Storm over Pandora

Started by Lehrrap Uniltìranyu, December 31, 2009, 08:10:08 PM

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Hawnu UnilTxep

#60
[[discussed through messenger with Chris and Alex :3]]

Grace's school
Later in the day


Eanataw had sat on the vul of the utral of her choice... She had seen the uniltìrantokx look up at her in the tree... the one with the tseo, talking to one of the tseoyu.  She then had moved a bit closer, dropping to the ground, staying behind a large fern, her ears perked to the sounds of his hesitant Na'vi.  She found him... interesting.

Her eyes got drawn to the Kunsìp, though, as another Tawtute made his way to it.  She moved towards it slowly, her eyes sharp on the movements, still keeping out of sight until she got closer, then she ducked and kept into a crouch as she made her way closer to the kunsìp, heading for a fallen utral.  She flipped her eyes from the kunsìp to the interesting tseoyu uniltìrantokx, and was alarmed to find him not where she had last seen him.  He was standing up to his full height, accentuating his Na'vi body in the strange Sawtute clothing, watching her closely.

She breathed out quickly, a puzzled look on her face.  She jumped over the log easily, and within a few seconds was behind the kunsìp, peering around the front, looking for the uniltìrantokx now.  

Chris was surprised to see her reaction, but quickly controlled himself.  He was interested, and made his way quickly to the Samson, jumping in the cargo bay, keeping his steps silent, and crept to the edge of the otherside, peering out.  He could see her there, tail moving slightly as she peered around the front of the heli, not paying any mind to behind her.  He took the oppurtunity to drop down on the soft ground, and move slowly towards her, keeping as quiet as possible still, but not wanting to startle her.

Eanataw searched the Na'vi and the uniltìrantokx for that one, but did not see him.  She furrowed her brow, and returned her attention behind her, jumping back with a soft curse under her breath and drawing her knife she had slung across her chest, wasting no time to point it at his throat.  He wasn't but a hand taller than she was.  

"Uniltìrantokx, lumpe ngati zima'u?" She asked, eyes narrowed slightly, her txe'lan racing with the close proximity of the tawtute.

He was offput, and his hands were in the air before she had the Na'vi out of her mouth.  He stammered for words.  "Uh... Oel tsime'a ngati...umm..mi ayutral..."

"Skxawng," she said in response, not satisfied with his answer.  She took a step closer.

"Now wait a minute, just because I saw you in a tree makes me a moron? Uhmm...Krrpe oel tsole'a ngati mi ayutral...oe lu skxawng, srak?" He said, frowning.

"Srane.  Ngati keting tingay, ngati lu skxawng."  She said, and he looked confused, eyebrows raised, and she realised that he did not understand.  "What you called?" She asked, the English words odd off of her tongue and in the air.

"My name is Christian," he said.

She tried the name out quietly on her tongue first, never lowering her knife.  She pointed to herself with her free hand.  "Eanataw.  You, Ch-ree-shan, skxawng."

They stood in silence for a minute, before she jumped at a loud hiss, pulling herself instinctively into a crouch, looking from where the noise came from.  She heard the tawtute and his footsteps before she saw the small man, and had her tsko with a swizaw notched before she took in the Tawtute completely, who looked upset, worried, and on edge.  Her eyes flicked from Chris to the Tawtute, and then back again, wondering what kind of threat he posed.  She saw Chris, then the new Tawtute started yelling, and she didn't understand a word that he said, but she understood a little of Chris's.

"Woah, woah, Alex, it's alright," he said in a reassuring voice, stealing a worried look at Eanataw and her imposing weapon.

"Are you sure?" This Alex asked, looking seriously doubtful.  Chris nodded.

"Mawey, Eanataw," Chris said, and their eyes locked for a second, before she slowly lowered her tsko, but not un-notching her swizaw.



Please PM me if you are still interested in the real Na'vi tribe.

Sngä'i Tìrey-yä

#61
Ariel
Grace's School
1545 HRS

Ariel had spent the rest of the afternoon learning and chatting with some of the other Na'vi children. To be honest, she liked spending time with the Na'vi, so long as they were shorter and not holding dangerous weapons. She saw Grace gesture towards her watch, and heard the two helicopter guys start puttering around with the engine. "Almost time to head back" she muttered to herself, and started slowly extracting herself from the mass of children that had surrounded her.

Ariel stretched her back, sore from bending over, and looked over to some of the other Avatars. She snickered when she saw Chris talking to another Na'vi girl that she had seen come out from the trees. These guys are falling out of the trees like ripe peaches, you gotta wonder how many more are hiding in the branches watching us teaching their kids. The smile slid off her face and she suddenly felt her heart freeze a bit in panic. She imagined another forty or fifty Na'vi like Tireamokri sitting in the trees, bows notched with arrows, ready to shoot them the second they felt their children and youth were threatened...

