Chapter 10: Chapter 10: Scary Dry Mouth
When Ben woke up, he was in his box coming out of the neurological link.
Despite his body's lack of activity, his brain indicated deep fatigue. He knew the reasons for this, for having suffered so much during his training. But it was still as unpleasant as ever. To add to this, his belly was gurgling, showing him the lack of energy in his last hours. However, he was in a hurry at that moment. To sleep. But he had to feed his body if he wanted to hold on. As for the sailor, the return to his body was very painful. Needless to say why.
Il n'attendit pas le reste de l'équipe pour sortir de la salle afin de trouver quelque chose à manger avant de rejoindre son lit.
The next morning, Ben had breakfast with his childhood friends Sted, infantry commander, Dyle, infantry captain and Gaël, sergeant of the 2nd Swan Company.
All four have a body forged by years of missions, if we could judge by the musculature of their arms. Sted, had hair turning to blond with bright yellow eyes showing an intelligent personality but could be violent if the line was crossed. Dyle had tanned skin and traces of black hair while his eyes were dark green. Only Ben had his hair left, while his friends were cut very short, like any military man. Dyle's physique showed that he was a resourceful and ingenious person who could demonstrate unparalleled cunning. Gaël had brown hair and his face and physique showed that he was a person who was not afraid to go out and face the enemy. The three wore their military outfits, while their friend was content with a sober black t-shirt where only his white badge with the GDR logo and a passport photo provided some clarity. He had dark blue jeans, contrasting with those of his friends, still in uniform
Sted by drinking an orange-like juice: Ben, je ne comprends pas pourquoi tu t'es engagé dans ce programme ! C'est une décision débile de ta part. (Well, I don't understand why you signed up for this program! It's a stupid decision on your part.)
Dyle: Tu marques un point. Tu m'as déçu ce coup là, Ben. You have a point. (You disappointed me on that one, Ben.)
Ben: Mais de quoi je me mêle vous deux ? C'est une décision que je n'ai pas prise à la légère. Je vous rappelle que j'ai réfléchi pendant trois semaines avant de m'y engager. Toute façon, ce qui fait est fait. Alors… Vous ne voulez pas me dire comment s��est passé votre journée d'hier ? (But what do I care about the two of you? This is a decision I did not take lightly. I remind you that I thought about it for three weeks before committing to it. Anyway, what's done is done. So... You don't want to tell me how your day went yesterday?)
Sted : A vrai dire, c'était un peu dur pour une première journée. Nous avons eu affaire à un Titanosaure. Tu sais c'est une sorte de rhinocéros… (Actually, it was a bit tough for a first day. We were dealing with a Titanosaurus. You know it's a kind of rhino... )
Ben: Je sais ce que c'est. Comment vous avez survécu ? Ces créatures, bien qu'elles sont très agressives, ne se déplacent jamais seules. (I know what it is. How did you survive? These creatures, although very aggressive, never move alone.)
Sted: Sois patient et tu connaitras le fin mot de l'histoire. Alors, on était envoyé dans un secteur afin de vérifier s'il était viable pour un avant poste. Nous étions six avec un AMP. Mais au moment d'arriver dans la zone, nous avons croisé la route de cette satanée bestiole.(Be patient and you will know the end of the story. So, we were sent to an area to check if it was viable for an outpost. There were six of us with an MPA. But when we arrived in the area, we crossed the road of this damn beast.
Thus, he recounted how a fool could not resist the urge to pull the trigger, the painful death of the AMP pilot accompanying them and the rescue of Gaël who was patrolling nearby.
Ben, giving the sergeant a pat on the shoulder: Bien joué ! ( Well Done!)
Gäel en souriant: Eh oui, mec ! T'inquiètes, je suis toujours là quand il faut ! Maintenant, à ton tour Ben. Raconte nous ta première journée avec les binoclars. (That's right, man! Don't worry, I'm always there when you need me! Now it's your turn Ben. Tell us about your first day with the nerd.)
Ben: Ok (Okay.)
And he recounted his story of his first connection with his avatar and his meeting with Grace.
