XXII: Ring of Fire XI

The woman apparently named Jennifer buried her face into the man apparently named Paul's chest, "I'm so sorry. I'm sorry. Why did it have to end up like this? We were doing so well."

He didn't reply, simply held her while squeezing his eyes shut. Jake watched the apparently long time friends hold each other like there was no one else in the world, but he knew the clock was ticking. "Guys, I hate to say it, now we know he isn't against us- but we still need solutions to this Old Order thing."

Neytiri frowned but nodded, "Jake is right, we are happy for your reunion, but we must do something."

At this, and only at this, he finally pulled away and looked at her. She couldn't meet his eyes. "You've lost weight." he smiled, "And you dyed your hair?"

Jennifer looked up, lost, and then smiled as well. "Yeah, you changed too."

Paul laughed at that, a deep laugh that vibrated through his lungs with the same odd rattle. "We'll have to catch up later, you and I." he smiled again. He was completely different from just moments earlier, perhaps speaking of a hidden deeper past.

"If there is a later, Sun, Jennifer- whoever, we have less than a day to come up with an orbital defense." Jake stepped forward.

Jennifer reluctantly pulled away from Paul's arms, "I'm sorry Jake. There is nothing on Pandora we can use. My scouts at the grotto have already checked to my specifications. There are a lot of useful tools for us, but all of it is ground based assault, nothing we could use to get into space." She sighed deeply.

Jake slammed his fist into his open palm, "Alright, Plan B." Neytiri came to his side curiously, he looked to her. "We're going to steal the drop ship from Mr. Smith."

A chorus of various gasps and expression spread among everyone, most of all Jennifer, "It's brilliant Jake, but how?"

Jake frowned, but not in defeat, "We'll have to try and sneak onboard… maybe if we can select the landing point, and have a few of the people hidden beneath cammo mats-"

"That won't work, even if a Na'vi could get in and fit, they wouldn't know how to fly it and the Old Order would just blast the ship." Jennifer frowned.

Jake hissed through his teeth, "Well we'll just have to utilize human personnel."

"It's pointless!" Jennifer sobbed, "I'm the only one trained enough to do it and what if he doesn't land where you want? And- even if I get up there, with a workable ordinance delivery system, we don't have the firepower to destroy a ship capable of firing from orbit!"

Jake spun slamming his fist into the wall, "We have to try something! I will not let my people become slaves, not now, not ever! We've come too far, worked to hard. All the days of blood, sweat and tears. We've earned our home here! I can't just stand back while my people are slain or enslaved."

Everyone was silent for a moment… then Neytiri gripped his shoulder, "It is not hopeless my Jake, the people may scatter, but we will endure and when they sky people try to mine we shall defend our land in small groups. They can not fly forever, we can hide from these sky fire lights."

Jake frowned, "A lot of people will die in the time it takes for help to come from earth…"

Neytiri smiled, "By Eywa's will it shall not be all of us." They shared a gentle moment of quiet understanding.

"You know…" Norm said distantly, "…if Paul went invisible he could load the drop ship up with all kinds of explosives without anyone seeing, and then when Smith went back to his ship and docked we could detonate from here." Everyone turned to him, genuine surprise on each of their faces.

"Where would we get the explosives?" Max offered.

Norm looked slightly put on the spot, "We, I'm sure we could dig some up around here somewhere, right…?"

Neytiri blinked, "En'visabull?"

Jake's eyes lit up, "Norm, you're a genius."

"Cliché much Jake?" Norm answered.

"I know where we can get all the fire power we could want." Jake smiled to them all, "The Nekxtskxe." Everyone who wasn't standing on edge before, was now.

"My Jake, that is very dangerous." Neytiri said quietly.

"We have to try, this is their home too, they have the right and responsibility to fight for it." Jake answered.

"Y-yeah, but, how do you know they won't just kill you when you show up?" Norm shook slightly.

Jake shook his head, "They aren't savages Norm, they are still Na'vi, their code is strict but honorable, I don't think they will try to kill Toruk Makto."

Neytiri frowned, "My Jake, if you arrived on Toruk perhaps, but they are very far, to far even for Toruk. You did not have time when we had to face the RDA, you have less time now."

Jake smiled brightly, "We've got something faster than a banshee."

Neytiri took Jake's forearm, "Then I shall go with you."

