- Your brain tells you that a disclaimer is here -
Chapter 42: Uncertain Intentions
Date: 14:55 June 11th, 2170
Location: Tartarus, Pandora, Alpha Centauri A System
The tawtute were driving her insane.
She was no longer trapped on the strange bed, her body being healed enough that she could walk, carefully, around. Max had encouraged her to do so, saying that the more she walked around on her own, the more used to balancing her body she would be.
That had been a moment of joy for her.. until she had realized that the tawtute were not about to let her move about their home no her own; one of their vrrtep walking machines had been following her around ever since she had slowly left the room she had been trapped in for far too long.
What made it even worse was how weak her body still was.
I cannot even escape from this lumbering contraption! She hissed to herself as she carefully limped around the base, the thundering machine following her easily.
The tawtute's home was just as lifeless as it had been during the battle, drab buildings dominated the scenery, lifeless stone covered much of the ground. It was utterly unnatural, with the only signs of life being the tawtute themselves, bustling about doing unfathomable things with their machinery.
Her lips curled back as several of the massive 'trucks' entered the base from the south, the back of each filled with the useless gray rocks that they coveted so much. She stopped walking so that she could observe the tawtute work. The trucks moving up to a row of other machines which swiftly began to unload the stone, dumping it into ordered piles, more machines were already being dragged over, tawtute using the noisy things to hammer and break the rocks apart.
Shaking her head, she resumed her slow limp around the large building, her 'escort' following slowly behind her.
Holding her arms out lightly for balance occasionally, she kept doing laps around the building, each becoming more difficult than the last as her injured body began to betray her will.
After perhaps five times around the building her body informed her that it had reached the end of its ability to move her, and panting, she leaned against the cold stone of the building.
She heard a metallic sigh behind her, "Please tell me I don't have to carry you back."
"Why don't you just go away." the tsahik in training hissed back.
A snort, "Wish I could, but the Captain was quite insistent that you not wander around alone. Now," the pilot leaned her massive machine down, staring at her through the glass, "Do I have to pick you up and carry you over my shoulder like a little child?"
Ignoring the tawtute woman, she stumbled slowly along the building, heading back to 'her' room.
She made it five steps before her left leg gave out from under her.
Throwing her arms out to catch herself, she let out a surprised grunt as a metal hand shot under her and caught her roughly before she landed.
"Honestly." the pilot's voice was disgusted, the ground gave away beneath her as the mechanical contraption hauled upwards.
Hissing, she tried to wiggle free, only for the fingers to curl tighter around her.
She grunted slightly in pain and glared to her left at the pilot, "Put me down moron!"
"I don't speak your language blue-skin." the pilot grunted, "Now shut up and stay still."
Struggling a bit for another moment, she was forced to admit defeat, exhaustion once more overwhelming her as the machine began to move, lumbering slowly around the building.
It did not take the machine long to reach the room, and a burst of laughter caused her to raise her eyes and glare at the tawtute leader who was apparently waiting for them.
"Have a bit of trouble walking dear?" the tawtute leader was still shaking with laughter.
She hissed at her softly, the pilot chuckling as the suit moved past, arm lowering her towards the floor near the door.
"Sorry, can't open the door for ya. Have to do that yourself." the pilot was still chuckling as it set her on the floor.
Shakily standing, she haughty opened the door and slowly staggered in. The tawtute leader, Thomes she thought her name was, followed her in as the thundering footfalls of the machine faded away.
"Seems you can move, after a fashion now." there was still traces of laughter in the woman's tone as Neytiri crawled slowly into the bed, its strange material suddenly comforting to her aching muscles.
Taking the time to settle in, she glared at the much smaller woman as she answered, "Why are you bothering me?"
The thin hair above one of the tawtute's eyes rose slightly, "Bothering you? I am merely checking up on you. The sooner you're gone, the happier everyone will be."
There was a long period of silence before she realized that Thomes was apparently awaiting a response of some kind, "Toktor Patel says that I should be able to return to the kelutral in a few days time."
The woman grunted shortly, "I'm guessing that means your big damned tree house. That's good." she cocked her head, strange yellow hair falling across her face as she did, "That reminds me. Patel and Spellman are on an expedition to Hell's Gate to look the place over, try not to leave the room tonight, eh?"
"Why would I want to?" she snapped.
"I don't know, maybe you suddenly fancy another walk?" the woman shrugged before smirking slightly, "I'll make sure that there's an AMP waiting to carry you back again."
She snarled at the woman who merely laughed as she left the room, shutting the door behind her.
Muttering curses against the irritating tawtute, she attempted to get comfortable and found herself beginning to drowsily drift towards sleep.
