I've become incredibly de-sensitized to all forms of violence. 7 years of killing Zombies, demons, etc has completely eradicated any sensitivity. :P

Despite it being a tad excessive, I still think it would feel out of place using Na'vi words would when it's mostly humans that are swearing.

yeah, there aren't many na'vi swear words. i don't even consider moron a swear word :P but i wouldn't be suprised if some of the Na'vi learned a few human swear words like shiit or fuk. I'm sure they've heard humans or Avatars say it

*Shrug* Its your fanfic, I'm just giving criticism.

thanks, i hardly get any feedback. anyway if you're going to continue reading then just to let you know it may be a while until the next chapter. i'm very busy with semester 2 and hardly get any free time :( in the mean time you can look at some drawings i did of some of the characters in the fan art section :)

I know how it feels. My new chapter won't be out for a while either. RL stuff comes first, and I have no idea where to take mine. V.V

Chapter 15

Tak was on a roll today. He was getting a lot of work done. With the music blasting from his laptop he continued to examine samples taken from the plants being grown inside the lab and recorded his observations while also studying the chemicals inside the plant on his desktop PC. His music filled the room. For everyone else this wasn’t a usual morning. Everyone was used to having a peaceful atmosphere with relaxing music being played from someone’s playlist while they chatted amongst each other. But this couldn’t be done with the sounds of death metal piercing their eardrums like a knife. Tak was nodding his head to the music as he did his work. Tak liked to do work while listening to music. Besides Tak, Alan was the only one who seemed to be enjoying it. With a pen held in his hand like a mic, he jumped around the shack as he softly sang the lyrics, unable to let out a powerful growl.

“BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!! THEY LIIIIVE!!! THEY THIIIRST!!! BLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!”
The others knew Tak was a bit “special” but they never would have thought that Alan was also into this kind of music. Unable to put up with anymore, Dr. Isaac kindly asked Tak to change the music.
“Hey, look, I can’t listen to this anymore. Could you change it? Please?” she asked.
“Oh what’s wrong, too heavy?” replied Alan.
“Yeah, and I think I speak for all of us.” Dr. Brent slightly nodded his head with a slight uncomfortable look on his face. Alan then turned to Dr. Eileen who just smiled and laughed.
“You heard her, tone it down.” said Alan with a small smile on his face as if he was being sarcastic. Tak paused the music and searched through the large collection. He chose a song and hit the play button. Alan instantly recognized the song and got excited.
“Oooh! I know this song! I love this song!” He then began to lightly headbang and waited for the right time to start singing.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!! !!!!! Auschwitz! The meaning of pain! The way that I want you to die! Slow death! Immense decay! Showers that cleanse you from your life!”

Dr. Isaac sighed as her attempts to ask nicely had obviously failed. She got out of her seat, walked to Alan and looked at him. Alan suddenly stopped.
“Please Alan? Put on something else, like R&B. I love R&B.” she said with a kind voice. Alan was mesmerized by her but it didn’t take him long to snap out of it. He walked over to Tak’s laptop and stopped the music.
“Hey mother****er I was listening to that!” exclaimed Tak. Alan was now searching for some R&B. He found a song and played it.
“Come on, she did ask nicely twice. Besides, this is your playlist so obviously you like anything that’s on here right?” said Alan. He went to Dr. Isaac and smiled before taking a seat and observing what everyone else was doing.
“****en sell out” said Tak to himself. He continued to do his work until he felt like he had done enough for the day and the next. He then went outside for a nice long workout. A few sets on the bench press were followed by sit ups and further upper body workouts. Tak then did a few low body exercises and finished off by punching and kicking the pineapple plant he found behind the solar generator. Thinking about how Alan caved into Dr. Isaac annoyed him. It was people who did things like this that made him the way he is. As the frustration built, Tak put more power behind his punches and kicks. When the heat got to him he stopped and went back inside. He went to the bathroom to splash water on his face and then got some food and a drink. When he returned to his desk he saw Dr. Eileen having an argument with a scientist on the monitor.

“No! No that’s not going to happen!..... Well I don’t care, we’re not moving…… That doesn’t concern us…… We have a deal and as long as I-… No, as long as we give them or you or whoever, what’s wanted we can stay here and continue our research……. Well then I will, I’ll go speak to him and- Yeah! I’ll come over there and I’ll speak to him myself.”
The argument ended with Dr. Eileen ending the broadcast. Dr. Eileen sighed. “****!..... Oh Tak, you’re here.” she said.
“Hey, do you think you could get that friend of yours to fly over here and take me to Hell’s Gate?”
“Uhhh, yeah.. I suppose.”

Tak got on his computer and sent a message to Yuki’s PC. Two hours later Yuki arrived in the Samson ready to take Dr. Eileen to Hell’s Gate. Wasting no time, she got on board and they flew back to hell’s gate. She jumped out even before they touched down and marched to Colonel Hilton’s office. On the way up she bumped into someone but didn’t even apologise. This was not the usual her. Upon entering his office, Colonel Hilton began to talk but she interrupted him.
“You can’t do this, we had a deal. I get you what you want and you le-“
“Is that so? Because I recall that it was you and Parker who had a deal, not me. Let’s get one thing straight, my job is to keep as many people alive as possible. I’ve already lost five people since you’ve moved over there, I’m not going to lose anymore. ”
“Well maybe you should tell them to stop being so adventurous hm? How about that? Tell them to stop being such tough guys. You know how most of them die? They go out there feeling absolutely ****en invincible and before they know it one of the animals tears them open a new *******.”
“Most of them die trying to protect the existence of the human race, something you seem to have taken for granted. Now I’m not going to discuss this any further. The bottom line is you’re returning here. Your transport will arrive 0900 tomorrow.”
“No, I’m not moving.”
“Dr. Eileen do not test my patience. Now I’m not going to rep-”
“I’m not moving.”
“……Alright, have it your way. But if you or any of your team lands yourself into trouble, don’t come crying to us. If any of you get caught up in collateral damage, don’t accuse us of anything. You know the risks. ”

Dr. Eileen was glad that she won the argument but was still angered by the incident. After she had left, Colonel Hilton stepped outside and requested one of the staff for Sergeant Rolf Terry to meet with him. Sergeant terry came as soon as possible. They both stepped into the office.
“Terry, just the man I need. Listen, those scientists up at the FEBA are staying, despite recent events. Now their behaviour’s been good so far but I don’t trust them. Dr. Eileen has good relations with the natives and if she’s working with them behind our backs, I want to know about it. I’m sending you over there, I want you to keep an eye on them for me. Can you do that for me?”
“Yes sir”
“Good. You’ll be sent over there tomorrow morning at 0800 along with some replacements. You’re dismissed.”

