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torukmaktoskxawng · 2 years ago

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tsamsiyu ta'em - old names, new faces

Masterlist - part two

Summary: Jake is preparing for war while also learning about the arrival of someone he thought he'd never see again

Pairing: Ronal/Tonowari/Original Female Character

Tag: #tsamsiyu ta'em fic

Word Count: 4k+

posted on ao3

Taglist: @mooniequeen (Thank you for requesting to be tagged! The fic is up now both on here and on ao3. First chapter was already posted but I went ahead and tagged you there as well!)

Warnings: canon-compliant, canon-typical violence, mature language, adult content, slow burn, polyamory, found family, cool aunt agenda, alien/human (technically avatar), jake sully sister agenda, time skips, I'm trying to hurry up and get to the good parts so bear with me, fluff, angst, adopted spider, tags to be added

PANDORA, 2169

Jake didn't want to waste a second of time. After General Frances Ardmore sent out a transmission to the natives of Pandora, warning the Na'vi and humans occupying Hell's Gate to surrender the former RDA facility before her arrival, he made sure to abandon it... but not before planting a few bugs.

Listening devices and motion alarms were placed, then Toruk Makto ordered the Na'vi and all humans who live among them to retreat to the forests, and just in time, too. A week later, one of the motion alarms pings and Norm informs Jake immediately. The two launch a small war party and swarm their former headquarters, attacking the RDA retrieval team Ardmore had sent out to inspect Hell's Gate. The foot soldiers were overwhelmed within minutes, and Jake covers Norm -who was using his human form- and Max while the two go through the new bit of technology provided while the other Na'vi and human warriors keep the RDA hostages contained.

Jake crouches until he can fit into the doorway of the control room, assault rifle nestled in his arms, "Think you can do this?"

"Of course not!" Norm snapped, his attitude spiking as he and Max frantically look through the database, "I told you I'm not a hacker, Jake--"

"Alright--"

"--Do you think every scientist has to go through a Hacker Course in the Academy of Code in the Land of Computers just to get into Yale?" Spellman asked sarcastically.

"Got it," Max exclaims without looking away from the screen, "And yes, Norm, that's exactly what happens."

"Dick," Norm muttered, running over to hover over one of Max's shoulders while Jake hovers over both of them in size.

"I'm impressed," Max mentions while looking through the database, "Everything is neat, tidy, brand new--"

"Don't be getting any bright ideas," Jake muttered, one of his dreadlocks moving down his shoulder.

"I'm just saying, though I can easily tell they weren't expecting someone on this moon to be capable of hacking into their data files. I guess we should consider ourselves lucky that they underestimate us. No firewall, no password, not even cookies. Should be easy to download as much intel as we want, but only within that small window before the RDA react and come running when they realize what we're doing."

"Let's start with an inventory count," Jake takes a breath into his oxygen mask, "How many guns and ships are we looking at?"

"Ten shuttles, easily. No telling what each of them carries. Let's see. Missile batteries, gun emplacements. Armed to the teeth. Uh..." Before he could look further, the computer screen freezes and reboots, "Shit."

"What was that?" Norm asked.

"They caught us in their systems. They shut me out."

Jake grits his teeth and his gun, "Max, get back in there."

"I can't!"

"Try! And when you get back in, try and at least download any information they got on Ardmore and what she's planning before the system shuts down again. Forget the weaponry."

Max huffs, anxiously blinking away the sweat dripping down his forehead and fogging up his glasses. He furiously works as the three men start shuffling nervously, man and Na'vi alike. The computer makes a new sound and Max smiles brightly, "I got it, I got it! 'System is back up and running!"

Jake huffs out a bit of air before pressing into his throat microphone, "Alright, people, we got five minutes before the RDA realizes Hell's Gate is back online and responds. Let's go, let's go!"

Max begins to download files under titles he thinks are important. He catches names like Ardmore, Na'vi, Bridgehead, and Avatar. Out of curiosity, he clicks the last one and a name pops up, one that Max has to read over and over again before he grasps it, "Jake... does the name Makayla Sully ring a bell?"

Jake felt as though someone had just punched him in the gut, spinning back toward Max and the computer, "What did you just say?"

