AN: Welcome back for another round of updates this week!
I won't drag this arc for too long, as I still have another arc for Noah's group before going back to Hachiman's group.
I want to reach the next part, as that will be where things will go around for the crew.
Anyways there's not much to say, but I hope you all like this chapter!
Enjoy reading~.
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Unknown World, Star Rail Universe…
Jake Sully couldn't help but grit his teeth. The 15 years of hard-earned peace, something he and his comrades had fought for with everything they had, had been shattered.
He was originally a human from a planet called… unsurprisingly, Earth. He was once a soldier there serving his home country during what they called the "Resource War."
It all began when Planet's population exceeded 20 billion. The living space became limited, resources even more so, and nations turned on each other to claim what little remained. Jake had been deployed to foreign countries to 'secure' those resources, and it was during those battles that he lost the use of his legs.
Years later, as the conflict continued, an organization rose into power. They offered a bold solution to the current situation in the plan. That is to gather resources beyond their planet. Mine other worlds. That organization was the Resources Development Administration or RDA.
At the age of 22, Jake left Earth and took over his murdered twin brother's RDA contract, becoming an Avatar driver on an exo-moon called Pandora.
An Avatar was a genetically engineered hybrid human and forest Na'vi. Avatars were remotely controlled bodies using the human mind to explore Pandora unhindered. Those chosen for the program were called drivers. Through psionic links, aided by amplifiers and nodes grown into the Avatar's brain from early development, they could move and feel through that body as if it were their own.
On a side note, the Na'vi are the native sapient humanoids who inhabit the lush moon of Pandora. They live as hunter-gatherers, with technology comparable to Earth's Paleolithic era, though their society shows elements closer to a Neolithic stage.
Jake was soon assigned a mission by the RDA: to infiltrate the Omatikaya clan and convince them to abandon their home within three months.
But things didn't go the way they expected.
After learning the RDA's cruel plan toward the Na'vi and the wildlife of Pandora… Jake couldn't follow through. Along with others who felt the same, he turned against them. They refused to accept the plan that RDA wanted to do, and Jake led the fight to protect the Na'vi—driving the RDA off Pandora.
That was 15 years ago.
And now… the RDA had returned. Fully armed. And far more determined to take this world. Which led to the current situation.
Jake, his wife Neytiri—the daughter of the former Omatikaya chief who fell in the first war—and their eldest son, Neteyam, were now facing his old nemesis.
Miles Quaritch.
His former superior. The leader of the RDA's first expedition team on Pandora… now brought back in a new body as a Recombinant Avatar.
"Come on now, Jake… I know you're out there!" Quaritch shouted, his eyes scanning across the forest.
Around him, his team, who like him were Recombinant Avatars, kept their weapons raised, scanning every shadow, every movement.
"We've got a lot of unfinished business!"
He pulled out his pistol and pressed it against the head of a young Na'vi girl.
Tuktirey… Jake and Neytiri's youngest daughter.
"Shhaaaa!!!"
"Grrraaa!!!"
"Don't you dare touch her!!!"
Kiri, Lo'ak, and Miles Socorro—children of Jake and Neytiri, both by blood and by bond—struggled violently against their restraints, trying to rush forward.
But Quaritch's men held them down firmly. All they could do was glare. Even Jake and Neytiri had to hold themselves back. Every instinct screamed at them to move… to take their children back…But not yet.
The timing wasn't right.
Quaritch snorted, then turned his gaze back to the forest. "You wouldn't be that heartless to leave your kids like this… right?"
When no answer came, his patience thinned. He pulled out his knife and pressed it lightly against Tuktirey's throat.
"Ahh…!" Tuktirey's eyes widened as fear crept in.
"Tuk!!!"
"Bastard! Don't touch my sister!!"
"Stop it!!!!"
Kiri, Lo'ak, and Miles struggled harder against their restraints, their bodies twisting as they tried to break free.
"Easy there, boy," one of the Avatars muttered, pressing his rifle against Lo'ak's temple. "My finger might slip and put a bullet in your head if you keep moving like that."
Lo'ak snarled, glaring back without backing down.
On top of a tree branch, Neytiri had already drawn her bow. Her arrow was aimed straight at the Avatar threatening her son.
