"They are a few weeks away" Trudy said as she spoke to the Na'vi and Jake as they stood next to her Samson. All of them gave a small gasp.
"Is there anyway to over run it" said Neytiri looking down in fright at the bloodied Trudy. They could not come back now. They had already killed hundreds of her people.
"Nope" Trudy shook her head dropping it onto her chest slightly. "They made the computer that had sent the signals self destruct meaning that there is no way we can tell them to go back" she added as the blood on her face began to dry. Her lip and nose stung and she could feel the blood all down the left side of her face from where the gun had smacked across her forehead. Her lip was still croaked and felt raw.
No one answered and took in the news of what was coming once again. More people would die. More of the innocent Na'vi would get killed. Family, women and children. Homes would be destroyed.
Trudy gulped at that. She knew what it was like to have no home anymore. Shaking that thought from her head she weakly rubbed her sore leg and sighed.
After a few minutes of silence Neytiri finally spoke. She took a step forward and kneeled down next to Trudy.
"Are you okay" she asked her head tilted to the side in concern at the woman. She could only just about see one side of Trudy's face as the other half was concealed with blood.
"I'll be fine Neytiri thank you" Trudy said smiling as widely as she could without sending a pain through her face. Neytiri knew she was lying. She knew the woman was in a lot more pain then what she was letting on but decided not to argue with her. So instead Neytiri just nodded and took a step back giving Trudy some space.
"Are you sure" came Jake's soft voice from in front of her. Trudy rolled her eyes and looked at him.
"Jake honest I'm fine, it's only a few cuts and bruises, nothing serious" she answered back and he just stuck his hands on his hips. He stared down at her also knowing that she was lying.
"Come on I'll head back to inform the other's at the base about what's happening, you lot go and tell the rest of the Omaticaya" Trudy ordered as she pulled open the door to her Samson and jumped in. Once she was in she pulled the exo pack off of her face and began to start the machine.
"I'm coming with you, Neytiri will inform the rest of the Omaticaya" Jake said as he and the other's whistled for their Banshee's.
"Jake you're their leader you should be the one letting them know what's happening, now go and perfectly capable of briefing people" Trudy answered as her Samson began to ascend slowly.
"Okay fine but we're still gonna fly you back to the base" Jake huffed knowing that she was correct. He was their leader. He was responsible for them now. They needed him more then Trudy did. Or did they. After her confession the night before he knew he had only scratched the surface of the girl and wanted to know more.
"Jake I've told you I don't need a chaperone" Trudy whined as the Banshee's flew up alongside her.
"Trudy you've been hurt, a blow to the head, maybe a few, I don't fancy seeing you fall form the sky once again" he said back and she obediently listened. She didn't fancy it herself either.
"This isn't good" Max said as he rubbed his temples. Trudy was stood around a large table all of the scientists who had stayed behind there also. None of them knew what to say.
"No it's not, now we're gonna have to be quite fast and sort out a plan to prevent the attack" Trudy ordered placing her hands on the table. Seeing as she was the most experienced and the highest rank marine of the ones who had stayed on Pandora she had felt it her responsibility to control this side of the warriors.
"What do you suppose we do" Max said sighing slightly not liking the fact that another war was looming for them.
"How did the Omaticaya take it" Trudy asked as she sat next to Jake on a long broken down tree. There was no gap between them and Trudy weakly rested her head on his arm as she was not tall enough to reach his shoulder.
"Not good, the warrior's have began preparing but the people are scared, scared for their women and children and husbands" Jake replied still shaken by the news. He was their leader, he could not be scared they needed him now.
"I'm sorry" Trudy answered not knowing what else she could say to her friend. There was nothing anyone could say now. Nothing at all.
"It's not your fault Trudy, you've got nothing to be sorry for" Jake answered pulling his arm around her tightly. He had seen the young woman in a completely different light these days. After she had opened up to him she wasn't the invincible Trudy Chacon anymore. Just Trudy.
"So how's things on your side, what are you going to do" Jake asked wanting to know how much help they had on the remaining human's side.
"Well I'm their commander now, they call me Colonel Chacon I mean come on" Trudy laughed at the name the other marines had been calling her as well as the scientists. Jake laughed at that. "But everyone who stayed behind are willing to fight for the Na'vi, we've got Amp suits here and some more Samson's so we're equipped with a bit more firepower then last time, we'll do our best Jake I promise I won't let them win this time, I almost died stopping them last time and if that's what it takes to stop those bastards hurting this planet again then so be it" Trudy said bravely.
Jake smiled down at his friend. She was amazing. Her courage was unbelievable. After everything that had happened to her last time and yet here she was leading by example for all these youngsters and fighting for what was right.
"You're gonna make a great leader Colonel Chacon" Jake smiled and he earned a small nudge in his ribs for that comment.
"I don't think I'm leader material though" Trudy answered not sure why she had been put in charge. Sure she had devised the attack plan but she didn't volunteer to have this burden on her.
"Hello, ex cripple in a wheelchair" Jake said sarcastically about himself knowing that she would make a brilliant leader.
Trudy laughed loudly at this. He had a point. "Oh okay you're right, but I don't think, I don't think I'll be able to live with those kids blood on my hands, I mean some of them are bound to die, the eldest of them is 27, the youngest 17, if they die it's my fault" Trudy answered truthfully getting what had been bothering her off her chest finally.
"You'r only 30, You just don't think about it, look how many of the Na'vi died under my leadership, you can only do as much as you can, it's never your fault" Jake reassured remembering how he felt when he was chosen to lead the Na'vi against the sky people.
Trudy just nodded her head as the long silence came over them once more. Her exo pack had began to rub against the skin of her chin and she moved it slightly.
"So where's Norm been these days" Trudy asked remembering the absence of one of her other friends.
