XXXX: Wildfire
Jake's world spun, though his head and his vision were clear, his equilibrium wracked back and forth like a ship in the hold of a terrible storm. He pulled himself to his hands and knees, only to pitch over without knowing it back onto his side. The giant remained with arms outstretched as the Nekxtskxe fell and swooped over head. Na'vi and Ikran rolled in the black tar equally debilitated, Jake again found himself rolling off his side; Jake reeled when something rushed into his sight, a Pa'li with a rider. Neytiri! Only as she shouted down at him did Jake realize he could hear nothing but an all consuming drone of silence. He was completely deaf. Neytiri reached forward, Jake understood and reached back, at least his hand eye coordination still functioned. Neytiri pulled him bodily onto the back of the Pa'li which reared in terror. To prevent himself from falling Jake ignored the sense of falling and clamped his knees around the horse and his arms around Neytiri. She was still mouthing words at him, looking behind them so Jake turned; the giant was looking directly at them. Mindless to the writhing bodies all around himself, all of its attention focused solely on Jake's eyes.
Recognition sparked somewhere in the infernal depths.
With a heavy motion, the great leg turned and swept outward. The shadow of the massive foot ranged over the fallen and still struggling, none of the Nekxtskxe in the sky attacked with the fire orbs now, Paul was too close to their comrades. With a vibration more quake than step, the Giant gave chase. Neytiri ceased speaking and concentrated only on fleeing. Already the other foot rose ponderously to sail over the blue and blackened bodies, a thunderous footfall throwing the Pa'li out of step. Cantering to the side to regain balance, Jake held fast and turned his eyes back to the pursuit. He was following them, and only them, the rest of the Na'vi riders had circled wide to help those they could on the edges, even now Nekxtskxe were dropping from the sky to aid others. Once more the giant footfall, and the burning blame grew closer still. The black circle had been wider than Jake thought, miles across seemed like an ocean on the ground when they weren't airborne. Yet still on the black horizon the giant approached, methodically.
They were now well away from the main group of fallen fighters, the Pa'li thrumming along on all cylinders as Neytiri did her best to outrun the towering figure which continued to get closer despite their speed. Jake took this position to get a good close look. Paul's body looked like he was dressed head to toe in tight fitting bike-racer leather, with plates along his shins, forearms, crotch, breast, and up along his neck around his ears which pointed fully forward at them. The winding lights of his body burned in a near zig zag, harsh and jagged compared to the gentle curves of the Na'vi lights. Yet for all the lights his entire body was a solid grey- as ash. If the Na'vi bodies, a galaxy upon a calm ocean, resembled the heavens… this than was hell. Jake looked before them, noticing for the first time, Neytiri was pushing the Pa'li into a gentle curve, circling around the wide blackness to remain on flat ground and gain more speed. Jake looked back to the giant; though he seemed like he moved in slow motion, pushing through the air like jello, it was a deception in scale- each step the giant took was hundreds of feet. He was gaining on them on the flatter ground too.
Jake knew they would be caught in time, he pushed against Neytiri's shoulder with his chin and shouted for her to head to the jungle. Neytiri may not have heard him, she could have been deafened too, because she turned to see the giant's progress and bared her teeth. She seemed to spit out a few words, and then the gentle curve veered directly towards the foliage. Jake turned back, the giant continued after them, neither speeding nor slowing at their change in strategy. Still the quaking steps followed. The Nekxtskxe cloud now spiraled in a different formation, each one landing save a few scouts in the air. Jake tried to see if any followed the giant to keep position but before he could tell the blue sky was suddenly swallowed in green shadows. They broke through the jungles' edge and Jake felt immediately better; not just for loosing sight of the monolithic pursuit but his breathing became less labored and he felt, rich. His skin before was suffocated, sterile, and sucked dry but now felt moist and close. For the first time, by its absence, Jake realized the feeling of life in the jungles of Pandora. He bathed in it.
Another vibrating misstep and the flash of two burning spheres overhead robbed Jake of any ease he may have taken from this emersion. He could see the tree tops shaking violently as the Giant crashed into them- nothing of that bulk should have been able to move so fast. Jake shouted warning to Neytiri, her head swiveled, her mouth gaped; the Pa'li suddenly had to redouble its efforts, stamping hard though avoiding trees and snaring vines at its feet. The jungle sped by like Jake was in a Sampson. Neytiri's shoulders hunched, her thighs tightened, and Jake realized they were preparing for a- the Pa'li leaped over a fallen log and a ditch in a single smooth motion, nearly spilling Jake off the back and ripping Neytiri off with him. She threw her other hand out to steady Jake, the Pa'li faltered as the Giant's step landed with its own. Jake tore his gaze back to see a red wood, burnt solid, come down into the gap they had just leaped; he had already caught up with them. Jake cursed, and then realized he heard himself. His hearing was returning? Jake had always been told- during combat- the dead ring after and explosion was the final sound of a certain frequency his ears would never hear again. Were the Na'vi ears different? He could now hear the crash of a massive body and the pounding of his foot steps. Jake noticed the bend in the trees and a gigantic hand, about the size of the Na'vi fire pit, swept towards them.
