Tirea Tskoyä

Chapter 1
The beginning of my end

The hum of the life support systems and lights were the first thing that I heard as I came out of the final stages of cryogenic hibernation. 5 years and not ageing a day was quite a thing to get used to, so was the new lighter gravity aboard the RDA vessel Venture. I opened my eyes, the light was blinding, so nature took over and my eyelids closed quickly in reaction. "That was good" I thought to myself "at least I know that the nerves to my eyes haven’t died over the journey".

Nervous deteriation was common, even on short journeys. Some parts of the nervous system would shut down and you would have to hope to God that it wasn’t an important one. I could slowly feel sensation returning to every part of my body. I heard footsteps and each one sounded like a clap of thunder steadily getting closer.

"Ahhhh, Mr...... Thomas, I see your vitals are all good and your brainwaves are all functioning normally" said a male voice which sounded quite high pitched but I was having trouble hearing the voice over the torrent of background noise which was sweeping my sense of hearing. The footsteps started again and I heard a rustle of a coat by my head "OK Mr Thomas open your eyes please" said the voice. I did as instructed this time opening them cautiously so as not to be blinded again. My vision was swimming and it was impossible for me to focus on anything above me, all I could make out was the shape of a man with a bald head wearing a white labcoat.

"Did we make good time" I asked but all that came out was slurry of mumbles like those of a newborn baby.
"Now Mr Thomas please don’t try to talk or move yet" came the voice "That will happen all in goo..." his voice was cut off by a voice over the ships intercom system, it was loud and booming and left me deaf for a matter of minutes "Doctor Phipps, Report to Cryo storage room 8c I repeat Doctor Phipps to Cryo storage 8c a medical emergency is in progress!!!"

I didn't hear what the doctor above me said; all I felt was sweet bliss as I passed into another dreamless sleep.

The next thing I knew I was waking up. I opened my eyes slowly but this time I wasn't met with any blinding lights but a soft yellowish glow. My eyes adjusted quickly to the relative gloom and I tried to turn my head to the right. It was one of the hardest things I have ever done. The muscles in my neck though still intact with no deteriation hadn’t been used in 5 years so they were stiff and very unwilling to move. It was painful doing even this simple movement. The one thing I heard which scared me was the almighty cracks which echoed around the room. I stopped mid-movement fearing that I had just broken my own neck but after a few minutes it was obvious that I wasn’t dead and that I had just fixed the crick in my neck.

To my right were tables which were exactly the same as mine. They looked like the slabs that you find in morgues and on them were people who were exactly like me.

"I hate this waiting part" came a voice from my left; the speech was slightly slurred but understandable. With a great effort I moved my head over the other way. On the slab lay a woman, she had black hair and an exotic looking face with big lips and high cheekbones. "Don’t try and talk yet" she said "give it about an hour and you'll have most of your upper body functions back but you won’t be walking for a while, so get comfy" she gave me a smile of white teeth which fitted her mouth almost perfectly. I blinked in recognition of her words and turned my head back up to the grey of the ceiling. How long I waited is unknown to me but the minutes blurred into hours, visits from different people in lab coats shining lights into my eyes, testing my reaction times, hearing people around me being helped to stand and taking their first tentative steps before being led out to God knows where. When my turn finally came I was ready for it... or so I thought as my legs were swung round off the table and I instantly tried to stand. I failed as my legs gave way underneath me all I could say was "Crap" I used my arms to break my fall but it didn’t help much and I was badly winded.

The male doctor who was helping me picked me up onto my feet and said
"Ok, so were not gonna try that again are we" he held onto me as I took my first steps out of the morgue as I now called it and into the corridor. I was led down the hall about 10 meters and into a small room with a bunk, a wall terminal, some weights for the legs and arms and a small metal chair and it was into this chair that I was placed.

The doctor said "Now Mr Thomas, we want you to fill in these forms" bringing them up on the monitor "We also want you to take this aptitude test and medical form, Oh and work on the strength of your leg and arm muscles, if you also build up your core it would be nice but not necessary"

I replied "Who is we and what am I here for, I’m just an ordinary guy, I’ve got no special skills, hell I only just passed my GCSEs, why would you spend thousands or millions of dollars to fly me out to Alpha Centauri with marines and genius scientists?"

"All in good time Mr Thomas, now if you please I'll leave you to you exercises and paperwork" and with that he turned and walked out of the room leaving me more surprised than ever. I brought up the first form and read it through. It was a disclaimer saying that if I had sustained any physical injury after being out of cryostasis then I could not claim against the RDA. I signed reluctantly and looked at the 20 or so other forms pending as well as the aptitude test and medical form. I thought to myself "haven’t I already done a medical form?" but I didn’t think of it again and within a minute I was on the aptitude test having just signed the forms.

