Hard choices
Jake was lurking amongst the branches as an AMP-suit passed beneath him. He considered attacking it from above but decided not to. Too many troops that might discover him if he attacked. And right now he was more concerned in getting out of here alive than inflicting damage. This fight was lost, as it had been right from the start. He was becoming surer by the minute that everyone else had now fled… or died. Now he just wished to salvage whatever he could of this situation. And at this time it meant surviving this day and getting back to his family.
He waited as the AMP-suit moved on, disappearing behind the vegetation. He stayed still afterwards, listening. It had grown quiet, though occasional sounds of rotor engines could be heard overhead. Convinced there was no threat he was about to move on. But then he spotted movement after all.
A Skel-trooper and a Na'vi- no, a recom, which he shortly recognized as Lyle Wainfleet. They were dragging someone between them while another Skel trooper was following a short distance behind. He then suppressed a fearful gasp as he recognized Neytiri in their grasp. She was so badly injured for a scary moment he thought she might be… gone. But a string of curses directed at the soldiers holding her proved otherwise moments later.
He drew a deep breath, then raised his weapon, aiming at Lyle. He would drop him first, then the other two. He took his time in the aiming. He couldn't afford to miss now, or his wife might end up being the one getting hit. It would have to be single shots, dropping all three targets inside a few seconds before they could figure out where the fire was coming from. He would have trusted Neytiri with such a trick shot, not himself. Not with a weapon like this. But he didn't have much choice.
He waited for as long as he dared, then pulled the trigger. But all he got as a reward was a dull click from his weapon. He looked down at his gun in confusion, then checked the clip. "Shit!" He spat out a quiet curse. Of all the times to run out of bullets…
Raking his brains for another solution he continued to shadow the group, moving stealthily from branch to branch.
Back on the beach Quaritch had busied himself with post-battle cleanup. His troops were lining up their dead enemies so an accurate count of casualties inflicted could be compiled. They were also looking for their own fallen to be transported back to base for burial, while medics were attending to the wounded. The regiment's engineering and logistics support elements were also on their way to set up a temporary base of operations, from which his forces would then move against the other villages in the region.
Most of this was standard procedure that he knew by heart. But one aspect he was unsure on was the treatment of prisoners. There weren't many to begin with truth to be told. Most were dead or gone. The general had not been kidding when she called the third regiment her best killers. And to his knowledge the Na'vi rarely attempted surrender. Not that it would have done them any good anyway.
When it came to the adult Na'vi there was no dilemma to speak of. The Na'vi were outside human laws. There were no trials for them, no prisons. No rights they could invoke. And the General had been extremely clear on wanting this threat eliminated entirely. Summary execution would do for them. But the real headache was the handful of kids who had failed to leave with the other fleeing Na'vi. Most were too young to even understand what was happening here, the youngest just babies.
The old Quaritch might not have cared even then. But when it came to him… he would do what was needed to accomplish his mission. But these kids were no longer part of that. The battle had already been won, and they weren't even useful as leverage against anyone he knew.
On Earth there was a clear protocol, and that was what he was going to improvise on here. With no lawful authority to return them to they would be brought back and placed in camps outside Bridgehead. Some might respond well to attempts at re-education. And if not… there were some things one learned not to inquire on when working as private military contractor. Once he had turned them over he would wash his hands of them, putting them out of his mind as best he could.
"Colonel!" The voice of Wainfleet came from behind him, causing him to turn from his work.
"Got a present for you." Lyle said, putting an injured Na'vi woman on her knees in front of Quaritch, holding her up by her shoulders.
At first Quaritch did not understand. Then his eyes lit up with recognition.
"Huh. You caught Sully's wife. Good job." He congratulated.
"A hard capture looks like. What the hell happened to her?" He then commented.
"Not sure exactly. Found her like this. Not our doing." Lyle responded.
"Hopefully I find the one responsible then. I think that's worth a medal or two. Took quite a bit of doing, but we finally got this one in the bag." Quaritch said.
"Which reminds me: Any sign of Sully himself?" He then asked of one of the soldiers nearby.
"Not yet, sir. But we're still collecting the bodies of the hostiles. He might well be among those." The soldier replied.
Quaritch grunted. "Shouldn't be too difficult to tell him apart from the others. Different shade of blue. Like her and me."
