A New Mission: Ash to Fire

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In the Omatikaya High Camp—Jake Sully was feeling good about his last attack on Bridgehead. They suffered no casualties. The worst was that some Ikran had their wings pierced with bullets, but these were not devastating injuries. Max, Norm, and some of the other scientists had successfully repaired the Kestrel that they salvaged from an outlying mine and even used it to pick up Tuk from Awa'atlu and bring her back to the High Camp. Jake and Neytiri were elated to have their youngest with them, but not as elated as Mo'at who deeply missed her grandchildren.

This Kestrel would be critical in the portion of the mission Jake was planning to extract Kiri and Spider from Bridgehead—for Norm and Max to infiltrate the base during the chaos of their next major attack. Bridgehead was unlikely to question the arrival of one of their own gunships while their city was under siege. Fifteen years ago, Max had stayed behind, 'on the inside,' during the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains. But this time, he was ready to help more directly. Ready to fight.

A limiting factor of Jake's plans, however, was the reservations other Na'vi had about getting involved in this degree of war. Again. Jake sought assistance from the Metkayina and other Ocean Tribes and had been trying to remotely negotiate with Tonowari to join him in attacking Bridgehead, telling him that Kiri was captured and that victory would return peace to all lands. If Jake could get Tonowari, the other Ocean clans would follow. However, Tonowari was not convinced it was a safe course of action—attacking the Sky People village was very different from attacking a Demon Ship or two, even with the Sky People weapons they now possessed and were trained on.

Tonowari was tough, stubborn, and Jake was becoming defeated that he would not have his people among his forces. Lo'ak, however, had determined that many of the younger Metkayina warriors wanted to fight. They were convinced that more justice for their fallen Tulkun siblings, as well as their own people who died in the Sea Dragon assaults, was needed. But Lo'ak did not want to undermine or challenge Tonowari, Tsireya's father. Jake was proud of his son for this, though still wishing they would fight with him.

Jake was also having trouble mustering forces of mainland Forest Na'vi. Jake, Neytiri, and Tarsem had flown out to clans asking them to join the new war effort, trying to convince them that having Sky People weapons would turn the tide. They explained that they had just gained a great victory in two direct attacks on Bridgehead with no casualties, indicating that the Sky People were not invulnerable. However, many tribes were greatly thinned out in the Battle of the Hallelujah Mountains before Eywa came to their aid. They feared an even more technologically superior Sky People, remembering the destruction of their entry when they arrived almost two years ago.

And, while they held great sympathy for Jake's daughter, her hostage was not enough to answer such a call. None of the plains clans agreed to fight, recalling their people's great devastation in the last war, and also because they fought most comfortably on pa'li, which had no chance of breaching the walls of the city. Only a few clans agreed to fight—various other Forest Na'vi clans of the region who were close to the Omatikaya. Jake's numbers for his planned attack paled in comparison to what he had fifteen years ago in 2154. Still... at least they had a large supply of RDA weapons now.

It was early night, Jake was standing out near the entrance to the High Camp, looking down at the glowing forest far below, thinking. He was thinking about Neteyam... About his baby girl, praying to Eywa that she was okay and would soon be back in his arms. He was thinking about Spider, who he recently embraced into his family, sad and regretful for the distant way he behaved toward him for much of his life.

Jake was also thinking about War. Past and present. Lamenting the horrors that have been inflicted on all of these innocent Na'vi by the RDA. Lamenting the innocence and peace that he lost with his young family after the RDA returned nearly two years ago. His tail was flicking high with frustration, and he let out a big sigh. Neytiri saw her mate's emotions and came up to hold him, braced against his arm, her chin on his shoulder.