Max transfers the information from the computer screen and onto his datapad with just his hand motion and a flick of the wrist. He reads the name out loud again before Jake crotches over his and snatches the tablet from his hands, "Gimme that."

The former human now olo'eykan nearly stood to full height, forgetting he was too big for a human-made compound, and bonked his head. He grimaced and his eyes trail over the data file, reading it once, twice, the name sticking to the forefront of his mind for the first time in years. A picture attached to the file draws out his reaction, his breath was nearly taken away, "Holy shit."

"Relative?" Max asked.

Norm looked at the name from the original computer screen and noticed the picture attached to it, eyes growing comically wide, "Oh, shit. That's his sister."

Max looked between Jake and Norm, eyes wide in shock and sympathy while Norm read the file out loud, "'Corporal Makayla Sully. Avatar driver.' You know, Tom mentioned something about his sister showing interest in joining the Marine Corps. She might be here because of you."

He says this last part to Jake and immediately begins to sputter and backtrack when Jake's ears lowered, "I-I-I mean-! Not that it's your fault or anything--"

"Gunships inbound!" A voice is heard over the radio, warning the three men in the control room.

"Shit, they're early!" Max proclaims while grabbing the datapad from Jake along with the rest of their things.

His shock now shattered, the marine part of Jake takes over and he grabs his assault rifle again, "Go, get outta here!"