Suddenly she had to wonder if being a teacher at this school was really a good idea.

~~~

"C'mon, everybody on board now. Time to leave!" Grace called after receiving a gesture from Jax. She yelled to the lingering Na'vi over the roar of the helicopter in their language, presumably explaining their need to leave before dark.

Before Grace could go and drag her onto the chopper, Ariel went around to all the Na'vi she had spent time with that day, saying 'kìyevame' and 'ewya ngahu'. She stopped in front of Tireamokri especially and hugged the Na'vi woman, scampering away before she could pull a knife on Ariel. With a running jump, she dove into the center of the helicopter and started strapping on every belt she could find close to her. Some of them might have been seat belts for seats on either side of her, but really, the other's didn't seem to be using them.

Ariel managed to keep her eyes open enough to wave back at the Na'vi on the ground as they zoomed up and away. Of course, once they became the size of ants she screwed her eyes shut as hard as she could, and tried to suppress the scream that was building in her chest. She felt the helicopter swoop and dive around rivers and mountains. The passengers were oddly quiet in comparison the whooping and hollering this morning. She presumed they were all tired and overwhelmed by the day's experience like she was, but at least they were enjoying the view on the way home. Ariel was just holding her breath waiting for Jax to announce they were almost back at the base. She suppressed another moan as her stomach flipped from a steep dive.

As much fun as she had at the school, Ariel didn't think she would ever enjoy the flight.
Avatar is a movie about a guy with blue balls running through the forest chasing tail.

Coyote

Leaving Tribal School/
en Route to Hell's Gate
1800 hours +










Arik said good-bye to Aniuket and her sister, both of whom smiled and seemed to laugh at some shared joke between them. Jax and Alex were warming up the SA-2 that Arik rode in on, with the female gunner taking the other door gun. Arik was going to help Ariel back into the ship and get belted in, but she leapt in on her own and hastily ...tied herself to the chair. Arik grinned and checked the clasps and tugging the shoulder harnesses to make sure they were secure.

"Gonna be alright?" he asked her, "I want to make sure you don't fall out."
"I think I'll be okay," she said. He voice was different-- like she'd experienced something amazing and was still assimilating it. Arik smiled and nodded his head; he knew the feeling too. He gave Ariel a comradely pat on the shoulder and helped others into the helo.

Dr. Augustine was among the last; she remained behind, talking to a pair of Na'vi that appeared to be older, a male and a female. The female wore a series of red cloth or bead-like arrangements, Arik couldn't tell for sure, like a large shirt instead of the less formal clothing --or lack thereof-- of other females.

"I think those are the local big wigs," Arik said to Chris as he strapped in.
"That was the impression I got," Chris said.

"You're with sciences, right?" Chris asked.
"Geology," Arik said, "Lookin' for rocks. Rocks that may be valuable, and to make sure the soil can support mining operations safely," he said with a nod towards Ariel. As the motors started, Grace Augustine came running back, and leapt easily through the helo door.

"You made a good impression," she said, seeming more relaxed than earlier. "Or at least, you avoided making a bad one. There's been incidents in the past; so a lot of them were hesitant to talk to us. But I think if we had a second meeting they'd be less shy."
"That was shy?" Arik asked.
"It's hard for me to imagine Na'vi being shy," Chris said.

"Well, hesitant," Grace clarified. "Usually they see our arrival as nothing good," she added, some frustration evident in her voice. "But now they know who you guys are, so they can recognize you if they see you out here. That could be important someday in the future."

Arik nodded in agreement but didn't say anything. He sat at the gunner's chair but didn't touch the M60; didn't put his hands near it. He located Aniuket and her sister in the crowd and waved. Aniuket held her hand up somewhat hesitantly and put it back down again. Many of the Na'vi were looking at and talking to those among their group that had talked to the Tawtute, asking them all sorts of questions. Facial expressions could be seen running the gamut from amusement to annoyance. Some waved, most of the children, who called out, "Goodbye Grace!". Dr. Augustine smiled and waved back.

Arik felt badly that some of the Na'vi were so uncertain about their visit that they never came out to see them. What kind of crap has been going on here before we came? he wondered. He made a point to make eye contact with the female Na'vi in particular that hang watched like a hawk from the trees. At some point she'd come down from the trees without him noticing, and had actually approached the SA-2. He admired her skills at stealth-- Could have used some of that in Nigeria, he thought. He looked right at her --pretty, he realized-- and smiled and waved. She seemed taken aback by the boldness of the gesture, and seemed slightly self-conscious that she'd been seen so easily. But she didn't seem... hostile, at least, Arik thought. It's a start.

The engines roared and they lifted gracefully from the ground, Arik watching in rapt fascination at the Na'vi and their world in the trees.

This is so cool, he thought.

"You like it?" Grace asked.
"It's beautiful," he replied. She gave him a steady look, as if re-evaluating him. Arik realized he probably didn't fit in a convenient category for Dr. Augustine-- he was part of the sciences department but with his background also fit easily with the security personnel. "I'll be glad to get out there and spend some time... you know, more personal, I guess. Less structured."

"Eventually, you'll get your chance," Grace said.
Arik put his headset back on, after loosening it to it's maximum fit for the oversize Na'vi head his Avatar wore. It was still a tight fit, but it was easier to deal with. He rested a hand on the M60 and brought it up, turning off the safety. In his mind, unbidden, came an old song he'd heard once. It played in his mind and he quietly whistled along with the tune; a jaunty march from... from Lagos, he realized. He looked out over the jungle and remembered Nigeria, and the march had played in his mind. He looked in the cabin, wondering if anyone else had heard him whistling in the mic. He saw Esme, the veteran female door gunner on the other side, looking right at him.

"Garryowen?" she asked, surprised to hear the old tune coming from out of nowehere.
"You know it?" Arik asked.
"I was with the 1st Cav," she said, "Nigeria."

"Get out! I was in Lagos with the 75th Rangers during the Ramadan Offensive."
"That's when I was there," Esme said, brightening, "Northeast Sector."
"That was our patrol area," Arik said. "Holy cow, you probably shuttled me around for three months."
"We pulled the Rangers out of a couple of real stinkers," she said. "I haven't heard that song in years."

"'Instead of spa we'll drink down ale..." Arik began.
"...and pay the reckoning on the nail," Esme responded. They both burst into loud song, startling the others.
"No one for debt shall go to jail,
from Garryowen in morning!
" They laughed out loud as just about everyone else in the helo stared at them strangely.

"You people know you're the in-flight movie now, right?" Jax said over the com, drawing laughs from the others. He and Alex exchanged bemused looks; the mechanic shook his head in bewilderment.

"You are definitely the strangest bunch I've seen on any rotation through here," Grace said. "Look, there's two places where the company allows bars to run. Hours are limited and the drinks cost an arm and a leg, but there's a civilian bar in the Admin wing called Pandora's Box, and there's a military type club over by the Security barracks. They're only allowed to serve drinks from 1800 to 2200 and you're limited to one drink per hour, by company policy. But after we land, we'll fill out reports on making contact with the natives... then how about we go there for a little while?"

"I'm up for it," Arik said. "I think we've earned it..."








Results:
Contact made with natives.
New arrivals bonding as a team fairly well.
Arik & Esme find they served together years ago.
Grace Augustine pleased at the way things went, offers rare moment of camaraderie.

***
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Nume fpi sänume

#63
((Got busy and wasnt able to post earlier, so the interaction here may seem out of place.))

Tribal School - Landing Pad
Inside Samson SA-2 Brokensword
A few moments after boarding


Alex ran through the preflights with Jax again, checking systems. It was good to have his mask off and be back in a normal atmosphere. Pulling out his Data Pad he decided to use the battery that was left to log the system startups and the first half of the flight, it should last about that long. He saw people still saying their goodbyes to each other, some more warmly than others. The tall Na'vi that he was talking with was on the other side of the clearing, but still very distinctly looking at him, even now. It was like he was looking into Alex's soul, and doing a damned good job of it. The data pad opened a new flashing window, one that Alex was unfamiliar with. Opening it, he saw a simple translator. "This would have been useful" Alex said to himself. It was scrawled across with words obviously in Na'vi, with the word "Translating" flashing. He wondered where it could be translating from and the realized that the sensors in the back cargo area were picking up chatter. The translation complete, Alex began reading it

Moron

Now wait a minute, just because I saw you in a tree makes me a moron? When in see you in thing be moron?

Alex couldn't understand the translator that well, but he got the idea. Alex was tired of reading, and decided he would rather watch it, maybe even listen in. Getting out of his seat, he went to be door and looked out the large window. It took his mind only a second to understand what he saw; angry female Na'vi with a knife out, looking like she was about to split him open.

"S*** Chris is in trouble!" Alex said to Jax, ripping the mask from the extra pocket on his pants and pulling his mask back on while Jax scrambled his. Alex reached out and slapped the emergency depressurization switch, the air being sucked out in a flash. Alex had only a moment to take in the scene, and had no idea what he was going to do. He wasn't combat trained, but he wasn't about to let Chris, avatar body or not, get butchered. He took a quick stride forward towards the door gun, but before he got anywhere close he noticed the graceful but alarmingly fast reflexes of the Na'vi woman as she sheathed her knife, and drew her bow back, arrow in place.