"Keep looking. I want to know if we got him too as soon as possible." He ordered, to which the soldier nodded.
"And in the meantime…" He turned to Neytiri, kneeling down so his eyes were on level with hers. "The last time we spoke I seem to remember telling you that I owe you a death." He said to her, smirking.
She bared her teeth at him, trying to break loose from the hands holding her.
With a chuckle Quaritch got back to his feet. "Right. This will take but a moment. Hold her steady." He said, grabbing his sidearm from his belt.
Lyle grabbed tight hold of her hair, tilting her head upwards. As Quaritch placed the pistol against her forehead she closed her eyes, whispering a quiet prayer to Eywa.
"Quaritch!" Came a shout from behind the Colonel, him and every soldier on the beach turning to point their weapons at the noise. Recognizing the voice, Neytiri opened her eyes as well, and with a gasp turning them towards the sound.
Further down the beach in the opposite direction a mortar team had been set up, between several large stones. A crew of three. During the battle they had been firing grenade after grenade to the direction of their fellow soldiers. Now with the fighting done they were resting, chatting among themselves to pass the time until new orders arrived. Lazing about they did not spot the shapes skulking from cover to cover, ever closer to them.
When Lo'ak and Tsireya sprang their ambush on them two of the soldiers were dead at once. The third scrambled back, fumbling for his gun. He nearly had it trained on Lo'ak before Spider unexpectedly appeared, hitting the soldier with a rock he had picked up, his first blow cracking the face plate of his mask. Swaying from the impact, the soldier tried to bring his gun around to fire at Spider, but Kiri appeared from another direction, grabbing hold of the weapon. Lo'ak and Tsireya rushed over as well, and in a few seconds it was all over.
"Guys, you're here! You're alive!" Lo'ak said to Kiri and Spider.
"Where's Tuk?" He then ask, Spider and Kiri both pointing in the right direction.
"I'm here." Tuk said, coming out from a hiding place behind the rocks. She was unusually quiet and withdrawn, her eyes wandering into the dead soldiers. Lo'ak walked over to her to give her a hug. If there was anyone in their number who was not meant to see such things, it was her.
"Have any of you seen mom and dad?" He asked.
"No. We've just been running from place to place, trying to stay alive." Kiri replied.
Lo'ak nodded, continuing to hug Tuk. "Then we will look for them too. We're all going to get out of here."
"Lo'ak, look! Over there!" Tsireya said. The gang turned to look where she was pointing, and were shocked to see Neytiri on her knees, surrounded by a swarm of humans. And Jake standing on a branch of a tree, in an armed standoff with the whole lot.
"Let her go or I'll put a brand new hole in your head." Jake warned, pointing his gun at Quaritch.
"Put your gun down. You drop me, corporal, and my troops are going to fill you with lead. And she won't be too far behind." Quaritch countered.
"It won't be fast enough to save you." Jake said.
"Look, you won today, fair and square. It's done. Now all I want is her. Give her back to me and we'll go our own way and you won't hear from us ever again. We won't get in the way of you or the RDA." Jake continued, switching to a more diplomatic tone.
Quaritch snorted. "You expect me to believe that? The first thing you did when the RDA returned was start a guerrilla war. And now you've magically decided to drop the whole thing? Yeah, sure. Very believable. As soon as I let you go you'll just find new allies, start this all over again."
"You're a wanted person, Sully. So is she. You're not walking away from this." He continued.
"Jake, just go! Leave me!" Neytiri tried.
"Shut up!" Lyle warned, pulling her hair.
Jake snarled, brandishing his weapon tighter. "You will let us go or I'm going to kill you! I swear I will!"
Quaritch paused, then smiled. "We'll see."
A shot rang out, but not from Jake. The whole time he had been arguing with Quaritch a soldier had been quietly circling to flank him. Now he was opening fire. Jake dodged the incoming rounds and fled back into the woods.
"Go! Go! Run him down! Run him down! Don't let him out of your sight!" Quaritch shouted, switching to his rifle and charging after him, with a large number of soldiers in tow.
"No…" Neytiri gasped, trying to get back on her feet, to no avail.
Jake was running for his life, jumping from branch to branch. Bullets were whizzing past all the while, snapping branches and leaving holes in the tree. As he was running he was holding his side, a burning pain spreading in his flank. But he had to keep going!