He lets Norm and Max run out in front of him while they frantically pull their exo-masks and packs on. Jake takes up the rear and together they run out of the Hell's Gate facility. Outside, other Na'vi and humans await them, calling and whooping out in warning at the sounds of gunship blades coming from a distance. Jake hears the familiar echo of Neytiri's call and he runs in that direction, finding his ikran waiting for him alongside his mate and her mount. Jake forms the tsaheylu and jumps up onto Bob's back, waiting until he's sure Max and Norm have jumped into their respective gunship before shouting the order to leave and scatter, instructing his people in the radio to rendevous to make sure no one was followed before returning home. The entire way back, his mind was troubled, clouded, and angry, the name and picture still haunting the forefront of his mind.

~~~~~~~~~

BRIDGEHEAD CITY, RDA STRONGHOLD

She woke up that morning with a headache, feeling uncomfortable pressure behind her eyes and forcing her to close them again.

But Makayla didn't want to close them. She didn't want to go back to her dream, the one she had been having for a while now, even in her cryosleep. After waking from that hibernation, they had told her that it wasn't possible. You can't dream in cryosleep. She decided not to question it further, afraid that some doctor would find her mentally unwell and send her back to Earth when she had only just arrived on Pandora. So Kayla kept her mouth shut, never mentioning the ocean waves she remembered flying over in her dream, bluer and cleaner than she had ever seen back home.

The woman stood up and got ready for the day, alone and basking in the silence of her one-bedroom quarters stationed in Bridgehead City. Gelling her hair back to fit into a bun and donning her uniform, she tucks her tank top into her standard-issue army-style pants and combat boots before throwing over her jacket. Grabbing her exopack and spare, she headed out into this new world, reporting to the control room of this vastly growing city.

No one looked up from their duties when she entered the control room, but she looked on and made a beeline for the person she was meant to report to, keeping her posture stiff and back straight when she stood behind another woman in uniform, saluting her in respect, "General Ardmore."

An older, blonde-haired woman, hiding said hair under a hat turned at her name, hands behind her back while nodding down to the younger woman, "Corporal Sully. How was your beauty sleep?"

"Well rested and ready to go, ma'am."

"Excellent. Right this way."

Moving from the control room, Ardmore leads her new recruit into the bio-lab, crossing over to an amino tank, tapping the glass, and turning back to address the corporal, "So this is your vehicle here."

Makayla stepped forward, staring into the tank and inspecting her new ride. She paused, nearly stunned at the floating Na'vi-looking woman in the tank. The creature's eyes were closed, frowning, curled around herself like a fetus in the womb, but still obviously much taller than her human counterpart. She twitched occasionally, but otherwise never acknowledged her avatar driver's presence. Makayla refrained from touching the glass but stood in awe while inspecting the avatar's face. Pale blue skin with darker blue stripes, thin, dark eyebrows, a small flat nose, and long ears pinned to her skull. Makayla had the urge to touch her own cheekbones and small lips when looking at what was essentially a reflection. She recognized certain features on the avatar that was definitely hers whenever she looked into a mirror, astonished at how well-designed her Na'vi body looked to mirror her human self.

Ardmore didn't appear to notice Makayla's amazement, droning on while slowly swarming the tank, inspecting the creature inside with an upturned nose, "She's not much but it'll be passable. You've read up on avatar training, have you?"

Kayla's spell is broken and she straightens her posture, looking dutifully ahead and not at her avatar, "Yes, ma'am. Enough to know the controls."

"Good. Have you logged in time on the simulator?"

"Yes, though not as much as I wish I could. I still get nauseous."

Ardmore nods, "Time and gravity are different here, Corporal. From what I hear, it'll help with the brain link. Now I know I said when I first recruited you that this would be a simple in-and-out extraction, but things have changed and now the real test is whether or not you can adapt to that."

Kayla keeps her eyes forward despite wanting to show the general her determination, "I can adapt to anything you throw at me, General."

"I like to hear it." Ardmore moves her hand to pat Makayla's arm almost robotically, but the corporal took the hint and followed the general back outside, never daring to look back at her avatar. After instructing her recruit to follow suit and throw on an exopack, the two women step outside, casually strolling together on the catwalk standing high above the city. Ardmore points out to the jungle far beyond the dry landscape circling around the city, "Now, with the plan to bring the majority of humanity here, I need soldiers out there learning to adapt and become experts in this new world we intend to call home. Unfortunately, this atmosphere and environment aren't really friendly to our kind, hence why we formed the Kill Zone."

"The Kill Zone?"

"It's what that barren two-mile-wide field is. It surrounds the city to keep the native lifeforms at a safe distance. Everything here-- the plants, the animals, they want to kill us. So for now, we use the Kill Zone to keep them away and regularly treat it with herbicides to keep anything from growing."

"And to keep anything from attacking?"

"That's what the automated weapons surrounding the city wall are for, Corporal. We're not taking any chances, but we can't be in the defensive position forever. Eventually, we'll have to fight back. With the entire flora and fauna of this moon wanting to attack us, we need to compromise it. Hence why we brought back the Avatar Program. We need avatar soldiers whose DNA will not trigger this moon's immune response. With new soldiers trained for the most hostile environments, we believe that if we link them with these avatars, we can assess and observe whether or not it will be easy for normal civilians to take on avatars."

Kayla's stone expression slips temporarily, eyes widening for a fraction of a second, "You want everyone to have an avatar eventually?"

Ardmore shrugs while tapping on the glass of her mask, "Humanity can't adapt overnight. If we want this place to be our new home, we'll need to be able to breathe the air and hunt and gather resources safely. Unfortunately, it is unclear how long a human could possibly link to their avatar before they have to disconnect. That is where you come in. We'll be testing this experiment through you. Any questions?"

"Just one, General." She hesitates as Ardmore turns to her, but Kayla blinks, rolls her lips, and says it anyway, "My brother's remains. When will I be able to go and search for them?"

A shadow passes the older woman's eyes before it retreats to the corners of her whites. Kayla knew it was a stupid question to ask, but Ardmore's usual stone voice changed to ice cold and she answered it anyway, "Once the labcoats are confident you can withstand longer link periods, we'll fly you out and drop you off at your brother's last known whereabouts before he was deemed killed in action. Understand that we can't waste a ton of manpower on this impossible body retrieval, but a deal's a deal. I'll send you out and send you a ride home once you call it in, but that's it. Otherwise, you're on your own, Corporal."

"Yes, ma'am. I understand."

~~~~~~~~~

HIGH CAMP, OMATIKAYA STRONGHOLD

The war party returns to their stronghold in the Hallelujah Mountains, and Jake's mind is still far away from him. After landing his ikran and breaking the bond, he felt his feet moving over to Max after the scientist hopped off the gunship with the same war paint Trudy's ship bore as a tribute. Jake easily towers over Max, asking him if he could have a look at the datapad he carried with their newly acquired information. Max flashed a look of understanding before handing the tablet over and walking away without another word.

Jake turned to leave as well, only he did so in the direction of his mate. Neytiri broke away from her ikran when she noticed Toruk Makto approaching her with a troubled look on his face, her ears stiffening at the sense of something being wrong.

