"We're Target Practice, Kid"

"Bang! Bang!"

"Boom! Boom!"

It wasn't just 20mm autocannons; the sounds of 40mm cannons, 105mm howitzers, and even larger caliber artillery echoed across the entire theater of war.

Among the wildlife of Pandora, there were indeed many behemoths and predators with hides tough enough to deflect rifle and machine-gun fire.

But as long as they fell within the category of carbon-based life, there was no problem that heavy weaponry couldn't solve. Even Homelander and Soldier Boy, who could withstand nuclear and hydrogen bombs, were not exempt from this law; it was merely a matter of yield, as they all had their limits.

Homelander alone was difficult to deal with. After all, that "pirated Superman" possessed supersonic flight capabilities, making him somewhat troublesome. There was currently no plan to eliminate him quickly without causing massive urban destruction or large-scale civilian casualties.

But the behemoths and predators of Pandora clearly did not fall into the "troublesome" category.

The beasts that had previously posed a severe threat to the RDA ground forces were blown to pieces by artillery of various calibers.

Such dense artillery fire indicated that there were ground fire positions deployed in advance outside of this area.

Swish! Swish!

Dozens of air-to-ground missiles streaked across the sky above the RDA flight formation, their white exhaust trails visible, before raining down directly between the army of beasts and Na'vi.

BOOM!!!

In an instant, "lotuses" made of soil and debris—actually "petals" formed by the shockwaves and overpressure of the violent explosions—rose up throughout the rainforest.

The situation reversed in an instant.

The Na'vi who had been cheering and encouraging each other, including Jake Sully, who had voluntarily renounced his humanity, were left completely dumbfounded, standing frozen in place, not knowing what to do.

"Fuck yeah!"

"That feels good! Awesome!"

"Woohoo! Counterattack, boys!"

In contrast, the RDA ground forces, whose morale had been on the verge of collapse, saw the threat of the beasts instantly neutralized. Their spirits were ignited, and they quickly reorganized their fire nets, continuing to press toward the Tree of Souls and the Sanctuary.

At this moment, inside the cockpit of the Dragon assault ship, the sudden questioning and the remote artillery and missile support left the pilots and gunners stunned; they hadn't expected to have reinforcements.

Seeing this, Miles Quaritch hurried to the pilot's side and looked up through the porthole.

Sure enough, he spotted two "black dots" circling thousands of meters above, and at the same time, he happened to witness several fighter jets streaking across the high altitude.

"Sir," the observer, who was still maintaining his post, reported, "an unknown force has sent a video communication request. Shall we respond?"

Hearing this, Miles Quaritch went to the observer's station at the rear of the cockpit. He rested his left hand on the chair, leaned in, and looked closely at the holographic screen.

"Of course. Being standoffish would be a bit impolite."

"Understood, sir."

Following the instructions, the observer performed a few operations and established the video link.

Immediately, the initiator of the communication appeared on the holographic screen. He was standing in the cabin of some kind of aerial transport vehicle, wearing a black tactical suit, sporting a stubbly beard, and chewing on a cigar.

Although the other party's attire was strange, Miles Quaritch set aside his previous arrogant attitude and introduced himself first: "Former Marine, current Chief of Security for the RDA Hell's Gate base, Colonel Miles Quaritch. I am very grateful for the fire support your side provided; it prevented our formation from collapsing. But if I may be so bold, Major Morgan, could you explain where your forces came from? As far as I know, only we, the RDA, are conducting mining operations on Pandora."

"You're welcome. We're all human," Arthur Morgan replied to the thanks, then lifted his cigar and answered the question with another: "Where we, Atlas, come from is a long story. So, I suggest we cooperate to eliminate the Na'vi threat first, then sit down and have a good chat. What do you think, Colonel Quaritch? Besides, our ground forces are about to arrive."

Miles Quaritch's brow furrowed at these words. He knew there was a trap, but he was helpless; after all, the other party had high-altitude and ground artillery support. He had no choice but to nod in agreement.

"Major, you are quite right. The primary threat at the moment is the Na'vi."

With that, Miles Quaritch opened the internal comms and, in front of Arthur, gave the order to the RDA: "All personnel, this is Dragon Daddy. Friendly forces are arriving shortly. Watch out for friendly fire. Watch out for friendly fire."

"Team A, understood."

"Team B, copy."

As the order was issued, the commanders of each unit responded one after another.

"Thanks for understanding. See you in a bit, Colonel." Arthur smiled and proactively ended the video call.

"Sir, the other party is clearly hiding something. Shouldn't we prepare in advance?" the observer, who had listened to the entire negotiation, asked with some doubt.

"Prepare? Kid, the oxygen content on Pandora is similar to Earth's; it's just that there's a lot of gas that's toxic to humans." Miles Quaritch pointed upward as he continued, "This means that with simple adjustments, they can use fighter jets and attack aircraft adapted to Pandora's atmospheric environment, and they have indeed deployed these military units. They also detected the magnetic interference in the theater and adopted a strategy of long-range artillery strikes to avoid the failure of their fire-control systems. So, tell me, what kind of existence do you think we are in their eyes?"

"Living targets... sir."

"We're in a tight spot, kid, so we have no choice but to play right into their hands."

After saying this, Quaritch, his expression grave to the extreme, looked through the porthole and caught sight of another wave of helicopter formations.

They were departing from the Dragon Assault Ship.

As they reached the airspace above the war zone, they saw another flight formation, consisting primarily of large transport helicopters, rapidly approaching from the northeast.

The appearance of these transport helicopters bore many similarities to the V-22 Osprey, yet they were roughly three times larger overall and featured an extra pair of tilting wings and engines.

The RDA combat personnel were unfamiliar with them, but to Atlas, they were all too familiar, for these transports were the standard-issue model of the United Defense Force (UDF)—the BBQT-V-44 Quad-Tiltrotor Transport, nicknamed the "Red Hawk."

In Universe 01, the UDF used the Red Hawk to transport their mechanized exoskeleton legions.

In addition, there were BBRH-66 "Peregrine Falcon" attack helicopters, a hybrid of the Comanche and Apache, providing escort for the entire flight formation.

However, the striking red "Λ" insignia printed on their fuselages indicated that these former UDF military vehicles were now the property of Atlas.

In the blink of an eye, the flight formation arrived at the location of the RDA ground forces, then lowered their altitude to hover.

Once the Red Hawks opened their bottom hatches, nearly a thousand ARS infantrymen equipped with UDF-model mechanized exoskeletons—which appeared heavy and robust—rapidly completed their airborne deployment via steel cables, all in one fluid motion.

At the same time, the RDA Valkyries began their airstrike on the Na'vi Sanctuary.