Jake cried out involuntarily as the fingers, each the length and width of Na'vi rolled behind him, gripping only air but nearly brushed the Pa'li's flanks. Jake could have sworn he felt the wind from the swipe. "He's too close!" Jake warned again. Neytri didn't look back this time, instead she ducked low as the Pa'li suddenly veered right. Another monstrous hand slammed into the ground where hey were before. The Pa'li leaped over fronds and through spiraling tubers which all cascaded as they retracted at once, again the ground shook and Jake had a front row seat for all of the Giants maneuvers. Swiftly it shifted weight, balancing with its unending tail to sweep from left leg to right like a capoeira dancer; bringing his left leg up then he dove it through the foliage toe pointed as it slammed into the ground behind them and brought his full weight forward onto it. Jake still couldn't believe something so large could move so fast! Like a freight train his torso split the trees asunder as he pushed after them with both hands reaching forward.
"LEFT!" Jake shouted, the Pa'li answered instantly veering again as they skimmed inches from a massive tree. The tree took the brunt of the missed grab and the impact shattered the hulking trunk like cardboard sending it shooting down into its broken end and then finally pitching over. Its height was taller than six Jakes and width the same, it might as well have been a tooth pick. For a split second he lost sight of the pursuer as they dove down an embankment, passing massive puff ball plants and leaping over a ripe patch of bladder polyps. "Neytiri we can't keep this up, he's too fast!"
"I know my Jake." She answered without need to look back.
The respite over, the Giants leg again crashed through the canopy as its head dipped low to catch sight of them again but this time Neytiri didn't veer. Jake and the Giant again locked eyes, still the blaming, hating, gaze and suddenly the giant pivoted on its heel. Jake watched perplexed as he turned his back on them, then he realized all too quickly: ancient earth sailors, in little more than canoe boats out at sea, would recall the vengeance of the whale- as the great splayed tail lifted from the water and came down upon them, they would call it the hand of god; Jake himself was taken back to the horrible memories of Hometree falling down upon them. "LEFT, LEFT, LEFT!" the Pa'li leapt, Paul's tail came down. The impact alone threw the animals feet from under it, slamming it hard onto its flanks and forcing its legs to buckle as they sought purchase. Jake was thrown, bucked by the shockwave and only Neytiri's exceptional skill spared him from being dashed on the ground- she locked her legs around the Pa'li's midsection, throwing her hands out to snatch Jake's legs and pull him back, just as the animal righted itself into a dead run again. Jake scrambled for a hold as his face hovered feet from the forest floor. Neytiri was trying to heft him back into place, his own heels hooking onto the Pa'li's flanks.
The tail was a black ditch to their right, now, coiling toward them to cut off their escape. Neytiri gasped, Jake cursed, the Pa'li jumped. Jake found himself airborne again, limbs flailing wildly, strong hands dug into his midsection and with a gut check Jake landed onto the Pa'li's back with his stomach. The wind thoroughly knocked out of him, Jake clung and tried to breathe. A frond smacked him in the face and he had to spit out bits of greenery, but he held on. Neytiri pulled on his upper arm to try and right him, letting Pa'li run. "JAKE!" she cried. Again the stamp of the Pa'li's feet continued to jar Jake as they madly rushed through the trees. Jake's tail curled and twisted to try and help him balance, his legs and knees kicked out uselessly, then Jake saw the tree. Since Neytiri had her full attention on him, and the Pa'li was unmindful to the state of its unlinked rider, his head was racing directly for it. Jake pushed upwards with his arms nearly sending his lower body and legs beneath the legs of Pa'li- a slight fuzz on the bark tickled Jake's chin; Jake fell forward, Neytiri goggled and firmly seized Jake by the armpits, pulling him onto herself so he could get his legs back around Pa'li.
Jake quickly gripped with his knees again, sliding on Neytiri's shoulder giving him the perfect vantage point for what was ahead "CRAP!" the Pa'li burst into the wide clearing with oddly short clipped grass only ankle length. The tree line ended and rocky cliff marked the opposite side border, but within the clearing itself- suddenly flags of alarm flared, thunderous horns and deep stomps of agitation, as the Titanothere herd became aware of the intruder. They had no time to slow as they were suddenly among them, the Pa'li's eyes rolled in terror as the legs the size of trees in their own right lifted and fell around them in confused rage. Jake and Neytiri both gasped as time and time again they were nearly crushed or kicked by the panicking animals, then the Giant broke through the trees. The Pa'li was to Na'vi as the Angtsik was to the Giant. Three of the adults turned to this now clear threat, two more shying animals strayed around the edges, young beasts yet still the size of elephants. Jake grimaced at the inevitable encounter, though he couldn't help feel elated too, but Neytiri was most concerned, crying out as she brought Pa'li up short along the rock face. The Direhorse swallowed great funnels of air through its chest, nearly played out.