Terry stepped out feeling good. This was his chance to somehow get back at Tak. He planned on abusing his power to the fullest. With a grin on his face, he returned to his dorm. Dr. Eileen decided to stay the night at Hell’s Gate as she didn’t want to waste anymore of Yuki’s time and also as this was a chance to discuss her research with some of her scientist friends.

The next morning Dr. Eileen was rudely woken up by Terry. Being informed that she was staying the night, he went to her bed and pulled the blanket off and yelled splashed a cup of water in her face.
“Get up! Chopper leaves at 0800. Don’t waste my ****ing time! Move move move!”
“**** off you *******…” said Dr. Eileen as she wiped her face. Terry grabbed the back of her ankle and nearly pulled her off the bed. This made her decide to get up. Still in her clothes from the previous day, she put on her shoes and got her exopack. Still half asleep, she walked with Terry to the helipads where their ride awaited them. Joining five other men, they took a seat and the Samson took off. Dr. Eileen got more rest on the flight and didn’t even wake up when they landed at the FEBA base. The troops got off and Dr. Eileen was taken back to the shacks. When she got there, she went straight to her bunk bed, grabbed her towel and headed to the bathroom for a nice long shower. She then got dressed and came to the lab and the others asked her what happened.

“Well, I had a talk with the colonel and he wants us to go back.”
There was a groan from everyone except Tak.
“But, I told him that I wasn’t going to do so and he wasn’t happy about it. I’m sure he got the message. They can take back the shacks and everything else but not me. I’m staying here. Who’s with me?”
There was a cheer from the others. They continued to discuss the argument between Dr. Eileen and the colonel but Tak wasn’t interested. He decided to head outside. Alan called for him.
“Hey where you going?”
“For a run. I think you should come to.”
Thinking that Tak had something to discuss with him, he decided to join Tak. The two of them jogged along the river like last time all the way to the FEBA base. Along their journey they had a discussion.
“You haven’t forgotten what our plan is have you?” asked Tak, reminding Alan of the decision he made.
“No, of course not. Why you always have to doubt me?”
“You really haven’t proven yourself yet.”
Alan ignored this and looked around the area. He was fascinated by everything he saw. Weird looking but colourful plants and giant insects of all shapes and sizes had him looking like a kid in a candy store.

“Why are you so interested in all this anyway?”
“My mum was a biologist and she also did quite a lot of conservation work. She would always take me to where she worked when I was a kid so I got exposed to a lot of this stuff from an early age. But I didn’t study a lot during school and I couldn’t go to college so I thought what the hell, I’ll just join the army and see where that takes me. Wasn’t great to be honest. Always on the move, being yelled at constantly, killing for a reason you don’t know. Really ****en stupid stuff…. Well, I don’t regret it because it brought me here.”
“Hmm….. so is saving all this worth killing your own kind?”
“……I guess. It’s not like I’m turning my back on the entire human race. But I just don’t think this is right. Raping this world of its resources just to further destroy ours, pretty dumb if you ask me. I’m not the smartest guy but I’m sure there’s another solution……. So what about you? What do you think?”
“......I think, that we’ve failed as a race. If the best we can do is create more problems just to solve pre existing problems, then we don’t deserve to exist.”

For the rest of the journey there was silence. When they reached the FEBA base they entered like last time but this time they decided to go and have a proper look around. they entered the hangar where damaged machines are serviced. Although Tak wasn’t allowed in here he didn’t care. Neither did the few people working inside. As they walked through the place, Tak looked at all the equipment they had. They then came to an AMP suit being repaired. The glass was shattered and one of the arms was heavily damaged. The barrel of the GAU 90 on the ground was bent and beyond repair.
“Damn, what happened?” asked Alan to the mechanic.
“Thanator. It’s a miracle the guy survived. Yeah, and now I’m the one who has to fix it. Those damn creatures are a pain in the ***. And this ain’t the first time this has happened either. Just take a trip deeper into the forest and I’m sure you’ll see AMP parts scattered around.”
Looking at the damage caused by the Thanator in amazement, Tak wondered what kind of beast did this. Alan got his attention and told him to get going. The two then walked back outside and headed towards the main building.
“So what are we doing here exactly?” asked Alan.
“Just having a look around, you see those fuel tanks just outside the hangar?”
“Yeah.”
“I bet we could take out half of this place with those, we just need some explosives.”
“Yeah this place isn’t that big. It’s hard to believe that this place hasn’t been over taken yet.”

They entered the main building and headed down the main corridor. As usual there weren’t many people. They entered the recreation room. Alan needed to go pee so Tak was left alone. Walking around, he spotted a board on the wall. There were many notices and pictures posted on it. On the right side was a sign that read “Kill of the month” and underneath it were many pictures of troops posing with animals they had killed. Some of them had been beheaded. He continued to look at the pictures and came to something that really angered him. Soldiers were posing with dead Na’vi. Their blue skin was covered in blood. Some soldiers held up the heads of the Na’vi by their queues and posed with their knives to the necks while others had beheaded their victims. There were also some small Na’vi which looked like children. In all the pictures troops smiled as they celebrated their kill. Tak filled with rage. He closed his eyes and turned away from the board. His misanthropic thoughts made him pick up a chair and throw it at the board. When Alan finally returned he saw Tak standing quietly.