"I'm dead" Alex thought to himself. The moment seemed to last an eternity. The Na'vi's eyes flickered between Chris and Alex, unsure of the situation. Behind him Jax was trying to unstrap himself from the seat he was in, and yelling something he didn't understand at the moment. The camp was beginning to turn their attention towards the commotion, and all Alex could do was wait. Reality snapped back into real time as Chris spoke to Alex

"Woah, woah, Alex, it's alright"

"Are you sure?" Alex had his doubts. Easy for the guy without the knife to his throat anymore to say, usually when someone is a fingers twitch from killing you, things aren't alright.

"Mawey, Eanataw" Chris said to the Na'vi woman, who seemed to hesitate a moment, and lowered her bow, but didn't pull the arrow.

Alex breathed again for what seemed like the first time in hours. He looked around, noticing Human, Avatar, and Na'vi alike all waiting to see what was going to happen. He saw Grace heading over, and not with smiles and laughs on her face.
"Oh boy, here comes the s***storm," Alex said aloud, probably louder than he meant to.



Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

Landing Platform/ Grace's School
1715 HRS

"F***ing straps, why did I even put the bleeding things on anyway?!?" Jax swore as he finally unbuckled himself and got out of Brokensword, grabbing down beside his door where he kept a hidden PHALANX IV FORCE CARB semi-auto shotgun, which he unmounted and brought around carefully, staying low behind Brokensword.

If the Na'vi gal even so much as twiched, he would bring it around and unleash hell. He had it loaded with Bullshot, a nasty upgrade of the old-fasioned buckshot that was twice as big and hit twice as hard. Perfect for close range engagements, and perfect for keeping a close defence on a planet that was good at chewing people up and spitting them out, especially if he had to take ground and make emergency repairs.

He lowered the shotgun as he saw Dr. Grace coming over, looking PISSED. "Here comes trouble." He muttered as Glace started yelling in Na'vi.

The girl that had the bow yelled back, but put the arrow away. Jax sighed and stood up fully, only to get glared at by Grace. "What the hell are you thinking Marine? Put that thing away before you hurt someone with it." She said at him with a icey stare.

"Hey, I'm just doing my job doc. No offence, but that Na'vi gal looked like she was getting ready to paint Brokensword's interior blood red with Alex's blood. I'm a guard, I'm guarding." Jax said, holding up one hand as he put the combat shotgun down, bringing his other hand up to show Grace that he had no weapon.

Grace snorted. "Right. I'll keep that in mind. Just don't go shooting people, I've got enough trigger-happy dumbasses to deal with."

"Dully noted." Jax muttered under his breath.

Grace went back to dealing with the situation, talking to the three involved in the 'conversation' that had taken place as he put the shotgun back into it's storage rack, locking it down tight.

Jax pulled himself into the cockpit of the Brokensword and went back to making the pre-flight startups, trying to drive the thought that had suddenly entered his head.

Would he really have taken the shot?

En Route to Hell's Gate - Pandora Airspace
Brokensword
1815 HRS


"I'm up for it, I think we've earned it."

Jax let out a hardy cheer. "Hell yeah! I don't know about you guys, but a little R and R sounds great. Tomorrow's a no-flight day, Colonel just shot me some orders over com."

"And I have to agree with you doc..."

"Call me Grace, Marine, relax."

"Right, doc, anyway, beyond that little incident before take off, everything ran pretty smoothly. I have to admit it went well, minus that one kid trying to take a drink from the fuel cell." Jax shook his head as he looked over at Alex, "Sweet kid, but still. Also, that Right Rotor is still acting up. We'll have to check that out while we have prep-time tomorrow."

Focusing back for a moment on the flight before he went back to talking, Jax scanned the horizion. He gasped slightly, more out of suprise then shock as he saw the forest light up. "Damn. Don't see that everyday."

Grace chuckled. "You do on Pandora, Marine. This is the Pandora that you need to see, not the verion the RDA gives you in those little handbooks full of bullcrap."

"Hoorah Ma'am."

"Again, just call me Grace."

The rest of the flight was quiet, everyone entranced by the sight of the forest lighting up. Jax looked over and chuckled. "Hey, side thought, did you Avatar pilots notice that you light up like christmas trees when it get's dark?"

That got a laugh out of a few people as Brokensword pulled into Hell's Gate' airspace. "Hell's Gate tower this is BROKEN-1, bringing back Dr. Augustine and her AVTR project team from airspace "The School."

The tower responce was quick to Jax's call. "Welcome back BROKEN-1.  Welcome home. You're the last flight tonight, so once you land we're going to lock up once you get the AVTR pilots down by their training zone."

"Solid Copy Hell's Tower. One day down,  two thousand, one hundred and eighty nine left to go, neh?"

"Hoorah brother, you can say that again. Welcome back BROKEN-1, Hell's Tower out."

Jax brought the SA-2 down infront of the base house that made the Avatar bodies 'dorm'. "Alright, everyone but us humans, out. Take a snooze and we'll meet you on the way to Pandora's Box, neh?"
-------------------

Unknown
1900 HRS


"Bring the freaking camera around. Get me another veiw. Come on, hurry it up."

A soldier saluted, hitting a few keys with a deft hand, zooming in and ehancing a image on a large screen. "Freeze it right... there." The voice said.

"Sir." The soldier said, freezing the image.

It was a close up of the Brokensword, it's pilot, Jax, cleaning it down andremoving the fuel cells, just like any other well trained pilot. He had a smile on his face, and looked as if he had been wistleing. The time on the sceen said 1845 HRS.

"Jax... that's his name, right? The new pilot. And the person that we saw a few moments earlyer, the Mechanic, Alex or whatever, and that Gunner-door girl... can't think of the name."

"Yes sir. And it says her name is... Esme."

"... This could work to our favor. He's one of Dr. Augustines, no matter what the Colonel says. This could work to our favor. Get a full list of the crew that joined him on this flight and get me reasons that they might turn on the RDA."

"Sir?"

"We strike in three days. Pandora will be ours, and the good doctor and her flunkys will take the blame."

--------------



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Mako

#65
Grace's School
1715 Hours


Perhaps sneaking up on the Na'vi girl hadn't been a good idea. As it were, Chris now stood with a knife several inches from his throat.

"Uniltìrantokx, lumpe ngati zima'u?" She asked, eyes narrowed slightly. She surely looked menacing enough.

Chris forced himself to remain calm. He thought quickly to his training, making sure he knew exactly what to do if things got hairy. But he was going to try a diplomatic approach.

"Uh... Oel tsime'a ngati...umm..mi ayutral..." God he hoped he was saying what he thought he was.

"Skxawng," she said in response, as if not satisfied with his answer. She took a step closer, putting Chris just that much closer to the edge. He knew what that meant for sure, and almost got a laugh out of it, despite the situation. This girl had a fierceness about her, she showed little, if no fear whatsoever, and he liked that. But she was still holding a knife to his throat.

"Now wait a minute," he said, aware of the edge of the blade just off his Adam's apple, "just because I saw you in a tree makes me a moron?" He fought to remember the Na'vi for the English he had been speaking.

"Uhmm...Krrpe oel tsole'a ngati mi ayutral...oe lu skxawng, srak?" He said, frowning.

"Srane. Ngati keting tingay, ngati lu skxawng."  She spat back in a reply. He knew he looked confused. His eyebrows raised, and the lack of words had to show he didn't understand.  Much to his surprise, though, she spoke English to him.

"What you called?" She asked, with an extremely heavy Na'vi accent.

"My name is Christian," he said, hoping it wasn't a fluke that she knew how to ask for his name.

She tried the name out quietly on her tongue first, keeping her knife at his throat. She pointed to herself with her free hand.

"Eanataw.  You, Ch-ree-shan, skxawng."

They stood in silence for a minute, before she jumped at a loud hiss behind them, pulling herself into a crouch, looking from where the noise came from. Chris barely picked out Alex out of the corner of his eye, making his way to the door gun. She drew her bow with graceful efficiency, and stopped Alex in his tracks. Her eyes flicked from Chris to the Alex, and then back again. Alex almost lost it. Chris knew exactly what was going through his mind.

"Woah, woah, Alex, it's alright," he said in a reassuring voice, stealing a worried look at Eanataw. Her bow was drawn, arrow knocked. Chris somehow didn't think she would miss at this range. The best thing to do would be to calm Alex down enough to convince Eanataw that he wasn't a threat.

"Are you sure?" This Alex asked, looking seriously doubtful. Chris nodded.

Chris turned back to Eanataw. "Mawey, Eanataw," Chris said reassuringly. Their eyes locked for a second, and in that moment, Chris felt extraordinarily small. She slowly lowered her bow, but not un-knocking her arrow. As Jax finally made it out of the cockpit, Chris could hear Grace coming. He knew this wasn't going to turn out good for them.

--------

Samson Gunship
1815 Hours


Chris looked up as Jax got off the com.

"Hell yeah! I don't know about you guys, but a little R and R sounds great. Tomorrow's a no-flight day, Colonel just shot me some orders over com."

Grace and Alex were chatting about something. Chris didn't quite care at the moment. He was watching the horizion, doorgun ready. But his mind wasn't truly in the moment. He was thinking about the girl he had met at the school. She was beautiful, no doubt about it. But her eyes. He had never seen such an intense passion. He knew that behind those eyes was an intelligence that the RDA didn't credit. Speaking of the RDA, he knew they were going to get some from the Colonel if they didn't make it back soon.The forest below was starting to give off an odd light. It caught the attention of most of the members on board the Samson.

