Diplomacy

Alex walked out of his bunkroom. The militia's communal barracks was sparse, but it had its fair share of creature comforts. The place was reminiscent of a prison block. It was a multi-story area that went up by about 3 stories. Walkways ran right around the place, which led to various bunk rooms, each containing four beds, a desk, four footlockers, and a toilet. Militia men furnished their rooms to their liking however, with whatever they could fit through the door. The main hall on the other hand was much more interesting. It was directly connected to the Rec-Centre of the colony. Here, both the colonists and the militia slouched off the rigours of the day, bitching about their superiors, sharing stories, playing a wide variety of games (both conventional and electronic) writing home, and just generally relaxing. It had various couches and T.V.s, holo-projectors, a bar, pool tables, some gym equipment and various other stuff used to kill time. The place was also directly connected to the communal Mess. Here, both the colonists, militia and RDA personnel ate whatever Hell's kitchen could cook up. Originally the place could only serve imported human rations, but the gene modding that all of the colonists undertook allowed them to eat the local flora and fauna. Most people agreed it tasted better than the stuff laced with pesticides, chemicals, artificial colouring and what-not. The RDA personnel had to make do with their own cooked up rations. The room also doubled up the assembly hall. It was here that Alex was headed.

Alex adjusted his exosuit again. He was starting to seriously appreciate the use of it. The original technology had been designed in the early 21st century, but power issues have always been a problem for them. With recent advances in unobtainium enhanced power cells and generators, this was no longer an issue. The suit was taken out of the archives room and produced once more to give colonists the ability to survive in the much bigger Pandoran environment. The fact that the colonists could now carry crates of heavy construction materials, as well as cover huge distances faster than normal, not to mention wielding big-ass guns, was a real morale booster. The AMP suits that went around were descendants of the same stuff. There was even talk of it giving the wearer the ability to engage Na'vi in hand-to-hand combat on equal terms, though no-one had ever tried it. Few RDA mercs wore them; they thought they were just some big clunky metal frame that made you look like you had polio.

He walked up to the door leading to the mess. Quite a few people had gathered in front of it, hoping to catch a glance at the new visitors. Almost none of the colonists had actually seen a real life Na'vi before, so they were understandably curious as to what was going on behind the closed doors. The colonists, plus a couple of militiamen who had some time off, allowed Alex to pass by. He walked up to the door that was guarded by to RDA mercs.

"Back off." snapped one. "No one without clearance is allowed inside."
"Let him in." the other one said a little more coolly. "It's the guy who pissed himself back at the gate."

Alex gritted his teeth and entered the Mess hall. The place looked somewhat different than what he'd normally come to expect. This time most of the tables were squared away, leaving only two big ones that served as the main negotiation table. This was of course, were 'diplomatic relations' were being fostered. To the left of the table were Jake and his Na'vi tribesmen. They were either sitting on the table itself or standing around waiting; the chairs were way too small. Jake appeared to be pretty calm so far. He was sitting on large crate Major Halverson had provided. The Major in question was sitting at the left hand side on the right side of the table, reading his data pad, brushing up on his Na'vi.

"Nice to see someone managed to change his uniform." a familiar snarky voice said to Alex's side.
Alex looked to see Noh standing there, still wearing his dirty fatigues and exo-suit. Unlike Alex, the Major hadn't ordered Noh to get changed.
"Did I miss anything?" Alex asked.
"Oh nothing important. We've only just called for the Na'vi's immediate extermination."
"Ha, Ha, Ha."
"Seriously man, we're just waiting for the Director and Colonel Carson to come, they'll be here any minute."

There were a few other militiamen and mercenaries in the room. They stuck to the wall, watching the Na'vi. The Merc's had seen them before, but the militia were pretty impressed that they got to see Na'vi in person. Before now, most of the militia and the colonists had only seen Na'vi in old videos and logs. The door behind Alex opened to let a few of the science team inside, led by a small middle aged white coated man, who looked like he should be lecturing rather than doing field work.

The double doors at the other end of the hall opened, and in walked Director Selfridge, Colonel Carson, a translator and a bunch of RDA mercs.

