Here is the update.
I put battery back in, it gave me a prompt for CMOS detecting no battery. Replaced with new battery and computer booted up.
Intel has a strange way of telling people that they battery is dead. Strangest part is that none of my BIOS configs are set to default. Not sure why I pulled the battery to clear anything. Anyhow, I am thankful I only lost 3 hours of work today.