Below, Jake clenched his jaw and moved forward, step by step, keeping low. Neteyam followed close behind, his eyes locked on Quaritch—the man holding his little sister.
But a voice cut through the tension.
"Just when I thought my opinion of you people couldn't drop any lower… You go and prove me wrong."
Quaritch, his team, the children, Jake, and his family all turned toward the source of the voice and saw a human male in his late teens stepping calmly out from the shadows of the trees.
Noah Alden had arrived. His eyes studied over Quaritch's team, almost uninterested at first… before that look slowly turned sharp.
"This makes me wonder if your civilization is already beyond saving."
Just as Reinforce said in the last chapter, Pandora's atmosphere has less oxygen and is mostly filled with toxic gases. Ordinary humans won't be able to survive out in the open without any device that could help them breathe.
So when Noah appeared there, breathing normally without any equipment, mask, or gear… Everyone couldn't help but be stunned.
"You…" Quaritch frowned. "Who are you, boy? How are you breathing in this harsh environment?"
"Harsh?" Noah lifted a brow, tilting his head to the side. "Really? Because my companions and I haven't felt anything harmful, though."
As if on cue, Dan Heng, Caelus, and Sirin stepped out from different directions, surrounding Quaritch and his team. And just like Noah, none of them wore any equipment, and yet they breathed as if nothing was wrong.
"But that's not the point right now," Noah continued. "How about you put the guns down and let those kids go. That's acceptable, right?"
Quaritch's cheek twitched.
The way Noah said those words… it was like he was mocking them.
He slowly turned, taking a proper look at the group in front of him. One guy with a… baseball bat, while the other has a spear. The girl at the back and this boy in front of him don't have anything with them.
His jaws tightened. The audacity of them walking in like this, talking like this right in front of a fully armed unit.
"Hmm?" Noah scratched the back of his head, glancing around. "Did I say it too fast, which made the translation ineffective? Do you need me to repeat it?"
A few of the soldiers twitched, fingers tightening on their triggers.
Quaritch straightened, his expression turning cold. "Kid… I don't know who you are."
He raised his pistol. "And I don't really care."
He fired a warning shot. "In a situation like this, you think this is a joke?"
His eyes locked onto Noah. "You really think you and your friends can stop us?"
A cruel smirk tugged at his lips.
"If you wanna play hero… go home and do it in a game."
Noah didn't even flinch as the bullet brushed past him. He raised a brow, almost amused.
"Hmm… so negotiations broke down after all," he said lightly. "And it's you guys who were the ones who went aggressive first. Not us. So this will count as self-defense… yeah?"
Quaritch's team exchanged looks before turning back to him.
"What is this kid even saying?"
"Is he insane?"
"Did Pandora's toxic gases mess with his head?"
"Noah… we're good to hit back now, right?" Caelus asked, as he twirled his bat.
Noah gave a small shrug. "Well, they attacked first, so…"
"It is now within our right to fight back." Dan Heng completed Noah's words.
The three of them shared a glance before simultaneously disappearing.
Caelus reappeared mid-swing, his bat already flying toward the Avatar soldier holding Kiri and Miles.
Dan Heng moved just as fast, the butt of his spear driving straight into the one pinning Lo'ak.
And Noah… his fist was already inches from Quaritch's face.
Their attacks hit their targets at the same time. The soldiers were sent flying, torn away from the children in an instant.
"Kaa!!"
"Ughh!!"
"Shi—!"
Sirin, who had been watching from the side, snapped her fingers. A spatial rift opened under the children's feet—and in the next second, they fell into it. They dropped right behind Sirin. Kiri, Lo'ak, Tuktirey, and Miles stood there frozen, eyes and mouths wide open. One second, they were being held down… the next, they were safe.
"…What just—" Lo'ak looked around, confused.
They found themselves behind a floating girl, calm as if nothing had happened.
Not far away, Jake, Neytiri, and Neteyam were frozen still, completely stunned. Even they couldn't fully process what they had just seen.
"Sii, take the kids somewhere safe," Noah said, not taking his eyes off Quaritch. "And pick up the other three hiding nearby. They're the key to breaking the deadblock."
"Okay~," Sirin replied simply, before snapping her fingers.
The space around her folded, then she and the children vanished without a trace.