The lead bull, the largest, stomped its front left feet at the Giant. Who in turn stared emotionlessly as he took a second step into the clearing. Jake still couldn't grasp the size of him, even as he watched the monolith pause before his own eyes. Black hair fell like a curtain down either side of its face, through this close now, Jake could see they looked more like steel wire than actual hair. The lead bull trumpeted, the Giant did nothing. However, in standing still, it swayed slightly; like a cobra almost. Suddenly Jake's comm. came to life in his numb ear. "Jake, do you copy." The voice was monotone, as if having repeated the same message over and over and over without success.
"Yawne?" Jake cupped his ear though it was unnecessary.
"Jake!" the voice chirped, "This is Norm, what happened man! We've got streams of wounded coming in and everybody's talking about some kind of monster!"
The Pa'li shifted nervously as the titans continued to bellow and stamp and the giant continued to sway, "Is Yawne with them?"
"No, not yet, at least, I don't know- there are so many of them everyone is outside making a treeage, triage, or whatever- I haven't seen Yawne but I'm stuck in the command room, I can't reach him on comm. though, I though you guys were lost!"
A base vibration echoed as the herd circled up, forming a half wedge before the giant as a wall; they were the only thing between Jake, Neytiri and the giant – yet the Angtsik also trapped them between the rock wall and their crushing legs. "We are, we're trapped by a ridge near a Titanothere flat, we can't get by!"
The bull had enough, and charged.
The Giant didn't dodge nor attack as the Titanothere slammed into him with its great plate head, thrashing him into the tree line as he wrapped his arms around the pushing head. Trees snapped and crumbled before their wake, their bodies disappeared into a mash of tree limbs and falling vines. The others milled uncertainly as now the Giant and lead bull wrestled. Jake swiveled his head, knowing the rest of the herd couldn't have been far away- if he and Neytiri didn't find a way out they could be flattened in the melee purely by accident. "Norm we need backup, fast!" There was no answer. The struggle in the treeline grew more fierce as it seemed the Giant was now fighting back. Jake caught the side of ash grey limbs pushing the Titanothere's head downward as it climbed onto it- then legs obstructed his view again. Neytiri wheeled her head around trying to make sense of the trees and cliff and piece out where they were. Suddenly the bellows became hoarse cries, like a pipe organ rusted over from years of neglect. Neytiri and Jake both snapped their heads to the fight as the massive bull fell to its side- its skin slowly turned a sickly black, foam spilled from its mouth.
The Giant stood atop the mountain of flesh and bone and looked to the Titanotheres still facing it. Arching his back the Giant sucked in a great gasp of air, Jake and Neytiri both quickly covered their ears- the sonic scream erupting from the giants mouth vibrated the air in a visible pulse of light spectrum shivering the air itself. The Titanothere's eyes rolled, their movements became erratic as the sound assaulted their equilibrium and senses. The massive bodies shuffled toward them like a closing tsunami! Something blocked the sky, black and fine, Jake felt something soft- only then realizing the net that tangled around his every move. The Pa'li made a break for it, their limbs hooked and twisted and suddenly he and Neytiri were pulled into the sky; up along the cliff, up over the Titanothere bodies as they collided with the stone. Jake looked up, something was pulling them clumsily into the air; the flash of Peyral's worried face then they were weaving in the sky, spinning, Jake looked down- the Giant reached for them, Jake's heart leaped into his throat, they were pulled up again, the Giants fingers brushed against the bottom of the net sending them into a wild spin. Jake and Neytiri tried their best to hold onto each other as the net swung dangerously, yet they still went higher.
Jake tried not to feel his stomach flip flop as he looked down upon the Giant and the herd. The Giant roared in frustration as they pulled away from them, hundreds of feet below. The other Angtsik were attacking now, five of them slammed and pushed into him, mindless of their fallen leader's state. Ean'taw was strong and swift yes, but even he could not lift three passengers for very long. Luckily Peyral had not come alone, as Jake watched two more Nekxtskxe fliers swooped in to join her in hoisting the line. Who but Peyral, child of the Eastern Sea Clan could have snagged them with such a fine fishing net? The weight now shared by two Cave Banshee's the flight went much faster and smoother, though it still took a long time for them to reach Hell's Gate again, long enough for Jake and Neytiri to sit and think, in silence. Neytiri wept. The dead leader, now nothing more than a blackened mass, was a great loss and many more would share its fate if something was not done. Jake planned.