"Damn. Don't see that everyday," Jax mused.

Grace chuckled. "You do on Pandora, Marine. This is the Pandora that you need to see, not the version the RDA gives you in those little handbooks full of bullcrap."

The rest of the flight was quiet, everyone entranced by the sight of the forest lighting up. Chris jumped back to reality when Jax looked over and chuckled, "Hey, side thought, did you Avatar pilots notice that you light up like Christmas trees when it get's dark?"

That got a laugh out of a few people as Brokensword pulled into Hell's Gate' airspace. Jax went through all the standard procedures with Hell's Gate air-tower as they prepared to land.

The tower responce was quick to Jax's call. "Welcome back BROKEN-1.  Welcome home. You're the last flight tonight, so once you land we're going to lock up once you get the AVTR pilots down by their training zone."

Jax brought the SA-2 down in front of the Avatar bunk. "Alright, everyone but us humans, out. Take a snooze and we'll meet you on the way to Pandora's Box, neh?"

Chris smiled and stepped off the gunship.

--------

Hell's Gate Complex
1920 Hours


Chris walked into the Avatar bunkhouse and found his bunk. He sat down and listened. Pandora was coming to life in the night. There were various sounds of animals, the breeze, all the sights and smells. His senses felt enhanced in his Avatar, especially his sight, which he could now use to the fullest. He heard Grace give the lights out call and laid down. He pulled his braid over the side of his body, and let his mind go blank.

--------

Hell's Gate Complex
2100 Hours


Chris climbed into his own bunk and laid down. He reflected on the day. Though teaching the children was somewhat boring, he had enjoyed being out in the open, not in the confines of Hell's Gate, or even in his own body. It was late. He closed his eye, and drifted off into nothingness. His dreams were troubled, dark. Long, dark, echoing hallways. Gunfire, extraordinarily loud, sounded to his right, and he instinctively ducked, looking for cover. Whispers....echos......darkness.......

--------

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

Hell's Gate Compound - Just Outside of Pandora's Box
1920 HRS


Jax yawned slightly, rolling a kink out of his neck as he looked around, waiting for the others to show up. Alex had told him that he was going to finish up a few things on Brokensword before he joined them at Pandora's Box, so Jax decided to use the extra time he had to take a shower and to change into something less military.

Specificly, a olive-drab teeshirt that had a glowing gold emblem on it, his old rank, Gunnery Sargent. He was proud of his rank, and he felt that it was the only shirt that he would really need. He had also slipped on a pair of jeans, though he prefered BDUs, but he kept his combat boots on, due to a old parinoia of his.

When he was younger, Jax was almost bitten in the foot by a Diamond Back Rattlesnake. It snapped at his foot and acually peirced right through the sneakers he had been wearing. From that moment on, Jax decided that unless it was absolutly nessisary, he would wear Combat Boots at all times. He didn't mind wearing his running sneakers, as he had them specially made to be peirce-resistent, but still, he never could feel quite comfortable without fully laced up boots on.

As he checked his Aviators Watch again, he kept his head on a swivl, inspecting the hallways and general look of the Hell's Gate complex. It was impressive, the way it was built and designed. He was glad that he was here, that he had decided to leave Earth behind.

He was suddenly pulled out of these thoughts by the arrival of one of the people from the crew.



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Na'ring Tirea

#67
Even though I am Na'vi my Na'vi is horrible so everything will be in English for now. Where Na'vi is spoken will be displayed in italics and bold.

Na'ring Tirea (The Forest Spirit)
Pandoran Wilderness
1400

Na'ring Tirea drops down from the canopy above landing on a branch above the ground. Below him is a pack of Viperwolf. He pulls out his bow and arrow and lines up the shot. Suddenly there is a rumble coming from the jungle as a gunship passes from above. The Viperwolf scatter.

Na'ring Tirea: Skxawng aliens

He drops to the ground and begins walking through the woods. He is not that far from his old home, sometimes he misses his time at the Home Tree. He does not trust the aliens though, so when his tribe decided to setup a relationship with these small pink creatures he left. While walking through the forest he comes to his camp. He has been in the wild for so long, but it seems like it was just yesterday when the aliens arrived. He has had minimal contect with them since then only seeing the ships pass by every now and then. He sets his bow and arrow down and then picks up a piece of fruit. Before he is able to take a bite he hears the branches move behind him. He turns to see a Na'vi standing there, but she wasn't Na'vi. This one was different, something about her wasn't right, something about her was alien.

Na'ring Tirea: Who are you?

Unknown Avatar: Hello there, didn't know anyone was out here.

Na'ring Tirea quickly grabs his bow and arrow and aims at the unusual Na'vi.

Na'ring Tirea: Why do you speak their language? Who are you? What do you want?

Unknown Avatar: My name is Grace, what is your name?

Na'ring Tirea: You are not Na'vi are you?

Grace: No, I am not.

Na'ring Tirea: Then leave

Grace: I have setup a school in your village....

Na'ring Tirea looks at Grace in anger and cuts her off.

Na'ring Tirea: They are not my village. I am no longer Omaticaya

Grace: Why is that?

Na'ring Tirea: Because they trust you! I don't know what kind of magic gave you a body like mine, but it is unwelcome here. LEAVE!

Suddenly out of the bushes behind grace step two AMP suited marine with their guns pointed at Na'ring Tirea.  Na'ring takes a step back then points the arrow at one of the AMP suits.

Grace: STAND DOWN

Grace: I am sorry to have bothered, but you are welcome to come back anytime. Come to the school and learn about us before you pass judgment.

Na'ring Tirea: Leave

Grace turns and leaves the camp. The marines in the AMP suits follow right behind her.



Outside of Grace's School
1700

Na'ring Tirea is hiding in the forest looking down on the building. There is a gathering of many, both Na'vi and aliens in Na'vi bodies. He remains motionless watching as his own kind mingle with these sky people. He then notices an altercation, a young Na'vi girl and one of those aliens. A smile crosses his face and he turns and leaves.


Skies of Pandora
1825

Na'ring Tirea soars through the sky on his Ikran replaying the earlier events in his head. There is something different about this Grace, something peaceful. Not like the other aliens he has seen. The Ikran begins to fly straight down at a high speed, it hits the ground landing next to Na'ring Tireas camp. Na'ring hops off his Ikran at rubs his head.

Na'ring Tirea: Thank you friend

Na'ring Tirea calls it a night crawling into his bed for the night.

Coyote

Hell's Gate, Pandora
Pandora's Box, 1920 hrs.











Arik still had a cheesy grin on his face as he approached the Pandora's Box civilian bar. The bar/lounge was near the Administration wing, where a few civilian shops were allowed to operate by the RDA --for a percentage, of course. They were large civilian chains, the only ones that could afford to open up so far away, and staffed mostly by RDA personnel authorized to work part-time jobs. Hours were limited and prices high, but the shops provided an area that felt almost like home for many people. There was a Burger King and a Starbucks, and a small shop where one could buy souvenirs of their time on Pandora, but by far the most popular place was the bar.

The bar doubled as an assembly room during daytime, where off-duty personnel could gather. Large-screen digital holo-vid projectors, pool tables and game tables were available at all times, but for a few hours each evening the alcohol was served.

"yo, Jax!" Arik said, walking up to the Marine standing by the entrance. "What's up, homes?" he said, shaking the man's hand.
"Waitin' for everyone to show up," he replied. "So what do you think? Hell of an experience out there, eh?"

"On so many different levels," Arik said, "Let's see what the bar has. I think we're the first ones here."

The bar was just opening up, and Arik & Jax immediately caught the attention of the bartender. The barman was a friendly fellow, built like a lumberjack but clean and with the distinct air-mask tan line on his face that indicated he was a regular outside worker by day. He had a pencil-thin moustache and dark, slicked-back hair and the typical barman towel over his shoulder. "What'll it be gentlemen?" he asked. "I don't think I've seen you here before."

"We're new," Jax said. "What's good here?"
"It's all good," the barman said, "But if you want something unique to Pandora, how about a Polyphemus Sunrise?"

"Not if it has an umbrella in it," Jax said.
"Oh, no," the barman replied. "Huckleberry vodka, a bit of berry schnapps, and a bit of soda water. Some blue food coloring."
"I'll give it a shot," Arik said.
"Thirty-seven dollars," the barman said as he made up his drink.
"This is usually twenty-five back on Earth," Arik blurted out.
"Ain't back on Earth, sunshine," the barman said. "Liquids are one of the most expensive things to ship; that and the company doesn't want people to get drunk and tear up the place, so that's why there's a limit."

"Wow," Arik said, taking the drink. Actually not bad, he thought, Packs a wallop. "What do you want, Jax? I'll treat; I think I only need one kidney anyway."









Results:
Arik & Jax meet up at the bar, wait for the rest.

***
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

Hell's Gate
Pandora's Box, 1920 HRS


"I'm game." Jax said with a grin.

"Alright, one more comin' up. This is your only drink for the hour boys, don't forget it." The bartender said with a nod.

Jax chuckled, "Good thing for me then. I don't drink a lot anyway, screws with my internal clock and my flying ablilitys."

The bartender looked at Jax. "Shoot, you're a Pilot? It's about bloody time we got another one of you aviatiors here on Pandora! The only worthwile pilot we've had for a while has been Trudy, but even then, there are a lot of flight mission out there."

The bartender handed Jax his drink, which Jax took slowly, making sure not to waste a drop on acting quickly.

"Oh yeah, defently a pilot." The bartender said with a headshake before he went off to deal with a few new people who had just walked in.

Jax took a drink. "Hmmm... not bad. That's a nice kick." He said with a grin.