I completed the aptitude test within an hour or so. I rubbed my eyes because of staring at a computer screen for so long had started to make them hurt. I glanced down at the on screen clock and saw that it was 2300 hours earth time. Seeing this I decided to hit the sack for the night. I stood wary of my own inability to balance; I was like a toddler again, learning to walk for the second time in my life. I staggered over to the bed and sat down and as I drifted off to sleep I felt proud of those few short steps.

Again I awoke to the same dark grey ceiling, and this time it didn’t look so good. I sat up and swung my legs around off the bed. I picked up one of the weights that I was supposed to use for my legs and I attached them onto my ankle. I stood using the wall for support and lifted my leg up and down alternatively. Quickly I could feel my legs getting back to a form of normality, I might be able to walk again soon but running would be another big step. Feeling more confident I walked around my room a couple of times before walking over to the computer again and looking at the one file that I hadn't completed the night previously. I opened the medical file and was faced with 5 pages of questions such as "Have you or your family got any kind of DNA based disease?” There were questions about my mental state, my likes and dislikes, my physical health was also addressed. The file took me over 2 hours to complete and when I had finished I felt like taking a walk outside the confines of my room and exploring the ship a little.

As the sliding doors of my room closed behind me the intercom went off "shuttle 3 departing in 20 minutes, all passengers on shuttle 3 to the main boarding airlock immediately. I couldn’t help myself I just had to laugh. I laughed until my sides hurt, even though we were millions of miles away from earth and on a multi-million dollar spacecraft it was operated like a giant airport. People walking by me in the corridor looked at me as if I was mad but I just ignored them.

When my fit of laughter had subsided I started off down the corridor and what would be called a leisurely stroll but to me it was like sprinting again. When I had reached the end of the hall I was out of breath and I was starting to sweat a little but I turned right and kept walking. The corridors were maze-like and because they were all identical it made it ever more confusing. Eventually I came to a huge window overlooking the most wonderful sight I had ever seen... Pandora. Even from space its beauty was unmistakeable. I could almost feel the wind rushing through my hair as I looked upon the great masses of green and blue which made up the most beautiful planet in the Alpha Centaurii system.

Out of nowhere came the huge shape of one of the drop ships. It silently passed underneath me and headed towards the planet.

"Ahhhh, there you are" came a high pitched but male voice. I turned and saw a bald man with glasses, wearing a white labcoat. There were some darker stains on it which looked as if they hadn't washed out properly I didn’t want to ask what they were. "I'm doctor Fier, I met you when you woke up" he said all of this with a pleasant grin on his face. He held out his and I shook it out of courtesy. "May I ask you to follow me?" he said still with the grin on his face, it was starting to get annoying now and I’m sure that my face conveyed this because Dr Fier said to me "were not going to put you back in your room Mr Thomas, it’s just we want to ask you some questions, so would you like to follow me?"
"It’s not really like I have a choice is it" I replied grudgingly and as he walked off I followed.

We walked through the corridors, both of us in silence. The occasional people that passed us looked at me warily and I knew that I was a very unwelcome guest on this journey. I lost myself in a web of thoughts about Pandora and the natives which I had heard a small amount of from marines who used to frequent my bar in the greater London area. I was brought rudely back to reality when I walked into the back of Dr Fier. He had stopped in front of a door which looked almost identical to all the others except for the white lights which were just above.

The doors opened and my theory was confirmed, it was an elevator. It was empty and we both stepped in.Dr.Fier pressed a button higher up on the panel and we started to ascend. There was that sickening rise and fall as the elevator stopped at out chosen level. The doors opened and my hearing was hit by a crescendo of beeps and other noises. The Lab was huge and it seemed to take up a whole level to itself. Again I followed Dr.Fier avoiding any hurrying scientists or equipment that decided to try and cut me off.

Dr Fier opened a door and he beckoned for me to go first, I did so and walked into a nice furnished office.
"Its and exact replica of the one I had on Earth" he said looking around "Marvellous don’t you think"
"Its lovely “I said monotonically "But I'm still wondering why in hell you brought me out here?"
"Oh yes" replied Fier "Please take a seat, the explanation might be a little long"
I did as he asked and I looked at him, waiting.
"You were one of over 150 ordinary people who were shortlisted to become Avatar pilots, This 150 was then cut to 75, then 40, then 25, then 5, You were one of these lucky 5!"
I interjected "Yes, that all good but it doesn’t explain why"
"You are 17 years old, am I correct" He asked
"Yes" I replied
"We are trying to find young people that we can put into Avatar bodies, so we can put you into their tribes and you can record and learn their customs, we want to do this so we have a deeper understanding of them and that we may be able to live beside them. Ever since that appalling defeat the RDA suffered 8 years ago..."
"WHAT!" I said "when I got put into that bloody Cryo-tube-thing the RDA were still in operation"
"Oh" said Fier with a surprised look on his face "Didn't anybody tell you that you were delayed for 3 years because of that little upset, but this doesn't matter...”
"DOESN'T MATTER, OF COURSE IT f***ING MATTERS!"
"Now calm down Mr Thomas, there’s no need to shout"
I glared at him from in my seat
"Mr Thomas all I need to tell you is that you have failed the aptitude test. You’re not cut out to be an Avatar Pilot. You can go down to Pandora and we will see if we can find you a job on the planet’s surface."
"your saying that I've been brought out here for absolutely nothing, that I have technically wasted 8 years of my life just so you can say 'well we brought you here but now your useless so let’s see if we can soften the blow by giving you a job' am I right?"
"In a sense Mr Thomas yes you are, but you failing means that we have to destroy the Avatar that we have engineered for you"
"Does it look like I give a s***" I said angrily and I walked out of the office and down towards the elevator.
Dr Fier shouted after me "1 week Mr Thomas, when you've regain most of you strength, that is when you can go to Pandora"
I ignored him.

