Miles Quaritch failed his first mission to kill Jake Sully. Now, Bridgehead Command has a new mission for him and his surviving recoms, Wainfleet and Mansk. A mission to gather intel and make an alliance with the newly contacted Ash People, a Na'vi...
After a long half-day's journey in the Kestrel the Marines arrived at the archipelago that the RDA dubbed Dragon's Tail, sunset fast approaching. They flew at an average speed of around seventy miles per hour to account for their banshees, sometimes going up to ninety when they had a strong tailwind, and sometimes dropping to fifty when their mounts were fatigued and just needed to glide. The archipelago was just a few dozen kilometers off the mainland, though far enough that it could not be seen from it. It was a long island chain, the furthest islands being nearly four additional hours of flight away.
They were headed to the largest island of the chain, the northernmost one, and on it were two distinct volcanic peaks separated from one another by a good distance that could be seen through the faint mist. The visible beaches had dark, rocky sand and solidified former lava flows that extended to the ocean. As they flew further over this big island, they could see that it was comprised of canyons with exposed savannah and desert-like hills and plateaus, but lush forests filled the lower elevation areas, no doubt nurtured by the rich, fertile volcanic soils.
In-person, Dragon's Tail was hardly the Hell that the Colonel had referred to it as upon his first digital glimpses of the island chain back at Bridgehead. Mansk and Lyle were in silent awe of their temporary home for the next three months as well. This northern big island was where the Ash Na'vi's main village was. Hopefully, these people remembered they were coming. The Kestrel approached the interior of the island, a tired Cupcake, Sunday/ae, and Rocket in tow. There was a low and foggy cover of clouds over the island, the golden rays of the setting of Alpha Centauri B being enhanced by the vapor.
All of a sudden, their banshees started to make sounds expressing uneasiness, concerning the Marines. Suddenly, out of the interspersed cloud covering on the left side of the aircraft, Miles' side, a gnarly-looking flying creature emerged flying towards them at an angle to the direction the Kestrel was moving in. It was a Cliff Banshee. The cliff banshee was nearly black, though its chin crest and tail fan were brightly colored red-orange. It had thick-looking rough scales, scutes, and osteoderms, peppered with white and red-orange spots throughout its dark hide. An iridescent shimmer of the scales could be seen when the sunlight shone upon them at certain angles. And it had horns atop its head. It looked like a dragon. A banshee, but a dragon.
Miles understood now the namesake of the island chain.
Atop this dragon was a Na'vi woman. It was her, the same woman the hologram projection showed during his mission briefing—The wood-twisted gemmed diadem atop her head, her gray skin with a tinge of blue to it. Her dark wavy-curly hair flowed in the wind, and her orange eyes, like fire, were fixed on Miles. She held a spear in her left hand.
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(Colored pencil + Photoshop sketch of Zu and her Cliff Ikran. Art by me!)
The cliff banshee and Na'vi woman then gracefully banked around to fly in the same direction as the Kestrel alongside its left. As she aligned her banshee parallel to the gunship, she was still intensely staring at Miles. He locked his eyes with hers, narrowing them in suspicion, his ears folded back. Little did Miles realize that his tail was anxiously flicking around behind him, to the point where it hit Lyle, who had curiously moved to the left side to see this woman, as well as Mike, the door gunner who got smacked on the shoulder by it and looked at Miles with a what the hell? expression.
