AN- Well, here's my epilogue. Sorry it took so darn long to get this published, but I've got some really heavily writing intensive classes this semester. Nonetheless, I will work my hardest to get the next story started ASAP. I'm rather pleased with this story, as it's not loosely based on a movie's plot, this is all mine. Hopefully I'll be able to do the same with the sequel. And there will be a sequel coming, this epilogue is less of a wrapping things up and more of a bridging between this Pandora Sucks and the next story. Thank you for going on this journey with me, and I humbly ask that you join me for the next one.
Read, enjoy, and please review!
EPILOGUE: WE'RE BA-AAACK!
Feet pounded upon the smooth decks of Hell's Gate's stretching corridors as Harrison ran his daily four miles, mind comfortably numb, barely paying attention to the few humans that he ran past, instead reveling in the way the corridors were nearly completely deserted. After eleven whole years of being stuck on Pandora, he had gone through an astounding number of phases. Boredom was followed by nervous listlessness was followed by cabin fever was followed by depression was followed by anger at his situation was followed by…well, needless to say, he went through a lot of hell over the long years. Now he imagined he was in the acceptance and 'zen' part of the whole shebang. He couldn't do anything to change his position, so accept it and move on. Write daily reports as he had for four thousand twenty-seven days in a row. Not that he was counting or anything. His feet slowed to a light jog, and then down to a fast walk as he entered the cavernous and echoing hangar, still filled with now mostly derelict aircraft. Where there would have once been the sound of heavy machinery, loud voices, and booted feet there was little more than the sound of old metal settling. If you listened hard enough, you could almost hear the dust floating through the air.
Ignoring the silence, he made his way over to the cage where all the weight lifting equipment was. As he slid onto the weight bench and began to pump iron, he let his mind wander, though not to the point where he was inattentive to the danger off bench pressing two hundred pounds of metal. That was one nice thing about being stuck on Pandora with nothing better to do, he was in the best shape he had ever been, thanks to spending day after day with little else to do besides practice his marksmanship and physical fitness. He had exhausted the extensive library that Hell's Gate boasted early on, at least in terms of the military classics. He had attempted to read some of the journals left behind and published by Dr. Grace Augustine, but they weren't quite in his area of interest, though he did acknowledge her brilliance in her respective fields. Finishing his first set of fifteen, he sat up, pulling a small towel from his waistband before wiping his sweaty face.
Movement caught his attention, as he watched Trudy and their daughter make their way into the hangar before moving over to the Samson that Trudy had claimed as hers. A brief smile touched his lips at the sight of his daughter bouncing along at the heels of Trudy. If anyone was responsible for keeping him from truly going insane, it was those two. He had tried to make friends with the hundred or so humans still on hand, but all the scientists didn't trust him for being a grunt, and what few SecOps troopers remained had placed him on a god-like altar, too good to be associated with. If it hadn't been for Trudy and Hannah, he probably would have stolen a Samson and flown off into the jungle and waited for something to eat him.
Hannah. Ten years old, and the shining star of nearly every human on the base, but no longer the only child. Other pairings had been made, but that didn't change the fact that Hannah was still the very first human to be born on Pandora, at least to the best of his knowledge, and considering how much time he had been here…still, humans had been on the moon for forty years now, surely at least one child had been born there before Hannah. Regardless of whether or not she was the first to be born on Pandora, she was the first human to be born on a Pandora free of RDA's influence. He could still remember receiving the news of Hannah's conception like it was yesterday, though the event happened eleven years prior.
He had just been told by the medical staff that he was cleared to leave the hospital cot he had spent more than a week in, and he had stiffly limped his way down to Trudy's quarters, instantly messed up by just how empty the base seemed now that the vast majority of the humans had been kicked off the moon's surface. He was in pain the entire journey, his hand unwilling to cooperate and the still healing scab over the arrowhead wound throbbing with each heartbeat. But this was a journey he had needed to take. It had taken him twenty minutes to cover a distance that would have normally taken him ten, and he was sweating and breathing heavily when he finally reached the room with 'Chacon, T.' emblazoned on the door. He had knocked hesitantly, but when Trudy opened the door, her face brightened even as she finished drying her hair. She had just gotten out of the shower evidently, clad in a pair of sweatpants and a tank-top, arms covered in bandages, showing the pain she had endured to save his sorry rear.