Arik had been enjoying his drink and then turned to Jax. "So, you served in Nigeria, right?" Arik asked after he put his drink down on the bar.

Jax sighed. This was the part where he wanted to run off screaming curse words into the night before he took a deep breath of Pandora's air so he could mess up a few braincells before he came back in. "Yeah, I was Medivac in Nigeria."

Jax didn't like talking about Nigeria. He did a lot of things that he never was quite sure that were moraly right, and some of the stuff he had seen... it was terrible. More then once he flew into a hot LZ to try to pull out a group of Recon Marines or a bunch of poor saps that were thrwn onto the frontlines. His old SA-2, the Nighthawk, had another nickname in the med-cor. It was also known as 'The Reaper', because all it ever returned was dead bodies and a list of names that needed to be taken out to a poor family who just lost their mother, father, son, or daughter to a almost pointless war.

"Medivac? Wow, you've got balls of steel to do that. Even the Combat Helo's took less casuiltys then the medical teams." Arik said with suprise.

"No... not balls of steel." Jax said as he took another drink. "You ever hear of 'The Reaper' of Medivac company 17-17 Marine Force Recon?"

"Yeah, the one Medical helo that never brought back... one... survivior..." Arik looked at Jax.

Jax sighed. "Your'e looking at the one and only. It was partly due to incompitence in the top brass, partialy due to bad luck. One hundred and twenty-five flight missions, and the only person I could ever bring back was a copse and soldiers that were not even injured."

Jax took another drink. He always need a drink whenever he talked about Nigeria. "I have a repuation for being a damn good pilot. Out of all those flight missions, I only got shot down or even damaged my SA-2 once, the last mission before the war ended, if you could call what happened a 'ending'. I could fly like no ones buisness."

Jax brought his fist down onto the bar with a sigh. "But it still hurt. I remember my first missions, when I still had some hope, that I could bring soldiers back to the medical tents and then take them home, where they would be able to recover knowing that they fought the good fight. But in the end, I couldn't bring one of them home. Their faces haunt me to this day, especially in the later missions. I remember the words that one of the soldiers said to me before I took her to the medical base. She had her leg blown off and was missing a eye, poor girl. Her teammates were killed in flight, and agaisnt orders the fool took the doorgun."

Jax smiled at the thought of the woman. She was brave, and strong, even to the end. "She told me, 'Marine, you've got the luck of the devil. Take me home and tell them of what happened here, then take me on up to heaven or hell. I'll give whatever place takes me a recommendation for you as transport pilot."

((OOC: Other character interaction available here.))



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"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
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"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
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Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Thorinbur


Avatar training grounds.
1815 HRS




Jax brought the SA-2 down infront of the base house that made the Avatar bodies 'dorm'. "Alright, everyone but us humans, out. Take a snooze and we'll meet you on the way to Pandora's Box, neh?"

The second the helicopter touched ground, Ariel did an act reminiscent of this morning, flinging the straps off as fast as she could, trying to bolt from the machine. Of course, her long braid managed to get stuck on something or another, and she was yanked back most unpleasantly, falling onto some of the other passengers. "Ow ow ow!" She cried, reaching as far back as she could, "Crap, its stuck, I'm stuck" She flailed a bit, trying to break free from the only thing keeping her attached to the roaring chopper. "Hold it for a second" Grace said with a sigh, rolling her eyes. She nimbly reached over and untangled the thick black braid, an action that caused Ariel's head to snap back and she wacked her forehead against the door jam. With as much dignity as she could muster, she grabbed her long braid and stalked away from the machine, muttering angry phrases that sounded suspiciously like 'death trap' and 'piece of s***' and 'next time, I'm walking'. She crossed her arms in annoyance and waited for the other passengers to disembark. 

Ralph unfasten his belt and jumped after her, as soon as she managed to free herself.
"Damn you do really hate flying, but come on! It was worth spending some time in the air." He said laughing.
"No, I don't hate flying. I really, really hate the idea of falling to an untimely painful death splattered across the ground. The only good that comes from these stupid things is the ability to get from here to that school without getting eaten by some giant alien moose." She responded, rubbing the back of her sore head from where her braid had been pulled. Geez, she thought, these things are sensitive. "Well, no matter, at this point I just want to get out of the jungle and into a lounge, preferably with some fruity drink with an umbrella in hand."
"You heard Jax. He expects us in Pandora's Box so i think we will be out of Avatars soon."
In this moment Grace jumped out as last from the group and said.
"You bet so. It's enough for you today. That was long day, and you haven't use to your Avatar bodies too well, so off to bed. Let's go. See you in the shack, and we will meet in the lab."
"See?" Said Ralph with gentle smile.
"Oh thank god, lead the way" Ariel sighed, and started trudging after the others towards the Avatar sleeping area. She really hoped that her real body wouldn't be as exhausted as this one, or someone might just have to carry her to the bar.

After short while all Avatars were gathered inside and had small feast. After an hour Grace declared end of the day and switched off all lights. "As crazy as it sounds it's time to go to sleep, so you could wake up. Off to beds!"

Hell's Gate
Science Labs/Corrridors
1930 HRS



Ralphs pod opened with quiet hiss. He narrowed his eyes when room filled with bright light. It was strange fealling... Seconds ago he was walking. running and jumping around. Now he had problems to lift. Well when you think about it his body was lying all day in one position. What is more he was just eating and after few seconds in his real body he started to feel hungry again. "This is screwed up" he though and noticed Ariel who sat up and stretched her arms back behind her head.

She looked towards her right and saw the other pods opening one after another; she swung her legs over the edge and took a few staggering steps. It felt like she had been sitting on her legs for a long, long time. She shook out her feet and tried to ignore the tingling sensation, it was a good thing she'd worn her slippers to the bio-lap. She slipped her feet into the fuzzy pink things and made eye contact with Ralph, shouting over, "Is your back hurting like a b**** or is it just mine?"

"Same here. And i'm dying of hunger. Come on! Lets head to that bar. Others will cutch up. Hope you got your PDA, because mine is wrecked. I don't have any idea where is that Pandora's Box" Ralph responded.
"Nope, no PDA, but I do however have the ability to ask for directions, something most men in my life have always lacked." She shuffled forward in her slippers towards one of the scientists and put on her best damsel in distress face. "Hey hun, would you mind pointing a girl in the direction of Pandora's Box? It's been a long day and I sure could use a little pick-me-up" She accentuated the last line with a wink, and promptly received instructions from the slightly flustered man. Scientists were easy. "Alright, you, let's get going, I'm dying for something that'll make me forget I'm however many billions of miles away from a chocolateour... and if one more man tries telling me that crap in the little quicky mart is the same they're going to lose the ability to have children."

"She got that info faster than i would start up my computer. Social engineering really is powerfull thing" Thought Ralph. He always had problem with people. He was limiting his contacts with others to minimum, preferred to search internet for info than ask even when it boiled down to asking for direction. Now when he was supposed to get along with aliens, he had to leave his habbits and start socializing with people. Going with others to the bar was great occasion for this.

"Great. Lets go than!" he finally said. " So how was your day... except flying part?"Asked Ralph when they left lab and immediately thought "How was your day? We were just talking to aliens... In alien bodies. Skxawng.

"Haha, can't complain really. I got confused with being a child, that was pretty fun. And the first Na'vi I really started talking to only knew one word in English, which was orange, so it was interesting. How about you?" She asked, as they walked down the cold metal hallway towards the bar. Ariel had to resist sprinting ahead - the vodka was calling to her.

"Great. I was teaching some kids, they were teaching me." Ralph answered "Heard about Chris? He had some fight with Na'vi."

"I think I saw something about that, was gonna ask him what happened but I was a bit busy being pushed towards the helicopter by Grace. That woman really likes to stay on schedule" She replied, almost muttering the second sentence.

Ralph smiled on the last sentence. "We can ask Jax when we meet in that bar. He was also there. Are we there yet?"

"Um, we just need to take this last turn here.... and voila!" She made a grand gesture towards the bar at the back of the room.  It was surrounded by shops and game areas, and already sitting at the long bar was Jax and Arik.

Ralph was going to eat something and eat only. He never drinked. Off corse he was trying couple of times, but he prefered to keep his mind clear. Never liked an idea of being unable to make quick and resonable decisions. But if he was going to get along with the group he had to start meeting them. Ariel had different opinion about drinking.
"Nice of you boys to wait for the rest of us." she called, striding towards the bar, "Are you really in that much of a hurry to get drunk?" She stopped between the two of them and looked from side to side "Or is this just some sort of male bonding time?"

Result: Avatars are safely locked, and all drivers are waking up. Ariel and Ralph meets Arik and Jax in Pandora's Box.





oel kame futa oel kekame ke'u

Tanhìyärina'