Dyle : Tu intéresses Grace ? C'est une première ! D'un côté, ce n'est pas tous les jours de voir un militaire s'engager volontairement dans sa clique.(Are you interested in Grace? That's a first! On the one hand, it's not every day you see a soldier volunteering to join his gang).
Sted: Ben, pourquoi tu n'essayeras pas d'espionner les indigènes et nous relater les renseignements susceptibles de nous servir en cas de guerre ? Au moins tu servirais à quelque chose dans ce programme !
(Ben, why don't you try to spy on the natives and tell us what information we might need in case of war? At least you would be useful in this program !)
Ben sighed when he heard this. He was expecting it anyway. They have always done it this way. Infiltrate to destroy everything. And he immediately felt the bitterness invade him as he thought back on his missions in the GDR.
Ben in a monotonous tone: C'est vrai que les tromper ne devrait pas être compliqué. Mais… ( C'est vrai que les tromper ne devrait pas être compliqué. Mais…)
Sted: Mais ? (But?)
Ben: Je refuse. Désolé. ( I refuse. Sorry)
He looked at his watch, telling him not to hang around for his first expedition with his avatar.
Ben: Bon, je dois y aller les gars. Bonne chance pour aujourd'hui. (Well, I have to go, guys. Good luck today.)
Sted, Dyle et Gaël: Toi aussi Ben.Celui-ci sortit de la salle, seul. ( You too, Ben. This one came out of the room, alone.)
The three looked at him until he was out of sight.
Gäel: Eh, les gars. Vous ne nous trouvez pas Ben un peu bizarre ces temps-ci ? ( Hey, guys. Don't you think Ben's been acting a little weird lately?)
Dyle: Yes, it is. He looks more...bitter than usual. I wonder why.
Ben, in the form of his avatar left on his first scientific expedition with a group of one sailor and three scientists. Grace had decided to assign him to another team, thinking she had enough trigger-happy people with her.
All four wore the RDA uniform designed for the program members, each with a different t-shirt, and only Norm and Jake had backpacks containing probably the basic materials and also those needed for the expedition.
The pilot went with another team and settled into a Samson other than Grace's team.
He sat in the right side of the aircraft next to an M30 machine gun, looking out at the forest in the distance with a little smile on the corner.
They took off at 8:30 am from Hell each Samson went his own way. They flew over waterfalls and the forest where they saw gigantic trees in the distance. These impressed the soldier because he had never seen anything like them on Earth. Despite the information in the program and in Grace's book, it was something else to see this spectacle with his own eyes.
Later, Ben's team lands in a corner of the forest. The pilot had only the machine gun in his hand, watching with a keen eye for the slightest suspicious movement, like a hawk lurking in his hunting territory, in search of prey. The pilot turned off the aircraft, shortly afterwards under the orders of the expedition leader and the team put their feet on the ground.
He then distributed the roles and the old man had to keep the aircraft.
The latter did not complain. This would allow him to admire the vegetation without having to listen to scientific jargon. They were not very far anyway and were still under Ben's vision. In case of problems, he could reverse with his colleague. Everything was quiet for several minutes before a loud scream could be heard. It was not very far from their position and that was a bad sign. Indeed, the owner was none other than the Thanator, one of Pandora's most fearsome creatures. And he was hungry, being nocturnal hunters. If he came at them, even Ben and his colleague would not be able to defend the scientists from the attack. Something had to be done, and quickly. His only solution was to be able to distract the creature while he evacuated. Ben to the sailor: I'm going to distract him from our position. Stay close to the Samson and keep an eye on them, just in case. This forest is full of unpleasant surprises and we must keep our only option to escape and avoid possible victims. Don't wait for me if I don't come back. With these words, he set off, with a ball in his stomach. Why the hell did he have this idea? What's going to be able to do against the creature that even the Na'vis feared?
The pilot followed the direction of the scream until he stumbled on a backpack, missing his weapon. He got up, grumbling curses at the owner and threw a huge, raging kick. It was at that moment that he saw an inscription "J.Sully".