"…Just who the hell are you kids?" Quaritch muttered, rubbing his jaw where Noah's punch had landed.
This time, there was no hesitation. He and his team raised their rifles again, more cautious now. They finally realized that those three weren't ordinary… not even close.
"Hoo… so now you're finally taking us seriously," Noah said with half-lid eyes and a smirk. "Didn't you just say we were nothing but delusional kids trying to play as heroes?"
Caelus let out a short laugh, resting the bat on his shoulder. The grin on his face couldn't get wider.
Dan Heng said nothing; his flat expression alone said more than enough.
Quaritch's jaw tightened as he glared at the three of them, then gave the order.
"SHOOT THEM!"
Gunfire erupted instantly.
But Noah had already taken action, even before the command finished leaving Quaritch's mouth, his hand went to his waist, drawing his lightsaber Lux. Prana flows through the manadyte embedded in it, a blue blade extended from the hilt.
And swing it. The bullets met his lightsaber.
Each shot was deflected, redirected, cut apart mid-air as Noah stepped forward, his movements smooth, almost effortless; it looked like he had done it a thousand times.
He might've been imagining it…but he could swear he heard strange comments from Quaritch's team.
"Holy crap—is that a Jedi?!"
"No way… is Star Wars real?!"
"That's an actual lightsaber!"
"…That's so cool!!"
Noah blinked for a split second…He didn't know how to feel about that last one.
The gunfire soon stopped as magazines emptied. Quaritch and his team just stood there, staring at him.
"…You've gotta be kidding me," Quaritch muttered, sweat forming at his temples.
"…Colonel… is that real? A real Jedi?" one of them asked, still in disbelief. "Aren't those supposed to be fiction?"
"I… don't know," Quaritch answered, eyes still locked on Noah. "But we can be sure that… these kids weren't normal."
"Then the next part would be us being flung around by the Force or sliced by a plasma blade like in the movies, right?" another one said nervously.
No one had the will to laugh. They all knew exactly how those scenes ended. Quaritch's expression darkened, and the rest of the team followed, as they remembered those exact scenes.
But it seemed they still had luck on their side.
[Blue One, cavalry is here.]
The voice of Commander General Frances Ardmore of the RDA's new fleet came through his communication earpiece. Quaritch's team glanced at each other, a clear sense of relief and hope returning to their faces.
Noah, Caelus, and Dan Heng all looked up at the same time as the distant sound of powerful rotors grew louder. Moments later, three Gunships broke through the canopy, powerful searchlights locking onto them. Its weapons were already aimed.
Then the missiles launched straight toward Noah's group.
Noah narrowed his eyes. "Tsk…"
He quickly raised his hand, using the Force to halt the missiles mid-flight. They froze in the air, suspended just before reaching them. He could sense the destructive power within them—and knew that if even one hit the ground, the surrounding forest would be devastated.
Sending them back wasn't an option either; bringing those Gunships down would only turn everything into a sea of flames.
So instead, he called out without looking away.
"Caelus! Dan Heng! March!"
"Ohh!"
"Leave it to me…"
"Finally, it's my time to shine!"
Understanding his intent immediately, Caelus and Dan Heng jumped into the air to intercept the missiles, while March, who was waiting on a tree branch, drew her bow.
"Rules are made to be broken!" Caelus grinned, his baseball bat now wrapped in Destruction Path's imaginary energy. "Decisive strike!"
"The truth of life and death is revealed in an instant." Dan Heng muttered, his spear coated in the Hunt path's imaginary energy. "This sanctuary is but a vision… Break."
"Gotta try hard sometimes." March smiled as she activated her six-phase ice, adjusted her aim. Her ice arrows flew out—and mid-flight, turned into… Pom-Pom figures? "Check out this awesome move~."
Their attacks met the missiles head-on, hitting them squarely. The impact caused the missiles to detonate, sparing the forest below from potential damage.
"Th-that's… the Force?!"
"Fuc— alright, that guy is legit!!"
"Seriously?!"
Quaritch's team shouted in surprise, thrown off by what just happened.
"Everyone—fall back!!!"
"ROGER!!!"
At Quaritch's order, his entire team moved immediately, pulling back without hesitation.
[Blue One, what are you doing?!] the Commander General shouted. [Are you trying to deser—?!]
