Appendix
…Jake stared after the thanators as they charged off, shaking his head, "You know, those guys could've been really useful seven years ago."
Sateyah came up to the pair as the last of them charged by and shrugged, "I did not expect the Tipani clan to answer your call."
Davian chuckled, "I think that makes three of us. And frankly, having seen what a thanator can do, I'm glad they're on our team." He looked around as the remaining warriors began to gather, "So they'll mop up the rest. I guess that means we're in the clear."
Jake nodded and wiped his brow, "In the clear and victorious. We need to start dealing with the casualties now."
Davian returned his nod, "Great. I'll get my men to…" He trailed off as his eyes rolled back and he limply collapsed to the forest floor.
"Davyan!" Sateyah darted forward and knelt at his side, "Davyan, what is wrong? Davyan?" She shook him twice without a response before looking up at Jake, "What is wrong with him? He has no wound that would cause this."
The clan leader looked at the comatose avatar briefly before Neytiri came over the comm, "Ma Jake, Anitasimon and the others have just fallen. None of them are hurt. What is wrong?"
Jake keyed his comm collar, "I think I know. I just hope I'm wrong."
Back at the field station several kilometers away, Davian's link pod opened suddenly to the spiraling orange lights of the prefab's breach alarm, the air rippling as Pandora's natural hydrogen sulfide interacted with the oxygen. The scientist sucked in a lung full of air long enough to put on an exopack and looked around for the rest of the team. He found them only a moment before the cause of the breach made itself apparent. A series of fist-sized holes marched up the side of the structure, destroying an abandoned link pod in the process. Davian looked out the window to find a quartet of AMP Suits outside, firing their auto-rifles on the defenseless field station.
"We're under attack!" Dr. Simon motioned everyone toward the back of the station, "Everyone to the back! We can get out from there!" She counted her team members as they passed her and made their way to the back exit. She paused and counted a second time when she came up one short.
"Where's Davian?"
Everyone looked around briefly before Jim pointed toward the station's weapon locker. Dr. Simon's heart sank when she saw it open and the rifle inside missing. She should've known that Davian would do something like this. In spite of calling himself a scientist, there was no such thing as an "ex-marine". There was too much soldier in him to run from a fight. She resigned herself to a grim outcome as she continued ushering everyone out through the back.
Davian stepped out the field station's front airlock with rifle in hand and immediately dove to roll behind the cover of a large supply crate as hostile gunfire tracked up where he'd just been standing. He put his back to the crate and peered around to get a look at the AMP Suits. By all rights, he knew it was suicidal to take on four AMP Suits by himself, but he was the only one present with any combat training or experience. If nothing else, he could buy some time for the others before the Na'vi came to reinforce them.
He leaned out from behind the crate and opened up burst fire-auto on one of the Suits. He knew he wouldn't be able to do much damage like this, but if he made his shots count, he might hit something vital. He pulled back around his cover when one of the Suits took aim and fired at him, but didn't stay long before leaning out again and firing. Several auto-rifle rounds sailed over his head, hitting the chopper behind him and igniting its fuel tank. Davian was thrown forward against his cover with the blast. He shook it off and kept firing, trying to score a hit. His efforts were finally rewarded when sparks shot from the knee of the Suit he was aiming at and gas started venting from the joint.
"Ah!" The Suit leaned down to cover the damage with its hand and the pilot looked at the team leader, "He got me good. I've lost pneumatics in my right leg."
The team leader stopped firing and looked back, "Can you limp back to base?"
"I think so."
The Suit waved him off, "Then get clear. We'll take care of him." The wounded AMP Suit stowed its rifle on its back before starting to limp away from the fight.
Another Suit pilot looked over at the leader, "Is this dude serious? He really thinks he can take on all of us?"