Chapter 2
The Gate to Hell

The week went by quickly, I spent it doing what Dr Fier had said, building up my muscles. This wasn't because he had asked me to, it was because walking down a corridor which is five meters long and when you reach the end of it you are sweating bucket loads isn’t something I want to happen anymore. By the end of the week I was finally able to run some medium distances and my upper body was feeling stronger as well.

It was a Friday when I received a message over my personal intercom to pack my things and be ready for a Saturday morning drop to Pandora. So I spent the rest of that day packing the few clothes I had brought and going to the onboard stores to get any equipment that was required due to regulations. I was given a rebreather mask and that was it.
I asked "Don’t I get some sort of sidearm?" the guy behind the desk laughed and called "next". I was forcefully pushed out of the way by a male mountain who looked as if he’d just come out of a cave. I walked off towards the lift and as it was open I walked in. I turned around and pressed the button for the level that my quarters were on. As the doors slid shut I noticed in the queue for equipment black hair, high cheek bones and large blue eyes. I went to shout out but the doors closed and I went down.

Saturday arrived. By 0700 hours Earth time we were all in the airlock getting ready to board the drop-ship. I was looking around for my cryobuddy as I now called her but I couldn’t see her. In front of me was the male mountain he turned around and looked at us all.
"Ok" he boomed "Military personnel are allowed to the Hells Gate complex only, the rest of you will be heading for the briefing room where you will receive your orders from Dr Warren Dater, but before that I’m gonna' do my own little safety briefing, number 1, as soon as were in the atmosphere I want all of you to put your rebreather masks on, number 2, never take your rebreather off whilst outside a human built complex and number 3, never piss me or any of us marines off, otherwise it'll be more than just this entire planet that wants to eat you up and spit you out dead."

The doors behind him opened as the ones behind us closed. We all started to float as the gravity of the ship was dampened or turned off for this section. I pushed off and started to float forward down into the belly of the drop-ship. The mountain floated in first and he bounced off the floor down towards where the cockpit was. I floated near the floor and grabbed one of the straps that were on the floor. I used it to balance myself, and then I propelled myself towards the nearest seat. Turning around and strapping myself in I found that I still wasn’t sitting on the seat but just hovering slightly above it.

I looked at my rebreather mask and I rested it on my lap. The final few people locked themselves in with an audible click.
"All strapped in ladies and gentlemen? Beautiful but I think I'll make sure" said the mountain as he floated down the aisles pulling on everyone’s restraints. There was a hiss and a clunk as the clamps holding the drop ship to the airlock unlocked. There was totally silence except for the sound of breathing. There was a loud increasing hum as we heard the engines start up.

It’s the weirdest feeling knowing that you’re moving but not feeling any of the movement. I looked around and could see that there was a mixture of feeling around me, some were obviously frightened, some were excited but anxious which was what I was feeling, then there were some who were totally laid back and 1 or 2 who had fallen asleep. I couldn't sleep, not on a journey which I felt deep down would change me forever.

Mountain floated back up the ship to the front where he strapped himself in facing the doors. Suddenly the ship started to shudder; I could feel my ass hitting the seat below me. A few women screamed slightly as this happened and a few men swore. I gripped my straps tighter.
"We're entering the atmosphere now people, so remember what I said, masks on now"
I pulled my mask over my face and pushed it to seal it airtight; I took a deep breath and exhaled. The shuddering increased and I could feel myself straining against the straps.

Suddenly the violent shuddering stopped and I could feel myself sitting instead of floating on the seat. Mountain stood up "Welcome to Pandora people, if it’s your first time here you'll have to go and see our new leader Dr. Treme and his tame ex-marine SSgt Sykes, but if you have been here before then you know what you’re doing so get to it as soon as we touch down" he finished on this and we all went back to our separate silences.

