Revised Chapter:
-It's kinda the Garden of Eden with teeth and claws. — James Cameron
Pandora is the fifth moon of the gas giant Polyphemus which orbits Alpha Centauri A in the Alpha Centauri System, the closest star system to our sun. Discovered by space telescopes at some point between 2050 and 2077, Pandora has been the single most exciting thing to happen to the human race in hundreds of years. Upon discovering unobtanium, which is a superconductive material, captivating many. Therefore, the cooperation of corporations in forging new technologies to get humanity there and to settle it.
Upon arrival at Pandora's, its natural beauty is unparalleled to anything experienced on earth. Picturesque settings and backdrops covered the planet, creating a harmony of elegance and tranquility that has been lost to earth ages ago.
As night falls upon Pandora, the world becomes aglow with the bioluminescent light of the planets flora and creatures creating a serenity never before experience. However, with all the beauty Pandora would harbor deadly secrets for its new visitors. Once the RDA deployed its resources, it quickly found out the veracity of Pandora's wildlife exhibited behind the mask of its beauty. In the depths of its jungle, an RDA fireteam moves swiftly through the jungle floors as death still hung heavy in the air from their previous encounters.
"How many of these damn things are out there. I must have killed hundreds by now!" A rough featured man bellowed out.
Muhr, always in the point position on the fireteam cutting through the jungle, was a monster of a man standing at least six and a half feet tall and could easily carry 300 kilos on this lower gravity planet. His sleeveless armor showed off his tribal tattoo, which engulfed his upper arm signifying his Polynesian heritage. On his 3rd tour of Pandora, he had seen a fair share of excitement and death on the planet. He always took the point position as he preferred to see the end coming rather than being surprised by it; he hated surprises.
"Calm your tits, Muhr; you may have killed ten at best. Don't be trying to inflate your ego anymore than it needs to be." I soothing feminine voice retorted, contradicting the roughness of Muhr's voice.
Valdez, the second member of the fireteam, was on his heels four paces back, watching his right flank as she always did since they both arrived on Pandora. A slim feminine figure which gave her an air of grace lured people into a false suspicion that she was weak and vulnerable. At the last moment, they would see the error of their judgment right before their lights quickly turning them off.
"I would love to see you do better, Valdez. I bet you can't even hit a tree if your life depended on it." Muhr fired back.
"Cut the chatter, you two!" The squad leader barked, cutting through the conversation of the two.
"The last thing we need is to hear is you two bitching as those damn viper wolves are tearing us apart." He stated mustering all the authority in his voice that he could despite already losing two men to those viper wolves.
In the third position was Sargent Lewis, an athletically built man with enough military experience to get him through the most challenging situations. After already completing four tours on Pandora, he was one of the more experienced team leaders that haven't left Pandora.
"Why are we even out here at night, Sarge? I thought Colonel said no night ops?" McBride whined as he began to feel the air grow thicker around him, making him draw his rifle to his shoulder and sweep behind the team.
Mcbride was in the 4th position and looked like a skinny science kid rather than a mercenary, but what he lacked in first impressions he made up for in is marksman ability. Quickly boasting kill shots from fifteen hundred yards and being just as on point in a close firefight.
"Colonel is the one issuing the orders, and we are to follow them, roger that McBride!" Sarge snapped at him.
"Roger that sarge," Mcbride replied, hearing the uneasiness in his voice.
The pace of the fireteam slowed as they picked their way through the overgrown underbrush of Pandora's forest floor. It was easy for someone to get lost in the beauty of Pandora's bioluminescent lit night, but just like how an angelfish lures his prey in with a bright light, so does Pandora.
"Did the Colonel at least give you the courtesy for why we are out here before he sent us to our deaths?" Basil chimed in.
Basil taking up the rear position on the fireteam, was the newest member. Just finishing his second tour on Pandora, he had enough experience to know what lurked in the jungles at night. His skin was dark as the night with broad shoulders carrying a thick accent that would easily give away where he hailed.
"Yes, he did. There is a comm relay that is a click away from the base that needs fixing. As you all should know, if those things stay down too long, Pandora could easily swallow up a forward base without a second thought."
It was a bleak reminder of how deadly Pandora was to humans. Sarge always questioned, to himself, did the corporations and the shareholders ever see how many human lives they were losing? Were these efforts to extract these stupid rocks worth it; or did they just think that it was some easy way to crowd control earth while making a buck on the side.
In the early years of the settling of Pandora, the whole research bases would disappear from the map, and when teams would deploy to find out what happened, everyone would be dead. It just re-enforced to the boots on the ground that Pandora did not want them there. But it is in human nature to take that warning and shove it because they were going to do what is in the best interest of them.