At the School, as the Sawtute leave

Tireamokri spoke in the small group of people that Ariel found, mostly in Na'vi, but picking up a few more words in English thanks to the help of the other Na'vi there.  When the Sawtute begin to leave, she finds herself the recipient of a hug from the small woman.  Just as she moves to return the embrace, the avatar dashes off frantically.

"Hiyìk," she mumbled to herself, watching the group of humans and avatars climbing into their flying machine.  <<They are an intriguing lot,>> she thought.  <<For some reason, I was led here.  I thought the Sawtute were all monsters, intent on taking our planet for themselves, intent on killing Eywa tree by tree.  But these... they seem different.  They were so kind to the children.  And they are trying to speak Na'vi-- one spoke rather well.  She carried no weapon, not even a knife.  Skxawng!  Not even a knife?  Does she think that there will always be a flying machine to carry her to safety?  Or those tiny Sawtute with their weapons?  Eywa seeks balance, and sometimes balance means that one of the People dies to a nantang.>>

Tireamokri looked around for any Na'vi who may have lingered at the school.  She was very curious about these Sawtute in their Uniltìrantokx, and whether these were truly different from those who had killed the trees and dug into the earth to find and take some silly rock.  <<What would they want that for, anyway?  Who knows the motives of the Sawtute.  They kill the trees, they tear into the heart of Eywa.  The trees are nothing to them, but that rock...>>

All she knew is that she would definitely be back.
Fitseng lu oe, tìftia kìfkeyä seri.

Nume fpi sänume

#72
Hells Gate
Indoor repair and landing bay
1900 hrs


"Shutdown fully complete, intake covers in place.." Alex was going over the lock down procedures again, trying to memorize them. He had no formal training like the rest of them, just his intuition, luck, and some talent. He went to his locker and opened it up. They were nice; very long and deep, with charging areas for a pad and enough room for everything a mechanic would need and then some. "Hell, if I could sleep standing up, this might be more spacious than my bunk..." he said, plugging in his SIPOS to charge. Taking off his coveralls and flight gear was a good feeling, not that they felt bad, just constrictive after a full day. He pulled out his primary and secondary masks, thankful for the contained atmosphere in the bay, and poped the filters on them. "Replace every seventy-two hours" he read aloud to himself. Well, they were good for a while longer, and he marked the time he used them for today on the log sheet. Closing his locker he let out a loud sigh, still troubled by the events of the day. He had come so close to death that he had to wonder just what he was doing out her... The bay alarm sounded before he could complete the though, and the normal tarmac lines flashed in alternating red and orange. All the of SA-2's and Scorpions on the bay were retracted into their storage hangars. The few people in the bay at the time stopped, and moved away from the flight area hurriedly. As one passed Alex, he snagged him to figure out what was going on.

"What's all this about? Are we being attacked by something?" Alex asked, not in the mood to face death twice.

"Means someone's comin' without full control, so they clear the tarmac are to make sure they got lots o'room to crash in." Said the other, very grizzled looking engineer. "Put yer mask on, their gonna depressurize the bay and leave the doors open till their inside." Pulling his mask down and sealing it.

"Oh..." Alex said, grabbing his primary out of the locker, pulling it around his head and making sure the seals were tight. A few moments later he heard the bay com boom

"Depressurization in fifteen seconds. All unnecessary personnel, clear the area." A few moments went by, and he heard the triple warning sirens blast, announcing both sets of doors were opening. It's interesting going from one atmosphere to the next, especially in such a large structure. The doors rumbled down, and Alex stepped over a bit to see if he could see the incoming birds. He heard the unmistakable sound of beginning engine failure in the distance before he even saw what was going on. Sounded like missing rotor blades, and a power plant on its last legs, but what he heard couldn't prepare him for what was coming in.

A flight of Scorpions, three that were probably at one point in formation, were staggering in. Still not even inside the perimeter yet, and there was a smoke trail visible for miles behind them. The lead one was shaky, probably the missing rotors he heard, and the one on the left was having some control issues due to what seemed a jammed right rotor pylon. The one on the right, however, was the failing power plant, and with a final high pitched whine, it gave out, the Scorpion in an awkward tailspin straight down. Moments later there was the sound of cracked trees, twisting metal, and finally the explosion as the fuel tanks ruptured and its munitions detonated.

Sorrowful mutters could be heard around the room, and a few other flight techs patted the shoulders of someone near them; probably the tech that was working on the just lost Gunship and pilot. The sound of choppy blades much closer brought everyone back, and now it was much easier to see the cause of the problems. The lead ship had a few sticks...wait no...arrows? Sticking into its rotor mounts from the side, this probably chipped and cracked the rotors. There was another arrow sticking from the exhaust manifold, creating the long plume of smoke. This ship was lucky to still be in the air too. Arrows were also the cause of the remaining Scorpion, a trio of them flowering from under the rotor mounts making it impossible to move it. As they approached the bay, Alex noticed more arrow shafts that had broken off, and the lead Scorpion had a gaping hole in its canopy where an arrow pierced it and went out the other side. The rear one was having more than just rotor control issues; Alex saw at it crawled carefully into the bay. Talon marks peppered its tail fins, and there was puncture damage, or were those bite marks, which had severed the cables inside that controlled rudder movement.

The lead ship, Wyvern, touched down on the tarmac followed closely by the crippled Raven, and before the rotors had even finished moving, the pilot was out of his Scorpion, swearing loud enough for Alex to clearly understand him at about two hundred feet.

Alex approached the pair of Scorpions to get a better look, just in time to see the pilot of the Wyvern for the first time. He remembered him from somewhere... though he couldn't place it. Someone pointed to Alex, and the pilot turned and smiled.

"Ey! Wrech Turna'!" Oh. It was this a******. "You workin bay 12-1-3 right? You and me, were gonna get real close." The man shouted, then walking up to him continued to talk "Names Flores, but you can call me Sir, 'ope you didn't have anything planned fer tomorra, cause you gonna be fixin up the ol' Wyvern here good as new. 'Ell time ta run." He said, walking away.

The ground crews began moving the Scorpions around, and the alarms turned off, the floor stripes returning to their usual blue and white. Behind him the bay doors were closing, and things getting back to normal. As soon as atmosphere was restored in the bay Alex took off his mask, and placed it back in his locker, not looking forward to tomorrow at all. Enough was enough for one day, and he decided to head up to Pandoras Box for a drink.

By the time he arrived, he noticed the table was already lively with conversation. Jax and Chris joked with Ariel and Ralph, at least he thought it was Ariel and Ralph. They had the same basic look as their Avatars, but it wasn't until Ariel stood up to get another drink that Alex was sure. She was short, sure, and that was a giveaway around here, but it was her killer ass the he recognized her by, the same one he followed off the dropship not long ago. The pink fuzzy slippers took something away from it though, but also made her seem more real somehow.

"Alex! You going to stand at the doorway all night or are you gonna come have a drink with us?" Jax yelled across the bar, drawing most of the eyes in the room to Alex.

"Yeah, I'm comin." Was all he could manage to say, under the pressure of slight embarrassment, walking towards the bar. These people were his new family, and at the end of the day, they made it worth all the crap he had to put up with. Flores and the Wyvern were a battle for tomorrow, right now his battle was a single malt Scotch and a table full of people he needed, no, wanted to get along with. They were why he was out here.

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

#73
Hell's Gate
Pandora's Box - 2000 HRS


The small little party that had started up with the crew was just getting going when Dr. Augustine finally showed up.

"Heya doc, I thought you got lost in the forest on the way over!" Jax said with a lopsided grin.

"Ha ha, Marine. Say it again and you lose your teeth." Grace said with a low growl.

Jax held up his hands in mock surrender. "Your word is law, Cap'tn my Cap'tn." He said with the same lopsided grin, drawing laughs from around the table.

Grace shook her head as her drink arrived, a tall pitcher of beer. "Right, whatever you say Marine. Listen, crazy-trigger happy moron that you are, you didn't do half bad today. At least you didn't try to shoot the Na'vi children that came to inspect your Kinsip."

Jax shook his head. "Frankly, I was more worried about them trying to drink from the fuelcells or nicking one of the missles then I was about them getting into 'trouble'. Brokensword is a strong gal, and pretty much idiot proof, but I would rather not have to explain on the end of a arrow why a kid got his or herself hurt messing around with my equipment."

Grace shook her head as she took a drink. "You're crazy marine. They are smarter then that."

Jax laughed. "Right doc, whatever you say." As she took her pitcher and went to talk with others around Pandoras Box

He then turned to Ariel, who had been sitting and drinking quietly before saying, "So, what's up with you and flying then? No offence, but I've never seen someone strap themselves down so quickly before."

Jax watched at Ariel shook her head. She was definitely a groundie, the type that didn't stay up in the air long enough to understand just how amazing flying was. "Uugh, I think I'll tell this a few more times. I have no issue with flying. I do, however, have an issue with falling and being crushed against the ground in a most painful fashion. So flying really isn't that big a deal, but until I grow wings I'm not going to be very happy in the air." She replied, waving towards the bartender to bring her a drink. "Hey you, mind getting me something fruity with an umbrella?"