Mountain walked to the tapered end of the drop ship and stood there. There was thud and the sound of the engines outside died down. A huge sound of whirring reverberated through the ship. I squinted as a crack of light shot into the hold. The noise continued until there was another crash as the ramp touched the ground.
"Ok people" yelled Mountain "All of you out, double time"
Everyone except the marines struggled to undo their harnesses. I was one of the first civilians to have my harness undone. I followed the line of people heading to a set of metal doors. I stopped to look around at the huge rainforest which surrounded the whole of the Hells Gate complex. It was an awesome sight to behold. The trees were many times bigger than the few rainforest trees we had back on Earth. The Colours were also breathtaking. Someone walked up behind me and pushed me hard in the small of the back. It was Mountain and he said "Stop gawking civie, and get a damned move on, you don’t want to be late for your safety briefing"

This made me move but I still kept looking around, still awed by the forest. I reached the airlock which everyone had entered and it opened for me, I walked in and as the door closed I heard the hiss of air being removed or pumped into the room. A lighted screen flashed up above the door opposite me it read "you may now remove your masks". I did as the screen told me and I removed my mask. I took one tentative breath and realised that the air wasn’t going to kill me. The doors in front of me opened and I took my first steps in the Hells Gate complex.

I walked down the main hall of the complex, there were corridors branching off to the left and right. As I walked past a certain corridor on my right I could hear voices. Hoping that it was where the safety briefing was being held I turned and started to walk towards it. Before I reached the end, a crowd of people came walking out and I had to force my way through them. I stumbled as I came out the other side of the torrent of people and found myself in what was obviously a mess hall. At the end of the hall stood two people. One of them was a board set black man who was wearing a camouflaged t-shirt, trousers and cap. The other was a tall thin man in a white lab coat they both stopped their conversation and looked down the rows of tables directly at me.

"Ahhhhh" said the black man "A late comer, and the unemployed man as well" He beckoned me towards them and I walked slowly towards him. I stopped and the black man stepped down off a small raised area that both men were on. He walked around me and looked at me as if he was examining a prize horse. This was when the man in the white coat spoke
"Mr Thomas isn't it?, well I know that you weren't accepted by my friend Dr Fier and I think I have a job for you here in Hells Gate."
"What is it?" I asked almost impulsively
"It's working for me" The voice came from behind me and I made me jump a little. "I’m staff sergeant Sykes, Ex-marine and now the head of the security force"
"As you probably know by now" said the white coated man "The Marines aren't allowed to leave the complex, at all, but we negotiated with the local Na'Vi and the security force is allowed to leave on gunships and go with retrieval and scientific parties purely as a protection detail. AMP suits and other vehicles are not permitted, only gunships." It took me a few seconds to take this in and then the man started again "so Mr Thomas will you work for our security force, it will mean that you can see the full beauty of Pandora as well as learn some very interesting things, especially if you run into any Na'Vi."

"But I’ve never been in a gunship or fired anything more substantial than a 12 bore shotgun" I replied
"You know where the trigger is, what happens when you pull it and which end you point at the target." said staff sergeant Sykes
"Yes" I said with uncertainty
"well then" continued the sergeant "we will make a special case, 'cause normally you would have to be trained for this but you seem to have more training than half of the people I have" I smiled at this knowing that it wasn't true, they just wanted me to feel as if I was doing something.
"So now for the safety briefing" said the doctor. I sat down and listened.

I mulled over what I had just been told by Dr Treme. The fact that almost everything out there had a taste for human was a little disconcerting but my mind was still taking in the fact that I was allowed to go off base when hundreds maybe even thousands of people since the RDA defeat hadn't. I had been given quarters in the barracks with the rest of the security force, who in turn shared it with the gunship pilots. Instead of going straight there as it was the middle of the day I asked the first person I saw where the stores were, they directed me to them and I strode off, finally with a purpose.

It took me only a few hours to find the stores. With the help of the directions I had been given I had ended up in the garages and had also been run over by a gunship which was being wheeled out onto the tarmac. I walked into them to find them almost empty. I had a totally free run up to the desk where they were handing out equipment.
"Alec Thomas?" Mused the marine behind the desk "Oh, another one of our gallant security force fresh from Earth." He smiled evilly. "This planet loves fresh, tender meat" after this he laughed, it was deep and husky and it was quite obvious that he smoked. He turned and grabbed some combats which looked exactly like the ones that SSgt Sykes had been wearing. I turned and walked out of the stores quite quickly, from there I headed towards the barracks.

As I entered I felt like a schoolboy walking into a brand new school dorm room. There were men and women of all shapes and sizes, clothed exactly like what I was holding in my hands standing around chatting, playing cards or laughing about something. As I stepped in it felt as if every eye was on me and it all went quiet. Then quite suddenly it all started up again, through the crowd in front of me a man about the same height and build as me pushed his way through.
"Your Thomas right?" he said as he came up to me.
"Yeah" I replied a little too nervously.
"I am your bunk mate, names Ray Jones" he said this with a very thick Welsh accent "Follow me, we have a nice bunk in a corner away from the heater, so doesn’t get to hot or too cold" He was walking quickly as he said all of this and I was following as quick as I could. He stopped suddenly and turned "What’s your first name?" He asked
"Alec" I replied
"You're not gay are you?" he said this with such a serious expression I burst out laughing
"No, no I'm not" I said still chuckling. With this he turned and started to walk and talk again.
"It's good job you not gay, I’m not a fan of that at all, I get called sheep shagger enough by the Brits around here I don’t want to be known as the guy who is bunking with a poofter, no offence to them" he added this last bit quickly. He stopped again "Right here’s our bunk" he said sat down on the side of the lower bunk "you're on top" he said. As I climbed the metal frame he poked his head out and said "Oh, the locker on the left is yours" he pointed at 2 lockers at the head of the bed.
"LIGHTS OUT!" came a voice from the door
"See you arrived just in time" and Rays head disappeared. I put my stuff on top of the lockers so it was right next to my head. I stripped off my shirt and trousers and slipped under the rough woollen covers. Quickly I lost track of time and drifted off to sleep like all the other around me.