Selfridge walked up to the table with his translator. He was dressed reasonably enough for a man who had just got out of bed. He hadn't changed much since he was last on Pandora, appearance wise. Personality wise however, he was even more of an asshole.

He spoke to his translator. "Tell him that we appreciate them coming here, and returning those two militia idiots, why we are here, offer them beads or whatever, you know the drill..."
"It's good to see you again as well Parker." Jake snidely replied in perfect English. "I hope we can come to a compromise tonight."

Parker's eyes widened when he heard perfect English coming out of the Na'vi. More so when he realised who he was talking to.
"J-Jake Sully!" he stammered, already taken off his game. "I-uh, didn't expect to see you here..."
"Oh come on Parker, let's not play any games here." Jake sighed. "We really need to talk about this colony."
Parker started to sweat buckets. Carson on the over hand face-palmed. Diplomacy had barely begun and already things were going to hell in a hand basket. The translator quietly started to translate for the other Na'vi at the table.

"All right then... what exactly do you wish to know about?"
"We might as well start with the basics from your perspective. Why ARE you here?"
"Well... We are beginning to start a new human colony on Pandora to mine Unobtainium."
"Where oh where have I heard that before?"
"There ARE in fact some differences between this one and the last one." Selfridge countered defensively. "The people who are going to live here are not going to be RDA. There're just civilians. You might have noticed that the soldiers around here are..."
"They're divided into colonial militia and RDA mercenaries, I know." Jake interrupted. "Those two militiamen told me all about it. They were most enlightening."

Carson flashed a murderous look at both Alex and another one at Major Halverson. "It would be nice if your men didn't crack at interrogation Major."
Halverson shrugged indifferently. "Doesn't matter. At least they're back alive." He turned back to Jake and said a little more seriously, "I also noticed that my men had some blood on them. Nothing terrible happened to them in your custody am I right?"
"Nothing that bad happened to them. It's true that my friend Mu'kala smashed Alex's head in when he tried to escape, but nothing too bad. "
Halverson turned to the Rec-centre doors. "Garnett, Noh, get your asses over here." He called, signalling them over.
When the two humans trotted over, he said "Tell us about your big adventure. Don't skimp the details."

Alex and Noh told them everything. They told them about their ride on the banshees, their failed escape, their meeting with Jake, their confinement at the Hometree, and the journey back to Hells Gate. The Journey was made especially exciting, with the account of the strange dark and the sudden incapacitation of the journey. Then they told them about their nightmarish escape from the Thanator.

"...And then I must have got knocked down from the trees. I got my ass up, ran to the gate, and well, you know the details." Alex finished.

The two parties at the table regarded their story with a mix of feelings. Parker and Carson were quick to cry foul play when they heard about Alex's punishment for his escape attempt. Jake defended the actions of Mu'kala saying that Alex was attempting to escape 'custody' and that he'd probably get the same treatment if he was escaping from the RDA. Halverson had looked at Alex with a dry smile when Noh told them about Alex standing up to Jake and delivering an impromptu speech.
"Good to see that someone's got some balls, kid."
They reacted with interest about what happened in the forest journey, they were curious as to hear their account of what happened. Noh spoke with great appreciation about how Alex probably saved all of their lives, by waking them up before the Thanator appeared. The science team were particularly interested.
"You didn't see anything else of interest when it happened?" asked the leader of the science team; a timid man known as Stan Carnegie. "Nobody here went into any coma or anything."
Alex thought about those Dark Lands that he journeyed into. He remembered the sounds, the sights and the Shadow.
"No sir." He said resolutely. "That's all that happened." He and Noh finished their report with their thrilling escape from the Thanator.

Carson straightened up when Alex finished. "Well then... I would like to talk to both of you later, preferably-"
An RDA officer walked over and respectfully coughed.
"What is it, Manderly?"
"Sir, just like to report that the lights are back."
"What do you mean?"
"The glowing lights on all of the plants and animals is back." He looked at the Na'vi. "As a matter of fact they're glowing again too sir."
The glowing bioluminescence on Jake and his Na'vi compatriots was back again, none of them had noticed before. They gave a relieved sigh.

