Bang!
Jake Sully's head...
Or rather, his Avatar's head exploded outright. His skull and brain matter splattered everywhere like a watermelon smashing against the ground, spraying pulp and juice in all directions.
Thud!
The headless body crashed to the ground, its limbs still twitching from spasms.
And judging from the body, it had not only suffered a fatal shot to the head—its chest had also been blasted open with four bloody holes by a .500 Magnum.
"No! No! My Jake!"
Still unable to recover from her terror, Neytiri witnessed her lover's head explode at close range.
She hurriedly embraced the headless corpse and wailed uncontrollably in a hoarse voice, utterly devoid of any will to fight.
At that moment, several ARS soldiers without Exoskeletons emerged from the nearby jungle and slowly approached the bewildered Neytiri.
The leader reloaded his custom revolver as he used his mask comms to report, "This is Arthur. The Avatar operated by Jake Sully has been eliminated. Search team, remain alert for Jake Sully's actual body."
The one who had carried out the kill with a .500 Magnum revolver was Arthur Morgan, who had arrived in advance to wait here on Sui Yang's orders.
And just as Arthur finished his warning, a reply came over the comms. "This is the search team. Following the instructions provided by the Boss, we successfully secured the target before he could escape. We are currently preparing to transport him."
"Good."
While learning that everything had gone smoothly for the search team as well, Arthur finished reloading his custom revolver and aimed it at Neytiri, shouting a warning:
"Surrender immediately, or you'll end up just like that traitor!"
"You killed my Jake... You killed him..."
Clearly, Neytiri had already lost all ability to judge her surroundings. She merely stared blankly while clutching Jake's Avatar corpse.
Seeing this, Arthur waved his hand, signaling the Hunters beside him to use tranquilizer guns to capture her, making it easier for the technical staff to collect living blood and tissue samples later.
Roar!!!
Yet the Leonopteryx, whose body had been pierced by a metal spear from the very beginning, erupted with unprecedented strength. Its four crimson eyes locked tightly onto Arthur, the one who had killed its master.
By the look of it, it intended to avenge Jake Sully.
However, before it could rise again, a white afterimage descended from the sky at incredible speed and dived toward the Leonopteryx.
A dull boom rang out.
"Awroo..."
The Leonopteryx let out a pained howl after suffering a blow to the head, then completely lost consciousness as its massive body crashed heavily to the ground.
Only when the white afterimage landed did his figure become clear. It was Sanguinius, also dressed in black combat gear and wearing a breathing mask, but with pure white wings growing from his back.
The still-young Primarch folded his wings, walked around the Leonopteryx to its other side, and reached out with his right hand to grip the spear's tail. With a slight pull, he extracted his silver metal spear from the Leonopteryx's body.
After shaking off the blood, he pressed the embedded button in the center of the shaft, shrinking the spear to a suitable size. Then he pointed at the Leonopteryx with his left hand and said to Arthur and the others:
"Uncle Morgan, I saw that this thing was still acting up, so I helped you deal with it. But... could you have someone take it away? I think it'd make excellent experimental material."
"Of course." Arthur naturally had no objections. He immediately called in a Red Hawk over the comms, intending to "package up and take away" the Leonopteryx along with Neytiri and the other Na'vi captives. Then he added:
"Kid, don't show off just because you're strong. Be careful."
"Don't worry, Uncle Morgan!"
As Sanguinius spoke, he spread his wings again and disappeared from Arthur and the others' sight once more.
"..."
Hearing Sanguinius always call him "Uncle Morgan," Arthur could not help recalling the man his father had once told him about—a century ago, an "uncle" who had lounged around their boss's estate, eating and sleeping all day without doing anything useful.
He stroked his beard through his mask and muttered, "I need to shave when I get back."
Not long afterward, a Red Hawk arrived above the forest and began searching for a suitable clearing to land.
Glancing at the Red Hawk, Arthur's expression turned solemn. He said in a deep voice over the comms, "All units, be advised. Hunter Company's Third Combat Platoon is about to launch its assault. We only have twelve minutes left. Once Third Platoon completes its objective, make sure to take control of the situation. No mistakes."
"This is Third Company. Understood."
"Second Company, understood."
"Fourth Company, understood."
Replies from every unit also came through the comms.
Away from Arthur's side.
At an altitude of several thousand meters, high enough to avoid interference from excessively powerful magnetic fields.
Two AC-130 gunships extensively modified by Atlas were circling the entire battlefield, providing the ground forces with continuous fire support.
Inside their well-sealed cabins.
"..."
Roboute Guilliman, likewise clad entirely in black, stood behind several observers, using the details displayed on holographic screens to take in the entire battle at a glance.
It was not difficult to see that the scales of victory had long since tipped toward the RDA and the ARS companies. There was no suspense at all.
Yet Roboute keenly noticed that whether it was their rescue efforts or the progress of the battle, every moment had been timed perfectly.
Moreover, the RDA ground troops had continued pushing deeper forward due to their high morale, exposing their rear to the ARS companies and placing themselves in an encircled position.
Combined with the battle plan and the detailed orders issued to every combat squad and platoon, it all suggested that his father seemed to have rehearsed this countless times, as though he understood every detail.
"..."
After reaching that conclusion, Roboute frowned deeply, seemingly torn over whether he should ask his father what was going on after the battle ended.
--
South of the Na'vi Sanctuary.
About forty kilometers away.
There stood Hell's Gate, a mining base constructed and operated by the RDA.
The entire base was pentagonal, with the outermost security perimeter stretching roughly twelve kilometers.
Within the base, slightly more than one-third of the area was occupied by aircraft runways and vertical takeoff and landing pads.
The other two-thirds included maintenance and vehicle workshops for an armored unit, as well as a light industrial plant and refinery. The command center, barracks, apartments, warehouses, and recreational complex were located on the western side of the base.
Furthermore, every sealed facility was equipped with air filtration systems, allowing RDA personnel to live and work normally within the base.
Yet the base, which should have been heavily guarded against outside invasion, had now descended into internal conflict and utter chaos.
Rebellious researchers seized the warehouses, allowing more than twenty Avatars to obtain machine guns, rockets, and other weapons before swiftly inciting an uprising.
Fewer than fifty RDA mercenaries had been left behind to guard the base, and they were scattered throughout the facility, with no time to respond.
But it was precisely because the RDA had fallen into such fierce internal conflict that neither side noticed a combat platoon had already crossed the rainforest and was rapidly approaching Hell's Gate's outer perimeter.
(End of chapter)
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