She had guided him to a chair, and he sank into the seat with no small amount of relief, chest still heaving as he stretched out muscles not used to moving after so long in a bed. "You look like crap," she had said quietly while handing him a bottle of cold water, which he accepted gratefully. "How are you feeling?"
"Honestly, I feel like I got into a wrestling match with a Thanator…and lost. Doc says I can't use my right hand until the job he did on the tendons heals up, and my heart feels like it's on fire. So, overall, pretty good. I'm in pain, so that means I'm alive," he had rasped out, and she had smirked a little, shaking her head.
"Well, I'm glad you can think like that, Mr. Optimism. Here's some more news that should cheer your disposition right up," she had said with a forced casualness, despite the way her entire body tensed. There was something about her tone and stance that made him turn his attention to her, despite the pain that flared all over his body from the move. "…in nine months or so, you'll have a new recruit."
He had frozen at that, shocked, heart almost stopping, and this time not because of a neurotoxin. Hands trembling, he blinked, clearing the corners of his eyes of the tears that had come out of nowhere. Not trusting himself to speak, he nodded before clearing his throat several times. "I'm…going to be…a father?" he had managed to squeeze out. Trudy had looked apprehensive when she nodded, but he couldn't help but squeeze his eyes shut, emotions overwhelming him. He was going to be a daddy? The world had tilted for him then, but he managed to barely keep his composure. "What…what do you want me to do?" He had asked that in a quiet voice, certain he'd openly start crying if he spoke in louder tones. He was going to be a DADDY!
"Well, first off, be there for the kid. I'm not going to shove you away because I got knocked up…it is as it is, and we'll face this together, okay?" Her calm, sensible tones had broken through what little resistance he had left, and a tear slid down his cheek as he smiled the largest grin he had ever smiled on Pandora. After all, who wouldn't be happy upon learning that they were going to have a child with someone they had been through hell with? Even now, he could remember that entire conversation word for word, and he doubted he'd ever forget, no matter how much time passed. Shooting Trudy and Hannah another fond glance as the two climbed over the Samson, Trudy no doubt quizzing Hannah on what did what on the craft, he dropped back and began another set. He still had another thirty minutes of intense upper body and core workout to burn through.
Two hours later he was in the base mess, listening to Hannah chatter on and on about the short flight she had taken with Trudy and a few of the scientists to visit Jake and some of the other Na'vi as they shared their lunchtime. He couldn't help the small smile that softened the hard lines of his face whenever he spent time with his daughter. She was just such a happy child, he couldn't help but have his mood lightened while in her presence. That's not to say that she was blind to the hard realities of growing up on Pandora. She spoke Na'vi better than he did, thanks to 'Uncle Norm,' could already pilot a Samson relatively well thanks to Trudy, and while she hadn't graduated to firing weapons yet, she was able to recite the different firing positions and helped him clean weapons after using the indoor firing range that Hell's Gate boasted. Maybe irresponsible of a parent to teach their children such things before they are even eleven years old, but Hannah was the product of Pandora, not Earth. She wasn't behind as far as Earth education was concerned, at least not yet, but as she grew older, he didn't doubt that she would fall behind, but that was no major surprise. After all, what good did basic Earth history do for a girl who only saw pictures and videos of a decaying planet?
"Hi, Mommy!" Hannah's bright words broke him out of his thoughts, and he looked up to see Trudy approaching their table with a tray, a smile on her face. He rose to meet her with a brief and chaste kiss. Just as he had expected all those years ago in the jungle, they had never really fallen in love. Their friendship was unrivaled and Hannah brought them even closer, and had they still been on Earth, they might have even ended up married, but it didn't change the fact that they weren't truly in love. While Harrison didn't sleep with anyone else besides Trudy, he knew that she periodically took other partners, and he was okay with that fact. She was still his closest friend, someone he could go to whenever he had a problem. He was comfortable with what their relationship was. He just hoped that that friendship would survive the trying times that were doubtless coming.