She never got to finish. One of the Gunships exploded... well, at least its weapons were blown apart mid-air.
Floating above the sky was Hayate, wearing her Magical Girl outfit (Hayate: It's a Barrier Jacket!! Not a Magical Girl outfit!!! Noah: Yeah, yeah.).
"Rein," She raised her staff as the Belkan magic circle appeared at her back.
"Leave it to me, Hayate-chan!" Reinforce replied quickly.
"Claíomh Solais."
Orbs of mana formed around Hayate as she spoke the spell's name. Reinforce helped Hayate aim, subtly adjusting the spell's trajectory so they would hit only the Gunships' weapons.
"Now, Hayate-chan!"
Hayate swung her staff, pointing at the remaining Gunships. The orbs flew straight, hitting each weapon with accuracy and tearing them apart while leaving the flight systems intact, allowing the aircraft to remain airborne.
"…What on earth is happening?" the Commander General muttered from inside the Gunship, finally understanding why Quaritch had ordered a retreat.
"Let's go. Pick up RECOM 1 and get out of here."
"Y-yes, ma'am!"
The pilots scrambled, moving quickly as they began extracting Quaritch and his team before pulling away from the battlefield.
"They're leaving the airspace now," Reinforce reported, watching the Gunships fade from her detection spell.
Hearing Reinforce's report, Hayate let out a sigh before lowering her staff.
"Hayate to everyone. The enemy group is now leaving the area."
[Roger, Hachan.] Noah's voice came through her communicator. [Let's regroup where Sii and the others are.]
[Ahh… Before that... Can someone help me get down from this tree?] March's voice followed, a little less confident this time.
[…]
An awkward silence came after…Trust March 7th to break the tension like that…
"…I'll come and get you, March," Hayate said with a wry smile.
[…Thank you!]
Hayate let out a small exhale. "…Not bad for a first contact."
"Mhmm." Reinforce nodded.
Then, together, they flew toward the tree where March was.
—-------
"So what you're saying is… your civilization came to this planet—well, moon—to colonize it… because you killed your own planet?" Noah pinched the bridge of his nose. "Did I get that right?"
"Well… saying we killed our planet is a bit…" Norm Spellman, one of the human scientists who defected from the RDA during the first war, rubbed the back of his head, clearly uncomfortable.
"…Not exactly wrong, though," Max Patel, another former RDA researcher who chose to stand with the Na'vi, let out a sigh.
"...You overpopulated your world, exhausted its resources, and polluted it," Sirin said dryly. "It's only natural to say your civilization pushed its own world past its recovery."
Norm and Max visibly winced at that.
"Is the situation there really that bad?" Hayate asked, her voice softer now. "Your home planet, I mean."
"…Before we left Earth 15 years ago, it was already close to collapse," Norm answered.
Max lowered his head slightly. "…If things kept going the same way… It's probably uninhabitable by now."
"Food and water were already hard to come by back then," Jake added. "People were desperate. I was deployed in Venezuela to 'extract' whatever was left…"
His voice trailed off for a moment.
"…It wasn't pretty."
Neytiri reached for his hand, giving it a tight squeeze. Jake glanced at her, then gave a small, grateful smile.
"...If what you said is true, then that's probably why your civilization came back to Pandora with everything they have," Caelus said. "Sounds like they're at their limit."
March rested her head on Caelus' shoulder, her eyes on her camera as she scrolled through the photos she took—the strange, beautiful sights of Pandora filling the screen.
"...A desperate move for a desperate situation, huh."
"So the only answer they could come up with was to expand outward… and repeat the same thing on other worlds?" Sirin said, a hint of mockery in her voice. "…Figures."
Her words made Jake and the other humans grimace.
Because they knew she wasn't exactly wrong. After all, the RDA had sent entire fleets to Pandora, fully armed and ready to take it by force if they had to.
Noah let out a sigh and patted Sirin's head. He glanced around their surroundings. After saving Jake and Neytiri's children, they were brought here—the Resistance's base.
High Camp. The home of the Omatikaya clan under Jake's lead, along with the human defectors. The base sat within a vast cave system hidden deep within the largest floating landmass—Mons Veritatis—among the Hallelujah Mountains, making it naturally hard to assault.