"Uh, very good then. Keep us informed." He turned back to Jake. "It's admirable that our men are back safe and sound. We can arrange to have a Samson take you and your friends back to wherever you-".
"We're not finished Colonel." Jake interrupted. "You haven't heard my demands yet."

Selfridges guffawed. "Demands? Oh man, Jake you must be crazy or something..."
"Don't take that tone with me Parker."
"It's Director Selfridge to you." The corporate said a little more brusquely.
"Whatever you say Parker. Now, we-"
"Oh what are you going to do to us if we don't go along with these 'demands'!" Glittered the Director with frantic mock subservience. "Are you going to write a letter to the U.N? Or to Greenpeace? I hear they haven't had much to do since the whales died!"

Jake gave a tired sigh. "Some people don't learn the first time..." he muttered in Na'vi. "No, none of that." He opened up again in English. "You go with our demands, or we come to this colony and kill you all."

There was silence.

Carson dared to speak first. "I'd like to see you try mate."
Jake shrugged indifferently. "You should know that there's a lot of Na'vi who don't hold humans in high regard." He opened up. "'Negotiating' with them will be a little more difficult because I've told them all of your tricks. They know better than to sell land. I am the chieftain of one of the most respected tribes on Pandora. I've made agreements with all of the other tribes to get ready if your kind comes back..."
"'Your kind'?" Carson queried with doubt. "I think you've spent a little too much time with the natives Sully..."
Jake ignored that comment. "And more importantly, only half of your men have any real experience. The other half are just trainee colonists. Are you sure that they will be able to defend the colony if we attack in force?"

There was silence.

"Alright then Jake... just for the record, what are your terms?" Parker moodily muttered.
Jake straightened himself up.
"First: you reprogram your defense turrets to not fire upon mountain Banshees." He opened up. "If I need to come back here to talk to you, I want to get here without having my head blown off."
"Right, and what happens if you come here to kill us all on Banshees?" said Carson.
"If that happens then you'll probably know to switch them back." Jake retorted. "I'd probably come with a lot of banshees."

"Second: You keep your Unobtainium mining to your old mines. No taking of any other places."
"Unacceptable Jake." Parker. "There's still plenty of ore at ESM-1, true, but if we don't branch out, we're not going to get much in the way of profit."
"Does it look like I give a flying fuck about profits?"
"Can't we at least mine where the old Hometree used to be?" Parker suggested. "You guys aren't using it right?"

Silence.

"Okay, you know what? I'll just forget about it..."
"You do that."

"Thirdly: I notice that you're starting up a lumber operation."
"And?"
"So, you are going to stick to a plantation. You can grow, and then cut down trees within the plantation, but your crews stay in the plantation. You understand?"
Parker sighed. "Yeah... we can do that."

"And finally: You fully respect the wishes of my people. If I hear anything about mercs shooting them I'll get angry. Your science team still can go where they will, with a few guards, but everyone else stays home.
"Is that all?"
"That's all."

Parker stretched. "Well then I will do the best to be accommodating for your demands." He got up. "Will you be needing a ride home?"

"No. We came here on horses, we leave on horses. We will however, request to stay here for the night."
"That's... acceptable." Concurred Carson. "Halverson, do we have anywhere where they can bed down for the night?"

"Well, we did have a nice wooden longhouse in the old days." He said friendly enough. "But after about six years of no one living in it, and the Avatar program being discontinued, we demolished it to make room for a bigger science facility. But I'm sure the science team has some decent accommodation suited for you and your friends sizes." He turned to the leader of the science team. "Am I right Mr. Carnegie?"

"Oh yes." The scientist smiled. "We have made a few guest rooms in case your kind ever showed up." He got up. "If I may lead them there sir?"
"Go ahead then. I hope you have a decent night here Mr. Sully."

The visitors and scientists left the hall. Alex, Noh and Halverson were about to leave when Carson spoke up in a rather cold fashion.

"Before you gentleman leave, we need to talk about the grade-A fuck up that your men just handed us."
"What? With all due respect sir, my men have performed to my expectations!"
"By handing negotiations for us before it even began?" he snapped. "By telling them about the workings of this colony, these two gentlemen have just handed our asses to the Na'vi savages!"
"Now wait just a fucking minute..."
"Watch your fucking tone soldier!" he shouted. He sprang to his feet.