I woke with a slap and a sickening crunch as my head hit the concrete floor of the barracks. My vision flashed and then darkened before coming back, but totally out of focus. All I could think was "Ow, That hurt" I tried to voice these thoughts as people started to crowd around me
"Are you alright boyo?" came Rays voice from what sounded like miles away
"He just fell off the top bunk onto concrete, Ray" came a voice about as far away as Rays.
"I know" Ray replied "but he might be fine, you never know" I never heard the reply of the other person because I blacked out.

When I came to, I had a splitting headache but I did notice that I wasn't in any sort of medical facility but back on my bunk again. I groaned in pain and Rays head popped up from the bunk below me
"Oh your finally awake, I bet you feel like s***" he said
"No I feel absolutely hunky dory you stupid welsh git" I replied sarcastically
"there’s no to be racist" he said mock offended "Right so now I know that your alright I can go and do my job finally, tomorrow you'll be working ok, I’ll give you the brief later when you head isn’t so bad" with this he just up and left leaving me to my own device before he returned in the evening but by that time I was again asleep.

I awoke the next morning with only remnants of the headache, a huge lump on the back of my head but feeling refreshed with a good temperament. I grabbed my now slightly dusty gear from the top of the locker and pulled on clean underwear. I slid off the side of my bunk and landed on my feet. The floor was cold on my bare feet so I opened my locker to find a pair of boots and thin socks. I pulled on the socks and boots. The boots were tight and stiff, they were going to need wearing in so I left them on. I also grabbed my rebreather and walked towards the door where the other people were milling
"Hey, boyo" came Ray’s unmistakeable voice from behind me "You don’t need to go over there, they are just checking to see what they are doing and who they are with. Your with me and were on door gunner duty"
"Ok, cool" I replied surprised "don’t I need to do any training at all before actually being put on a job?"
"No, not at all" and he nodded his head for me to follow.

We walked through a pair of airlocks onto what is called the tarmac but in this case it was more of a concrete, for hundreds of meters in any direction save for the buildings behind us was concrete. On the concrete were the remnants of the fleet of gunships that the RDA had brought to Pandora. Even though these were the reserves they still numbered well over 100. I kept following Ray and he walked us over to a gunship that was relatively close. I read the white letters painted on the side of the door. "Athene" it read. From underneath the tail a voice rang out
"You’re late Ray"
"Actually I'm not" he replied. It was then she stepped out from under the tail
"Cryobuddy?" the words slipped out before I thought about them. She smiled and said
"I remember you; we woke up at about the same time"
"Yeah and I didn’t know your real name so I kinda nicknamed you Cryobuddy in my head" I said feeling like a complete idiot.
"Well I’ve heard worse nicknames for me, I’m Veronica May and most people know me as V" through all of this she was still smiling
"Aye and she’s the most good looking pilot in this place" interjected Ray
"Don't even try today Ray, none of your advance ever have or will work" she said offhandedly "well today were picking up a group of our Avatars out in the jungle and replacing them with a fresh group"
"Not the school run again?" said Ray
"Yep, I'm afraid so, I dunno who I’m pissing off but they don’t like me" she said climbing into the gunship. Ray followed suit and so did I. There was a huge barrage of noise as V started up the engines. Ray looked over at me and pointed to a small device on the wall, it was an RDA earpiece. I picked it up and put it in. I saw Ray touch his throat and I could hear him as if there wasn’t the noise of the engines going on.
"There should be a throat mic underneath that, oh and man your gun, here come the team were dropping off. I looked and drew in a sharp breath. Across from me came 4 Avatars and I couldn’t rip my gaze away.

Chapter 3
"Should I run?" "RUN!"