It will be nice to once more be embraced by my mate and welcomed by the clan. She mused slowly as she prepared to rest her aching body, And to be away from these sky people and their machines.
Sleep claimed her as she imagined her mate's arms wrapped around her.
Date: 15:12 June 11th, 2170
Location: Tartarus, Pandora, Alpha Centauri A System
"You had to carry her?" Parker managed to choke out through his laughter as he listened to Sergeant Major Milana tell her story of what had happened with the native earlier in the day.
"Yep." The senior remaining American engineer chuckled, "The idiot pushed herself way too hard, collapsed on the wrong side of the building. Had to grab her before she hit the ground, no sense letting the doc's work go to waste, then carry her back. Look on the blue-skin's face was priceless, I should have brought a camera."
Laughter echoed through the commissary as everyone within earshot listened in.
Several off-duty miners and soldiers were enjoying a late lunch, as was he. Nominally, he was supposed to have gone with to Hell's Gate to get a more complete overview of the old base to send back to Terra, but in actuality, Kozlov was already going with the geeks, and Thomes wanted to head back up to the Dream later in the day to supervise moving the rest of the wounded to the surface, so he had stayed behind to ensure that at least one head of department remained.
One of the miners leaned in eagerly, "Administrator, you think we can have a football game tonight? I mean, since everything seems to have calmed down a bit?"
He raised an eyebrow and glanced at the younger man, "And who would play? Russians vs Miners?"
Several people nodded eagerly, "The games were always good, and it would help people relax wouldn't it?"
"It would." he allowed, thinking it over. To be honest, he had been planning on having a game sometime within the next week, once they were sure that everything was going to stay calm.
On the other hand, maybe a game would speed up the morale recovery process. "It'll have to be a night game." he said finally, "After the expedition gets back from Hell's Gate."
Cheers quickly resounded through the cafeteria, the soldiers and miners both quickly jeering an taunting each other good naturedly as they resumed eating.
Smiling as everyone began to talk excitedly about what was now going to happen at night, he rose from his seat and tossed the remains of his lunch before heading out towards the Ops-Center.
There honestly was not that much for him to do at the moment, he was, for a miracle, actually caught up on most of the basic paperwork that came with managing a base, and the mining teams were currently working just fine on their own, no need for him to head over to the mining site and check things out.
Bereft of anything meaningful to do, he settled for heading for the main holotable and manipulating the image to show various local regions.
"Jesus Christ." he muttered, as the image of the former blue-skin home appeared in front of him. Most of the region was already overgrown with plants again, the massive hulk of the fallen tree was barely visible under the weight of moss and small trees that had begun to grow.
"It's going to take weeks to clear that." with a sigh he shook his head and began to go over other local sites for potential mining locations. The Hell's Gate mine had been nearing the end of its operational life. There was still ore there, but not a massive amount.
Maybe if we do reactivate Hell's Gate, we can finish mining that lode before we reclaim the area. The blue-skins probably would not like it.
But only the Beta site really has any appreciable amount left, we could reclaim the other two while finishing up the old operation there. He mused. That should keep them calm enough.
Nodding to himself, he brought up the base's mail program to send his thoughts to Thomes, and fired off the message.
Sighing, he leaned back and away from the holotable, electing to head to his office and complete what paperwork still remained.
Routine, thus boredom. I suppose it's a good thing, at least things aren't trying to kill us anymore.
Sitting heavily into his posh chair, he was surprised to see a notification from Thomes already waiting for him on his personal terminal. A quick touch of his finger tips opened the text file.
Re: Possible Resumption of Mining
Pending the report from Kozlov and Patel regarding recolonization of Hell's Gate, your plan is approved. Attached is the most recent update from Terra concerning what materials will be arriving on the inbound ISV's. Please add any material necessary for the resumption of mining at Hell's Gate - Site Beta, to the final portion of the list.
Additional News: Severe fighting has broken out in SE Asia, possible resumption of hostilities between India/Pakistan as well as Korea/China believed to be possible. European and American troops withdrawing from those areas, UN plans to let the wars run their course while preventing any global spread of the conflicts.
Forwarded Information:
2 Months: ISV Comet's Lament: Main excavation equipment, refinery equipment, 2 squads military personnel, forty civilians to operate equipment.
9 Months: ISV Terran Winter: Primary STG plant, one company military personnel (NAU), fifty civilians, ammunition
16 Months: ISV Eye of Sirius: Dragon Gunship, 2 squadrons Samson tiltorotor craft, personnel (EU) and pilots, spare parts, ammunition
28 Months: ISV Venture Star: 1 squadron Samson, 1 squadron Scorpion, military pilots (EU) additional mining gear, spare parts, medical supplies
40 Months: ISV Wings of Hermes: replacement military/civilian personnel, spare parts, medical supplies
Note: Considering losses, reinforcements, not replacements
52 Months: ISV Explorer's Hope: replacement military/civilian personnel, spare parts, medical supplies; Convert to additional Station above moon Heracles when complete.