“You alright?” he asked but Tak didn’t reply. He just walked out of the room so Alan followed. Tak looked towards the ground as he walked. He didn’t see the people coming towards him and they bumped into each other.
“Oh ****, look who it is. What the **** are you doing here ******?” said Terry. The others who were with him laughed.
Their eyes locked. Tak really wanted to punch this ****er in the face. Alan pulled Tak away and they both kept walking. They exited the building and before returning to the shacks, Tak went back to the hangar and while no one was looking, he stole a hammer from one of the tool trolleys. Tak didn’t feel like going to the village with Dr. Eileen today as he was in too much of a bad mood. For the rest of the day he went outside and let out his anger on his “punching bag” and then went back inside, listening to songs about killing people while playing violent computer games.

The next day Tak really didn’t feel like doing work, nor did he have to since he did a lot the previous day. He also didn’t get a lot of sleep. The images of the murdered animals and Na’vi was all he could think of. Everyone was having a usual day. Dr. Eileen was happily continuing her research while enjoying a cup of tea, Dr. Brent was talking to his girl via a video chat while Dr. Dale switched from his work to disturbing the conversation and Alan and Dr. Isaac were getting to know each other better. Tak decided to go for a walk but this time he went alone and decided to go through the forest. He followed the river towards hometree but like last time he continued past hometree and went to the heart of the FEBA. He also brought along the hammer he stole in hope that he would find some of those tasty Episoth seeds he ate the other day. It may not taste the same as when he’s in his Avatar but he wanted to try. He found a tree he could climb and went to the first branch. It was perfectly shaped for him to sit down on so he did so, resting his back against the trunk. He closed his eyes and tried to listen to the sounds of the forest. He had never been this deep into the forest in his human form. He sat in this spot for a while but still couldn’t stop thinking of the pictures he saw. “I’m going to kill em all” he said to himself as he fiddled with the hammer. His peace and quiet was then disturbed by the sounds of Direhorses galloping. They stopped near the tree. Tak decided to have a look. There were three of them, and three Na’vi had got off. Tak’s eyes locked with one of the Na’vi and they stared at each other for a while before Tak decided to climb down and meet with the Na’vi face to face.

“I now see your real body” said Tsuwokan. “But are you Tsamsiyu with this body?
“How did you find me?” asked Tak.
“We follow you from the village. We need your help…… Tawtute attack another village, we must help them. Your people have strong weapon. This, we cannot use, but you. You can.”
Tsuwokan handed Tak the automatic shotgun and a few clips that were placed into a specially made pouch.
“Please” said Tsuwokan. Tak grinned. Tsuwokan did as well. He helped Tak onto the direhorse and then got on himself. There were straps just for Tak to hold onto. They headed off to help the fellow Na’vi clan. When they got there, they could hear gun fire. They stopped before entering the war zone and had a look behind some plants. The village was being destroyed with huts being set on fire and the area being cleared of any vegetation. Fighting Na’vi and troops were killing each other while children and some mothers ran for cover. There were also two AMP suits. Tsuwokan looked at his tsmukans and nodded, then looked at Tak and nodded as well. Tak loaded his auto shotgun.

“Let’s **** **** up” he said. They then ran out from cover and began shooting the enemy. The three Na’vi fired their arrows while running, trying to dodge bullets while Tak held down the trigger, unleashing a never ending scalding hail of rounds. Holes were being blown open in the bodies of his unlucky victims. If he was lucky enough to get a headshot the heads would explode into mince. Some of the Na’vi took notice of a single skyperson helping them. Unable to comprehend, they were shocked but decided not to attack him. Tsuwokan was slaughtering men with ease. His skill of fighting was obviously extremely high as he displayed the deadliness of an elite Na’vi warrior. The fight was starting to level out with more Na’vi than RDA troops. But the AMP suits were still active and needed to be taken out. Bakteyo and Aketuan were helping children and injured Na’vi get to cover while fighting off the troops. By now Tak had used up his first clip of shells. He ran in open fire to get behind a log and reload. The troops had also noticed a human traitor. So had one of the AMP suits. It approached the log but turned around to shoot a group of Na’vi. Tak reached into his pouch for another clip. He noticed the shells were green instead of red.

“What the **** are these?” he asked himself. He loaded the clip and got ready to fire. Popping out from cover, he fired a round at a troop. The torso exploded into juicy chunks, painting the vicinity with splashes of red. An autoshotgun with explosive rounds was a potent mix. “****, nice gun!” said Tak to himself. He then fired another round, shooting his victim in the face. The skull exploded into many fragments and the insides went flying everywhere. Brains, eyes and flesh flew onto the exopacks of other troops causing panic. Tak moved from the log and to a tree. He got a better view of the AMP suit. He picked up a chunk of wood and threw it at the glass of the AMP suit. Getting its attention, he waited behind the tree for it to come closer. When it came close enough he jumped out in front, aimed at the glass and held the trigger. The glass exploded and so did the driver inside. The metal frame around the glass was bent and the controls inside were fried. The AMP suit collapsed to the ground.

“I’m saving these for another day” said Tak as he unloaded the explosive rounds and replaced them with normal ones. He spotted Tsuwokan and ran to him. A troop also ran towards him and aimed his gun. Tsuwokan heard a loud bang and felt something splatter on his back. He froze and slowly turned around to see Tak with the autoshotgun. Tak saved his *** but he could thank him later, because now they had to try and destroy the second AMP suit. The number of troops was now a lot less than remaining Na’vi. If any of them got away Tak would be reported so he had to make sure there were no survivors. They both got behind cover and thought about what to do next. Tak looked around and found a few grenades on one of the dead troops. He crawled over to them and got them.

“Where is it?” asked Tak.
“It is close. It is coming to us.”
“I can take it out with this, but if I go out now I’ll get killed.”
“I go. You destroy.”

