I said, "I don't understand, Ieesha. Why are the weapons the RDA used so important? Where are you going with this?" The next words that my beloved spoke chilled me to the core. ~What if~ she said, gravely, ~not all of the missiles fired by the RDA gunships were explosive.~ At her words, a shiver coursed through me as I visibly paled, my pink skin whitening. "What? What the hell are you saying?" I asked her.

~I'm saying~ Ieesha answered, ~that the RDA wanted those 'blue smurfs' gone, sweet David, as soon as possible! It wouldn't surprise me if they'd stocked a few... extra missiles amongst the normal explosive ones they were supposed to fire. Extra missiles that weren't supposed to be there.~ Via our telepathic bond, her thoughts were as clear as day. "Radiation?" I whispered, horrified, my body shaking. Gently, my beloved nodded her great head as she solemnly and sadly replied ~Bingo...~ Dazed and overwhelmed by her words - words that could very well be proved true - I stumbled over to a gnarled, blackened tree stump and wearily sat down upon it, a gusty sigh escaping me as I lowered my helmed head to rest in my armored hands.

"But... but the footage!" I whispered, brokenly. "The archival footage and... and all the other documentary evidence of what happened... If the RDA had deployed nuclear ordinance against the Omatikaya, the evidence would be there, in the video footage, the munitions inventories, even in the finances! It would be there, unless..." Suddenly, my eyes widened with a terrible realization. "Unless they censored it; edited it all out..." Wearily, my beloved closed her eyes, a noise like the cross of a sigh and a whimper escaping her. Then, opening her eyes once more to affix me with a deeply saddened gaze, solemnly, she said, ~History, sweet David... is often written by the victors.~ No truer words had ever been spoken.

"By Adun's Bloody Blade..." I murmured. "Nuclear missiles. Nuclear. Missiles..." Upon feeling my distress, Ieesha moved to sit upon her haunches beside me, the six Protoss Probes following in her wake. Then, ever so carefully, my beloved shifted to rest her head on my armored lap and - upon feeling her do so via my armor's Perceptor Network - I rested a hand upon her helmeted head, between her ears. No sooner had I done this, than one of the Probes with us - the largest and most senior among them - activated its Micro-Gravitic Thrusters and raised itself up off the ground to hover gently and serenely in the air before me. Concerned for my well-being, it queried me softly in worried binaric tones, gently scanning me with its many sensor pallets and its actions made me chuckle softly.

"I'll be alright, my friend" I said to it fondly, caressing its living, psi-steel skin. The little machine didn't believe me at first - it scanned me with its sensors again for a second time - but then, a moment later, seemingly satisfied, it lowered itself to the ground whereupon it rested quietly at my feet. "If what you say is true, Ieesha" I said a moment later, resuming our conversation, "then this... it changes everything! But we... need... evidence!" Gazing down at the five Probes gathered about us and the senior-most Probe quietly resting in wait at my feet, I continued, "We need to get these little guys deployed, stat, and have them scour this entire place with every damn sensor they've got. I'll not have us return to Jake Sully with just a theory! We need evidence to back it up, and we need it yesterday!" I snapped vehemently.