ʙᴀʀʀɪᴄᴀᴅᴇꜱ | Jake Sully X Reader (Book 1)

| Chapter 14 |

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Italics: (Na'vi language or Jake's inner thoughts or narration)
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At the RDA's main base, Quaritch had taken it upon himself to gather every soldier they had available and official to be part of the mission to go against Jake and the Na'vi. The attack of Hometree had been a few weeks before this meeting he was about to have with the military unit of the RDA. As of now, there were only a few hours left until they had to leave.

Quaritch had noticed how much the numbers of the natives had grown over the past couple of weeks. It was concerning how they went from just a few hundred to thousands in practically no time. But, those statistics did not intimidate the Colonel. He knew they had the manpower, strength, and advantage to win against the Na'vi easily.

Quaritch now stood in the meeting room in front of everyone, relaying the plan to the soldiers and everyone on the RDA military branch so that everything is clear. He stood tall and looked at the faces of those who were going to be part of this assault, but what he didn't know is how nervous the soldiers were by the statistics shown to them.

They thought it'd be a piece of cake when it was just about 100 Na'vi left, but now that they'd grown in numbers, they all started to doubt their resolve. Of course, they didn't let that show to the Colonel, because that's practically having a death wish.

"Everyone on this base, every one of you, is fighting for survival, that's a fact!" Quaritch started, then behind him, the blinds closed and a projector showed on the wall exactly what they were up against. The scans showed the activity from the Na'vi these past couple of weeks.

"There's an aboriginal horde out there massing for an attack. Now, these orbital image scans tell me that the hostiles' numbers have gone from a few hundred, to well over 2,000 in just one day. And more are pouring in," Quaritch said, switching images to show the startling difference in population increase in the forest. The yellow spots, that represented the Na'vi, quadrupled in the second image. Many couldn't believe what they saw. It seemed abnormal.

"In a week's time, there could be 20,000 of them. At that point, they will run over our perimeter. Well, that's not gonna happen! Our only security lies in a pre-emptive attack. We will fight with terror." Quaritch said, explaining the fact that the RDA could not wait for the numbers of the Na'vi to grow larger, because that would leave them at a disadvantage, so their solution is to attack first.

"Now, the hostiles' believe that this mountain stronghold of theirs is protected by...their deity," Quaritch said scornfully, believing it was a silly concept for a deity to protect that area, and this made the soldiers snicker.

"And when we destroy it, we will blast a crater in their racial memory so deep that they won't come within a thousand klicks of this place ever again. And that, too, is a fact" Quaritch concluded. At his words, all soldiers cheered and were filled with pride and confidence.

It wasn't long before aircraft and other ships were starting to be prepared for battle. Explosives stacked on top of one another and secured with rope were being loaded into the cargo ships that will be taken to the mission. Ampsuits were being prepped as well, along with those who were manning the weaponry.

Later that day, at their small base camp up in the mountains, Jake, Norm, and Trudy were double-checking their weapons as they talked to Max through a video call. The scientist back at the base had to be very discreet when relaying messages to the group, knowing it wouldn't end well if he got caught.

"Jake, it's crazy here. It's full mobilization. They're rigging the shuttle as a bomber. They've got these huge pallets of mine explosives. It's for some kind of shock-and-awe campaign," Max said, and Jake could only look at the monitor with a thoughtful glance.