First Flight

Chapter 1 Home of Hell

Earth used to be a home for over a million species that lived in harmony for centuries. It used to be a home that humans could be proud of. The oceans ranged from the purest baby blue to the deepest shade of sapphire. The mountains were unbreakable and protective of the towns and cities below it. Fields of lush crops and playful flowers bloomed every spring for every animal to enjoy. However, greed took over the human species. Not one civilization was safe from this sickness, no one had enough of what they could already get their hands on. So it kept growing and festering until most nations eventually decided to look up to the stars for something better than what Earth could no longer give them. That's where they found Pandora, a small moon that could house as many lives as Earth once did, but it had so much more than Earth, and the humans, had their greed.

Y/n grew up in a time of war, it was all she knew from the moment she was born to the moment she got drafted to be a part of it. Her entire country would call it fighting for freedom, saving humanity, and taking what was rightfully theirs, but it never felt right. It was a joke in her eyes, how was this saving lives when so many were dying for something that wouldn't be around in the next 20 years? No not by her hand, so instead of becoming another grunt with a thirst for killing, she studied her way into the medical field. She had no way out of the military, but she did have a little choice in how she got to serve in that military. She may not have been able to put an end to all or even one of the wars on Earth, but she could do what she was capable of doing, saving lives. Being shot lightyears out into space was as shocking a trip as anyone might have thought, especially when it was to Pandora, for military purposes. Earth taking something yet again that wasn't rightfully theirs.

"Dr. Y/L/N." A stranger's voice called out as Y/n walked through the halls of the RDA base she would call home for the next few years. Turning around Y/n spotted a redhead with a smirk sauntering towards her. "Y/F/N Y/L/N? Right?" The woman repeated.

Y/n nodded with a greeting smile, "That's me alright, what can I do for you...?" she trailed off not knowing exactly who she was speaking to. Military personnel and doctors alike all walked past the two with places to go and missions to complete. It was a busy base for a simple task like mining the moon.

The redhead stopped in front of Y/n and held out a hand, "I'm Dr. Grace Augustine, I'll be your boss for the foreseeable future." The older woman offered a small smile, though her eyes told a different story. They were searching, maybe reading Y/n's character, 'Is this another dumb military jock, or is this someone I can rely on'. Which was completely valid. From what gossip Y/n heard on the shuttle to Pandora it seemed like things here were getting out of hand and in all honesty, a little too treacherous, that they needed more military than scientists and Doctors.

"It's good to meet you, Dr. Augustine, sorry they didn't tell me who I'd be under here they gave me my bunk and bag just now." Shaking the doctor's hand Y/n began to walk with the woman, hopefully towards the barracks, because even with cryo sleep that journey was exhausting. Just thinking about taking off her stupid boots and slipping into a good bunk for a couple of hours had Y/n holding back a few yawns.

"Of course, they didn't fill you in on anything..." Dr. Augustine mumbled a sigh, "Well, you've been shipped out here because my team has had a couple of...close calls out in the forest recently, and from what we've heard you're one of the top-class medics for field emergencies." Grace's voice echoed as they entered what looked to be a lab with plants and vials all over the desks. It was exactly the kind one would imagine when told to think of a 'Science Lab'. "I did a little reading on all of our candidates and your history seems to fit the best with what we require at this time. Skilled, quick on her feet, and best but not least not hot-headed." Finally, they stopped at a desk littered with items that looked to have been made or collected from the forest and its people. There was a doll, a few necklaces or bracelets, and a couple of other trinkets and plants. That's when Grace picked a book out from her drawers and flopped it into Y/n's hands. "I'll be honest with you, we don't need any more goons with rights to guns. We need someone who is going to do their job as directed and without any senseless casualties to us, the wildlife, or the indigenous. Have you read up on the Na'vi at all?"

"A little here and there, I learned about them in college and tried to read up some more before I got put out here, but I probably don't know enough seeing as there seems to be a shit ton of military activity here?" Y/n asked holding the book labeled 'The Na'vi'. Something was going on here, because the last time Y/n heard anything about Pandora and their efforts to implement better mining systems, they were teaching the indigenous about Earth and their customs. The humans and the Na'vi were learning from each other, quite peacefully too. So it didn't make sense to have so much weaponry even if the planet was dangerous for human life. They had their practically impenetrable bases, and Y/n did not doubt that the wildlife steered far away naturally. There was a long pause from Grace as the older woman leaned against her desk, she was looking towards the ground when her eyes seemed to travel far off into her mind. Whatever the lady was thinking about was not something she wanted to discuss. "Classified. Understood ma'am." Y/n spoke up quickly, it seemed like a painful subject in a way, but that's all Y/n needed to know. Something went down and it didn't benefit either side.

"I'll need you to start practicing Na'vi, we run into hunting groups quite often out there, and if you get separated from the group I don't want you getting into trouble. Most of the Na'vi were fast on picking up English but sometimes things get miscommunicated." Grace came back to reality and began to look through her desk once more. "Also you better hope you pick up Na'vi quickly, I've two other scientists on the way here as we speak, and that's when we begin our trips into the forests" After searching Grace found about three thick books with sticky notes and papers on every page, 'Na'vi Grammar', 'Na'vi anatomy', and 'The forests of Pandora'. "You've got three months, but before that, we have to get you accustomed to the Link. We'll start today after lunch, meet me back here at thirteen hundred. Welcome aboard Dr. Y/L/N."

After lunch, Y/n did exactly as she was instructed to do. The link was quite the contraption, it was like a video game, but the person's mind was actually inside of the character they were playing. The link was supposed to transfer Y/n's mind into an avatar the team of scientists grew while the girl was on her way to Pandora. They supposedly took some of the Na'vi DNA and mixed it with whoever was going to be controlling that specific Avatar. Unfortunately, Grace was insistent on Y/n having more training hours with the Link before she was able to use her avatar. Well, whatever worked out, it didn't matter to Y/n, she was here to do her job and save lives. Having an Avatar body right away or not made no difference, she just needed her tools and a person to save. That being said Y/n had to learn so much more than just the Na'vi language and customs. Being a combat surgeon on Dr. Augustine's team meant that she also had to learn the anatomy of the Na'vi. With their team using the Avatar bodies, she was going to be using her skills on them, not their human bodies. Although they weren't that different there were a couple of curve balls with the knowledge.

Three months went by relatively fast for Y/n, which she was thankful about since they were only filled with studying nonstop. It was Dr. Augustine's orders that Y/n knew as much about Pandora and the life that inhabited it as any other person on her team. That was a lot to live up to seeing as Y/n knew about as much as an elementary student when she got there. So when the two other highly talked about scientists got there Y/n was surprised to find out that one of them wasn't who he was supposed to be. Turns out there was an accidental death, and a twin brother, Jake Sully, stepped in to fill the spot. That man knew next to nothing about Pandora, nor had he ever trained with the link, this guy was worse than Y/n when she first arrived. It was infuriating how the top people let him join the team and let him try the link out without ANY practice beforehand. Then again it wasn't necessarily his fault, the military was the worst at informing their recruits on practically anything. Grace also had no other choice. The guy was ex-military so hopefully he would do his part and pick up on everything quickly. Y/n could only hope, besides they had about 7 years to live together as a team, what could go wrong?