…
"You can't be serious." Norm said for the hundredth time.
"I know what we saw." Jake responded, again. The remaining lab room was buzzing with doctors, medics, workers, and scientists; Jake was not as injured as many of the other Nekxtskxe were, but he was a special case. His treatment and monitoring of his changing state allowed him a single doctor to remain focused on his readouts and tests just enough to annoy him as Norm, Max, and Neytiri all talked heatedly about some kind of battle plan. Peyral had all but disappeared once they landed, returning instead back to the battle field to retrieve more of the wounded.
"It's, just, not possible!" Norm blathered, "Okay, some kind of genetic virus mutates a human being for ten years in a dark environment taking genetic markers as means of survival from Pandora and Earth, okay, got it; this genetic alteration doesn't stop with simple body, organ, and entire system changes but it also doesn't kill it's host and deliberately continues to rejuvenate it until the end result is something super human- a hybrid that can not only spit toxic venom, but bond with anything it touches and turn invisible, okay yeah, I get it- a bit sci fi, but hey we're on another planet- but to fly into space surrounded by explosive charges, slam into an enemy ship causing an explosion in space massive enough to turn night into day, and not only, not only,survive! But mutate further into some monolithic giant that can kill with its touch and withstand high yield explosives! I'm sorry Jake, that's just too much, even Eywa couldn't do something that, crazy!"
Max however had been listening to the entire thing and was slowly nodding his head, "Actually, it makes perfect sense." Norm turned on him like he'd just pulled a knife, "Hear me out. What were the conditions of his first mutation?"
Jake answered as Norm floundered, "He was trapped in a coffin in space, exposed to Pandora when he crash landed and then buried while the virus mutated him."
"An explosion, in space." Norm insisted.
Max nodded, "A completely sterile environment. Remember the virus was still active, killing him really, so he was thrust into space and exposed to a number of elements. Namely, the embryonic fluid from the Hydra."
"Night to day!" Norm repeated.
Jake prompted, "The sterile napalm eggs?"
Max nodded, "I'm not saying he was encased in some kind of space egg, or his body adapted to fire in a complete vacuum, but maybe some of the viral cells and DNA, now exposed to the embryonic residue made it back to earth. If I remember right the creature, and even the eggs themselves, are able to withstand a great deal of heat- so passing into the atmosphere intact isn't implausible."
Norm conceded the point with a frown but still shook his head, "Okay, fine, you're the genetics expert- but how do you go from base DNA residue to, to, that! In barely two days!"
Max rubbed his chin, "The virus worked at an exponential rate, we established that, building and rebuilding cells like mad, add to that the base elements of neutral cells found in most embryos- and yes I admit this is kind of starching it- but if the virus were to take on the ability to remove and create genetic codes, in it's advanced form as such it was in Paul, then it very well could have to ability to bond with all the matter it came into contact with, changing its genetic code to suit it's new body."
Norm caught on, "So, what, you're saying the Old Order went to investigate the remains of a crash site hoping to salvage some of their tech and Paul instead infected them with the wildfire virus, all their genetic code broken down completely into base materials to create that giant?"
Max shrugged, "In theory, but you know it may not even be him. It could simply be the manifestation of the wildfire virus itself without his consciousness."
Jake stared at the floor, "No, it targeted me. Unless the virus somehow achieved sentience, that thing has a consciousness behind it, and it's out for blood." Max and Norm fell silent. "What about post infection?"
Max nodded, "Right, we're checked everyone, the um… black tar stuff, well, analyzing it is what lead me to believe it was embryonic in nature, it has the property to mimic the cells it comes in contact with, a perfect salve. It would be monumental to synthesize the stuff, but for now it has a very short life span. That's what gave the impression of dehydration, it sucked up the ambient cell structure to copy it, in turn sucking up the ambient life around it."
Norm still looked skeptical, "So it's melted people?"
"Total soylent green." Max grinned. Norm shivered.
Jake ignored the idea, "All that aside, how long until he- it, gets here? What do we do about it? If it is a walking virus, and not a person, can we kill it with an antivirus?"
Max looked thoughtful, "It's an interesting theory, but hard to say, right now we're so busy with the wounded we can't spare time to formulate any kind of definite answer. We do have him on radar though and he seems to be slowly heading this way, at his current speed we should have days at best, hours at worst."
Norm sighed, "At least it took care of the Old Order for us."
"As it was designed too." Jake said lowly, "Snuff out the human presence on Pandora, then burn itself out, but this is something new and we can't count on it stopping once it has achieve it's goal. We have to find a way to end it, before it ends us."
All fell silent at the implication and because no ready answer leaped to their lips. All except Neytiri. "If, this thing, is made from Eywa… Eywa will have a way."