Even at a distance they looked huge. Just their size made them stick out but it emphasised by the fact that they were also blue. Someone must have heckled one of them because it turned to say something back. This was when I noticed the long platted piece of black hair hanging down their back and that they had a tail. As they came closer I could start to pick up their facial features. Three of them had quite human noses whilst one had a nose which was flat on its face. Each one had Different sizes of eyes but it looked as if the woman in the group had the biggest eyes out of them. Their ears weren’t human but were more cat-like. Eventually they were so close that I could make out the spots that were dotted on their faces. They raised their hands to stop the dust being blown into their eyes and I saw that 2 had only 4 fingers with what looked like extra knuckle whist the other 2 had normal human looking hands. It was the same with their feet. They were wearing pairs of ripped shorts on their legs but the males were wearing what looked like a leather belt which crossed their shoulders across their body down to their waist diagonally. The female was wearing necklaces which were long enough to hide her modesty but left little to the imagination she was also wearing her hair long.

"Hey look, a new guy" said the lead Avatars they came up to the gunship "I’m Frank Hall, this is Allen Norton" pointing to the Avatar on his right. Allen raised his hand in recognition. "These two are Sarah and Eddy Finch" and he pointed to his left both nodded at me.
"How did you know I was new" I said looking up from my position into his face.
"Well the fact that your mouth was gaping wide open, and you haven’t jumped out to let us get in" all four smiled and I quickly jumped out pushing the gun flat so they could enter. All 4 stepped in and sat comfortably. I climbed back in grabbing hold of the gun.

The Noise of the rotors and the amount of dust being blown up increased and the gunship rose slowly but gracefully into the air. I heard V through my earpiece
"Hells Gate tower this is gunship Athene requesting clearance for a south-westerly exit to the school" I didn’t hear the reply but it must have been positive because the gunship started to move forward. Within seconds we had all but lost sight of Hells Gate to the thick canopy that obscured the floor of Pandora. We banked sharp right and suddenly the trees disappeared and below us was a canyon with a huge river running through it. I drew a sharp breath when I saw it. We banked left down the path of the river and dropped in low so that spray was being flung up by the rotors. We started rising again and the canopy came back into view.

We flew for about 10 minutes or our last heading before we stopped. By this time I had all but forgotten my original job of being a door gunner, this planet seemed so peaceful why we needed guns at all. I was soon to find out.

We dropped through the canopy in an explosion of leaves. V weaved in an out of the huge trees with expert precision all the while looking for a suitable landing place. Ray told me how the original landing for the school had since become overgrown with trees and small shrubs, according to the truce we made with the Na'Vi we were no longer allowed to remove any tree in the forest, so we had to find a clearing and those could be up to 10 kicks away from the school. We found a suitable one which was only 12.5 kicks away from the school which was the closest they had found in a few months.

As the gunship powered down me and Ray stepped out with the door guns raised scanning the perimeter for any hostiles
"Right, you and V stay by the ship, I’ll take these 4 to the school and bring the other back" said Ray and he beckoned for the 4 Avatars to follow him “And both of you don’t stray too far from the gunship, you don’t know what’s out there." With this he walked off into the jungle. I walked back to the gunship and remounted the gun. With that I sat on the edge of the gunships open area and looked out at the foliage wishing that I had asked Ray if I could have tacked along.
"Hey, wanna see some of the wonders of Pandora’s flora?" said V popping her head out the door of the cockpit as it opened. She still had her flight helmet on as well as a rebreather mask, she was also smiling.
"Sure" I replied standing up outside the gunship. She also stepped out nodding her head in a direction. "But didn't Ray say we shouldn't leave the ship?"
"Ray says allot of stuff but I’m not gonna listen, how dangerous can a few plants be?" she replied
"Well I’d say that I’m gonna agree with you, so let’s go, but I’m bringing the gun!" I said seriously as if to back up my argument I lifted the gun off its support. I held it at a ready position and took a step forward to follow her.
"Jesus, you’re as bad as the marines on this planet" But she kept smiling and she walked off in the opposite direction to which Ray had gone. I followed closely but all the time I had the gun raised although why I don’t know because the area was so peaceful, maybe deep down I had a feeling that something was going to go wrong.

We walked deeper into the jungle and I was scanning the surrounding trees for any sort of danger.
"Relax" said V as she walked towards a plant which grew in a spiral. "Watch this" she said and she reached out a hand to touch it. It suddenly disappeared with a slight "whump" sound "Here you come have a go “and she beckoned with her arm I walked over lowering my gun. I reached out with one hand to touch the plant. All I felt was a furry texture before the plant did exactly what it had done with V.
"Do all of the plants do this?" I asked her
"No just this one does, a few other fight back, or so I heard cause I haven’t seen any myself." she replied with a slight hint of disappointment "All you see as a pilot is the tops of trees and a few of the ugly things that fly around here, you never get to see or touch anything at all, sometimes I envy you sec guys"
"Huh really?" I said as I touched more of the plants watching them disappear
"Yeah I do, so I do this at every opportunity" she said despondently "But let’s go on, we might see something even better further in"
"Yeah better or something that wants to eat us both over a period of 6 months" I said
"There’s always a pessimist" replied V
"Yep, but they always have a valid point" I said with a grin "But let’s go on anyway ill take the risk"

We both walked further into the jungle looking at different plants and animals we saw. None seemed to want to hurt us and all either stayed still or ran. What I was surprised about was how the roots systems of the trees seemed to be so huge that they broke out of the ground and created paths and tunnels which were like nothing ever seen on Earth.