As the team pressed forward, the silence was growing thicker and making everyone on edge. Nervous sweat began to form on the sides of Mcbride's face as his eyes darted from tree to brush and back to the tree, anticipating the ambush that was sure to happen.
Breaking through to a clearing, Muhr was the first to spot the relay station in the middle of the clearing. "Sarge! Relay station up ahead."
Just as Sarge registered the report, a yipping sound began to emanate from the trees like hyenas during a hunt. Sarge's blood began to run cold as the noise grew louder and louder at a frightening pace. Soon it felt like the whole damn jungle was laughing at them as they whipped around attempting to predict where and when the attack would come.
"Viperwolves!" Valdez screamed, piercing through the yipping of the viper wolves.
Six-legged fanged beasts, which are as black as night, began to emerge from the underbrush with substantial numbers. Their numbers began to grow as the fireteams lights would hit them, revealing more lying in wait. The pack moved in unison as they started to coral the fireteam as they snapped and hissed at them.
"Sarge, what're your orders?" Muhr bellowed over the viper wolves as he popped off warning shots as some of the viper wolves grew braver.
"Weapons free and press for the relay!" Sarge ordered, and in a split second, the jungle erupted with gunshots and howling.
The team cut its way through the pack to the relay stations as the viper wolves nipped at their heels. Muhr, focusing on the mission, poping off bursts at the viper wolves, creating a path. Some landed fatal blows, and others merely wounded the beast, but he paid no mind to them as long as they got out of his way. If he focused on killing every single one, he knew that he would be quickly overwhelmed, and everyone would pay dearly.
The team tactfully made its way until the soft earth turned to metal, and the team began to take positions around the relay as the fired upon their pursuers. Arriving at the comm station, Basil started work as gunfire began erupted around him.
Muhr began to chuckle at the pitiful attack that they viper wolves were displaying caused him to miss one sneaking up on his left. It struck swiftly and with ferocity as it clawed at Muhr, connecting with his head drawing blood. Muhr let out a cry of pain as the claws dug through his skin and catching on his mask. Valdez hearing the call spun around and, in any instance, fire rounds at the viper wolf, which was engulfing her teammate. Her shots found their mark as the beast went limp and collapsed on Muhr. In anger and frustration, Muhr muscled the lip body off of him and fired more rounds into the creature as he screamed.
"Muhr, stop! Focus, or you are going to get us all killed." Valdez snapped at him.
"God damn these things!" Muhr screamed at the corpse, firing a few more rounds into the beast before returning to position.
"What the hell?" Muhr questioned.
"Where did they all go?" His inquisitive face was showing through the blood, partially painting the inside of his mask.
As quickly as they came, the viper wolves disappeared back into the safety of the Pandora jungles leaving the team all alone again.
"Doesn't matter, focus on fixing that relay so we can get the hell out of here. Muhr, do you need a medic?" Sarge asked, doing a once over on Muhr.
"Nah, it's just a flesh wound." He stated as he smiles, tossing his rifle on his shoulder.
"I bet it makes me look even sexier." Eyeing Valdez.
"Ha! Over my dead body." Valdez retorted.
"Hey, is Pandora anything can happen here." Muhr shot back sarcastically.
"Cut it out you two they may come back we need to be on high alert. Basil, how much longer?" Sarge ordered returning the two to the task at hand.
"Not much longer just have to run diagnostics, and we can get the hell out of here."
Pulling a datapad from his bag, he attached the leads to the marked test points on the relay. The machine humming to life, lights began to illuminate the outer shell as the system went through its diagnostics. The datapad let out a small cheerful ping as it completed its check and showed that all systems are functional. The team let out a sigh of relief as Basil returned the datapad to his bag.
"Finally, I need a break from this; a couple of rounds would do the trick." Mcbride breathed out.
Just as he finished his sentence and turned to view the jungle, something caught his eye in the blackness as it bore down on him. At the last moment, he was able to look down as tip pierced through his armor plate and before the inertia took over. It ripped him off of his feet and skewered him to the station wall behind him in an instant; the toxins that coated the head began to make its way into his bloodstream. He looked down to see brightly colored feathers on end and realizing it was an arrow. At that moment, the toxins in his blood ignited his neuroreceptors and lit them on fire. He screamed in horror and disbelief of the pain that was consuming him from the inside.
"Na' vi! Take cover!" Sarge ordered as the team realized they were under attack and scrambling for what little protection they had.