Tsuwokan ran out of cover to get the AMP’s attention. As he ran, the ground behind him exploded from the GAU 90 spitting rounds violently. Tak then ran towards the AMP suit and pulled the pin from the grenade. He threw it onto the ground below the AMP suit. It exploded and caused one of the feet to come apart, sending the AMP suit to tumble to the ground. While trying to get back up with its arms, Tak ran to the cockpit and shot open one of the windows. He then tossed another grenade inside and ran away. The AMP suit exploded. The sound of burning wood could be heard in the background. The survivors regrouped and children ran out to their parents and hugged them tightly. Tak was relieved that the fighting was over. He sat down on the ground and rested. Tsuwokan approached him and gave him his hand. Tak grabbed onto it and Tsuwokan helped him stand up. They walked over to the crowd that gathered together. As the two approached, the crowd stared in shock and confusion as the saw skyperson approach them. There was discussion between the people. Bakteyo then came running to Tsuwokan.

“We’ve got one! We’ve got one, he’s still alive.”
Tak and Tsuwokan ran over to the RDA troop who was laying on the ground in pain.
“Let me talk to him” said Tak. He walked over to the troop and kneeled down.
“Why were you sent down here?” he asked. The man groaned in pain before answering.
“You…. ****en piece of ****. You traitor.”
“Why were you sent down here?”
“You son of a bitch.”
“Alright, how about this. You answer my simple question and I’ll make sure you live, you don’t and I’ll kill you right now. Now for the last time, Why were you sent down here?”
“……They want this land, cos it’s, got resources in the ground.”
The soldier tried to turn around and get a look of the traitor but Tak pressed the barrel against the back of his skull and he stayed facing the ground.
“Anything else?”
“No.”
“You sure?”
“…… Plants, they said something about plants. But that’s all I know. I swear.”

Tak put his foot on the back of his captive’s head and looked around. The village was completely destroyed and there were many dead blue bodies lying around. Scared Na’vi were being comforted while others cried, mourning the loss of loved ones. There was no way he was going to let this piece of **** go. He released his foot and aimed the barrel inches away from the back of the troops head. He fired. The blast from the shotgun echoed through the area and silenced everyone. Tak then faced Tsuwokan.

“Tell them not to talk about me, I don’t want to be famous.”
Tsuwokan nodded and walked to the crowd and explained things to them. The clan couldn’t believe that a skyperson had decided to help them. They then gathered what remained and began moving to a new place to rebuild. As they did this, the leader of the clan walked to Tak and had a good look at his face. He then placed his hand on Tak’s shoulder. “Irayo” he said, and he returned to his clan.

Tak was dropped off Near the shacks. He was tired and wanted to rest. Before he headed back, Tsuwokan took the shotgun and ammo.
“You’re a strong fighter. No fear. Like a warrior……Thankyou for helping.” said Tsuwokan before riding off with the other two. Tak walked back to the shacks and went straight to his bed and lied down. Dr. Eileen heard the door open and went to him. She asked him where he had been to which he simply replied by saying he went for a walk. Later that day Dr. Eileen asked Tak if he would like to go to the village but Tak declined. Dr. Eileen then realized how often she had been going and decided to give it a rest as well. She then asked Tak about his video logs.
“Have you been recording your experiences on video?” she asked. Tak shook his head.
“You should, it’s a good way to keep track of what you’ve researched. And it also helps you to keep track of time.”
“Yeah, it’ll keep you from going insane. Hahahahaha” said Dr. Dale.
Dr. Eileen turned on camera on Tak’s desk and pointed towards him. She then began to record. Tak sat there in silence looking away from the camera. Dr. Eileen stopped recording.
“Just do them when you feel like it ok.” she said kindly.

Later that night Dr. Eileen received a message from one of her friends at Hell’s Gate. News had spread that the RDA had sent a group to clear out an area but there were no survivors. Everyone in the shack was then informed but only Alan was able to connect the dots. He went to Tak who was lying on his bed, playing his guitar.
“You were there weren’t you?” he asked Tak.
“Good work genius, you get two gold stars.”
“Why thankyou. But seriously, why did you get involved?”
“They came to me.”
“What?”
“They came to me.”
“…So you met them?
“Yeah. And I found out some things.”
“What?”
“Well, I questioned one of the *******s before I killed him and he said RDA’s clearing the area for resources, and he mentioned plants. We need to find out more.”

hell yeah more story woot, keep writing tm20

Chapter 16

A week had passed since the war between the RDA and the Na’vi clan and things had seemed to return to normal. Tak hadn’t gone to the village in over a week and neither had Dr. Eileen. Everyone at the shack was occupied with work. Tak tended to the plants that were being specially grown. Dr. Eileen saw him staring at the plants and joined him. She had been studying these plants for years and it was only recently that they showed significant signs of change. Wondering when the plants would finally be able to be used on earth, she began to reminisce about her research.
“Gosh, I can’t believe I’ve been studying these guys for years now. I remember when I first started I hardly got any work done because all I ever did was stare at them. I would always get told to go back to work. But the hard work paid off, we’re finally getting good results.”
Tak couldn’t help but notice something.

“Well, that’s nice to know but if you’ve been studying these things for years then why do you only have this many test subjects. I thought you would’ve grown these in large numbers.”
“We had a research lab setup at Grave’s Bog three years ago. It was being used to study the plants and animals of the area. I wasn’t there but the scientists who were made really good progress. They were the first ones to actually successfully grow Pandoran plants in earth like conditions. But, as always, people got greedy and wanted the area for Unobtanium. The nearby clans didn’t like this because the area has a large Sturmbeest population and it’s where they occasionally hunt. So, there was a fight and we were outnumbered, and we lost. The scientists got caught up in it and were killed. We were never allowed to return there. ”
“Why would you anyway, plants are dead by now.”
“Well actually, the scientists kept a number of samples inside a special cabinet which was used to keep things fresh for long periods of time. They most likely didn’t turn the power off before they died, so…… I don’t know. Maybe they’re still there.”