On the ground Quaritch had his eyes on Jake. He took a knee and raised his weapon. He led his breath to steady his aim, his gun moving ever so slightly as he tracked Sully's movements. After several seconds of aiming he loosed a shot.
Suddenly there was a blinding pain in Jake's right thigh. His leg gave out from under him and he fell, hitting two more branches on his way down. Before he could get up from the ground a soldier ran to him, delivering a sharp kick to his side, right into his broker rib, causing him to howl. Several more showed up, pinning him to the ground.
Quaritch picked up Jake's gun. Then he stopped, frowning, testing the weapon's weight in his hands. He removed the clip, stared at it for several seconds, then burst out laughing.
"Empty!? Ha! Got to hand it to you, Sully. You've a hell of a poker face. First time I've seen someone try to bullshit their way out of a standoff with no ammo." He told Jake.
Jake looked sullen and didn't reply.
"But look on the bright side, corporal. At least you get to go together with her." Quaritch told him.
"Right then, let's bring him back." He ordered, motioning towards the edge of the tree line.
On seeing his father being brought back from the forest Lo'ak jumped into action. He picked a gun from the ground and was about to rush off towards the soldiers, only for Tsireya to catch his arm.
"No! Don't! If you go out there they'll kill you too!" She pleaded.
"It's my mom and dad! I have to do something!" Lo'ak hissed back.
"It won't help them if you die!" She continued to argue.
"And if these were your parent's, what would you do?" He countered. Tsireya faltered at that.
"She's right. You can't save them…" Spider said, his eyes locked on Jake and Neytiri. He weighed his options for one second, two. "…But I can." He added, unexpectedly darting forward.
"What- no! Spider, don't!" Kiri gasped, trying and failing to grab him.
"You guys get going! Get out of here! And don't come back no matter what!" He shouted back at them.
"But what are you…!" Lo'ak tried to ask. But before he could finish Spider turned and took off running towards the soldier.
"Oh no… Spider!" Kiri whispered in distress, covering her mouth with her hand.
"Spider, come back!" Tuk tried, to no effect.
"What is he doing…!?" Lo'ak breathed, not believing his eyes.
When Neytiri saw Jake being dragged out of the forest with a bleeding wound on his leg, her heart sank. They had him too. Was there nothing the Sky People would not take from her? She forced herself not to cry. Not here. Not in front of her enemy.
They plopped him down next to her. They looked at one another.
"I'm sorry…" He whispered an apology.
"It's not you. You tried your best. But this day… it was just too much for us." She whispered back.
"So… where were we?" Quaritch asked, once again taking out his pistol. He pondered for a moment between the two, then pointed his gun at Jake. Jake tensed, waiting for the inevitable gunshot while Neytiri turned her head aside, unwilling to see what was about to happen.
Right before Quaritch could fire there was a new voice: "Wait! Wait! No! STOP!"
Quaritch turned his head, then his eyes widened. "Spider?"
There he was, running to the scene as fast as he was able, shouting and waving his arms all the while. The soldiers were already preparing to shoot, only hesitating because the runner was a human.
"Hold your fire! Hold your fire!" Quaritch shouted hastily. With some confusion the troops lowered their guns, letting Spider reach them. Jake and Neytiri looked on in astonishment. He was perhaps the last person they had expected to show up here.
"Don't kill them. Please." Spider said breathlessly, deliberately placing himself between Quaritch, Jake and Neytiri.
"Spider, where the hell did you come from?" Quaritch demanded.
"I'm asking you: Don't kill them. I know it's what you want to do now. But please: Don't do that." Spider continued to plead.
Quaritch sighed heavily. "Son, what exactly do expect me to do then? I couldn't let them go even if I wanted to, which I don't. They've done too much. And I have my orders."
"Okay, then I'm not asking you to let them go. Just don't kill them. It's done. You've got them. It's over. Just… let them live. It's all I'm asking." Spider said.
"And why would I wish to do that?" Quaritch asked.
Spider bit his lip. "Because if you do… then I'll come with you. It's what you want, right? Otherwise… you're just going to have to shoot me too. So what's it going to be?"
It was enough to give Quaritch pause, making him weigh his options.
"You owe me one, remember? Life for life." Spider added when he didn't get an immediate answer.
"…What?" Neytiri gasped, the first to take Spider's meaning.
"Life for- Spider… boy, what are you talking about?" Jake asked immediately after.