"Ma Jake--"

"I have something to tell you," he gently cuts her off, and something in Neytiri's stomach drops, "Something I never told you before."

Subtly and easing into conversation had never been her husband's strongest suit. Neytiri felt cold and slightly fearful while staring down her mate, conflicted, trying to figure out what he could've hidden from her. It wasn't the first time he lied to her, earning her trust and betraying her, even when he had the best intentions. Over the years, Neytiri learned to forgive her mate for his past mistakes, including the one that concluded the death of her father and the destruction of her home. Still, hearing Jake admit that he hasn't told her everything made her heart sink with worry.

Nodding off to the side, she moves away from the campsite and Jake dutifully follows. Once they were out of earshot, she silently turned to him and folds her arms, waiting for him to spill, and he does, "I have a sister. Her name is Makayla."

Her tail curls in attention, lips parting in a silent gasp as she stares at him in disbelief, "You... you told me you had a twin brother."

"Yeah, I did. Tommy," Jake indicated toward himself, "This body was meant to be his avatar before he died and I took his place."

"And your sister?" The words felt strange on her tongue, her mind not yet convinced that Jake even has another sibling, much less a sister, "Why tell me now?"

His eyes swam with guilt, an emotion he knows better than to hide from his wife. Neytiri hadn't seen guilt like that on his face ever since he accidentally stepped on Little Kiri's tail and made her scream bloody murder. His eyes were wide and sad as if he had just accidentally killed the most beautiful, innocent creature in the world most sacred to Eywa. He looked as though he had betrayed Neytiri's trust all over again after telling her the truth behind the Sky People wanting the Omatikaya to leave Hometree. Decades worth of sadness and regret were evident in his eyes and aged him beyond his years, "Because she's here, with the Sky People."

He swipes across the screen of the datapad and offers the tablet to her. Neytiri stepped closer and caught sight of a picture on the screen. It was the picture of a human woman, with a blank expression as she stared directly into the camera head-on. She was middle-aged at most, likely more around Neytiri's age than Jake's, but she carried her shoulders and eyes to appear much older, kind of like how Jake looked now when examining the picture.

Neytiri is not sure what the Sky People deemed 'pretty' among their own species, so she didn't bother complimenting the picture, especially since she wouldn't have meant it. "That is her?"

"Yeah."

"Why is she here?"

Jake scrolls down the screen as he read, "This file mentions that she was recruited for the next step in the avatar program. Which means she'll most likely have a Na'vi body of her own."

Her eyes narrow but she doesn't say a word against the statement. 'Na'vi' is a loose term when it comes to the Sky People creating avatar bodies to walk among Neytiri's people. They never got certain features right, such as their hands and eyes. However, Neytiri can't find it within herself to be disgusted by those features anymore, not like she used to. Not when the man she fell in love with had those same features. Not when one of her sons and adopted daughter bore those same features. It was hard for Neytiri to imagine what an avatar would look like for Jake's sister and part of her didn't want to find out.

"What is the plan?" She sternly asked her husband, carefully watching his eyes, "Hm? What do you want to do?"

His ears are still lowered, definitely sensing the distrust in Neytiri's voice while he carefully answered, "I want to grab her and pull her out of there."

"Jake." She pitied her husband, detecting the hope in his eyes and she hated the fact that she must be the one to squash it, "Your sister is of the Sky People."

"So was I. Once," he tucked the datapad under his arm and placed both of his hands on her shoulders, keeping their eyes locked as he gently spoke, "But everything changed when I met you. If I can meet with her, I'm sure I can convince her to stay with us."

"... Older or younger than you?"

"Younger." He knew by then, he had won his wife over. Her tail flicked with curiosity at his answer along with her eyes before she tried her best to mask it. Both of them knew what the other was thinking, and the Na'vi woman was currently thinking about how much she missed her own sister. "Neytiri... I let her down once. I can't do it again."