Tak wanted to see more of Pandora. This was a chance to not only do so, but also get some valuable samples which could help with the research. He wasted no time and got straight to the point.
“Let’s go there.” he said, as if it was going to be like a stroll in the park.
“I’m sorry, what?”
“Let’s go and get the stuff.”
“…..Were you listening to me? We’ can’t go there, it’s a restricted area.”
“Ok I’ll go myself.”
“Come on quit joking. You’re not going there. Besides, no one’s going to take you. You don’t even know where it is.”
“I’ll find out.”

Tak began typing a message on his keyboard to send to Yuki requesting for her to fly him to a special “research site”. He tried to get her excited by saying that it would be a place of extreme interest to her as well. Bull****. As he was typing, Dr. Eileen tried to convince him it was a bad idea.
“It’s not going to work, HQ knows where all the choppers go.”
“Why you trying so hard to stop me?”
“Because you’re wasting your time, and even if you did somehow manage to get there, it’s dangerous. You’ve obviously never seen a herd of Sturmbeest stampeding through the fields.”
“Nope, but I guess I’ll find out.”
“Why do I bother.”

Yuki arrived after noon just as the gang were eating lunch. Hearing the roar of the Samson coming in, Tak stuffed the remainder of his sandwich into his mouth and washed it down with water. He got his exopack and headed towards the door. Alan caught him on the way.
“Hey, where you off to?”
“Somewhere awesome, you may want to come to.”
“Yeah? Where is it? ”
“Don’t know, just come.”
Alan grabbed his exopack and his standard issue rifle. Before leaving the lab, he saw a camera on Dr. Isaac’s desk.
“Hey what’s this?” he asked.
“It’s a camera, we use to take photos of any new plant and animal species we discover.”
“Nice, can I borrow it?”
“Uhhh, well-“
“Pleeeeeease?”
Dr. Isaac smiled and giggled. “Sure, just bring it back in one piece” she said.
“Thanks.” said Alan and he chased after Tak. Dr. Eileen also heard the Samson touchdown outside and ran after the two of them.
“HEY WAIT! You’re really going?!” she asked with worried look on her face.
“Yeah, Alan’s going too.”
“Just come! You know you want to.” said Alan. Tak began to walk to the door and Alan followed shortly after. Dr. Eileen sighed and looked away.
“Wait, I’ll get my stuff……… ****.” she said.

The three hopped onboard and Yuki greeted everyone. They got out of the forest and Dr. Eileen explained to Yuki how to get there. Tak noticed Dr. Eileen was holding his laptop.
“Why did you bring my laptop?” he asked.
“There might be some really useful stuff on the computers so I brought something to load it onto. I brought all the cords so this thing doesn’t run out of battery. ”

It was a long flight but they finally reached Grave’s Bog. It was an environment similar to the FEBA but the vegetation was less dense and there was more space. Many corridors were formed by large cliffs that were covered in vines and some plants. Parts of the forest floor were submerged in shallow water, creating a beautiful network of rivers. It was like a natural city where the streets were the rivers and the large buildings were the trees and cliffs. Small groups of Sturmbeest could be seen walking through the forest. As the stomped through the area, Stingbats and Tetrapterons flew out of the trees in groups. They flew over the forest, taking in the amazing view. Alan was taking a lot of pictures with the camera he borrowed. Leaning out of the side, he held on with one hand and the camera in the other. He looked like a passionate photographer but he was just being a little kid having too much fun. They finally reached the abandoned research site. Landing next to the site, they hopped out and walked towards the shack. It was covered in vines and weeds that had grown over the years. Branches wrapped the stairs and the railing like tentacles of a deep sea creature and made its way up to the door which. There were no signs, but the growth of plants said “do not enter”, giving the feeling that there was something bad waiting inside. Tak and Alan ripped off the plants and opened the door. They all stepped in and waited for the Pandoran air to be filtered out before proceeding inside. It was silent and very neat and tidy. They walked around and had a look before sitting down. Dr. Eileen went to one of the desks and picked up the photo that sat on it. She looked at it with a sad look. It was a picture of a man with a woman and a little girl. She walked back to her seat with the picture in her hand. Yuki was next to her and had a look at the picture.

“Someone you know?” she asked.
“Yeah, he was a nice guy. Everyone who worked here was”
“What happened?”
“They were all killed.”
“Oh….I’m sorry t hear that.”

Dr. Eileen put the picture down on a box and stood up. “Well, let’s go and get what we came here for” she said. The others got up as well and they began searching the shack for anything that could be useful. Tak walked around but saw nothing interesting. He went to the other shack that was connected and looked around. He found what looked like the cabinet that Dr. Eileen had described and opened it. Blue fluorescent lights lit up as the door opened and cold air oozed out. Inside were a number of labelled sample tubes with specimens in them. He smiled as he had found the goods and closed the cabinet.

“Hey! I found it!” he said to the others. They came rushing to him. He opened the cabinet and they all looked inside. Dr. Eileen was overwhelmed to see that the specimens were still there. They decided to leave them inside for the time being and resumed searching for anything that would provide them with information about the research that was being conducted. It was already past noon and they were starving. They had collected numerous reports, photos and downloaded all sorts f information from the computers onto Tak’s laptop. Alan looked in the fridge to see if there was any food.

“Let’s see what we have……. Uuugh, yuck. Nope. ****. ****. What the f… It’s all expired. There’s nothing.” he said. The others showed signs of disappointment.
“Hey, let’s go for a walk.” said Tak to Alan. Without question, Alan grabbed the camera and followed. “No! You can’t go out there, it’s too dangerous!” said Dr. Eileen but it was no use. They ignored her and made their way outside. On the way Tak grabbed a large bag he found when he first walked in. With their exopacks on, they stepped outside. They walked around the lake as they looked at the water and how it reflected the sunlight like a huge mirror and made their way into the forest. It was a gradient which went from hardly any plants to lots of plants.