I lost track of time and direction as we walked in the forest lost in its beauty as much as I was lost in Vs'. My lack of perception was to be our downfall.

As we walked underneath a dense block of roots I was sure that I heard the unmistakeable sound of a hexapod moving above us. I swung the gun up and looked but I couldn’t see anything through the gaps in the roots. Slightly alert I lowered my gun and kept walking after V.

There was a gap of about 5 meters between us and she came to the end of the root system first and my fears were totally realised and made true. She stopped and turned around to look at me with a smile of her face "come on sec boy, I think were almost back at the ..." her voice was cut short and a scream escaped her mouth as a black shape leapt onto her. She was knocked to the ground and she screamed it bit down hard on her shoulder, she screamed in agony and she tried to hit the thing off with her free hand. I took a split second decision and raised the gun in my hand and fired. There was a risk that I might have hit V but I didn’t take that into consideration and I kept the trigger pressed down. I saw tracer rounds streak towards the broadside of my target and I saw arcs of blue fly up into the air. The thing yelped as it flew sideways off V and landed on the forest floor.

I stopped where I stood the gun still raised. I could hear V screaming on the floor. I could see her clothing her injured shoulder but other than that she wasn’t moving. My adrenaline was pumping but I stayed still looking down the iron sights of the gun. The black shape moved its head and howled a high pitched death howl before its head went down again with a thump and it lay still.

This howl was answered by more. I couldn’t tell if they were near or far, wither there were 1 or 10 I couldn’t tell. Suddenly out of nowhere 3 more of the things leapt down from above me. I walked forward a few steps getting closer to V and her attackers. I could see Vs head looking around at the 3 assailants and then she saw me. I nodded at her and again I walked forward with the gun raised. When I got within about 2 meters of V the things attacked I sprayed the area in front of V with bullets. Both the attacking things died but their momentum carried them forward one landing at my feet. I didn’t see the third in time; it grabbed hold of Vs forearm with vicious looking curved teeth. I heard bones snap under the pressure of the bite and V moaned in pain. The pain was so great that she had lost all fight and was drifting in and out of consciousness.

I fired blindly at the creature holding her arm. Bullets slammed into its body, head and it never stood a chance. I hadn’t though through my actions and as the creature been thrown backwards by the force of the close range shots the curved teeth acted like barbs. The skin and muscle were ripped from her arm all the way down to the bone. Blood was everywhere; it was mix of blue and red. The corpses of my 4 fallen adversaries lay scattered around. I was in shock as I looked around, I had never killed anything in my life so I felt like a murderer but in the back of my mind I knew that it was for a good reason.

It was this that made me remember V. She was unconscious and she had lost allot of blood. The wound to her forearm was obvious but I didn’t know how her shoulder had been hurt. I crouched down by her head looking at the huge red wet patch that was all over her shoulder. I reached down and grabbed the zip on her the front of her flight suit and ripped it open. In most situations I would have enjoyed doing this to an attractive woman, but this time it wasn’t enjoyable. I couldn’t see the damage done to her shoulder like I had planned to because there was too much blood and more fresh was pouring from the wounds. I touched my finger to my throat mic and said "Ray, Ray, Ray, for f*** sake man reply, I’m in a bloody jam here" all I got in return was static, whether I was too far away from Ray or the jungle was too thick for my signal to carry I'm not sure, all I knew was that we were buggered if V didn’t get help soon.

I stood up and walked away a little to see if the signal would work. Suddenly I was splayed over V. I shook my back left and right. I knew that something was on my back as I could feel its weight as well as the weight of my pack. When I realised that my shaking wasn’t going to dislodge whatever was on my back I scrabbled in front of me for the gun. I heard a ripping sound as the thing on my back tore into my backpack.

I knew the backpack wouldn’t keep the thing interested for long so I scrabbled wildly for the gun butt in front of me. I got one finger on it and it moved slightly. After a few hectic second of using my fingers I finally got a grip on the gun. I pulled it towards it me and when it was close enough I grabbed the barrel of it and I could smell and feel my skin burning as I grabbed it. I swung the butt around behind my head and I felt it connect with something. There was a yelp and the weight was suddenly off my back. I could feel my hands hurt like hell but I moved them and grabbed the butt end of the gun again. I looked forward with the gun in my hands.

Out of nowhere leapt one of the things trying to kill us. I let go of the gun and raised my hands to grab the doglike thing that was leaping at me. It knocked me to the ground and was standing on my chest. I could feel its claws digging into my skin slightly but I was more concentrated on trying to stop the thing from ripping my throat out. It had its fanged bared; I could see black teeth, white gum and tongue right in my vision. I had it by its first set of shoulders and its teeth we snapping shut centimetres from my face and mask. I forced it up with a huge surge of strength, it was instantly back on top of me but this time I had my hands round it throat. Using this as an advantage I moved my hands up its neck and twisted it violently. There was a snap as its neck broke the creature took one last useless snap then fell dead on top of me. I heaved it off me and rolled over onto my front.