Note: Considering losses, reinforcements, not replacements
After Completion: ISV Neptune's Twilight – Pandora
Outline of Colonial Program: Three ISCV's currently under construction using remaining unobtanium stores: Atlantic Storm, Pacific Horizon, Arctic Wind: beginning colonization plans outlined for Epsilon Eridani System, Heracles moon Alpha Centauri system
End Message
He frowned at the list. They had rushed the launches of nearly all of the ISV's, which was good for them, it meant that they would be getting their replacement gear and people that much faster, seven months apart instead of the typical twelve.
The problem was that there weren't enough ISV's to keep up that rate, even with the planned construction. He had no idea when the Neptune would be complete, but the knowledge that they hadn't named a date for it's arrival sent ripple of worry through him. There very well could be a several year gap in between the Hope and it.
That's going to be a long time alone here.
Another thought struck him. I know they want to return to the once a year schedule, that means that the ISV's here will have to stay here for a year to get the schedule back on track. We'll have the option to get the hell out of here if things go bad!
The though cheered him up immensely, though the last few lines brought more confusion.
Heracles.. he frowned before checking to see if he was right. The largest moon of Polyphemus, it lay well beyond the radiation fields that plagued Pandora. Though its atmosphere was thin, it was roughly the size of Venus, thus also avoiding Pandora's low gravity problems. It had been labeled for possible colonization and exploration but the discovery of unobtanium on Pandora had killed the RDA's plans to detail an ISV to the outer moon.
Looks like they're really pushing the colonial program.
Shaking himself out of his musings, he got to work detailing what mining gear would be needed to resume mining at their old site.
Date: 17:22 June 11th, 2170
Location: Hell's Gate, Pandora, Alpha Centauri A System
"This place is going to need a lot of work." Norm said quietly as they looked around what had been their labs.
Vines, shrubs, flowers, all were growing through the computer panels, and a tree had broken through the ceiling.
Their Russian escort chuckled slowly, "That is a great understatement."
Max grunted softly. And to think, this is one of the least damaged rooms. The refinery and power plants were both gone, as was the old STG plant. The living quarters and Ops-Center were both overgrown, but not as badly as the laboratory complex.
And the Armory block is still standing. That, more than anything, gave him what he thought he needed to convince both the Captain and the UN leadership back on Earth. The massive building could easily still be used for military purposes, and was still airtight, meaning that they could house workers there while they worked on fixing up the place.
He typed a few notes into his hand-held pad, nodding to himself. "A lot of work, yes, but easier than building an entirely new facility at Tartarus."
Kozlov turned, frowning at him, "Even with all the materials we removed?"
"Yep. A lot of what you guys pulled out of here was junk anyway, and there's still plenty of it at Tartarus if we need it." he glanced around as they walked back into the hallway, heading for the tunnel, "More good news is that all these tunnels are still intact, doesn't seem that Pandoran life enjoys being underground much."
"They do not." Absolute certainty from the Russian, "What reports we received from Site 01 during the battle indicated that both the native creatures and the blue-skins did not fight well in the tunnels there, and fought even worse when the lighting system went out. Their night vision is far too reliant upon the glowing life here."
Max nodded slowly at that, "I kind of expected that. Humans night vision sucks, but the Na'vi's is even worse in actual darkness. Polyphemus up there hasn't helped their evolution at all."
Emerging into the old Ops-Center, they headed for the airlock and the Samson waiting outside.
"At least there aren't many animals living in here." Norm murmured quietly as they strode into the sunlight.
"Mostly stingbats." Kozlov rumbled, "My people found a few viperwolf tracks, but no sign of them."
"Probably killed during the battle." he said quietly, sighing, "Lot of animals died, going to take years for the balance to be restored around here."
"If it ever does." Norm pointed out, voice just as despondent, "A lot of the prey animals here breed like rabbits, especially Tapirus and yerik. Overgrazing could happen real fast in this region."
He winced slightly at that. "That's true. The Na'vi will have plenty of prey at least, maybe that will help." He did not really believe it, but it was something at least.
Eywa really screwed this one up. He thought almost bitterly, She'll be lucky to have healed the damage in a decade, if not more.
It was hard not to be a bit bitter towards the goddess at the moment, considering everything that had happened, everything he had done to try and stop the fight, knowing what was going to happen, only to have the Na'vi goddess huff and ignore him, sending thousands of people and animals to their deaths.