“So what’s the bag for?” asked Alan
“We’ll try and collect fruits and seeds and ****. Anything you see that looks edible, just tell me.”
“Alright cool, never had Pandoran food.”
They walked through the forest searching for anything that looked like a fruit. Tak then decided to ask Alan something that he couldn’t understand.
“You know on the shuttle down here I was sitting next to you.” said Tak.
“Really? Damn, I never noticed.”
“Yeah that’s because you were too busy ****ting your pants. You hang out of choppers all the time but you get scared of flying in a shuttle?”
“Yeah… I just hate thinking about what could go wrong.”
Tak gave him a look which said “what are you talking about?”.
“You know, if something goes wrong then there’s no way you’re going to make it back down to the ground so, you know…. That thought of being stuck in space forever, it just…. I ****en hate it.” said Alan. Tak laughed a bit. “Really?” he said, mocking Alan. “What ever bitch.” replied Alan. They continued through the forest. There were quite a lot of plants and animals but it wasn’t as diverse as the FEBA. This was a perfect opportunity for Alan to take as many pictures as possible. Up in the trees were groups of Stingbats and Tetrapterons hanging upside down from branches while occasionally Prolemuris could be seen swinging from tree to tree. There were insects of different shapes and sizes crawling up and down tree trunks and on the ground. Alan got close and took pictures while observing these very alien yet familiar creatures. If he was back on earth he would probably be a photographer for National Geographic magazine. The plants also caught Alan’s attention as he was taking pictures of any plant that looked interesting to him. Plants of all shapes, size and colour filled the camera’s memory along with creatures of the forest. It seemed like Alan was having all the fun. Tak was enjoying the relaxing walk but he wanted to find some fruits. He heard Prolemuris up in the trees and looked up to see them picking at the tree branches and eating something. He asked Alan to aim at them with the camera and zoom in to get a closer look. They were eating fruits. Tak opened the bag and dropped it on the ground. He then began to climb the tall, odd shaped tree. Reaching the first branch was a challenge but after that it was a breeze. He reached the fruits and came face to face with a Prolemuri. It stared at him with a fruit in its hand, tilting its head in confusion. “Hey there.” said Tak before the Prolemuri moved to another branch. Tak then began to pick the fruits off the branch and tossed them down to Alan who caught them and placed them in the bag. After getting a few he decided to climb down but noticed the whole group of Prolemuris were staring at him. He stared back at them. Not knowing what to do, he waved goodbye before descending back to the ground.

After their first find, their luck seemed to continue. They managed to gather a whole bunch of blue grape like fruits, three large, green coconut like fruits, five orange fruits which looked like pears, a nice amount of the delicious Episoth seeds which Tak tried before and the very rare banana fruit. The bag was heavy so they decided it was enough and headed back to the shacks. On the way they heard the sound of motors echoing through the forest. Not wanting to be noticed, they hid behind a tree and listened. It sounded like two ATV’s. They stopped and the men riding them got off.

“Well, ain’t this an exciting place.” said a man.
“Just like the area before. Nothing here to kill.” said another. Tak and Alan continued to listen. There seemed to be four men. They began to have a conversation.
“This is bull****, why are we stuck here while other guys get to shoot **** everyday down at the mines?”
“Oh I don’t know, who cares anyway. Word is there’s gonna be another attack soon so they’ll most likely get guys from places with little activity to do the job.”
“Yeah? So we’re gonna see some action soon?!”
“Let’s hope so.”
“Better be us.”

Tak and Alan were too focused on listening to what was being said that they didn’t notice the Sturmbeest herd approaching them. This was a large herd, there were many adults and a few calves. They hadn’t been spotted yet but it was only a matter of time. The conversation got boring so Alan began to look around. He spotted the herd approaching and tapped Tak to get his attention. Tak looked to see the giant beasts approaching him.
“Just keep quiet and very still.” said Tak. But Alan couldn’t resist and turned on the camera to take a video. Tak was concerned about some of the herd being gunned down by the troops nearby. He picked up a stone and waited for the herd to come closer. They still hadn’t been spotted. When they were close enough, Tak threw the stone at what he believed to be a male. It was huge compared to most of the others, it had a high ridge bone on its back and a large top horn. The Sturmbeest felt the impact and yelled out. It then began to charge towards Tak and Alan. More Sturmbeest followed.
“What the **** are you doing?!” yelled Alan.
“Not too sure. Just stay calm.” replied Tak.

As the Sturmbeest charged towards them the men heard the stampede and ran out to see a group of pissed off Sturmbeest coming towards them. They opened fire but it was absolutely useless so they ran back to their ATVs. The Sturmbeest’s attention had now been drawn to the troops. Before they could escape, the Sturmbeest annihilated them. They were rammed by the Sturmbeest’s horns, tossed in the air and then crushed. Tak and Alan remained still as the herd blew past them. What people said was true after all, a Sturmbeest stampede was as loud as a Valkyrie shuttle taking off. “Wow, that actually worked.” said Tak to himself. The aggressive bunch of the herd continued to make sure the troops didn’t pose a threat to them while the large male returned to Tak and Alan, searching for further dangers. It came right up to Tak and Alan who were both pressed up against the tree trunk.

“You still recording?” whispered Tak.
“Yeah.” replied Alan, who then focused the camera onto the Sturmbeest. It sniffed the two of them and looked around slowly, scanning the spot. Both of them had never had an experience like this, not even back on earth. It was very exciting. They whispered to each other.
“Hey.”
“Yeah?”
“…….This is pretty awesome.”
“….Yeah…. I know………… This is ****en awesome!”
“I know ey!”
“This is so cool!”

Tak then reached out with his hand. Alan was trying to tell him not to but it Tak ignored him. He slowly moved his hand towards the horn that protruded from the bottom jaw and touched it. Alan was filming every bit of it. Alan was amazed. He whispered to Tak. “Hey! You’re on camera! Give us a pose!” he said. Tak kept his hand on the stormiest and gave the camera the middle finger. It was what he was used to doing since he hated taking photos. But this time was different. He didn’t feel uncomfortable with a camera pointed towards him. “No! Don’t do that, do something else.” said Alan. Tak then changed his middle finger to a set of devil horns. The Sturmbeest then suddenly turned away and returned to its herd. “See yak!” said Alan to the Sturmbeest as he filmed the last few seconds of footage before stopping and turning off the camera. They then walked over to the lifeless bodies that laid on the ground. The insides had exploded out from the head which had been flattened. The cracked skull forced the brain to fly out, spewing out blood which soaked into the soil. Their heads looked like a deflated sack of skin. Looking at the dead bodies got boring so they returned to the shacks.

