Chapter 4 Debriefing
The survivors were immediately treated by medical troops after reaching the outpost.
Days of recovery turned into weeks before the sergeant was strong enough.
But he paid a high price, the sergeant couldn’t walk any more, the last arrow was a hit in his spine and it was untreatable.
They were moved to Hell's gates where they were having a debriefing after the incident.
“Good day Sir. Good day John, good to see you guys alive” a voice said when they left the chopper.
John saw who it was, it was an old friend of him, Wilson.
“Wilson, good to see you too” he said.
“What happened there in the forests guys?” Wilson asked.
“A lot. But we need to go to the meeting room, so we won't can't tell you the whole story.”
“Where do I need to start?” the sergeant said “Ah, after the second day there was just one AMP-suit left, but that thing got destroyed by a single Na'vi.”
“One?” Wilson said “Rumors says that you were overrun by tens of Na'vi!”
“Nope, just one.”the sergeant replied. “One was enough to get our tail between the legs and run back to base.” he looked to Wilson when he said it.
“He took us by surprise, it was a hunter with some nerves of steel” John said.
“Why? What did he then?” Wilson asked.
They’ve entered the base and were walking through the some corridors
“Why? You say?” answered John “He had the courage to act as living bait and led a Taloaing to us.”
“That son of a b****, looks like he knew what he did.” Wilson said, there was some angry tones in his voice “But there is the meeting room, good luck friends.”
“Thanks” the survivors said and the two soldiers went trough the door.
John took some time to observe the meeting room, there was a big oval shaped table with chairs around it.
The army staff was already sitting at one side of the table, and there was an officer that John didn't knew.
At the other side there were already three soldiers, John knew them, they were send back after the first attack on the first day.
John closed the door and took a chair at the side of the Sergeant.
“Welcome Sergeant, welcome soldier John.” said a officer “My name is Lieutenant
General Donald Speirs and I will speak on behalf of the army staff.”
“What we want to know is what happened there in the forest.”he said and pointed to the three soldiers “These three came back in the evening. And one of them was wounded.”
“We want you to give us a detailed report of your scouting mission.”
“Do I have permission to speak, Sir?” the sergeant asked.
“Go ahead.” was the answer
“Some hours after noon, we were attack by a Hammerhead. It destroyed our AMP-suit and we decided to send the wounded driver back to base, with these two to take care of him.”
“That evening, we reached the outpost, but when it was getter darker we had some trouble with a lot of... what do you call them? They look like a little black dogs.” the Sergeant was having some trouble.
“We were attacked by Viperwolfs that evening, Sir” John assisted.
“Thank you, a Viperwolf. That was what I tried to say.” the Sergeant said “Anyway, somehow they found a way into the base and they were a trouble for the rest of the night. When the sun came op, they were or gone or dead. They killed a lot of men, I don't really know how many of them died that night.”
Speirs interrupted him “thirty man died that night. The soldiers who saved you were reinforcements. Those guys were send to help that outpost. But go on with the story Sergeant.”
The Sergeant continued “A few hours after we left the outpost we've had again some trouble. One of the AMP-Suits felt from a cliff. The driver could be rescued and we decided to continue but we had almost no protection. That afternoon we were exhausted from still the previous night and I gave the soldiers some rest. But we made a big mistake, we didn't paid enough attention to the surrounding area. And we were to late when it happened, we were caught in surprise and couldn't react that fast. The Taloaing destroyed our last AMP-Suit. ”
Speirs interrupted him again and he whispered some things to the others before he spoke to the Sergeant again.
“Where was the sentry at the time when it happened? I believe you know that you must have always a sentry when you take a rest.”
“I know that, Sir” said the Sergeant to defend him self “We were surrounded by a hostile area, the sentry was walking around us. He was on the other side when it happened.”
“We tried to hunt down that Na'vi for several hours but without any success, he escaped and we decided to go back to the outpost. That's when he was going to hunt us down, one by one he killed our men.”
The sergeant stopped and searched for the good words.
“When we almost reached safety, he... he shot me in the back. The arrow damaged my spine and because of that I... Will never be able to walk again. That's... That is the whole story, Sir.”
“Thank you, Sergeant” Speirs Said “We are going to discuss this story and then you will hear what we are going to do with you. Please stay here, we will bring some food.”
The army staff left the room and it was deadly quiet, the tree soldiers understood now what fate they’ve escaped.
The door opened and some one brought the lunch inside, there were delicious sandwiches and plates with fruits
When the started to eat, one of the three soldiers started to speak “Sergeant, I am sorry what happened to you and after I heard this story, I only can thank you for saving me from this fate.”
The sergeant smiled and said “No need to worry, I will learn to live with it. And I still hear you struggling with with my order. No, you don't need to thank me. It was fate who you need to thank.”
He grabbed a sandwich while he said that to let the rest know he didn't wanted to talk.
The rest didn't made any sounds, they were just thinking about the whole mission.
The only sounds you could hear was the ticking of the clock and the breathing of the persons in the room, everyone was busy with their own thoughts.
Suddenly the doors opened and the staff entered the room, the soldiers were startled and jumped into position.
The staff took their places and Speirs started to talk.
“We've made our decisions. Sergeant, we will dismiss you from your current position.” he continued “But, we can offer you a different job on the base. We can still use you're experience here.”
“Thank you, Sir.” the Sergeant said
“Soldier John, you are now without a platoon leader” Speirs said and pointed to the unknown officer “This is captain Winters. He is you're new platoon leader.”
Winters nodded “I want to make a new group with you and the Sergeant. I want to start tomorrow morning and we have a lot to do. John, you are longer in the same team with those three right?”
John nodded “Yes, Sir”
“Then they will be in our team too.” he said “Who are those three? What are their names?”
“My name is Petrov, Sir, I am a scout.” the first said
“And my name is Vladimir, Sir, I am a scout too. Petrov and me are friends in our whole life, that’s our key to survival.”
“And my name is Anderson, Sir. I am a AMP-Suit driver.” the last one said.
Winters nodded “Tomorrow 08:00 hours are you ready for further orders in the armory. You are dismissed.”
the soldiers saluted and left the room.
Winters, John and the Sergeant saluted too before the left the room.
Winters closed the door behind him “We have an meeting room at 12.00 hours. We will decide who we want to have into the team. I want to hear the opinions that you two have, so think carefully.”
He turned around and left the corridor where they were standing.
“John, how did the meeting go?” some one asked
John turned around and saw that it was Wilson“Better than expected, my friend. We will make a new team. But now captain winters will lead us.”
“That's good news I think” Wilson said “But, I want to hear the whole story. Come, lets go to the canteen.”
“Ok, Where do I need to start? Ah, the story started a few hours after we left the base.” the Sergeant said and they went into the direction of the canteen.