"Suppressing fire at twelve o'clock!" Sarge shouted, pointing to the direction the arrow allegedly came.
The fireteam peaking out from their cover, sent round after round into the tree line, hoping to dissuade the Na' vi from attacking again. More arrows began to take flight as the air around them erupted as arrows shot pass them embedding themselves in the metal. The blood-curdling screams of McBride could still be heard over the gunfire as they dodged and dipped praying that the arrows failed to find their target, which would instantly mean death.
"Sarge! Please end this!" McBride cried out over the raging battle.
"Kill me, please!"
Sarge turned to see McBride still trying to remove the arrow from him as he stared back at him, his eyes pleading for the dark deed. Sarge shook his head in disbelief at the thought of killing his own man even if he is begging for it; he did not have the stomach to do it.
"Please, sarge!" McBride cried out again.
Sarge could see the fear and the pain the man was enduring as the hung there impaled by that damn arrow. He could feel his heart sink into his stomach as he stared back at McBride, knowing what he needed to do even if every fiber of his being refusing to do it. Still, undercover, he drew his service pistol looking at it and then back at McBride.
"Damn you all to hell!" Sarge boomed as he pointed the pistol at Mcbride and squeezed the trigger.
In an instant, his body went limp as the arrow that skewered him bearing his weight. A single entry hole was all that showed on his head was at that was left of the deed. Pivoting Sarge turned to catch a quick glimpse of Basil stretched out on the ground. Returning his eyes to him, he was met with the haunting gaze of a dead man's eyes as an arrow stuck through his chest. It was a nightmare that was coming to life. Over the battle, Sarge could hear Valdez screaming at them as she fired with no focus spraying every direction in front of her, hoping to connect with something that was tearing her team apart.
"Valdez, Muhr, we need to leave now!" Sarge barked, trying to reach them over the gunfire.
Valdez, in her fury, not hearing any orders, stood upright, squeezing round after round into the darkness of the jungle.
"Valdez now!" Sarge ordered.
Registering the order, Valdez turned her head to face Sarge, and that was all it took. Another arrow came from blackness found its mark hitting her square in the chest, taking her off her feet and skidding to the base of the relay station, killing her instantly.
Sarge cried out as he ran to his fallen team member and was hit by an overwhelming force from the side, sending him reeling to the ground. He felt the incredible weight of the arrow in his hands as it impaled him through his rib cage, puncturing his lungs. Trying desperately to draw breath but the pressure on his chest grew more oppressively with every passing moment. The fire that consumed McBride began to radiate through him before he fell still and drew his last breath.
Muhr taking cover turned to see his whole team lying dead from the attack, all of them impaled by the arrows from their attackers. Feeling the cold breath of death his neck, he endured the weight of his emotions of being the last survivor of his fireteam. Inhaling deeply, rising to his feet make his final stand as an arrow shot out of the darkness, ripping his rifle from his hands, shattering it behind him. Quickly returning to cover, gripping his throbbing hands, he waited for the final moments on his damn planet, but it never came, silence fell over the battlefield.
Emerging Muhr was face to face with the raiding party that killed his team. There were at least 8 of them fully drabbed in their warrior marks and not a scratch on them. The leader of the Na' vi raiding parties lifted his dagger and pointed at him.
"Oe ninew kamunge ngeya tireyit." [1] He said with deathly calmness.
Muhr did not know what he said but figured that he said he was going to kill him, so doing what he knew would best prepare him for his death. Moving in front of the leader, he went into a squat position, drumming his chest as he echoed the words of his ancestors to all that could hear. Calmness coursed through him, thundering the haka a warrior battle cry from times long ago. Finishing with his left hand stretched back and his right forward, he displayed his tongue and showed the whites of his eyes, he was ready.
The Na' vi leader smiled, drawing himself up to his full height and lunged at him with lightning speed and precision driving his knee into Muhr's face. Taking him off of his feet, Muhr slipped from consciousness as his nose caved in from the force of the impact. Moments later, returning to consciousness with the Na' vi leader towering over him. Muhr could see the smile painted across his face as in an instant, he drove his knife deep into his chest, killing him instantly.
"Ayoeng laro si atxkxe ngeya titsunwingati." [2] The leader spoke as he kneeled above the dead human.
The stench of death hung in the night air as the sights and sounds of Pandora's jungles returned. The raiding party departed from the scene returning home, allowing the forests to claim the bodies.
Author's note:
Thank you for reading! I hope to hear from ya'll and if you know how to write Na'vi better than myself, your help will be greatly appreciated! Si arayo!
"Your life is mine, sky person." [1]
"We will cleanse the land of your kind." [2]