Capítulo 44: Chapter 44 "Surrender or Die"
Boom!
A deafening explosion echoed across the battlefield, the powerful shockwave spreading from the epicenter at supersonic speeds, uprooting everything nearby and hurling it into the air.
The center of the Valkyrie bombardment was the Na'vi sanctuary at the Tree of Souls.
"Na...Na... (No...no...)!"
"Vitraya Ramunong (Tree of Souls)!!"
"Fwaì, oel ngati kameie (It's over, it's all over)!"
The Na'vi outside the blast radius, seeing their sanctuary destroyed, fell to their knees, holding their heads. Their expressions revealed more pain than sadness.
It seemed that the destruction of the Tree of Souls and the severing of their connection with Eywa caused not only emotional grief but also physical pain, akin to withdrawal symptoms from a dependency or addiction abruptly cut off.
The ARS infantry, sweeping through the area, captured the Na'vi reactions with their helmet cameras, transmitting the footage back to the forward base kilometers away.
The frontline ARS infantry pointed their rifle-mounted mechanical right arms at the Na'vi. A sergeant with a red shoulder pad used his helmet speaker to loudly warn, "All Na'vi, lie down and surrender immediately, or we will use lethal force. You have three seconds to decide: three... two... open fire!"
Rat-a-tat-tat!
Whether or not the Na'vi understood the human language was irrelevant; three seconds was not enough time to make a decision.
Pop! Bang!
No matter how tough the skin, muscles, and bones, without armor, they were useless against 7.62mm, .50cal, and 20mm rounds. Flesh and blood splattered everywhere.
"Jeez..."
"These guys are more efficient than us."
"Where did they come from?"
The RDA mercenaries on the left flank, watching the decisive and cold ARS, were stunned and amazed.
One bold mercenary stepped closer to the ARS line, asking a nearby ARS soldier, "Man, you really leave no one alive, huh?"
The ARS soldier glanced at the mercenary before refocusing ahead, saying, "Our orders are to give the Na'vi three seconds to decide: surrender or die. What you see is their choice, not ours."
"Holy shit?"
The RDA mercenary was shocked by the ARS soldier's words but, on reflection, found them logical. Nodding repeatedly, he said, "That's true. By the way, you guys came just in time. Another half a minute and we would've been overrun by the beast horde. But... where did you come from?"
"..."
This time, the ARS soldier didn't reply.
Their briefing emphasized cooperating and building rapport with the RDA mercenaries but strictly prohibited revealing anything about the main universe or the space gate until the external threats were completely neutralized.
As for why their equipment and vehicles were so UDF-like, it was because, since the establishment of the Atlas division over a year ago, they had been constantly buying arms.
In Universe Zero-One, the UN and UDF decided to disarm, as the threat of the Mimics had been eliminated, making it unnecessary to maintain such a large military force.
The disbanded UDF soldiers either took their severance pay to return home and start a new life or couldn't accept the harsh reality and became mercenaries, continuing their dangerous work.
This transition from war to peace caused significant turmoil on Earth Zero-One but also allowed the early-integrating investigators to establish the Atlas division without much hindrance.
With headquarters financially supporting them, the division seized the opportunity to buy a large quantity of arms from the chaotic black market in Eastern Europe.
Without enemies, the UDF didn't want to keep too many vehicles and weapons. Storing them required extra maintenance costs, and even scrapping them was expensive. Selling them off was a better option.
Thus, a large quantity of arms flowed into the black market, facilitating Atlas' purchases for training and emergency use by the ARS.
The main reason the ARS didn't widely adopt UDF mechanical exoskeletons was that Atlas-produced exoskeletons were more mobile, streamlined, and easier for operators to use in infiltration and reconnaissance missions.
Hunter teams, specializing in ambush and assassination, preferred waiting for home-produced exoskeletons rather than using old UDF models.
However, to cope with Pandora's hazardous environment, the ARS temporarily equipped UDF exoskeletons and used UDF aerial vehicles bought by the division for battle.
At this moment.
As the ARS and RDA mercenaries temporarily cooperated and advanced, in a dense forest a hundred meters away...
"No! No! Tia...Opala... they're all dead!"
Seeing her kin shot dead and captured, a female Na'vi wailed and screamed hoarsely.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Amidst her despair, a strong gust of air blew from behind.
Jake Sully landed his Banshee in the woods, jumped off, and ran to the female Na'vi, embracing her urgently, "Hey! Hey! Neytiri, pull yourself together. Now is not the time for sorrow. Our lines are breaking. We must retreat!"
This Na'vi, Neytiri, was arranged by Eywa to meet and fall in love with Jake Sully, one of the main reasons he was successfully persuaded to switch sides.
But now, Neytiri was clearly terrified, clinging to Jake and crying loudly.
Equally panicked, Jake had no choice but to carry her, preparing to escape on his Banshee.
Defending the Tree of Souls, defending the sanctuary—none of that mattered now. The situation had spiraled beyond Jake's expectations. All he could think of was survival. His betrayal of humanity was for the sake of being with Neytiri.
But just as they were about to climb onto the Banshee...
Rou—!!
A long metal spear, with a whistling sound, pierced through the Banshee from above.
"Roar!" The Banshee howled in pain, unable to control its anguish.
?!
Seeing this, Jake had no time to think. He threw Neytiri to the ground and reached for the machine gun on his back.
Bang! Bang!
But the unique roar of the .500 Magnum interrupted Jake Sully's every move.
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