''TCTR'' Prologue

Prologue

Trenethanh'shinam River, Sector Zero/Sector One Border, Pandora
06:18 Hours Hell's Gate Time, August 31, 2154
COUNTDOWN: 306 Terrestrial Days Remaining Until Orbit

The gas giant the Humans had named Polyphemus sank low into the canopy, its feeble reflected starlight lost amongst the luminous riot of phosphorescent mushrooms below. Two figures stood in the narrow cleft created by the river as it wound its way through the forest. On the east edge stood a Na'vi man, his bright, quick eyes raised towards the sky and the first bright stars, wearing only the scant loincloth and leather bandolier of a hunter, his cerulean skin indistinct against the diffuse glow of the jungle. His counterpart stood on the far bank. He looked not at the stars but at their hazy reflection in the water's algae-slicked surface, and was covered from the neck down in the highest-quality petroleum Kevlex armor, the jungle's glow finding no purchase on its burnished polymer. Where the hunter was lean and muscular of build, his companion's thick, half-mechanized gear could not disguise the unnatural gauntness of his frame or the sickly greyish coloring of his skin. For a time, the two imitation Na'vi did not speak, until at last the dark-suited one looked up and interrupted the other's reverie:
"This is where history will be made, it seems."
The hunter gazed upward for a time longer, then focused across the river. His voice was strong, commanding, sure: "In more ways than you know, Doc."
"More than either of us, perhaps. The disruption of the superconductor trade can only serve to make Earth that much more unstable... and desperate. The next ship that comes here... we must be ready for a hard war to keep what we have won."
"And we will be. Aywah is on our side, Doc. And I won't let this place die, I won't let it become another Earth. I'm ready. We're all ready."
"Likely it will not come to that. My associates and I are somewhat more numerous than you think. In total, five hundred of us have chosen to cut off our ties to RDA and remain here on Pandora indefinitely, for the express purpose of protecting this planet from any further abuse by our... estranged compatriots. We too are preparing... it would surprise me if your warriors ever even see the shuttles."
The hunter's eyes took on a distant, blank look, as he muttered more to himself than his companion, "The shuttles..... the planes with the bombs..... that's right...... I had to come down in a shuttle........"
The dark man heard him, of course. But he merely filed the information away and showed no sign of having noticed anything untoward. Instead he nodded, and continued "Although I'm unsure as to what form our defense will take, I am fairly confident in victory. Of course, there are other matters to discuss...territory, for one. That was, after all, the purpose of this meeting, was it not?"
Now the hunter resumed his old confidence. "The agreement we talked out after the assault should do. The remaining Human personnel can leave on-board the next ship after they acknowledge our sovereignty, or remain behind on the base, which will remain in Human control..."
"... but the lands surrounding it outside this river delta belong to the Ometikaya. Both races will remain within their respective territories,unless given express permission to cross." The dark man finished. "I drafted this armistace myself, if you recall. It should do nicely as a more permanent settlement."
"Can I be sure that the others will hold to your bargain?  The Company never cared about their word..." the hunter's eyes filled with pain and rage. The dark man nodded in understanding, and spoke calmingly. He almost seemed sincere: "We aren't connected to RDA. They're as much our enemy as yours. If they return, we fully expect to be imprisoned... if we are fortunate. The Humans remaining here have, for reasons lost on me, chosen to place a great deal of power in my hands, and I will not reject my responsibility to them. You can value my word."
Apparently satisfied, the hunter turned back to the jungle. Before he vanished into the depths, he raised his hand in a salute, and spoke in Na'vi: "Goodbye, Dr. Arzethian. May the All-Mother smile upon our agreement tonight."
The dark man remained behind for a minute longer, once again contemplating the stars reflected in the river's phosphorescent waters. Then he, too turned back to the jungle, retracing his path to the mining base that had become his home, his armor's obsidian plating darker than his own indistinct shadow. As he left, he mused for the benefit the trees and the fungus and the night birds going about their small lives around him: "It's not the forest we will need to convince", he whispered, "of that I have no doubt". Then the jungle by the stream was an unbroken skein of light once again.