It served as the last refuge for Jake Sully and his people. Originally a fallback point for the Omatikaya and their allies, it had since grown into a full guerrilla base for the Resistance in this war.
Right now, they were inside the BioLab, a mobile shelter where the human members stayed most of the time. The Astral Express crew: Noah, Sirin, Hayate, Reinforce Zwei, Caelus, March 7th, and Dan Heng, sat together with Jake, Neytiri, and their allies, like Norm Spellman and Max Patel.
Noah noticed a few small figures peeking in from the doorway—Jake and Neytiri's children, along with other humans and Na'vi, all curious about the newcomers.
March caught sight of them and immediately turned, giving a bright wave and an even brighter smile. The ones at the door flinched and tried to duck away, but Tuktirey, the youngest, peeked out again… and shyly waved back.
"...Let's not get stuck on the morals of their civilization right now," Dan Heng said, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. "What matters is dealing with the RDA's forceful colonization of Pandora."
"With Quaritch somehow back from the dead… he'll do everything he can to kill me," Jake said, his expression darkening. "I'm the known leader of the Resistance. He won't stop until he finishes me."
"Then we will fight him again," Neytiri said firmly. "Together."
"…But this time, it's different," Jake replied, his voice smaller. "We have our children now. Not just the clan to think about… but our family."
"Jake…" Neytiri called his name, a hint of worry in her voice.
"I… think it's better if we leave the clan," Jake said.
"What?" Neytiri's eyes widened. "What are you saying, Jake?! You want to abandon the clan? Our people?"
"That's not it." Jake shook his head. "As long as we stay, as long as they shelter me… Quaritch and the RDA will keep coming. And next time, they won't stop at just us—they'll kill everyone to get to me."
"Then we fight!" Neytiri stepped forward. "We protect them like we always have!"
"...That's why we have to leave," Jake said firmly. "It will protect the people. Their target is me… and our family. They'll follow us and leave the others alone."
"We can't do that, Jake!" Neytiri shot back. "If we leave, where will we even go?! This has always been our home! We can't just abandon it!"
"Sorry to interrupt your lovers' quarrel, but…" Noah spoke up, cutting in casually, "…with us here, there's no need for you and your family to leave your people."
"Noah?" Jake looked at him, surprised.
"If you leave the clan, then this whole situation drags on longer than it should," Noah continued, as if stating something obvious. "And we don't really have the luxury for that."
He added, almost offhandedly, "After all, I'd like to finish this war by the next chapter."
"…What?"
Jake and the others just stared at him, completely thrown off.
The Astral Express crew, on the other hand… Dan Heng and Hayate let out a tired sigh, already used to this. Caelus and March burst into laughter. Reinforce blinked, tilting her head slightly as she looked at Noah.
Sirin covered her face with a hand. "…Of course you would say that."
"It's actually a big advantage for us if the RDA keeps trying to hunt you, Mr. Jake," Noah said, completely unbothered by everyone's reaction. "We can turn that against them."
"…What kind of plan are you cooking up this time, Noah?" Sirin asked, already sounding tired.
Hayate tapped her chin lightly, tilting her head as if thinking it through.
"…If it's Noah-kun, then…" she began, "…he'll probably let the RDA track us on purpose, gather all their forces in one place… and then deal with everything at once."
Reinforce floated a little closer as Hayate finished, giving a small nod. "…And Noah-san will likely guide things so they think it was their own idea," she added softly.
"…You make it sound like I'm the bad guy." Noah puffed his cheeks, feeling a bit offended.
Sirin slowly turned her head toward him. "…You are planning to lure an entire military force into one place so you can wipe them out in a single move."
Noah crossed his arms, a confident grin on his face. "It's called being efficient."
March blinked. "…Wait, are we seriously going to do that?!"
Caelus grinned wider. "Now that sounds fun."
Dan Heng let out a tired sigh. "…I knew it."
Jake and the others could only stare at them, caught somewhere between disbelief and concern.
"…Are they serious?" Max whispered.
Norm blinked. "…I think… they actually are."
Noah glanced at them, then gave a light shrug.
"…Well, now that everyone's on the same page."
He gave a gentle smile… which didn't reassure anyone at all.
"So… shall we begin the liberation of Pandora~."
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