Titania Blake

Chapter 14

Morning came swiftly, and we were prepared. As ordered, I flew by Tsu'tey's side, and when we landed to ambush the ships, I avoided his eyes. Finally, when we saw the ships, we moved. "Peyä'ite let's do some damage to those savages!" I cried out, following Jake and Tsu'tey as they made for the main ship. Jake and his toruk threw a scorpion into a mountain side and I followed his lead. Peyä'ite was larger than the average ikran, and we used that to our advantage, clearing a path around the bomber ship. Too soon, we were being overwhelmed by the fire power they had at their disposal. Norm and those on the ground were falling back, all around me our people and their ikrans were being blown out of the sky. 'Eywa, please, help us save them.' Almost as soon as Trudy joined us, I got a bad feeling and went after her. My feeling turned out to be right, they got one of her blades and she was going down. For the first time since the battle started, I used the comms. "Trudy, lock your ship on a collision course with his, and hump. Peyä'ite and I will catch you. Tsu'tey, keep everyone away from the ship. This hit will do some damage. Go now!"

"Are you crazy, Titania?! I can't abandon my ship!" Trudy screamed through the comms.

"And I can't let you die! I promised Grace! Now get the hell out of there so you can help us win this!" I ordered her.

"You'll catch me?"

"I will. Move it before Quaritch fires again." Peyä'ite and I dove down, weaving through the mountains to get to Trudy. I shot my hand out to catch hers as she fell past and pulled her to sit behind me. "I told you I'd catch you. Got a gun?"

"Yeah."

"Then let's do this."

"The scorpion missed. We're gonna have to go in. Titania, Tsu'tey, follow me."

"Right." As soon as I spotted Jake and Tsu'tey, and I joined them, and we flew around Quaritch's ship, removing as many soldiers as possible. Jake jumped on top of it, killing as many as he could, even using grenades to quicken their deaths.

"Titania, I am going to help. Watch them." Tsu'tey called over the roar of battle.

"Be careful, Tsu'tey." I warned him as I raised my bow to protect his back. Tsu'tey took out four as soon as he landed inside, and I shot a fifth before he could shoot at Tsu'tey. A grenade took out some of the ship's propellers, and it began to dive down towards the ground. "Jake, Tsu'tey, get out of there! Norm, tell everyone on the ground to take cover! The bomber's coming down!" Even as the bomber fell from the sky, Quaritch's people still fought.

"Jake! Eywa has heard you. Eywa has heard you!" Neytiri shouted through the comms. I turned my attention to the sky, where hundreds of non-bonded ikrans were attacking the ships. 'Thank you, Eywa.'

"Titania, Quaritch survived the ship. He's in an ampsuit. He's heading straight towards the outpost! Get there, now!" Jake ordered.

"Peyä'ite, take us down to the outpost. We have to hurry. Hold on tight, Trudy! I'm gonna send you with my ikran to Mo'at. Protect the Tree of Souls." With my intentions clear to Peyä'ite, I jumped from her to the ground, slowing my descent with my leaves like Tsu'tey taught me. I crouched down in the brush to ambush Quaritch when I saw him. Just as I saw him come through the trees and aim at the outpost, I saw Neytiri jump out and attack him on a palulukan. 'She bonded with a palulukan? What happened to Seze?' Quaritch raised the ampsuit's cannon and shot at the palulukan, but Neytiri had it smash the cannon against a rock, which separated it from the suit. Quaritch pulled the suit's knife and stabbed the palulukan under its chest armor, pinning it and Neytiri to a tree. When Quaritch threw the palulukan and Neytiri to the ground and killed the creature, pinning Neytiri underneath, I sprang at him. "Leave her alone!" I shouted, pulling at the top of the suit to unbalance the maniac. "Neytiri! Move!"