Ben: Putain ! Jake… Qu'est ce que tu as foutu ?(Fuck! Jake... what the fuck did you do?)
Close to the bag were the tracks of the animal, chasing footprints that seemed to be in a hurry. These then led him to a waterfall that he could admire for a moment.
Ben: He's crazy, but at least the Thanator won't follow him. Hopefully, the creature is far away now. I must have made films with the information about this creature and been excessive.
After this observation, he set off on his way home, but he had a nasty surprise along the way. Behind him, a small crocodile whistle reached his ears, and he had just enough time to turn around to escape the jaws of a large, six-legged creature with sharp, razor-sharp teeth. The soldier had just enough time to use his weapon as a bulwark against this pair of dangerous natural weapons that were heading towards his head.
He collapsed on the ground as a result of the violence of the assault and owed his salvation only to his weapon. He could feel the power of the animal's jaws and had to yield his weapon to the assailant's mouth during the attack. The assailant quickly destroyed his only means of defense with the help of his paws and a rock. The M30, after a few blows, broke into several pieces that scattered on the ground. It fixed its prey by raising its crest and by pushing a whistle of crocodile.
The pilot took advantage of this demonstration of force, to get up and flee. In spite of his experience, he knew that he had no chance against the scary dry mouth or Palulukan among the na'vis. This creature had all the weapons to kill him easily, even its light beaver-like tail was poisonous.
Facing this creature in a duel was like offering its avatar to death. While running, he was thinking. He would not be able to outrun the creature, that was for sure. Being hungry, the beast was not going to
Seeing an Awaiei, an idea came to him. Risky, certainly, but he had no choice. It seemed that the Na'vis could approach this plant but not the other animals. Or else with difficulty. He hoped that he could use this plant as protection. It was time to apply the theory. With this in mind, the former soldier went, as he had learned during his training, to the opposite side of the plant. Luckily it was not far away because the Thanator had already caught up. The pilot had just enough time to dodge an onslaught from one of the planet's greatest predators by a turn, but the creature's claws injured his right shoulder. He gnashed his teeth and whistled to contain the pain of the claw. Finally, the life-saving plant was in sight.
As he expected, the plant turned to him and pulled out its poisonous thorns. Just in time, he ducked by rolling to the right and sticking himself to a tree. The thorn missed the Thanator, who had time to dodge it, but it was enough for the beast to realize that continuing its hunt was too risky. The Thanator gave Ben a scream of rage and a crocodile whistle before he left. The pilot blew. It had really been hot on the spot. It is at this moment that he felt a burn on his left shoulder . He inspected the origin and he could see a trace of red claws. He grimaced at the pain he felt.Ben: Shit! Well, it could have been worse. I can already congratulate myself for having escaped one of the great terrors of Pandora.
He continued on his way, clenching his teeth towards his team's Samson... Praying to arrive in time.
The day was beginning to fall when he saw the shadow of the helicopter. He smiled in spite of the pain in his arm and was about to run towards them when he felt something obstruct his legs, causing him to fall. He clenched his teeth and hands so as not to scream under the wave of pain that was sweeping over his wound.
The former soldier dropped one knee to the ground and slowly got up, tears in his eyes. He could not see, with anger and despair, the helicopter leave, leaving him alone in front of this forest of many dangers.
He turned his gaze towards the obstacle of his escape and recognized a bolas. Its small rocks connected by a solid string.
Seeing this, he clenched his teeth in rage and uttered a deep cry in na'vi
Ben: SHOW YOU! I KNOW YOU'RE THERE! UNLESS YOU'RE TOO COWARDLY TO FACE ME!
It was risky, but he couldn't think straight. He was upset that a native could prevent him from coming back from a mission to be treated and he was going to make him pay. For a while he was fine until he heard the sound of feet landing on the ground. She was wearing two brown leather straps that crossed at chest level and covered her breasts. She also wore a dark blue loincloth and the handle of a dagger could be seen on her left side. What surprised the pilot was the size of her hair. They were short and did not go beyond her face. He had no knowledge of such a hairstyle among the natives.
The native went towards him, calmly but his steps showed a certain coldness.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone