Fire from the heavens
"…As stated by law in the event of an armed conflict or a comparable crisis military personnel are authorized to seize civilian resources and assets that are deemed vital for the completion of their mission. They are also authorized to engage the services of civilian personnel for the purposes of the same." Ardmore said to the face of the captain of the ISV Ceres on the video display in front of her.
"Yes, yes. I get your point." The captain said.
"Naturally the law states that all acquisitions must be appropriately documented and done under the express authorization of a superior officer. Once the circumstances that necessitated the acquisition have abated all seized materials must be returned to the control of their rightful owners at the earliest convenience. In the event acquisitioned items are damaged, destroyed or spent during the course of their use, the original owners are to be compensated up to the full market value of the affected assets." She nevertheless continued, a slight smirk appearing on her face.
"If necessary I can produce to you the paperwork documenting the commandeering of your vessel. And provide you a reading of the relevant laws should you require it." She offered smugly.
"I have seen those documents. And I made sure to read up on the law the moment it was first cited to me." The Captain said dryly.
"Good. Then I gather there is no misunderstanding here. The commandeering of your vessel is entirely within legal bounds. Your protest, while within your rights, is without merit. And any accusations of, as you so charmingly put it, *piracy* or *stealing your vessel* are unfounded. Your protest has been logged, but at this time that will be the end of it. Our cause is just and fair and necessary. And our legal position is quite strong. I trust we have an understanding of each other now?" Ardmore said.
The Captain sighed heavily. "Yes. Yes we do."
"Excellent. So what is your current status?" She asked.
"Uh, we have completed our orbital orientation and are now on a geosynchronous orbit. Once we are done with this conversation we will be contacting mission control and beginning our final descent into the atmosphere." He said.
Ardmore nodded. "I'd best let you get on with that. We will be monitoring your progress from here."
"Chin up, Captain. You are about to make history. Today will mark our victory over the Na'vi hostiles. You and your crew will be remembered as one of those who played a crucial role in winning humanity a new home." She concluded.
After the call ended she rubbed her eyes. "Civilians… have to put in twice as much effort to get half as much done."
She took several steps to another part of the command center, looking at a holographic representation of the ISV Ceres holding orbit over Pandora's surface. On surrounding displays camera footage from various angles of the ship could be seen.
"That's affirmative Ceres. Phase one is go. You may begin your descent into the atmosphere. Target height is twenty five kilometers above planetary surface. Decent and hold at target." A flight controller close by said.
"Roger, descent and hold. Twenty five clicks. Two minutes and thirty seconds to discharge event." Came the response from the other side. On the hologram the shape of the Ceres was starting to move down towards the planet's surface. More reports could be heard coming in.
"Descending to seventy clicks. Sixty five. Sixty…"
"Slight turbulence now. Directional thrusters firing to compensate."
"Vertical tilt remaining within acceptable limits. Decent steady."
"Hull integrity remains solid. All systems remain in the green."
"Slight distortion on monitor. Possibly from the flux. Employing countermeasures."
"Forty clicks now. Thirty. Nearly there."
"Main engines five second burn at three percent power to slow rate of decent."
"Roger. Main engines, five seconds three percent. Firing."
A dim blue glow could now be seen on the cameras for a few moments as the ship decelerated for the final leg of its journey.
"Now at two seven point five klicks… two six point oh."
"Main engines three second burn at six percent power."
"Roger, Main engines, three seconds, six percent. Firing."
"Directional thrusters 8-24 to full power. Rest to continue to firing as needed."
"Affirmative, wilco."
"Altitude?"
"Holding steady twenty five point one."
The Ceres now loomed ominously over its target. One of the onboard cameras zoomed closer and closer to the ground until a canopy of stone arches in the center of the Hallelujah Mountains could be seen. Despite the distance Ardmore thought she could just make out the shape of a single tree beneath the arches. The Tree of Souls…
"Mission control, requesting permission to commence phase two."
Ardmore motioned for the flight controller to wait, then took their headset.
"This is your general speaking. Permission granted. You may fire when ready."
"Acknowledged. Beginning final power up sequence for discharge event. Main engines, make ready for a burn. Sixty percent power."
"Roger, commencing power up to sixty percent. Engines at ten percent… twenty."
"Ship orientation satisfactory."
"All sections report secure and ready for discharge event."
"Thirty percent... forty."
"Thrusters 8-24 performance is good. Other thrusters standing by for corrective firings."
"Discharge event in 10 seconds… 9… 8… 7… 6…"
"Engines at fifty percent… at sixty and holding. Ready to go."
"5… 4… 3… 2… 1, now!"
"Commence."
Two blue-white columns of light erupted from the ship, slamming to the ground an instant later. For a moment the camera screen went white until the systems adjusted the contrast. The Tree of Souls had disappeared, annihilated by the release of energy from the matter/antimatter engines. The surrounding stone arches shattered and melted under the onslaught of extreme heat. On the holographic display a field of red was rapidly expanding, showing the spread of fire from the first point of impact. For many kilometers around the forest and the mountains would shortly be ablaze.
The general could not help but smile at the sight. In a single blow she had done what Quaritch had tried and failed to do many years ago, dealing a terrible blow to the morale of their enemy. That she had achieved this with the biggest guns she could improvise would only enhance the effect. The hostiles would know that with starships at her command she could unleash this same devastation anywhere she wished to, and that there would not be a thing they could do to stop it. This attack would also decimate the Banshee population in the region, making the area considerably safer for her pilots and limiting the number of airborne hostiles they might face in the future. With some fortune this would also destroy Jake Sully's secret base, spelling and end to their resistance movement.
"Target well hit. Estimated blast radius reaching optimal spread. Requesting permission to ascend?" Came the voice of the captain over the radio after some ten minutes.
"Clearance granted, Ceres. Primary directive achieved." Ardmore replied. "My congratulations to you and your crew. You've done very well this day."
"Roger that, and thank you." Came the response. "Helm, bring engines to full, directional thrusters as needed. Take us back to a stable orbit."
The light from the starship's engines grew brighter as the vessel once again began gaining altitude, pushing towards the safety of open space. Ardmore returned her attention to the hologram, deep in thought, her eyes fixed on the scene.
"Ma'am, outer perimeter command post is reporting an anomaly." One of the communications operators suddenly said, breaking her out of her musings.
"An attack?" The General asked at once.
"Doesn't appear that way. Perimeter sensors are picking up some kind of audio. Scattered movement at the edge of the tree line. But not enough to be an attack force. They… aren't quite sure what they're dealing with." The operator said, sounding… concerned.
"Have them relay the audio here. Put it on the speakers." She ordered.
"Yes, Ma'am. One moment." The operator replied.
Shortly after everyone in the control room began to hear creatures… howling… wailing… screeching. Screaming in terrible pain. Thousands of them.
A disquiet descended on the room as they listened to the cacophony.
"What is this? What's happening?" Ardmore finally asked the question on everyone's mind.
"Will they be alright?" Spider asked onboard the medical rotorcraft, on one knee before Jake and Neytiri's unconscious forms.
"I'm doing what I can for them. But they need to be brought to a proper facility soon." Replied the medic working on them.
"You sure you know what you are doing? They aren't human." Spider asked.
"Reasonably sure, no worries. Lessons on Na'vi biology were a required study subject to gain admission to come here." The medic said.
He shook his head. "Oh boy. Going to take a lot of effort to restore these two. Not looking forward to the pile of work that is going to be."
"We don't need them at a hundred percent. Just keep them alive." Quaritch said from the bench where he was sitting. Spider shot him a hostile glare.
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that sir…" The medic replied not turning his eyes from his work.
"Excuse me?" Quaritch asked, raising an eyebrow.
"I said I didn't hear that, sir. I treat all wounded equally." The medic repeated.
Quarich paused, then raised up his hands. "Alright, alright. Just do your job then."
Spider looked surprised, then gave a dry chuckle. "Never expected you to fold so quickly."
"Rule number one in the army kid: Don't screw around with the medics. They might have to save your life one day. What they say goes." Quaritch explained.
He sighed heavily. "I still can't believe you're having me do this. All this work to hunt them down, and now we're trying to save their asses."
"And it's going to be a really hard sell with the general too. She wanted me to put a few rounds in them be done with it. And I can't say that wasn't exactly my plan. Until now that is. And I can't promise she won't decide to have both of them shot the moment we get to her."
"There has to be some other way. I won't have them die. That was the deal we made." Spider said firmly.
"It ain't that simple kid. She can't let them go or they'll keep on causing trouble. And if she locks them up someone might bust them out. And like it or not she's not bound by any deals you and I made."
"Let me speak with her then." Spider suggested.
Quaritch chuckled. "You know, I'm mighty tempted to let you do just that. You caused this mess. Maybe you should be the one to sort it out."