When they returned Dr. Eileen was relieved to see them. “Oh good, you’re back. I was getting worried” she said., Tak threw the bag onto a table and opened it, revealing the goods. They took out all the fruits and spread them across the table.

“Wow! How did you find all this?!” asked Yuki. Dr. Eileen was impressed as well. They began tasting the different fruits as Dr. Eileen explained to them what each of the fruits were. Tak first tried the blue grape. It was very sweet and juicy. He then tried the orange pear. It was less sweet and had a subtle taste but it was firm and had a nice texture. After eating most of it, he gave the rest to Yuki who asked to try some. They both agreed, it tasted amazing. Alan decided to crack open one of the green coconuts with his knife to discover there was juice inside. He got 4 glasses and poured it out, spilling some in the process. They tasted it. A lovely, sweet and refreshing drink. Tak then decided to let everyone try the Episoth seed. Alan smashed a seed with the end of his rifle. Just like last time, it was crunchy and sweet. While they enjoyed their fruits, Alan picked up the banana fruit and asked Dr. Eileen about it.

“So, what’s this thing?”
“That is the banana fruit. It’s actually very rare so you’ll be lucky to find one. The Na’vi offer it to someone as a gift but it’s customary to refuse such a rare find.”
“Well, you found it Tak. I guess It’s up to you to give it to someone.”

Alan gave the banana fruit to Tak. For the rest of the day the scientists went through all the information they had gathered as they discussed it with each other while Alan played games on Tak’s laptop and listened to some relaxing music. By late afternoon when the sun began to set the scientists had got sick of going through report after report and decided to stop. Unable to fly during the night, they decided to stay at the shacks for the night. Tak remembered what had happened back at the forest. He didn’t want anyone to find out so he got the camera and transferred the video wirelessly to his laptop and edited out the part which he didn’t want people to know about. He also uploaded all the photos that Alan took and wiped the camera’s memory of everything that was taken on that day. Alan then came to him.

“Hey, I want to show the others the photos. Can I get the camera?”
“I uploaded everything onto the laptop.”
“”Oh cool, and ahhh… about that incident today with the Stur-“
“Yeah yeah, I know. I got rid of that bit. It’s all on here.”
“Nice. So let’s go show them.”

They first showed the photos to Dr. Eileen and Yuki who loved them, praising Alan’s photography skills. They then told them about Tak’s first hand experience which they didn’t believe at first but after showing the video they were speechless.
“No way, guys! This is amazing! You touched the animal! You actually touched the animal!” Dr. Eileen still couldn’t believe it, neither could Yuki. For the rest of the night they remained in awe and amazement.

The next day they returned to the FEBA. The three were dropped off and thanked Yuki for her big help, giving her some of the leftover delicious fruits. Carrying the rest of the fruit and all the stuff they recovered from the research site, they walked into the shacks. They were asked about what they did. Dr. Eileen explained everything along with Alan. He showed them pictures and the video to which he got amazed responses. Tak went to his bed and lied down, holding the banana fruit and staring at it. After a while Dr. Eileen came in to see Tak lying on his bed, looking bored.

“Whatcha doing there?” she asked. Tak shrugged.
“Why don’t you go to the village? It’s been a while. I’m sure your friend’s dying to see you.”
“yeah, maybe I should.” He said. He then got out of his bed and went to the link. Just before he was about to leave, Dr. Eileen called for him outside the shack door.
“Hey! You forgot something!” she said, and threw the banana fruit to him.

Tak entered the village. By now the people were used to seeing him but they hadn’t seen him for a while and so they stared at him in surprise. His friend soon came running to him but he was called by a woman, probably his mother. She told him to come to her. He gave Tak a smile before returning. With no one to hang out with he walked over to his favourite log and sat down. Shortly after, someone sat down next to him. He turned around to see Zetey who greeted him with a slight smile. Tak nodded at her.

“…I was gonna give this to him but.….yeah......” he said. Zetey noticed the banana fruit in his hand.
“Well, see you later.” said Tak as he handed Zetey the banana fruit and got up to walk away. It was a bit crude the way he gave her the gift but it was a nice thing and it put a smile on her face. She stood up.
“Hey!” she yelled. Tak stopped. Zetey walked to him and returned the gift. “Come, you will help me today.” she said and lead Tak into the forest to go and collect food.

Meanwhile back at the shacks, Dr. Eileen picked up a personal diary of one of the scientists she found back at Grave’s Bog. It was hidden in one of the drawers of a desk. She didn’t get a chance to read it so she decided to do so. As she read page after page, she began to discover a secret which had been kept from the RDA for years.

hmm, I almost forgot about this story... should get back to reading it :)

fuk, been forgetting to post new chapters here

Chapter 17

It was a slow and dull day back at Hell’s Gate. People in the control tower went about their jobs, doing the usual boring stuff they did day after day. But this is what it was like all the time. Colonel Hilton was sitting in his office looking at statistical summaries. Not much new, supplies were at normal levels, Unobtanium was being mined at the usual rate and there was no unusual activity within the human colony, although there were high casualties for the month. He was tired and needed a break. He dropped the papers on the desk, rubbed his eyes with his fingers and sat in silence for a while. He then picked up the photo that was on his desk and looked at it for a while. Memories of being with her began to return, and a small smile started to stretch across his face but he was interrupted.

“Sir? You still haven’t given any orders regarding Dr. Eileen’s trespassing into the restricted area.”
“Oh, uh, right… Just get Sergeant Terry to take care of it. Thankyou.”
The man left his office and he returned to look at the photo for a few seconds before putting it back on his desk. He sighed and resumed looking at the papers. Only if he could be with her right now.