"He just took one of us out of the fight. Don't underestimate him." The leader's Suit took one hand off its rifle and pointed two fingers to the left, "Move around and flank him. We'll cover you." The heavy gunfire resumed as the remaining three AMP Suits put the maneuver into effect. Davian reloaded his rifle before leaning out and firing again. His bullets weren't doing much. There was a pretty lightshow of sparks as the rounds ricocheted off the mechs' armor and he managed to crack the glass on one of the cockpits, but he wasn't making any headway against them. That, and that third suit was quickly making his way around to neutralize his cover; then he'd be deep in it. Davian jammed his last clip into his rifle and leaned around his cover to fire again, but was stopped short when a lucky shot punched a whole the size of his head through the crate's corner. Davian was thrown away from the crate with the blast and a searing pain coursed through his left side. He pulled himself to the cover of the side of the field station with his good arm and looked down to find a gaping hole in his shirt, which was only the preamble to the damage done to the flesh beneath. It had been a near graze, but these AMP Suit GAU-90s were firing 30mm auto-cannon rounds, which meant even a miss was akin to a close-range shotgun blast on an unarmored person. It hurt like sin through most of his lower abdomen and he was losing a lot of blood. Davian clamped his arm down over the wound to stem the bleeding and hiked his rifle up to keep firing, but not before the large shadow of an AMP Suit loomed over him. The pilot smiled as he trained his auto-rifle on the wounded scientist. Davian clenched his teeth. Not like this; not a fish in a barrel.
The Suit's shot was spoiled when the mech was suddenly tackled from the side by a thanator. Davian forced a smirk onto his face through the pain. The thanator was decorated in similar war paint to the ones he'd seen back at the battlefield, and there was a Na'vi warrior riding its back. The animal shoved the AMP Suit aside, throwing it off balance and breaking its ammo belt in the process. The pilot recovered and took aim, pulling the trigger only to be rewarded with the dissatisfying click of an empty chamber. Taking advantage of the pause, the Na'vi warrior whooped a war cry as his palulukan leaped forward, dropping the suit onto its back where it proceeded to shred it with its front paws.
The other two had their hands full of angry thanators, also. One of the Suits was tackled from behind and the thanator raked its claws down the mech's back, ripping the exhaust vents wide open on one side. The leader's suit turned around just in time to have his rifle ripped out of his hand, snapping the ammo belt and flinging the weapon into the jungle. He pulled his Suit Knife in response, but never had a chance to use it before the Na'vi-laden thanator knocked him to the ground.
"Screw this, man! We got to get out of here!" The first AMP Suit punched the thanator that was trying to shred him before standing and turning to run. The second did the same, working his way out from under the thanator's claws before running for the forest. The group leader never had a chance to escape, his cockpit having caved in on him from the animal's attack. The thanators pushed the "dead" Suit off the cliff before charging after the ones that fled the scene. Just as suddenly as they arrived, they were gone again. Davian smiled at the victory. It paid to have friends you could count on.
His smile disappeared as the fire in his side pulled him back to reality. He pulled his arm away from the wound to find that it was still bleeding badly. It was big and it was deep if the amount of blood was any indication. Davian knew from experience that he had less then an hour if he kept applying pressure to stem the bleeding. He'd have ten minutes if he let go. After thinking about it for a moment, he figured that it wasn't all that bad. Like greater heroes before him, he'd have given his life for a cause worth dying for. It didn't sound all that bad when you think about it like that.
"Davian?" Kim's voice came through the fire and smoke around him, "Davian?" He rounded the wreckage that had once been his chopper before he came to where the wounded scientist laid, "Davian!" The pilot ran to his side and knelt down, keying his radio, "Doc, I found Davian. He's around front." He looked him over once and frowned behind his exopack mask, "You better get here quick, doc. He's hurt bad." Within moments, Dr. Simon joined the team pilot at Davian's side.
"This isn't good." She pressed her hands against Davian's arm to add more pressure to stem the bleeding, "Kim, go get Will. We'll need three of us to move him around back." Kim stood and ran back to get the others.
Davian picked his head up and shook it, "Don't worry about me, doc. Go keep the rest of the team together."