They spent the next hour idly chatting and eating their meal together, a picture of normalcy on a moon where normal was hard to come by. If only it could last forever. It was the sound of incoming aircraft that first alerted them that something was amiss. He stared at Trudy for a breathless moment before they were both up and running for the windows, watching in shock as four flights of high speed fighters roared overhead, low enough that they rattled the windows. At that, they were joined at the windows by everyone else in the room, scientists gaping at the jets that were quickly taking up an overwatch flight, circling the base like carrion birds that had just found a dead animal. "Where the hell did those come from?" one of the women yelped, but before anyone could answer her question, the jets were joined by ten Samsons and fifteen Scorpions that came in low, barely clearing the outer walls before splitting off to strategic locations.
Harrison knew what was happening. This wasn't an invasion, this was a raid. These wouldn't be your average RDA troopers, this looked bigger, more professional. His suspicions were confirmed when a Samson hovered over the Operations Center and a squad of black clad soldiers fast repelled out of the bird before breaching the tower. Within two minutes of first seeing the jets, the attacking force had control of the central nervous system of the base. Even while this was happening, all the other Samsons were doing the same thing at other vital points, the Armor Bay, the Avatar Compound, and a full four Samson dropped soldiers off at the Stereolithgraphy Plant. If they were hitting all those places…
He turned to face the doors just as they were kicked open and soldiers poured in, all dressed in the same black, newer looking armored exopacks with tinted visors making them look even less human. "Everybody DOWN!" "Down, on the floor, now!" "Harrison, James. Is there a Harrison here?" "Positive ID, retrieving package." Knowing what was happening, he jogged forward to meet the two soldiers moving towards him, covering him and all those behind him with their rifles. Once he was clear of the sparse crowd behind him that was quickly dropping to the ground, he dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head. Then they were on him, slamming him down on the ground, twisting his arms so that they were behind his back, securing them with flexicuffs.
"Mother's name!" come the heated shout.
He paused for only a second. "Arianna Hunter."
"Number!"
"One-niner-six-three."
"Package confirmed and bagged, moving out." An exopack slipped over his face, and they sealed it quickly. Then he was up on his feet, listening to the intercom belt out that any resistance would be met with lethal force, all individuals were advised to lay down on the floor, faces down, hands behind their heads, and legs crossed.
"Daddy!" A shrill scream, followed by the sound of small feet slapping against the floor.
"Trudy, keep her here and safe! I will contact you again! Don't worry about me!"
The intercom came to life again. "All personnel, brace for detonation. Fire in the hole, fire in the hole, fire in the hole!" There was a muffled roar, and he looked back out the window to see the Stereolithography Plant go up in flames. Now it couldn't be used to manufacture weapons for the Na'vi. They had already read his reports where he had said that Jake was arming the Omaticaya with firearms. They already knew. Ten minutes after the jets had first arrived, he was forcibly escorted outside, where a Samson was touching down in a quick dust off. In fifteen seconds, he and the rest of the squad were aboard the craft, and they were taking off, assuming an overwatch pattern for the teams still on the ground. Five minutes later, he watched as the ammunition stockpiles in the Armor Bay were demolished as all remaining soldiers were picked up. All aircraft were scrambling for altitude, and soon they were flying away from Hell's Gate at ever increasing speeds.
"What the hell was that?" he shouted over the stuttering roar of the Samson's rotors, and one of the soldiers with a lieutenant's bar leaned towards him.
"Our mission was to retrieve you and destroy any weapons fabrication abilities the natives might have," the soldier shouted back, light voice revealing the trooper to be female. "We aren't RDA, they no longer have jurisdiction over Pandora. This is now an all military operation. We're taking you to our base out in the plains!"
He nodded, and leaned back in his seat, ignoring the discomfort of the flexicuffs, knowing that they were necessary, simple protocol. "Who'm I going to be debriefed by?"
"General Treleaven. He's got full operational clearance for this one. Whatever he says, goes. He'll be meeting you the moment we get back, so you'd better have your story straight, Sergeant!" He didn't bother responding, and instead looked out at the passing Pandora jungle. In a few hours it would turn into plains, and beyond that lay the human base. Why hadn't any of the Na'vi noticed it? How did they managed to get fighter jets here? What was going on? Shaking his head, he cleared his thoughts and relaxed. All questions would be answered. He just needed to be patient. Hell, he'd been patient for eleven years, what was a few more hours? With that final thought, he closed his eyes, and promptly willed himself to sleep.