The bartender nodded and started mixing up Ariel's drink. Jax blinked at Ariel and shook his head. "That's definitely the wrong attitude to take to flying. I've seen more people killed by that attitude then people actually die from falling out of a SA-2!""

It was about this time that Alex, returning from the bar with his Scotch, pulled out a chair between the two. "Hope you don't mind, this just seems interesting."

Jax smiled at Alex. "My Mechanical brother! How do the avatar pilots say it? Tsmukan? Something like that?" Jax said as Alex pulled up the chair.

"Yeah, its something like that, not too sure myself." Alex said as he sat down.

Jax was glad that Alex had joined them. He felt a little uncomfortable around the little gal. She had a bit of a attitude, and he didn't know why he didn't like it.

"Not a problem at all hun," Ariel replied, reaching over and patting his knee, "And about my attitude? Well I plan on doing not dying, so the straps it'll have to be. But if I get my braid stuck in there again I might have to rethink that strategy." She sighed, "You guys have no idea how weird it is being in a human body after spending the day in that big blue thing. But what did you end up doing for the day?"

Jax shrugged. "Well, as you just heard me tell the good doctor, I kept the kids away from the fuel cells and explained to them how I made the bond thing with Brokensword."

"As to what i ended up doing, I got to watch what happens when you piss off the natives. We lost a Scorpion about ten minuets ago, and at least one pilot with it." Alex said in a somber tone, taking a long swig of his drink.

Jax looked over at Alex and shook his head. "Damn. What a way to go."

He had seen too many good pilots die that way, and was shook out of it by Ariel speaking.

"Jesus, you're kidding me" Ariel replied, sobered by Jax's response. "I guess its really hard imagining them willing to kill us so easily after spending the day playing with their kids..."

Alex nodded, "Yeah, I know, they seemed so...open today."

Jax sighed and shook his head. "I'll drink to that. It's rough to remember that we're only one side of this little three-headed dragon."

"Guess Grace is right, observe, don't get emotionally attached." Ariel took a long drink, "I wasn't even supposed to be dealing with the people here... can't believe we're in this mess."

Jax took another long drink before he set his empty glass down. He had had enough for that night.

Jax gave a sad little smile. "The good doctor knows pretty damn well. Imagine how it must be for her, neh? She's been with them the longest, probably knows almost every one by name."

"Heh, i didn't expect to ever leave the engineering bay, here I am admiring flowers one moment, and the next looking down the business end of an arrow, not how i pictured my time here." Alex said with a light laugh.

Jax chuckled at Alex's little joke. "True enough. That could have been bad."

Ariel spoke up, "It must be hard putting her avatar away at the end of the day... I know it was hard enough for me and this was my first day! By the way, what happened with you and, who was it, Chris? and that one Na'vi chick with the knife?"

Jax looked over at Alex. "What happened out there bro? I want to know as well."

"Well, I see some chatter on the pad, and decide I want to watch some interaction instead of reading it, so I step up to the window and BAM, there's this ten foot tall Na'vi with a knife pointed at Chris, so I tell Jax here "s***, shes gonna kill Chris!" slam on my mask and slap the emergency depressurization. Next thing i know, I'm looking at the pointy end of a broomstick, ready to skewer me." Alex said, waving his hands around as he told his tale, drawing some laughs all around.

Jax chuckled. "I could have helped if I hadn't put the blasted harness on."

Shortly after that the PA crackled, "All personnel, report to briefing room in one hour for mandatory safety meeting. All pilots are required to stay after for additional instructions."

Jax swore. "By the F***ing forces that be! Another meeting?!?"

"Oh you've gotta be kidding me, I didn't sign up for this s***." Ariel complained after the announcement was over. "I went to freaking law school so I didn't have to sit through crap like this. I'm going to my room - if anyone asks, I was 'asleep' during the announcement."

"Deal." Jax said with a sigh.

"Heh, you got it babe." Alex said with a wink and nod.

"Thanks hun, night!" With that she slammed back the rest of her drink and sauntered out of there, fuzzy pink slippers making whooshing sounds across the metal ridged floor.

Jax chuckled. "Moves quick for a lawyer. Alright, lets get moving Alex."



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Brainiac

Hell's Gate

The whole ride back, getting out, finding the mess hall. It was all like a dream. Not a very good one, either. He'd once hoped he'd drive an avatar of himself. But somehow, he got the feeling that waiting three more days was going to be horrible on his psyche.
He found no way to enjoy the party, for one thing. Grace had agreed to speed up the process, so he might be able to get inside his avatar tomorrow morning, but on the other hand, it might not even be alive then. If he didn't wait three days, who knew what the effects would be on the avatar's physiology. But if he did, the odds of something big doing a little dance on the school were very big.
He wanted to get drunk, but not even that was possible, with those stupid regulations. Most people were leaving for a security briefing. The lawyer with the glorious ass ran the other way. He considered going after her, but he'd had enough rejection for one day. He got an idea.
With a little bit of luck, nobody was watching the oxygen tanks in medical. Those weren't all that important, since they were just filtered air again. If he couldn't get drunk, he could at least get high.
Speed is a ppoor sbubstitue fo accurancy

Check out my blogif my presence on this board isn't weird enough for you.

Coyote

#75
Briefing Room
Hell's Gate, 2010 Hrs.










Arik shuffled along with the rest of the crew towards the briefing room. He knew as soon as the downed helo had been mentioned that there'd be a safety briefing for everyone-- that was typical, and the company's way of ass-covering.

"Why do they do that?" he heard Alex grumble.
"Probably just so the company can show they made the effort and are being aware, yadda-yadda," Arik said. "Ariel could explain it better of course. Keeps insurance premiums down." He glanced back at Grace, who was walking along with them, a concerned expression on her face.

"Did you know anyone on that flight?" Arik asked.
"No one I knew was out at this hour; all my teams were supposed to be back by now," she replied. "It's just that every time something like this happens, it makes things much more difficult for my research-- and it always gets worse for the Na'vi."

Arik almost asked if she thought a confrontation had been pushed on the Na'vi or even staged outright to provide a legal excuse to bully the natives, but caught himself in time. He didn't want to talk like that out loud until he knew more of the situation. Any of the dozen strangers in the hall could say something to Director Selfridge, and that could mean getting them all in trouble.

Still, Arik thought, It is interesting that Dr. Augustine latched onto us so quickly. We're new, most of us were rushed through training... A lightbulb went off in his head. Which means most of us didn't get three years of Company brainwashing, he realized. We're blank slates. If Grace feels threatened by something, she'll need not just fellow scientists, but people with access to helos and transportation...

In the hallway, he caught up with his sister, Na'ama, and her friends Julia and Liz. "What's up, sis?" he asked casually. "You guys enjoy the visit outside?" They'd flown with Trudy Chacon but landed away from where Jax had put down. Too many helos landing in one area would have made the Na'vi nervous.

"It was cool," Na'ama said, "But what's this going on now?"
"Safety briefing," Arik said, "A Scorpion was shot down."
"Shot down?" she asked, incredulous.

"Well, some arrows apparently hit the blades at just the right angle to do it," Arik said. "One in a million shot, I'd suppose. You seen Blake?"
"He was behind us," Na'ama said. Arik turned and looked, and sure enough his roommate was shouldering through the crowd to catch up. They reached the briefing room, which was already crowded as people filed in. Arik saw Dr. Warren Childs, chief of the geology sciences department-- technically equal to Grace Augustine, but in truth he didn't have anywhere near as much pull as she did since he wasn't interested in working with the xeno-anthropology side of the sciences. He let Grace run it and stayed out of her way.

Arik glanced back at Grace, trying to pick up any more clues from her. She seemed friendly to Blake, and was sociable with Na'ama, but regarded Julia and Liz with cool disregard, and didn't seem interested in talking to Dr. Childs at all. For his part, Dr. Childs treated Grace with professional courtesy, but that was it.

Curiouser and curiouser, Arik thought as they filed in and prepared for the stern announcemnts to come.









Results:
Arik goes to emergency safety brief.
Begins to wonder about Grace Augustine's motivations and the RDA politics.

***
In Libertarianism, there is no Government, so the Bosses are free to exploit the Workers.
In Communism, there is no Government, so the Workers are free to exploit the Bosses.
So in Libertarianism, man exploits man, but in Communism, its the other way around!


VIDEO LOG DAY 8:
Attempted to pee on Viperwolf to test reaction. Please see attached medical file.
WARNING: Attached medical file exceeds gigabyte limit. System failure.

Hawnu UnilTxep

The na'ring clearing
After the kunsìp departed


Eanataw had her tsko hung over her shoulder again, and she sat on a vul, high in an utral.  She watched as the kunsìp flew away, her face straight, but her thoughts torn.  She wasn't sure where she stood, and she had never had such a Na'vi-- no, an uniltìrantokx -- make such an impression.  She frowned slightly as the wind from the kunsìp whipped around her braids, but she kept her eyes on the retreating Sawtute; she couldn't help it.  There was nothing that she could do to change that, now.  Skxawng, maybe, but she still found him intriguing.  She wondered when they would be back, because this was the first excitement she'd had in a while.  Speaking English was-- thrilling.  Something that she didn't expect to be thrilled by.