"I intend to." She pointed at him, "The whole team; including you. Now keep pressure on the wound."
The injured scientist laid his head back, "Seems like a lot of effort for little ole' me, Anita."
Dr. Simon's shoulders sank as she looked at her injured team member, "Davian, you want to know why I dote on you the way I do?" She breathed a burdened sigh as she checked the bleeding, "You remember how I said I had a son about your age, right? He was a marine, too. He was killed in Venezuela almost ten years ago. You remind me of him a lot." The scientist pressed her bloody hands against Davian's wound again and looked at him, "I already lost my son. I'm not going to lose you, too. Now keep it together. Okay?"
Kim and Will came through the smoke to help move Davian back around. He snarled in pain as they lifted him by his arms and legs to carry him around behind the field station. Normally, it wasn't smart to try to move someone as badly injured as Davian was, but they had to get him somewhere defensible in case they were attacked again. Once he was secure, Dr. Simon broke into the station's trauma kit for some stims and blood coagulants. She knew as she administered the injections that she was only buying Davian time.
Jim looked around and shrugged, "So now what? We're still up a creek without a paddle here."
Dr. Simon didn't look away from what she was doing as she administered the last of the stims to Davian, "Neytiri saw my avatar fall, so I know she'll send help. We just have to keep him alive until they get here." Davian's head fell forward as he started to slip out of consciousness.
"Hey, wake up, marine." Anita took the least tactful approach to waking him up by slapping him upside the head, "Name. Rank. Service number."
Davian pulled his head up slowly, "Steele, Davian B.; Corporal; service number: 2133-SS-307."
"That's right, Davian." Dr. Simon nodded, "Service record." She kept asking him questions; she needed to keep him focused and thinking.
"One tour, recon, Nigeria. Two tours, recon, Argentina; merits for valorous service."
"Valorous service?" Kim arched an eyebrow and pointed at Davian, "Okay, now I know he's making it up. Either that, or it's the drugs."
Dr. Simon looked back at the pilot with hard eyes, "He just took on four AMP Suits by himself. I don't think he's making up that 'valorous service' part."
"Davian? Dr. Simon? Is anyone here?"
"That's Jake!" Anita motioned toward where the voice came from, "Kim, go get him and bring him back here." She leaned closer to her wounded team member as Kim ran off, "Jake's here, Davian. You're going to be okay. We'll get you fixed up." She had a hard time believing her own words as his breathing became more and more dodgy. Kim brought Jake and Sateyah back to the science team's hiding place, where everyone was gathered around Davian.
Jake knelt down next to him, "How'd this happen?" He saw the still-warm assault rifle next to Davian and shook his head, "Never mind. Forget I asked."
"Davyan!" Sateyah knelt down next to him and gently cradled him in her arms, the size difference between them making him look like a child.
Davian wearily turned his head to look up at her and smiled, "Sateyah. We meet at last."
Jake looked at Dr. Simon, "How bad is he?"
She shook her head, "He has massive trauma to his lower left abdomen, probably some internal hemorrhaging, and he's lost a lot of blood. I don't know how much time he has left, but it's not much."
Jake frowned and looked at Davian, "You should've listened to me about guarding the field station, jarhead."
"No way." The wounded scientist wearily shook his head, "Admitting I was wrong will hurt more than this does."
Sateyah looked at Jake with tears in her eyes, "Is there no way we can save him?"
The chieftain nodded uneasily, "There is a chance, but it's slim. Last time we tried, it didn't work."
She looked down at Davian again, "We must do something."
Dr. Simon nodded, "A slim chance is better than no chance at all. Don't you agree?"
Jake nodded before looking to the huntress cradling Davian, "Sateyah, go back and recover Davyan's Dreamwalker body. You know where to bring it." He keyed his collar as she hurried off to mount her ikran, "Neytiri, go back to Hometree and find your mother. Have the ikran makto bring as many people to the Tree of Souls as possible." He carefully picked up Davian and stood, "We'll do what we can for him. Just pray for a miracle." He turned and headed back to his toruk.