Spider bowed his head, clenching his fists. "I… back after the battle at Three Brothers Rock I happened across him. He was drowning… dying. And I just couldn't… I had to save him."
"It was you… you're the reason that…!" Neytiri breathed before her face twisted in anger.
"You treasonous bug! I should have killed you! I SHOULD HAVE CUT YOUR THROAT ON THAT SHIP!" She shouted at Spider.
"Okay, that's about enough." Quaritch said. "Medic!" He shouted, one of his soldiers running over.
"Sir?" The medic asked.
"Sedate them both. And then give them enough first aid to get them in shape for transport. We're taking them back to base." Quaritch ordered. "Life for life. Now that debt is paid." He told Spider, who nodded glumly.
The medic nodded and went to inject a syringe full of liquid first to Jake's neck, then to Neytiri's.
The sedative worked quickly. Even as Neytiri felt her thoughts start to blur together she sought to fight off the effects. She looked at Jake, who was already much further along, just about to go under.
"Jake… Jake…" She whispered before unconsciousness swallowed her too, her head slumping.
Spider looked away, looking very green in the face. He had done it. He had saved their lives, at least for the time being. So why was he feeling so dirty?
The others were too far way to hear the words being said, only seeing Jake and Neytiri collapse on the arms of their captors after something was done to them. Though the anger in Neytiri's voice when she yelled at Spider had been unmistakable. All of them were at a loss for words.
"Lo'ak… what shall we do?" Tsireya eventually asked.
"Dammit… dammit!" Lo'ak growled under his breath. He gave no other answer for several moments.
"We don't have a choice. We have to go, while we still can." He finally gave his pained answer.
"But… Mom, dad… Spider!" Tuk protested.
"I'm sorry, Tuk. We can't help them." Lo'ak said, in a tone that made plain his disgust at his inability.
"No. No! That's not right! Sully's stick together!" Tuk continued to argue, starting to become upset.
"Tuk…Tuk." Kiri said softly, taking Tuk into a hug. "…Please, listen. I know it hurts. We're all feeling it. But right now… right now we have to save ourselves. That's the only way we stand a chance of saving them later."
Lo'ak and Tsireya exchanged sad looks. There was every chance Kiri's words could end up becoming a comforting lie given how everything was going. They both knew it. It was possible that even Tuk knew as much. But reluctantly she seemed to accept the consolation.
"Come on. We have to go." Lo'ak said quietly.
Slowly, hesitantly, they began filing out of the beach, their mood somber, almost numb from everything that had happened today. While they were still within eyesight all of them were taking reluctant glances at the scene behind them. They knew that to try to interfere would be suicide. But that did not make any of them feel any better for leaving…
The journey back through the forest was arduous. There were soldiers still on patrol in many places. But fortunately the end of the battle had left the Sky People feeling lax, enough for their group to slip by unnoticed.
Eventually they found their way back to the cove. This time there was no one else there. No canoes either, and no Ilu that Lo'ak could see. He paced a little, his eyes moving around the cove, looking for something useful. This was certainly the weakest part of this rescue attempt. But he needed to think of something before they were discovered.
He was about to send them looking for any creatures or craft that might get them out of here when a massive form breached the water's surface. A familiar note hit his ears.
"Payakan!" He gasped.
"There! It's Payakan!" Tsireya pointed out to the others.
"Swim for him. Go on!" Lo'ak urged, all of them rushing into the water.
As they got closer Payakan stadied himself so they could get on him, while Lo'ak stopped next
"I see you, brother. Are you all unharmed?" Payakan rumbled at him
"I see you, brother. And yes, we are." Lo'ak signed back.
"How did you know we'd be here?" He asked.
"I did not. But I was close, and saw what was happening. I hoped to find you. I'm happy that I did." The Tulkun replied.
"As am I. You've saved us." Lo'ak signed. Then he chuckled. "Saved us again, as it happens. A few more times and I might never be able to repay the debt."
"No debts among brothers, right?" Payakan said.
"Is this all of you? Are more coming?" He then asked.
Lo'ak bowed his head. "No more. My parents… they cannot come with us."
"I see. I'm sorry, brother. I feel your pain." Payakan said.
"Thank you." Lo'ak signed. "We should go, before we are found."
"Yes." Payakan agreed. He waited until Lo'ak had managed to climb on, then began moving away from the shore.