She frowned again, speaking, "Ch-ree-shan," then, "My name is Eanataw."  The words were harder to speak than she thought, so she said them again.  "Kalt-- Hello, Ch-ree-shan," she said, then again, practicing.  She smiled very slightly.

"Tsmuke," she heard, and turned quickly, her mind returning to the Na'vi that were her family.  It was Toyo, and he climbed to sit beside her.  "Aysawtuteti holum, srak?"

"Srane, ma tsmukan," she said softly, her voice controlled as to not reveal her feelings.  "Aysawtuteti..." she turned to her brother.  He smiled his goofy smile at her, reaching up a hand to touch her cheek.

"Oel tìng mikyun ngati pimlltxe ìnglìsi."

"...srane. Uniltìrantokx ulte oel, moe pollltxe.  Tsmukan," she looked at him, and smiled as well, "<<I loved it>>"

His smile fell, turning his face from hers.  "Mawey.  Nari si."  A few minutes past, and Eanataw did not know what to say.  Her tsmukan was upset with her, she knew this.  But she learned much, from these Sawtute.  She would be back when they returned.  "Tol hu oe." He said finally, and she nodded.  They dropped from the tree and ran through the darkening forest, laughing like children, the forest lighting around them.


Please PM me if you are still interested in the real Na'vi tribe.

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

#77
Pandora Airspace, aboard Brokensword
Day 5 on Pandora, 0850 HRS


"..." Jax was quiet as he flew onwards with Brokensword.

Two days had passed since they were allowed to fly off base, and Jax had been confined to the lab, talking with the science guys and walking around the Avatar training camp to talk with Dr. Augstine and the Avatar pilots that he had come to know as 'the crew'.

Jax really liked the entire group, though he was a bit undecided on Ariel. She was a nice girl, but he wasn't so sure about her 'dislike' of flying. Though in the end, she was still willing to fly when she had to, so he didn't really worry about it.

He had gotten a few short chances to talk to Esme, the door gunner for his SA-2, but beyond that, they didn't really have anything in common. She was very stright forwards and to-the-point, and was found on the fireing range every day, which really wasn't a big deal, as Jax headed out their himself to make sure he stayed up to snuff on his training, but she wasn't quite 'drinking buddy' material, which made him kinda sad because he was sure she had some great stories from the front lines in Nigeria.

That, and because she was... Jax thought about it for a moment. 'Gay' was the ovious term but in the end, it wasn't really a good term to use. He didn't like catigories, but he supposed that would have to work for now as he flew on. But because she was... gay, she acted like one of the guys, which was cool, but got kind of annoying sometimes when it combined with her uptight additude.

Jax got to hang out with Oscar a bit during the day before he finally got to get into his Avatar for the first time, due to some kind of error or another in the development process that required three extra days of waiting before he could 'activate' the body, which Jax thought was kinda weird. Oscar's a good guy, but some of his jokes fall flat and he knows it and ends up acting kind of awkward. But most of his jokes were pretty good and he had plenty of enternaining stories to tell.

Jax smiled as he thought of the story that he got to tell to everyone else the other night, about Oscar's first attempt to move around in his Avatar. He was pretty good at moving around, and developed quickly, but he knocked out a nurse with his tail, which was pretty impressive considering the reflexes the nurses had.

It wasn't totally funny at the time, but it was hilarious later when everyone was at Pandora's Box. Jax had been there at the time as a observer, there to help get Oscar though his paces.

Gears, as Jax had come to know Alex, was defently the techy type. He never seemed to leave the Hanger, which Jax admired about Alex. He wasn't very talkative about his past though, so beyond helping Alex spruce up the Gunships and AMPs that he was assigned, Jax didn't really get too much chance to hang out with the guy.

Arik was pretty cool. A fellow soldier. They often swapped stories between rest periods while Grace had the avatar pilots running ragged to fill the time before they got sent back out to the school. But he was a Avatar pilot.

But was still a bit of a odd feeling to chat with Arik. He had gotten a bit tense, as if he sensed something big was going down. It put Jax on edge. It seemed like Arik wanted to talk to Jax about it, but just couldn't speak up, which struck Jax as odd.

He had attempted to make contact with the other Pilots, but they were all Aloof Jackasses, including this one true jerkoff that Jax had come to know as Flores, the ORKZ. The man had no common sence about his machines and from what Jax could tell shouldn't even be in the air. He coldn't have been smart enough to pass the aviation pilots test. He was a Scoprion pilot, and another thick-necked triggerhappy THUG that didn't deserve the title of 'Aviatior'.

Gears didn't like the ORK very much eather, and often he was dragged away by the Ork to work on the Scorpion.

In the end, all Jax could do was work out and try to keep himself from thinking too much. Grace tried to get him involved with the science groups, but in the end he was just the odd man out. A Pilot was useless in a scientific conversation unless it was about Aerodynamics and the effect of Unobtainum on the rotors of his SA-2 or the computer systems.

He had woken up excited for the first time in the two long, dragged out days. He was finally going to get to fly again, and for a reason. His mind filled up with thoughts as he pulled his sneakers on to go out for his morning run.

The morning had been quiet. Hell's Gate had almost seemed deserted the entire morning. His normal morning run had been uninteruped by any sound minus those of the forest. No powerlifts being worked, no AMP suits running around, no military-grade rotors being warmed up for morning flights. It had been quiet, stone cold silent.

So as soon as he finished his run, he decied to take Brokensword out for a flight, solo. He knew it wasn't a smart idea, but it was just too harsh to be on the ground. He needed somewhere to think, someplace that he could acually hear himself think in the silence.

So he quickly filled out the paperwork for a 'mechanical test' flight, and took off.

He had been flying for a short time, not really doing anything, just looking around the jungle, watching the forest banshees hunt for their morning pray and avoiding flying near them, keeping a scan for any Na'vi that may have wanted to shoot Brokensword out of the sky, and let himself relax.

"...Me... Intelligence just said... Na'vi... tonight."

Jax blinked in suprise as his com suddenly lit up. He pulled one hand over the speaker, hopeing to hear more. He had never heard that voice before. It wasn't the Colonel and it wasn't any of the pilots. When no voice came back over the speaker, he frowned. In the back of his head, he knew that something was up.

But in the meantime, he had work to do. "Hey, Jax! You need to get back to the landing pad, we need to fuel up so that we can get Dr. Augustine and the crew over to the school." Gear's voice came in over the speaker. Jax sighed and paged to talk back, "Rodger that Alex, Brokensword is comeing in for refuel, mechanical flight states all clear."

---------------------

((OOC, there is another post following this one. I write too many words and the fourm wants me to break it up, so I'm going to put it in two posts. Standby.))



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Lehrrap Uniltìranyu

#78
Pandora Airspace, Enroute to Grace's School
1100 HRS


Jax tried to shove all his thoughts out of his head.

It was annoying him now, how he felt a bit out of the loop. He liked the people around him, but he didn't really fit into any group. He wasn't a scientist or a Avatar Pilot, so he wasn't really part of Grace's Scientists.

Gears was cool, and he was a great guy, but Jax couldn't really do anything but throw in mechanical advice, talk about little bits of information and work on Brokensword with Gears.

Arik was still a cool guy, but Jax could share war stories all day long but Esme would still have more in common with the Army Boy.

Jax sighed to himself slightly. He just needed to get over the fact that he was the odd man out of the entire group, the Taxi driver of the whole operation.

The morning flight was quiet as Esme and Arik scanned the skies. Jax kept a trained eye on a swivel, looking for any kind of movement that would possibly want to make his passengers into Ikran or... whatever the word for the smaller Forest Banshees was, treats.

All of these thoughts lifted away as they approached the School. He smiled softly in spite of himself, glad to have reached the school without anything major happening, which was an achievement in itself. He decided that the best course of action for the day was to just let go, try to make contact with some of the Na'vi and maybe learn some of their language, and to just forget about all the disturbing thoughts that we're digging into his skull.

((Alright, everyone is free to post))



-----------
"Ta'em 'eko!!!"
-----------
"Better to have fought and died then never to have fought at all"
-----------
Bionic Arms and Pandora, The most read FanFic on Learnnavi.org! Read it here! -Shameless self promotion-

Mako

Hell's Gate Complex
0400 Hours


Chris woke up around 4, unable to endure his fitful sleep any longer. He stumbled out to a viewing platform up the hall from the bunks and slouched against the opposite wall. Sometimes it helped his mind to gaze at the many colors of the Pandoran forest at night. So many things were running through his mind. He didn't know whether his dream was a premonition or a nightmare. Whatever it was, it lingered like a dawn mist, as vivid as though he were still dreaming. He let out a long sigh and dropped his head into his hands.

Brokensword
1100 Hours


The trip out to Grace's school was a quiet one. Chris, though reserved, was very tense. An ever deepening sense of dread had crept into his stomach. He glanced around at the other passengers of the Brokensword. Everyone was staring off into the horizon, each with their own thoughts. He turned his gaze back out toward the canopy of the Pandoran forest, losing himself to thought.

Grace's School
1120 Hours


As the gunship alighted, Chris hopped down the rack to the ground. He was anxious. Despite his gut, he was eager to see Eanataw again. His eyes turned to the trees, expectant.