"... And you won't."

~~~~~~~~~

Over the next few weeks, Makayla had been syncing with her avatar and learning how to move in her new body before heading out of the safety of the city. She kept close at first, not wanting to push it, and went one day at a time. Eventually, one mile became two, and after the first couple of weeks, she had branched out to a couple of hundred leagues. Thankfully, there weren't any mirrors out in the wilds of Pandora. She still had difficulty looking at her reflection, not expecting blue skin, big ears, and yellow eyes. However, she appreciated the new body in other ways, such as speed and agility. Kayla managed to pull stunts that she could have never done back home, least of all in her own body.

With the speedy progress she was making, Ardmore and the RDA scientists granted her permission to venture out days at a time, entrusting her with a radio and food rations but not much else per Ardmore's warning of little supplies available to be wasted. Makayla didn't mind. She had plenty of training to prepare her for survival, and although those survival tips were meant to help her thrive in climates unfamiliar to Pandora, she considered this as a challenge.

There were well-known sites of Pandora in the RDA database, stretched around familiar areas and marked as 'forbidden'. Kayla found herself at some of these sites, thinking of the possibility of finding her brother's body in these marked places. She had gone to Hell's Gate but found nothing other than whatever was left abandoned there. RDA had already cleared out what had been left by Na'vi and their human sympathizers that Ardmore warned Kayla about... though they took heavy losses because Hell's Gate had been rigged before their arrival. Unbeknownst to Kayla, she herself had set off an alarm when scavenging through the old military base, but she never saw or heard anything. The alarm had gone off elsewhere, far out into the floating mountains hundreds of miles away.

Taking her time around the abandoned base, Kayla kept her rifle under her arm and her newly-acquired, sensitive ears on high alert, turning this way and that at even the slightest of sounds. So of course, she immediately hears the sounds of bird screeches, only... they sound bigger, coming closer with multiples echoing off each other, along with the heavy sounds of large wings.

Kayla immediately takes cover, hiding in a large hangar meant to store gunships during those violent electrical storms she was warned about. Trying to make herself small by pressing against the wall as tight she could, she tried to calm her breath and slow down her heartbeat as she hears the thunderous sounds of dozens of large animals landing on the ground. Kayla could feel the stomps with her own two feet, not liking the idea of the danger being so close, she made sure her weapon was loaded, trying to stay quiet.

"Fan out! No lethals. We capture alive."

A loud voice booms and it's echoed by several yips and calls of acknowledgment. Makayla tried counting but lost count after six. Multiple footsteps can be heard scattering around the entire facility, and to her horror, a handful was coming in Kayla's direction. She takes a deep breath, willing herself to calm down. Slowly, carefully, she turns on her heels until she's fully facing the open hangar door, hoisting her rifle up until she's able to peek into the sights. She was ready to take out whoever came through that door, her eyes flickering down at the long shadows slowly approaching the doorway.

Too bad she had no one to cover her six because, with one flick of her ear, she realized her mistake. Spinning around, she's met with a swift kick of someone's leg, throwing her back and forcing her hands to let go of her gun, letting the weapon skitter across the floor. Kayla grunts at the impact, trying to quickly scurry to her feet as loud war cries echo all around her, bouncing off the walls of the empty hangar. Standing up and unsheathing her knife, she's completely surrounded by Na'vi, snarls and hisses being spat at her feet while having dozens of weaponry pointed at her. Spears, arrows, knives... even heavy artillery of human-make, like a shoulder-held grenade launcher. Kayla had to admit, that made her pause and stare oddly at the Na'vi warrior holding a weapon she was more familiar with before the sound of more people running into the hangar drew her attention away.

Kayla spun around at all the people surrounding her, pointing her knife at each of them as she screamed, "Stay back!"

They only hiss or ululate in response, glaring sharply at the female marine with bright yellow eyes that now match hers. They begin to close in around her, tightening up their formation, and she could feel her heart beginning to sink to her stomach as she gripped her knife tighter.

"Waitwaitwait! Hold your fire!"

The Na'vi all pause, slowly calming down and some break out of the circle to make way for their leader. Or, at least, that's who Kayla figured this particular male Na'vi was. He looked like the leader, with his war paint and many feather and beads adorning the braids of his hair and loincloth. However, there was something about his attire that made him stand out and that was the army-green vest, clearly of human fashion. Kayla fully turned to face the Na'vi male, her eyes briefly shifting to the side when a Na'vi female walked close behind him, otherwise, Kayla kept her eyes forward and focused on the leader.