"That... traitor, knew of how the defence force was divided into two, who was in charge, how the defence's were organized, why we were here, how many people there are! The only possible explanation for that intel leak, was that someone told them... someone who was perhaps, a little too matey with the Na'vi... someone like your two stooges here!" He was pacing back and forth like a madman. "I thought we told all of you fucking shit-for-brains militia that you do not talk to the fucking Na'vi, unless absolutely fucking necessary!"

Director Selfridge nervously shifted his seat away from the raging volcano.

"Thanks to these thoughtless dumbasses, we just LOST diplo-fucking-matic negotiations! We had to sit through and probably have to do his fucking demands now! We might even lose the upper fucking hand when conflict arises!"
He stomped up right to the two standing militiamen. He lowered his tone to simmering. "I think that some pay should be docked... maybe this colony doesn't NEED these two shitheads..." He marched out of the room.

The director let out his breath. He got up, gave a half hearted, "Thank you for your time" and left.

"Major?" Alex asked a little worried. "Is he going to really send us back?"
"Naw..." the big man flicked off the suggestion. "He's just in his pissed mood. He knows that we don't have enough trained people to lay off anyone. And he's too busy with construction of Citadel outpost." He picked up his data pad and started to go over it again. "To be frank, you guys did pretty good out there."
"Thank you sir."
"In fact...I think that a little reward is in order..."

The scientists and the Na'vi started to walk out of the mess.
"Pardon the intrusion Mr. Sully..." began Carnegie. "But I was wondering if a colleague of mine is still out there in Pandora..."
"The guys who chose to stay behind are still around." Jake said to him. "Just so you know, they had to transfer their spirits to their Avatar bodies, okay?"
"Really? That's... intriguing... If you have any questions, just say so." He was in thought for a moment. "I'm sure you and I have a lot to discuss..."
"I saw some strange looking Ay-Em-Pee's walking around." Ar'kadi said, quite suddenly. "They didn't have any arms."
An expression of surprise went onto Stan's face. "I, uh... that's correct! Some of the new uh, AMP's are exclusively for defence, more reminiscent of mechs of old." He said in his best Na'vi. He turned to Jake, "He's got a head on his shoulders..."
"You don't say... He's always had an interest in tech. Ar'kadi's spent a lot of time with Norm..."

"Norman Spellman! I know that boy! Taught him about this planet!"
"Really? Then I'm sure you and Ar'kadi will get along just fine..."
"My word, there is so much that I would want to talk about with you!" Stan beamed "But we really all need to get some sleep.

They kept walking. They passed outside and walked over to the science compound.
"Chieftain?" asked Mu'kala in Na'vi.
"Yes?"
"Is there something bothering you?"
Jake didn't say anything for a full minute. "It's that Palalukan..." he said quietly "It wasn't acting right..."
"How so?"
"If a predator catches its prey, it usually just stops chasing the herd and eats the animal it caught." Jake looked back to Mu'kala. "That one on the other hand, kept going after us. Even after it killed Kal'el. Like it deliberately wanted, not to eat us, but to kill us all." He looked a little shaken of all things. "Animals aren't like that. Something was very wrong with that...monster..."

Alex and Noh walked out of the mess with fuzzy feelings. Getting bragging rights and a small bonus was one thing, getting promoted to Corporal at the same time, could make someone a very happy man.

"Hey Alex?" Noh asked uncertainly.
"Yeah?"
"I noticed we didn't tell them about Miri."
He was referring to Jakes daughter.
"Didn't think it mattered." Alex replied casually. "You must not have thought so either when the time came to speak right?"
"I guess... Wonder what would have happened if we did?"
"We'd probably make things a little bit more tense. Jake would probably want to rip our spines out."

"Yeah... I guess...She was a nice little girl."
"Yeah... she kinda reminds me... Oh never mind..."
They continued walking back to their bunkrooms.

"She reminds you of your little sister doesn't she?" Noh asked knowingly. Alex gave out a sad sigh.
"That's none of your business Noh."
Noh brofisted Alex's arm reassuringly. "Don't dwell on it dude. Now come on, I just want to get to sleep. I'm too tired to brag about our adventure or do anything else."