The pungent stench of blood hanging in the air and the horrific scene before them, which far exceeded any normal act of predation, plunged every witnessing Na'vi into a state of immense shock, grief, and terror.
"This was not the work of any beast!" Tsu'tey was the first to erupt, his voice trembling with absolute fury, the veins on his neck bulging with agitation. "The hunters of the forest kill for survival, but they would never commit such... such desecration! This is not a hunt! This is a slaughter! It is cold-blooded torture!"
Eytukan stared at the grisly fate of the brave warriors who had once fought alongside him. His fists clenched so tightly that his nails dug deep into his calloused palms, nearly piercing the skin. A roaring fire burned within his golden eyes, threatening to spill over. "It is the Sky People! Only them! Only those cruel, irreverent Sky People would use such... such a method, defiling the very dignity of life, to flaunt their might and break our resolve!"
The accumulated grief within the migrating column and the piercing agony of losing their home were entirely detonated by this profoundly insulting, bloody atrocity, instantly transforming into a tidal wave of undisguised hatred toward the Sky People. Even the voices that had previously leaned toward temporarily avoiding conflict to preserve the clan's bloodline under Seze's influence were entirely drowned out by this blatant savagery, which was perceived as a signal of total eradication. Terror was eclipsed by an even greater fury.
"They stole our Hometree, and now they hunt us down and slaughter us like prey!" Tsu'tey raised his sharp spear high, bellowing a deafening roar to the rapidly gathering, enraged crowd. "Fleeing will not grant us survival; it will only bring more death and humiliation! We cannot run any longer! We must fight! We must let every clan—the Cam'teireya, the Windwalkers, and every tribe that listens to the song of Eywa—know the true, merciless face of the Sky People! Even if we are destined to spill our very last drop of blood, we will make them pay a price they will never forget for this atrocity!"
His words acted like a torch thrown onto dry tinder, instantly igniting the combat lust of nearly every Na'vi present. Without requiring any further rallying, Tsu'tey and his most radical warriors immediately mobilized. They dispatched their swiftest Ikran riders, carrying tokens dyed with the symbolic blood of their fallen brethren to signify an emergency war council, alongside bark sketches depicting the horrific crime scene. They sped off toward the known locations of several large Na'vi clans, their furious battle cries echoing through the air.
Standing amidst the incensed crowd, Jake stared at the upside-down corpses of his companions—brutally stripped of partial tissue, missing both skulls and spinal columns. His stomach churned violently, pushing him to the verge of vomiting. A chilling dread surged from the soles of his feet straight to the crown of his head, leaving him entirely numb. He could not believe, nor could he comprehend, that his own species—those who shared similar bloodlines with him—could perpetrate something so utterly insane, breaching the absolute baseline of his cognitive boundaries.
A profound sense of shame threatened to submerge him entirely, and his intense aversion toward his own human identity reached its zenith at this very moment. He looked into the eyes of the surrounding clansmen, which were ablaze with hatred, and realized he could not utter a single word in defense of humanity; it felt as though any attempt at justification would be a desecration of this grim tragedy and the spirits of the dead.
Amidst this chaos and fury, Seze suppressed her internal terror, nausea, and matching surge of indignation, quietly retreating to the periphery of the crowd. Her rationality was screaming. Though the atrocity was Schrecklich, the deliberate "ritualistic nature" embedded within it deviated from the style of the RDA, which typically prioritized cold efficiency and tactical deterrence. An ominous premonition gripped her. She had to uncover the truth, or her entire species might be dragged into an abyss of absolute ruin.
Utilizing a sonic generator previously agreed upon with Rei Ayanami that mimicked the frequency of a specific forest bird, she transmitted an intermittent, top-tier emergency distress signal into the unknown distance amidst the surrounding din and roaring shouts. Deep down, she prayed that the peculiar Sky Person girl would intercept it and provide a thread of clarity through this bloody fog.
Inside the Pioneer mobile base, Osiris received the urgent status report from Rei.
"Seze has transmitted intelligence," Rei's detached voice cut through the channel. "The Omaticaya migration column was ambushed by unknown hostiles. Five warriors were terminated. Their corpses were skinned, their skulls and spinal columns extracted, and the remains hung upside down for public display. The Na'vi are convinced the RDA is responsible, and their morale has shifted into extreme aggression. The militant faction has already initiated contact with neighboring clans, intending to launch a total retaliatory campaign."
Osiris listened to the description, his brow furrowing slightly. This brutal and highly ritualistic method of slaughter did not align with the operational doctrine of the RDA. The RDA prioritized efficiency and deterrence, typically deploying direct means such as explosives or firearms, or seeking frontal eradication like Quaritch. This technique—resembling a predatory hunting display—appeared excessively deliberate and primitive.
Almost simultaneously, Maine forwarded an update from Hell's Gate, his tone heavy: "My Lord, the RDA sector has also sustained casualties. A minor reconnaissance outpost situated on the periphery of the northwestern mountain range went dark. When the extraction team arrived, they discovered all six garrisoned personnel deceased. Their tactical state... matches the encounter described by Rei exactly. They were skinned, their skulls and spinal columns harvested, and their remains arranged in a highly humiliating posture. Colonel Quaritch is thoroughly enraged, convinced it is a Na'vi counterstrike. He is currently marshaling divisions to launch a massive purge operation."
Both factions had been assaulted using identical tactics, and each was entirely convinced the other was responsible. Osiris instantly grasped the severity of the situation. This was no simple misunderstanding or cyclical escalation of retaliation. An unknown, predatory third-party force was operating under the shroud of Pandora. Its sole objective appeared to be provoking an absolute, catastrophic war of attrition between the RDA and the indigenous population.
"We must arrest this escalation immediately," Osiris's voice was frigid and decisive. "This anomalous interference threatens to completely compromise my strategic layout."
He required the fragmentation of the Na'vi to remain calculated and contained, not an unpredictable, systemic conflict orchestrated by an external actor. He issued immediate parameters:
"Rei, re-establish contact with Seze instantly. Emphasize to her that the assault did not originate from the primary RDA forces. Inform her that the RDA sector has sustained an identical attack. Instruct her that she must convince Eytukan to dispatch an envoy to engage in an emergency summit with the RDA command, confronting the evidence directly to dispel the deception."
"Maine , your directive is to contain Colonel Quaritch. Present him with the intelligence we possess regarding the matching casualties sustained by the Na'vi. Advise him that an unknown entity is actively attempting to manipulate them into a war. If he insists on executing a strike, he will walk straight into a snare, incurring catastrophic losses. Recommend that he appoint a trusted proxy to verify the situational metrics face-to-face with the Na'vi leadership to clarify the situation."