"Well Norm has fallen head over heels with one of the Na'vi women and has been attempting to win her affection" Jake said and looked at Trudy who was doubled over with laughter.
"And how's it going for Mr Smooth" Trudy answered still laughing loudly at her friends more then likely feeble attempts at a seduction.
"Not good, he got a slap off her the other day" and the two continued to laugh happily. It was a nice release from the world around them. There were no worries, just two friends sharing a laugh and enjoying each other's company.
"How I would have loved to have seen that" she said once the laughter had subsided and the only sound around them was the quiet chirping of the unknown creatures and the rustling of the trees.
"It was genius Trudy" Jake grinned as he remembered the whole thing in his head but Norm was being persistent. "I always thought you would end up with Mr Smooth" Jake laughed and earned another dig in the ribs from the tanned woman.
"Uhh no mate, sorry but he is not my type, at all" Trudy answered back shuddering at the thought of her and the man she considered as an older brother.
"Whatever you say Colonel Short stuff" and this time he got a slap on his chest that stung slightly.
"What is it with you these days, just because you are bigger then me does not mean I still can't kick your ass" she laughed knowing that she wouldn't stand a chance against him in his Na'vi form. She had always wondered what it would be like, to see things how they see it, to feel how they do and to live the way the Na'vi do.
"Okay fine I'm sorry" Jake said apologetically. Another silence fell upon them until it was broken by Trudy.
"You know if my parents were still alive, I hope that they would have been proud of me, though I think my dad would have been ashamed that his daughter betrayed her own race" Trudy said quietly as her mind wandered back to her family once more. They were constantly there plaguing her these days and why she did not know but she did know that talking to Jake about them helped.
"What happened to them" Jake asked gently shocked that she had suffered more than one loss in her life. Her whole family.
"My dad was a decorated Marine, served in so many war's but once he left the force he fell into some pretty shady stuff you know, he was like a hired gun, people paid him and he would kill whoever they wanted dead, but one day an assignment went wrong and he was ambushed, they shot him countless times and when I went to get the paper from the doorstep in the morning I found him strung up dead by his neck on the doorframe, not a nice sight for a 15 year old and my sister who was only six" Trudy said truthfully her eyes never going to Jake's blue ones.
"Trudy I, I don't know what to say" Jake said stuttering over his words. What had happened to her father was something that no child should see or know.
He gulped and looked down at her his eyes filled with care. "And your mother" he asked not wanting to ponder on the reasons behind her father's sickening death. Though he knew what they were.
"It was a week later and it seemed that these thugs still had a score to settle with my father but he was dead so they came for us" Trudy began her voice never breaking pitch. He only watched as her eyes were focused on one particular spot. " I went to the door and when I opened it someone hit me across the head with a shotgun and dragged me back into the house and threw me onto the kitchen floor, my mother and my sister were screaming and we all curled up together scared, my head was killing me and I was covered in blood form the wound it left, so anyway they were going on about some unpaid debts and all this petty shit you know and I can remember just holding Cassie tightly in my lap, she was so scared" Trudy continued as the whole incident played over and over in front of her eyes.
"So finally after about another ten minutes they grabbed Cassie from me and I tried to hold onto her but they just kept hitting me and my mother until finally I couldn't hold onto her any longer, and they stood her there a six year old girl and put a gun to her head", Jake was sat in a stunned silence. "So me and my mother we knew what we had to do and we ran forward at the same time straight at these guys and they started shooting at us, luckily all the bullet's missed me except for one that grazed my stomach and I kicked the one who had Cassie grabbed her and i went to help my mother but she was screaming at me to take Cassie and run for my life, so I did, I picked her up and ran out the back" Trudy said her voice now lowering.
"They ran after us but I was fast and I just kept running and running until I knew they weren't following and I found a small gap in amongst the brush in the woods and that night we slept there, Cassie didn't speak she just cried and clutched me tightly refusing to let me go, so finally when the sun came up the next morning I managed to convince Cassie to leave me go and a went back to the house, Cassie stayed in the small hideout, I must have looked a mess because I noticed that my once white top was soaked completely red and my head was in agony but I fought through it and got back to the house, the door was still open and I made my way through to the kitchen and I found my mother on the floor, she'd been shot to death as well" Trudy finished surprised that she hadn't began to cry yet.
"Christ Trudy, you've been through some shit haven't you" Jake said not knowing what else he could say.
Trudy shrugged her shoulders. "It came with the territory that I lived in, it was a rough place you know and it happened to most people on my street their families were killed as well" Trudy answered remembering her childhood.
"I'm sorry you had to see those things" Jake said his heart breaking for his friend. He put a comforting arm around her shoulder's and pulled her into his side.
"It's okay Jake, it's a very long time ago now, I've learnt to just get on with it, I think that's why I decided to fight for the Na'vi in the end" Trudy said quietly.
"What do you mean" Jake asked softly wondering what she was referring to.
"Well I lost my family, I saw my mom and dad's dead bodies you know and I guess I didn't want that for these innocent people, to see their kids and their wives dead like I had" she said shrugging her shoulder's lightly.
"It's a logical reason, you're starting to sound like Mr Smooth now" Jake said trying to lighten the mood and it worked as a small laugh came from Trudy.
"So come on then, I've literally told you my whole backstory why don't you tell me your's, like how you lost those god damn legs of yours" Trudy asked kindly and Jake nodded knowing that it was only fair that he confided in her as she did him.
And they were sat there for what felt like hours just talking and reminiscing about earth, about their families, about what they used to be like, their reasons for joining the marines. They were doing what friends do and it was those moments that the two would treasure for life.
So Trudy is the humans commander :D, Aww have to have some more Jake and Trudy bonding, so if you enjoyed then please review thanks.