And now she's in some kind of coma and can't be spoken to, which is severely freaking the Na'vi out. Returning Mo'at to the Omaticaya had not gone well once she broke the news to the people about Eywa. Many had broken down into tears, several of the youths had been enraged, still blaming the humans. Mo'at had dealt with the former, and Jake had tried to knock sense into the latter.
Max still worried about that last part a bit. None of the warriors who had fought in the battle wanted anything to do with the humans, and the adults and elders who had not fought heartily agreed with the veterans after seeing the wounded and hearing their screams.
The youths on the other hand.. many of them blamed the warriors and hunters for the failure, believing that if they had simply fought harder, with more bravery, they would have won easily. It was a very human reaction, and one that Jake obviously recognized from his time in the Marines.
That had not made it any easier on him, and his friend had confided in Max just before he left that his patience was starting to wear very thin with his own son, the leader of the 'Youth-Movement'.
"I thought I taught him better than this." Jake had snarled, "He was talking yesterday about how when he's the Olo'eyktan that he'll make sure that the tawtute are defeated once and for all. All of us adults are ignoring them, but a lot of the kids are listening."
"You need to calm him down somehow Jake," he remembered his response, "The humans are banged up, but they got a lot of their hardware back online, and the clan is in no shape to deal with a Valkyrie offloading a dozen AMP suits right into your front door."
"I know dammit." His tail thrashing, Jake had bid him goodbye, stalking alone into the jungle to cool down and think.
With a sigh, he ran a hand through his hair and shook off the unpleasant memories as they made their way over to the waiting Samson.
Katrina broke the mutually gloomy mood instantly, her grin vibrant as she exclaimed, "There's going to be a football game tonight, just heard it on the radio! The mining teams are challenging your soldier boys and girls Kozlov!"
The big Russian broke into a grin of his own, "Good! Very good! We shall bury the fools!"
The other soldiers with laughed and cheered at the news, eagerly clambering into the Samson, talking excitedly about who would be playing.
Max and Norm blinked and looked at each other as they too climbed in.
"American Football or just Football?" Norm managed to interject.
"Real football." one of the door-gunners assured him through his thick accent, "We have field in junkyard. Play at night, all lit up! Glorious game!"
The two scientists shook their heads as the Samson tilted forwards, roaring into the air.
"You really think this is a good time for a game?" Norm asked Kozlov next to him.
"Da! Only time. Remind us that we are alive!" the Captain grinned at him.
Max smiled and leaned back before noticing something, one of the soldiers was holding tightly to a large bag, one that he had not seen them bring with.
He frowned at it, causing the soldier to smile at him, her voice carrying across, "A gift for Administrator. He laments often about it."
It took his brain a few seconds to work out what was in it, and he snorted.
Of all the things to survive fifteen years in a jungle-overrun base...
Next up is Chapter 43: Calm Skies
Sorry about the long-ish delay on this chapter everyone, had a hard time finding the motivation until this morning, when I just started banging away and it all just flowed nicely.
Everything is starting to calm down a bit, though there's still a bit of discontent around. Hope everyone enjoys this chapter as much as everyone has liked the previous ones. Saw a bit of Neytiri, who isn't nearly as open minded as her mother is, as well as showing Parker and Max both working towards the future of humanity on the moon. Next chapter will show a bit more of the na'vi-human relationship as well as finalize the human and na'vi plans about what the future holds.
Building up towards the finish line for this fanfic, and yes, I am going to do a sequel, currently working on an outline and a prequel for it, working title will be Semper Furor. Considered continuing this one longer, but I think it's about long enough, and expanding it more doesn't 'feel' right, ya know? Want it to be a tight, solid story on its own.
Expect Act III to be quality controlled soon, probably in time with the next chapter, I'll try to get the rest of the story up-to-date and grammatically correct by next week.
Loving the Reviews, so...
KEEP REVIEWING PLEASE!
Review Responses:
TopKat90: I actually have cat, she helps me write. By 'help', I mean sit in my lap and occasionally walk across the keyboard when she's annoyed. Glad that you like the story and my take on things, even if it isn't quite your cup of tea. I enjoy stories that focus on realism and that's a bit of what I was aiming for here. I hope you do finish reading the story, and that you give the sequel a try. You can always just skip the darker chaps if ya want :).
Wired Dragon: I ran with the assumption that the continent they're on was fairly well populated by the Na'vi, and that most of them had been called by Eywa to the fight. I used to agree with you on Sully, but some of the deleted scenes from the film softened by attitude a bit. He's not the brightest man in the world, but I understand him a bit better. Expect his attitude to start improving now, with Neytiri being healed and his son acting up.
Will of the Emperor: Glad you liked it! I'm trying to weed out those errors as I said above, hopefully they'll all be fixed soon.