Jake looked at her in surprise, "But you're the-"

"Next spiritual leader of the Omaticaya, and you are my mate; where you go, I go, if we are slain- Mo'at shall protect our people." Neytiri said solemnly. Jake began to shake his head, but Neytiri looked at him openly, allowing no argument. Neytiri then turned slightly, "P'all, I would ask you to come with us."

Again everyone was jolted with surprise, Paul least of all. "Why?" he said simply.

"The spiritual leader of my people believes you are very important, now, I begin to see Eywa's will in her words… I believe you are very important to us."

"He can't go into that den of monsters!" Norm said suddenly, "He's just a ma- well, he's tiny, they'll tear him apart."

Neytiri shook her head looking only at Paul, "No, I believe you must play this role for Eywa, for Pandora, and for Urth. Will you follow us?"

Paul looked at her, still as a pond, then looked to Jennifer. "Genjen, I don't, know about anything that's-what's happening, what, what do I do…?"

Jennifer looked to everyone around them, then back to the man looking within her. She starred into those trusting depths, like looking into the void, and turned. "You, must promise me you won't let him get hurt." Neytiri bowed her head slightly causing the long beads to clink together. Jennifer turned back to him, "Paul, I don't even know how you're standing after all you've been through, but I won't let you go in without help. I have, a leftover RDA power suit, you have to wear it. Alright?"

Paul nodded without hesitation, "If you say so Genjen, I'll do it."

She fell into him again, "Don't say that, not again, please!" he fell silent, at a loss.

Jake frowned again, but knew the clock was ticking ever on. "Jen, can you get the last Sampson running?"

Jennifer wiped her face, and nodded, causing her pony tail to bounce. "It's still operational, It'll take me about ten minutes to refuel… that should give you enough time to suit up." She sniffed.

Jake nodded, then turned to Norm and Max. "Guys, we have to move quickly, someone needs to tell Yawne or Peyral what's happening, and they need to tell Mo'at to keep the people separated. Got it?"

Norm and Max looked at each other, "Yeah Jake, but, are you really going to be okay?" Norm asked.

Jake smiled his same easy grin, "Eywa willing."

…

Jake waited with Neytiri by the Sampson, helping Jen prep the aircraft while they waited for Paul to finish putting on what Jen called a 'power suit'. The RDA Titan Armor, a mechanized bodysuit made of composite plates which are then woven onto a titanium-laced fabric base layer. 'Titan armor provides an unparalleled protection for foot patrols in Pandora's lethal foliage and Bio-genetic enhancements further increase the already excellent mobility of this heavy armor.' So the manual reads, but in reality the more than sixty pound combination of greaves, gauntlets, and power pack with a standard 'H' harness looked more like something out of first person shooter game. The thigh and bicep guards which doubled as a housing for the Bio-cybernaetic connections which reacted to natural movement with less lag than an AMP suit gave the armor a kind of ancient world knight look; the platework itself was painted a molted grey green in an effort to match the Pandoran environment as were the camo cargo pants that came with it, but Paul exchanged his black shirt for a sea blue one, perhaps in an effort to seem more like a Na'vi.

When he strode out, sounding somewhat like Robocop, Norm's eyes nearly popped out his head. "Of course he gets the cool armor." he mumbled.

Jake slapped Norm on the back, "Trust me, it pinches."

Norm hid his grin as Paul walked up to them, and licked his lips becoming serious once more. "Are you guys sure about this? I mean, really?"

Jake paused as Paul looked to him, and Neytiri smiled warmly. "I don't think we have much choice." Jake said finally and grinned brightly at the same time. There wasn't much else to say after that, Norm understood and nodded as they each looked at the other. There wasn't a real need for goodbyes, as they stood together again. It was another breath before the breach… Jake patted Norm on the back and silently they loaded up onto the back seat. Jen and Paul got in the front. "Remember tell Yawne."

Norm nodded stepping back as the engines whined to life, "Yeah, spread out, and stall if we have to, I got it." At that, the Sampson roared to the air, and out the hanger, leaving Norm and the ruins of Hell's Gate behind. The smoldering wreckage was like the ribcage of a burned whale, huge steel supports grasping at the sky like some carbon carcass.