The leader appeared hesitant, even hopeful, his ears flicking curiously to the side while closely inspecting her, "What's your name?"

She clocks in on the accent, recognizing the clear words to be something from her home world. And... oddly, it sounded familiar, though she couldn't place it. Lookely closely, she realized that this Na'vi was different from the others, apart from the fashion. This leader bore five digits on each hand and bore eyebrow hairs, much like herself. This wasn't a Na'vi at all. This was an avatar.

"... You sound American. You know English."

He flashed a brief smirk of amusement, "I know a lot more than that. Your name?"

She shifts her gaze around at all the Na'vi people staring menacingly at her. What harm could her first name be? "Makayla."

Something deflates in the leader's posture and expression. Shock and relief mix together in his eyes, "Jesus. It really is you."

Her eyebrows furrow, head tilting ever so slightly with curiosity, "Do I know you?"

"Kayla, it's me. It's Jake."

Her entire posture stiffens, face freezing in the expression of curiosity. She didn't move a muscle let alone remember to breathe, eyes only ever staring at the leader ahead of her, now calling himself Jake. Slowly, she takes a careful step forward, growing nervous, inspecting the man's face every time she stepped closer to get a better look. Jake's posture continued to soften, trying not to appear intimidating so that she would bravely step up to him. As she got closer, Jake clearly recognized her in certain features her avatar inherited, but he didn't voice it. Instead, he remained patient, letting his sister take her time.

What he wasn't expecting, however, was when she got close enough, Kayla quickly reached out and grabbed him, roughly spinning him around and holding him in front of her body like a shield while yelps and hollers of distress sound out all around the pair. The Na'vi all cry out in warning as they raise their weapons once more, becoming infuriated when Kayla remembered her knife and pressed the blade against Jake's neck, snarling into his ear, "How the hell do you know my brother's name?!"

"Kayla--"

"Tell me!"

Neytiri's bow was raised, an arrow aimed directly at Kayla's head, but she appeared hesitant, "Ma Jake--"

Jake lifted his arms out to his people, trying to block Kayla from their weapons, "Hold! Hold! Don't hurt her."

When none of them moved, Jake tried his best to talk down to the woman currently holding him hostage. Height wise she was a couple of inches shorter than him, but the knife pressed into his skin told Jake that height clearly didn't matter, "Kayla... calm down. It's me, I swear."

Her voice cracked, but in rage or distress, Jake wasn't sure of, "No, you're lying. My brother was killed in action!"

He grimaced, "That's likely a lie the RDA came up with for insurance reasons. There's a lot you don't know but if you--" her knife knocked his skin in warning, but he forced his words out, this time louder and less calm, "if you would just let me explain!"

"You're not him!" She screamed in his ear, her breaths becoming irregular, "You're not-- you can't be--"

"I can prove it," he spoke sternly, confidently, getting right down to the point, "You tried wine for the first time when you were sixteen, stealing a small glass from Mom. Instead of spitting it out, you tried finishing the glass like an idiot because Tommy told you not to. Mom and Dad locked you in the bathroom the next day because you were so sick and they made him clean it up because he didn't stop you."

The whole world felt as though it paused mid-rotation, the ground, and sky beneath them holding their breath, awaiting a response. He couldn't see her face, but Jake noticed the grip around her knife had loosened a fraction, and it was slowly moving away from his neck. Slowly, he slipped out of her hold by his own accord, slowly turning around so as not to spook her. Kayla's knife clatters to the ground and Neytiri forces herself to relax, lowering her bow and nodding for the others to follow suit.

Makayla studies Jake's face more closely this time, depicting certain features that she recognized to belong to a Sully, in some way shape or form. She couldn't explain how she knew... but it was the same reason why she was able to identify her avatar as her own, knowing certain features stem from both avatar and human form.

"Jake..." She exhaled under her breath, her voice quieter than before. Kayla took a step closer and the Na'vi people shuffled nervously. Jake kept perfectly still, remaining under her observation until something clicked behind her eyes like the gears had just suddenly shifted into place. Her eyes widen in shock, relief, and above all, joy, "Jake!"

She jumps into his arms, her full body shaking being the only sign of the woman ever crying.

A/N: If you'd like to be tagged, lemme know!

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