Dr. Simon watched as the enormous bird winged its way toward the horizon, "We'd better start praying, then."
Will did a double-take at her, "Wait a minute. What about all that stuff you said about him being okay?"
"It was the only way to keep his spirits up, Will." Anita shook her head, "I don't know what the Na'vi have in mind, but I think that's the last time we've all seen Davian Steele alive."
The next couple of hours went by very slowly as everyone waited to see if the Na'vi were able to save Davian. Dr. Simon did her best to her team occupied with salvaging usable materials from what was left of the field station, but she was having a hard time not thinking about it herself. The team all knew that if the Na'vi couldn't save him, Davian was a goner. The team had developed a strong camaraderie during the months they'd been out here, and Davian was kind of seen as the embodiment of the team's spirit. No one wanted to think of him being dead.
Kim scanned the horizon with a set of binoculars for a while before he waved back to Dr. Simon, "Hey, doc. I've got three fliers inbound. One of them looks like a Leonopteryx. I think it's Jake."
Anita shrugged and readjusted the exopack tank on her belt, "Well, I suppose it's better to know, one way or the other." She and the rest of the science team set down what they were doing and gathered around where Jake's toruk set down, flapping up a windstorm of loose dust and leaves as it descended. The large bird leaned down to let its master dismount and Jake disconnected his queue as he approached them.
Dr. Simon opened her hands expectantly, "Well?"
Jake pushed his visor up onto his forehead, "You'll be pleased to know that we were able to save Davian."
"Oh, thank God." Dr. Simon's head fell back in relief, "Well, where is he? Is he all right?" The shadow of a banshee flying over preceded a three-meter tall avatar landing in a crouch in the grass right in front of her, making her jump.
Davian's avatar looked up with a signature smirk, "I'm back, and better than ever, doc." He stayed down on one knee as Dr. Simon threw her arms around his big blue form, happy to see him alive. The rest of the team gathered round to voice their feelings about seeing their favorite marine/scientist alive and well.
Dr. Simon stepped back and looked Davian over, "I don't get it. You left as a human, but you're back as your avatar? How are you linked?"
Davian stood up and shook his head, "The avatar's all there is now, doc. The Na'vi were able to transfer my consciousness to my avatar, but it's a one-way link." He shrugged, "The human body was getting boring anyway."
"Davyan…" Sateyah came up next to him and cleared her throat with a jerk of her head away from everyone, followed by a rather suggestive smile.
Davian smiled and nodded in return, "If you'll excuse us, Sateyah and I have some…uh…arrangements to finalize." With that, they both mounted their ikran and flew away in a big hurry.
Dr. Simon furrowed her brow curiously, "What was that all about?"
"Oh, yeah. About that…" Jake shifted nervously, "After we saved Davian, he announced to Sateyah that he chose her as his mate, and she accepted."
Sally shrugged, "So?"
The Na'vi chieftain started glancing around nervously, like the subject made him uncomfortable, "Well, in our culture, when a man chooses his woman, the only thing they really need to do is…resolve the relationship."
It was Dr. Simon's turn to shrug, "Resolve how?"
Jake rubbed the back of his neck, "They…uh…" he cleared his throat loudly, "…mate before Eywa."
"They ma…" Anita's eyes widened, "Oh, my gosh!"
Kim gave a "rock on" hand sign, "Go, Davian. Dude finally scored."
"Shut up, Kim." Dr. Simon shooed him away, "Go…fix your chopper or something."
"My chopper's a heap of scrap metal."
Anita shooed him again, "Which means you have a lot of work to do. Go. Just go away." She rubbed the back of her neck and blushed, "Well, that was more information than I needed."
Jake held up his hands defensively, "Hey, you asked the question. I just answered it." Too much information notwithstanding, everyone was glad to see that Davian hadn't joined the ranks of Pandora's martyrs. Even more so, they were glad to see that he was happy. He seemed content in this new life he'd found, and that's really all that mattered in the end.