I was next to V again I looked around from my low position and I could see 7 or more of those things standing around, they were being cautious with so many of their own dead around, so they were darting in and out seeing what our reaction was. I got on my knees and started forwards for the fallen gun. At the same time the creatures attacking us made their move. The adrenaline was starting to wear off and I was starting to feel tired, the gun was getting heavy in my hands and my burnt hands were starting to become painful. One came straight for me and I raised the gun and fired. The creature died but careered into me knocking me down again.

2 of the creature leapt over my body and both landed on V. All I heard was cracking and the sound of ripping flesh as the bit V again and again. The sounds of screaming cut the air as V woke again and felt the enormous amounts of pain wracking her body. She looked over at me and the look on her face was nothing that I will never forget; it was a mix of pain and the ghost of that smile that had been on her face before she had been attacked. My face must have been full of horror and whilst I looked her eyes rolled in the back of her head and she lay their whether dead or unconscious I didn’t know.

The things on Vs chest raised their heads and looked left and right. They stiffened and looked at each other, they made low grumbling whines to each other and then louder high pitched yelps before turning and running off into the undergrowth. I stood up again still holding the gun. My burnt hands had moulded themselves into the shape of the pistol and stock grip. I looked down at V and realised that whatever I did she was going to die. Her wounds were too extensive and the loss of blood huge.

I breathed out heavily and my mask steamed up slightly. I could hear something coming. It was getting louder and louder, so the thing must have been getting closer and closer. It came bounding out of the forest in an explosion of leaves from the floor and from living shrubs. It was like the doglike things only much bigger, it had a mane to speak of but it’s wasn't made of hair it was more like the skin of the creature.

I fired blindly at it with the barrel pointed in the general direction of the creature. It roared in either pain or anger. As if the roar had been an order of some sort my gun made the worst possible sound ever. A click. the creature kept on coming and it barged between me and Vs body. I was knocked to the ground again and the now useless gun went flying.

I could only watch as the thing sniffed at Vs body, it carefully picked her up in its jaws and bit down hard locking its jaws. I turned my head not wanting to see what happened. I also started to cry a little bit. When i dared myself to look again I couldn’t see Vs body and the creature was bearing down on me. It was then the instincts of my ancestors kicked in. Before i knew it I was up and running. I was no longer tired or hurting, teh new infusion of adrenaline in my blood had seen to that. Close on my heels was the creature it was having slight difficulty with the path I had chosen.

I kept running, my breath was ragged in my chest and my whole body was hurting due to the punishment that it had taken and was still taking but i couldn’t stop, if I did I would die, so I pushed myself harder until it felt as if the muscles in my legs would explode. The creature was still behind me and it looked as if i was going to end up as a snack for this monster when a miracle occurred.

Out of nowhere something flew past my face at about eye height. It passed so close that it cut a ruler straight line in my skin. There was a huge howl behind me and a crash that followed quickly after. Still running I glanced behind me the creature had fallen and had smashed a load of saplings that had been in front of it. I couldn’t see it moving and so I started to slow to a jog.

About 200 meters from where the thing had fallen i stopped. Out of the bushes to my left came an Avatar but he wasn't dressed like the Avatars I had seen before and this one carried a bow as tall or taller than me. He took a step forwards, towards me, it was then that my body gave up. The exhaustion of what had just occurred caught up to me. Pain hit me in a wave and combined with the tiredness my vision went black and i collapsed in front of the first real Navi I had ever seen.

Ooooh

Well in 1st chapter when dude opens eyes first and explain nervous system. Theres a sentence...were you just wrote nervous and 4got system funny though now that Im searching for it cant find it! >.<
I like wats it about.
If I were on a Pc id point out some stuff :/ but yeah.
Over its good, some phrasings possibly could be done differently though.

Yeah I know how that goes :p

Alright, this one was good. Within the first few paragraphs it was like "Avatar story..." To be honest, I wasnt expecting much seeing as the last Avatar story I read ended up in sex and perfectness =\ I love how you changed it from the little romance that was in there got killed. It was a nice break from happy stories. Just a little bit of advice ^__^ You can use better syntax, more specifically using shorter and longer sentences to create a stronger feeling of fear of comfort. Then you can always use a little better diction ^___^ But it was Alright, good job!

Alright, this one was good. Within the first few paragraphs it was like "Avatar story..." To be honest, I wasnt expecting much seeing as the last Avatar story I read ended up in sex and perfectness =\ I love how you changed it from the little romance that was in there got killed. It was a nice break from happy stories. Just a little bit of advice ^__^ You can use better syntax, more specifically using shorter and longer sentences to create a stronger feeling of fear of comfort. Then you can always use a little better diction ^___^ But it was Alright, good job!