Jen smiled at Paul as they slow took to the air and he laid his powered gloves on the controls. "Brings back memories…"

"Jen, am I, missing something?" he said suddenly. Jen subconsciously checked to make sure the mic was off so her passengers couldn't hear her as her heart raced slightly, but she remained silent. "Jen, the last time I saw you was before I went on the mission, we were chatting over Chess or Checkers and you said you had to do some kind of pilot's training for the next week, so you wouldn't be there to send me off…"

At his words, as they continued, Jen's eyes beaded and her lips quivered. He watched her do this silently, quieting as he watched her with his slightly widened eyes. Jen didn't look at him, for though they were almost reptilian now, she still saw in them the same soul of the man she had known.

"Paul… Paul I've…" her voice caught, and the years of guilt which had drove her ever since piled upon her. "I told you what I did. I'm responsible for what's happened to you."

"I know and though it is hard for me to think about, let alone accept… I, I don't blame you. I've even forgiven you if that's what you want, so why do-"

"NO!" Jen practically shouted, halting him, "You don't understand, I'm responsible… for all of it."

Paul waited, giving her time to speak her peace even as the beautiful sea of green sailed beneath them. It truly was a wonderful world, and though Paul was distracted here and there, especially by the gigantic planet on the horizon, the flocks of purple and blue birds off to the side, and the strange scent of oxygen flooding his new nose. His focus was upon her. They were moving fast, flowing over the forests, cutting through mists and watching the land change beneath them. It was serene from above, silent in their head phones… yet Jen seemed unable to come to grips with herself, to speak. She looked as if she was trying to push out a poisoned bard from her lungs, heaving once, then turning away as she met his eyes and falling silent with a sigh of failure. She could not tell him, not yet, but as with all things happening to the Stranger, he could only allow it to pass without thinking to greatly upon them. The pair turned from each other then, the dead air between them remaining even as the Sampson sped off through the skies. Toward a horizon which burned.

…

Jake sat beside Neytiri as the engine whined, yet his alert ears picked up far more than his pilot intended. He and Neytiri had both heard the struggling conversation and the failed confrontation in the pilot seat, the swiveling human-hand sized appendages were for more than show. He looked to Neytiri who looked at him calmly, he worried about the mission, and could not stop the thoughts which made him wonder what danger the relationship of the two would bring. He also could not help wondering what she had meant. What 'all' was she responsible for? Further, what other remnants of the resistance were left or still in effect on Pandora? And what about this dormant technology he'd just heard about, as well as the hero before him and perhaps even Yawne? Who was this 'Able Ryder'? Where were the remnants of the Hadamaya clan? Jake was once again reminded there was a history before him, and one he would have to get in grips with if he ever expected to take his place as the Clan leader as his mating with Neytiri inevitably proclaimed.

…

It was not long before they saw the fires. The land of the Burning rock was aptly named, far from the gentle forests of the Omaticaya, the jungles here were not serene, they were ravenous. The trees curled like claws reaching from the soil, the leaves hung like teeth, vines spiraled and twisted a molted black, and then the fields of rock erupted from the foliage. Huge spikes, ridges, and paths of stone where rivers of molten rocks once violently lay. Nothing grew here in the eyes of daylight, but by nightfall the radiant moss would glow anew. It was a harsh and terrible landscape, despite the blue of the sky; in the distance the party could just make out a mountain, encircled by three more taller than the fourth. Like a monolithic Na'vi buried in the ground the mountains formed a hand. From this distance they could see sparkles littering the ground, veins of ore untouched by the Burning Rock clan.

The markers however, were the most notable; torches, perhaps eighty feet high, with huge burning stones in a massive stone pit. It seemed impossible for such a structure to stand on its own, like giant matches they lined the land in columns proudly proclaiming the territory of the Burning rock peoples. Jake knew full well the Nekxtskx were watching and preparing, despite perhaps this being the first time they had ever seen a gunship. Jake wished for the powerful presence of Toruk beneath him, the sense of unstoppable power bonding with him brought, but he sat only in a slightly beat up RDA Sampson. One not even armed so to avail further speed. It was the only one which survived the initial attack due to being in a heavily reinforced bunker for repair, Jen's own personal laboratory beneath living quarters. It was only luck it had been in good enough shape to fly.