"But most likely she would just stick you back in her machine. And this time purely out of spite. Your charms aren't going to work on her. I sometimes think that one is more a machine than a person. All strategy and tactics. So you're better off leaving the talking to me." He added.
"And then what? What are you planning on telling her?" Spider asked.
"I'm working on that. I'll tell you straight, I'm going to have to give her something close to what she expected to have. Enough that she won't just overrule the whole deal. It's going to have to be a compromise of some sort. Which probably means no one will be particularly hap- AAAARGH!" Quaritch said before all of a sudden beginning to scream at the top of his lungs, bending over and holding his head with both hands.
"What the hell-?" Spider gasped, jumping back on his seat.
"Colonel, what's wrong!?" Asked the equally startled medic.
Despite the heavy sedatives they were on, Jake and Neytiri were trembling, their faces contorted.
"What the hell is going on?" Spider asked.
"Don't ask me! I haven't a clue!" The medic said, spreading his hands.
Payakan was swimming slowly, letting the others use him as a raft. Lo'ak and his family were all huddled together in a pile. With them finally out of immediate danger many dams had broken. All of them had been crying. Crying over all the things that had been lost or had gone missing. All the things that had suddenly changed for the worse on this brutal day. Over all the uncertainties and difficulties that might yet be ahead, which at the moment felt entirely insurmountable. For several hours it was all they did do. Eventually, as the sun was starting to set, they began to drift off to sleep. Lo'ak stayed awake, staring into the horizon, deep in thought. Kiri woke later to find him still at it. For a time she watched him, neither of them speaking.
It was Kiri who finally broke the silence. "Lo'ak… where are we going? Do we have a plan?"
"I'll… ask Payakan to bring us to the closest village from here. We can find help there. And Ronal asked me to bring word about this to other villages, rally them to fight." He said.
"So we are continuing on with it then?" She asked.
"I'm not giving up. I can't let the humans win. I have to keep trying. It's what mom and dad would want me to do. Even if…" He said before his voice faltered.
"Dammit all! Mom and Dad both… how am I supposed to even start doing this without them?" He said.
"How are we supposed to do it? Trust us to help." Kiri said.
"I shouldn't ask you to risk it…" He said.
"But we are going to be staying together. This family is not going to get torn apart any more than it already has. And since we are going to be in the same place you are we might as well do what we can to help make this work." Kiri countered.
"Right… but we will need to be very careful. We aren't losing anyone else." Lo'ak said.
"Agreed. And I wasn't suggesting we put war paint on and charge straight at the Sky People. Going to take time before we are ready to fight them. Right now we are just being messengers. Talking won't get any of us killed." She said.
Lo'ak nodded. "Yeah. You're right. Let's take this in small bites. It will be easier. I just wish we didn't have to do this all on our own."
"Damn straight." Kiri said. She sighed, rubbing her forehead. "Man, what a day."
"Spider… do you think we can still trust him? The way he just ran off like that…" Lo'ak asked suddenly.
Kiri blinked in disbelief. "What!? Of course we can! You heard him. He was just trying to save our parents."
"But the Sky People still have them both. And now he is back with them too. And somehow… Quaritch is still alive." Lo'ak said. "You're the one who knows him best. So what do you think?"
"There is no question about it. I know how it might look weird." She said. She then paused, biting her lip. "I do think… that he may have had something to do with Quaritch being alive. Look, I don't have all the facts. I didn't get the chance to ask him. I don't know the hows and whys. But I know he hasn't done any of this to betray us. He is part of our family and he would die for us if he had to."
"Okay… okay. If you say that's how it is, then I trust you. A good thing too. Because this would be hard enough without-" Lo'ak began to say before he unexpectedly started screaming.
"What-?" Kiri had time to ask before it hit her too. A terrible, terrible pain, drilling straight into her. Flashes of images in her mind: Columns of blue-white light, coming from a metal structure hanging high in the sky. A landscape of forested mountains turning into an inferno. A fire that was now burning in her skin, her face, her brains… seeping into her very soul.
All of them were screaming now, Tsireya and Tuk snapping awake from their slumber. Payakan was wailing, thrashing involuntarily, the others barely able to stay on.
Lo'ak happened to see Kiri's eyes roll over as she went limp, sliding off Payakan's back and into the water. Just as her head went beneath the surface he managed to grab her wrist and dragged hr back on, all the while struggling with his own pains and the images flooding into his mind.