Meanwhile back at the FEBA, Zetey was taking Tak through the forest in search for food to bring back to the village. Tak couldn’t care about what they were going to do, as long as he got to explore Pandora and got away from work. As they both made their way through the forest, something caught Tak’s attention. It was an animal with a sleek body and a sharp, pointy head. The two front legs were small compared to the other four and the head was cocked back. It seemed to be searching for something. Tak thought it looked cool and continued to observe it. Zetey realised he wasn’t following her and looked back to see Tak staring death straight in the eye. Without saying anything she tackled him to the ground behind some plants. She placed her hand over his mouth. She listened carefully for the animal and looked around the plants. It was looking in their direction but hadn’t spotted them. Losing interest, it looked in another direction. Tak wanted to know what the big deal was. He gently removed her hand off his mouth.
“What is it?” he whispered.
“Lenay’ga, very dangerous. Do not make a sound or it will hear you.”
With a beautiful half naked female alien lying on top of him, Tak felt a bit awkward. Unable to do anything, he just looked at his surroundings and tried to avoid making eye contact. Zetey finally got off him to see if the animal had disappeared. It wasn’t in sight so she stood up and helped Tak to his feet.

“Do not look at it or it will kill you.” she said as she walked. They went on to gather fruits and some plants and returned to hometree. They carried the food up to the fire and put it on the ground. It was fun for Tak, but now he had to return. He was about to leave but felt that he should say something before leaving.
“Well, I better go now……”
“Yes, thankyou for helping.”
“……..Ok then, kiyevame.”
“Kiyevame.”

Before leaving, Tak reached into his pocket and took out the banana fruit he still hadn’t eaten. He didn’t see what was so special about it so he tossed it onto the pile and then walked back to the shacks. Zetey watched as he made his way down the central spiral of hometree. This dreamwalker was definitely different to the others she had met before. She didn’t know what it was, but he was different. Maybe it was his generosity, or how quiet he was, or how he was so willing to help, or how he had even managed to become close friends with one of the children. A shy and gentle person indeed. After he was no longer in sight, Zetey picked up the banana fruit and ate it. It was delicious. She hadn’t had one in a very long time. Biting into the juicy flesh put a smile on her face.

Tak woke up in his human body. The link opened and he pushed the metal frame off his chest. He looked to his left to see Dr. Eileen sitting on a chair reading something. Wasting no time she began to explain to him what she had been reading for the past few hours in a soft voice so that the others wouldn’t hear.
“Oh good you’re back, listen Tak. The scientists back at Grave’s Bog, they were on to something very big. See this? I’ve been reading this since you were gone. You’re not gonna believe what’s in here. The guys, the people back at Grave’s Bog, where we went yesterday. They were doing all these experiments with the plants right? Well, I didn’t tell you this but no one really gave a crap about plants, and they still don’t. Anyway, we’ve known their potential for medical and environmental uses for a long time but RDA’s never been interested in that stuff. But this? What these guys discovered over the years is stuff that RDA would kill for.”
Tak looked confused and wasn’t sure what the **** Dr. Eileen was going on about. She then got to the point.
“They discovered the potential of these plants as weapons! I mean, we’re talking about millions, maybe billions of dollars worth in biochemical weaponry, genetically engineering humans to create super soldiers, manufacturing drugs to enhance the performance of humans, all that type of stuff. And the RDA still doesn’t know about this because they’ve been keeping it a secret! No else knew and now we’re the only ones that do.”

Tak wasn’t expecting something this big but he managed to take it all in. He sat in silence thinking about what he had just been told.
“Don’t you see? They were keeping this out of the wrong hands. I mean, look at our planet. Look at the state that it’s in. You think THIS would’ve solved it all? No! Of course not! It would’ve just made things worse!”
There was a moment of silence before Tak spoke.
“…..You haven’t told the others?”
“No of course not.”
“…..So why are you telling me?” Dr. Eileen sighed before answering his question.
“Honestly, I don’t really know. I really don’t know. But there’s something indescribable about you that makes me feel like I can trust you. Can I?”
Tak had no intentions of telling anyone, after all he had a secret of his own. He didn’t know what to say but he didn’t have to say anything because they were interrupted by the sound of an incoming helicopter. They looked out the window to see a Samson landing. Three men hopped off and before they entered the shacks, Dr. Eileen ran to her bed and hid the journal under her mattress. When the men entered they spotted Tak and Dr. Eileen.

“****, what do you want now?” asked Dr. Eileen.
“You, you’ve got some explaining to do.” replied Sergeant Terry in an unfriendly tone.
“What the hell were you doing at the restricted area yesterday?”
“…..”
“What the **** were you doing there yesterday?!”
“Geez calm down.”
“Answer the ****en question!”
“Alright alright, I was doing some research.”
“Research? Really? And where exactly is this, research?”
“In the lab of course, in the other shack. Look just go away, you’re wasting your time. I just went there to collect some samples and some papers and that’s it.”
“I’ll leave when I’m done bitch, you hear me? And as a matter of fact, a group of men were killed yesterday. They were crushed by Sturmbeest, you wouldn’t know anything about that would you?”
“No I don’t, but they probably shouldn’t have been there in the first place.”
“What the **** are you looking at you gook?”

Terry turned his attention to Tak who had been staring at him since they arrived. At the sight of his face, the only thing he could think of was brutally murdering this piece of ****. He kept silent but continued to stare at his victim to be. Terry walked up to him and got right in his face.
“You got a ****en problem you chink?” No response.
“You try anything funny and I’ll ****en kill you.”
Terry backed away from Tak and the three of them went to the lab shack to have a look around. They trashed the place, opening drawers and throwing out everything, looking through the shelves and inside any containers. Once they had their fun making a mess, they left. On the way out Terry and the others took one last look at Tak and Dr. Eileen before heading back to the chopper.