Now, as they approached a certain fight, Jake wondered for his future and the future of his pea- the massive arrow at least ten feet long and three feet thick that whipped by barely missing the belly of the Sampson ripped Jake from his thoughts as such a missile naturally would. Warning lights and proximity alarms blared, Neytiri gasped. A second was already moving toward them. Jake's jaw would have dropped had he not been clenching his teeth. Of course the peoples of the Burning rock would have weapons to discourage beasts as large as Toruk and the Cave Ikran's which hunted the area, actually, Jake felt a small wave of relief as he realized they were lucky, there may have been a Cave Toruk which the missiles would have proved a necessity, meeting that in only a unarmed Sampson… of course he did not have long to think on this. Gripping the sides of the open hatch, he felt the urge to try and pull the Sampson out of the way with his own hands, but he knew full well only Jen and possibly Paul's piloting could save them.

Already the craft whirled into evasive maneuvers, banking so sharply to the right Jake feared they were going into freefall from overbalancing, but Jen was not just a mechanic, she knew how to use the machines she worked on. With a slow pull in their stomachs and Neytiri pulling upon Jake, the craft righted itself as yet a third massive spear sailed beneath them. Jake whipped his head out the door seeing for himself the massive Ballista operated by Na'vi a few hundred feet below. "Get higher!" Jake shouted.

"But we have to land don't we?" Jen's voice crackled.

"Land, not crash! We'll approach from the forest, we'll be less of a threat! Look out!" Again a massive arrow came sailing towards them, painted and decorated with feathers, Jake wondered for a split second if the black tip had been painted in poison like normal Na'vi arrows, then the craft once more veered from its path just barely. The operators below were skilled in their work, they compensated each time the Sampson moved to evade them. Each miss was bare and the room for error minimal, Jake felt a surge of helplessness, and a combat high pumping through his veins- if they had to go down at this height. But they couldn't. If they did the plan would fail. Bracing for hope, Jake held on and groggily the Sampson began to climb. The operators below took careful aim this time, noting the ascent, compensating, winding with hand wenches… and only one let loose. The gigantic missile rose up to meet them, like a great white shark from the deep.

Higher they climbed but the arrow seemed to match their trajectory perfectly, Jen pulled up with all her might, Paul aiding with his strength, and Jake's knuckles turned purple. Higher, higher, still it followed, still it seemed perfectly set to meet them…! And then slowly, like a cartoon it slowed, halting it mid air for a second or two, before again falling back to earth. Jake could have sworn the tip had scraped against their undercarriage. The Sampson roared into the clouds at such a quick climb Jake felt slightly lightheaded, the back was open and not pressurized. They had been traveling for a good few hours, but it seemed only seconds in the tense worry of Jake's mind, that all drifted away like a haze when the atmosphere grew cold. Jen had overcompensated, they were now too high. Jake slammed the bottom of his fist into the cockpit, "Down!" he managed. Neytiri too fought, her eyes rolling. As if suddenly conscious of their passengers plight, the Sampson slowed and dropped sickeningly back into a leveled flight well over the four mountains now.

"Jake are you okay?" Jen's voice called through the speakers.

"Take us, down!" Jake repeated, and felt the edges numb in darkness.

Slowly the craft dipped, again, dropping this time. Jake's stomach flip flopped; it was different ridding on a machine than riding with a Banshee. A living creature had its own equilibrium and knew its limitations, avoided them, or chanced them knowingly and carefully. With a machine, it was like flying dead… on something dead. The Sampson descended at such a rapid rate, Jake and Neytiri held onto each other, taking in huge gasps of air. Neytiri's eyes were stark terror, she had never experienced the sheer gravitational forces of flying that dangerously before, even if just in a Sampson. She held her fear in check however, strong like all of her family. Jake smiled at her, grinning at their near scrape once more with death. He was reminded of escaping from Toruk… Jake breathed deeply and shouted again. "Set us down unnoticed if you can, we'll move in on foot."

"Rodger." Jen replied, but she could not keep the edge of fear from her voice. Softly the Sampson coasted, looking for a plot to settle on, and then, then the truly dangerous part of the plan would begin. The part where four would have to face and entire nation of the Na'vi equivalent of Vikings, barbarians. Jake strengthened his resolve as the dark and deadly rock garden below loomed closer and closer like a massive black maw of a crocodile, eagerly inviting them in.