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Italics: (Na'vi language or Jake's inner thoughts or narration)
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Jake Sully, the younger brother of Tom Sully, is a 22-year-old ex-marine that was called upon by the RDA to finish his brother's mission in the Avatar program. Jake's brother was supposed to embark on a mission to Pandora, a world Jake grew up hearing about, but Tom was caught in a situation that eventually led to his death. It was all because of a mugger who only cared about what he was carrying, without knowing how much of a bright future the Sully brother had ahead of him.

After he agreed to take on the mission and the opportunity to take the position he was offered,  Jake boarded the ISV Venture Starship and spent the next six years in cryogenic sleep up to his arrival on the planet of Pandora.

When I was lying there in the VA hospital, with a big hole blown through the middle of my life, I started having these dreams of flying and seeing a girl. I was free and she was beautiful. It felt so real. Sooner or later, though, you always have to wake up.

Jake's eyes snapped open and saw that he was still in the metal tube that was transporting him through space. His pupils scanned his surroundings as he heard monitors around him beeping, checking his stability after a 6-year sleep in a capsule.

In Cryo, you don't dream at all. It doesn't feel like six years at all. More like a fifth of tequila and an ass-kicking

Realizing that he must have woken up because they had arrived at their destination, as if on cue, the capsule opened while his body gravitated from his bed, giving him the reality check he needed that reminded Jake he was indeed in outer space.

Tommy was the scientist, not me. He was the one who wanted to get shot light-years out into space to find the answers he wanted

A doctor with scrubs levitated and floated up above him to check his status and stability, making sure nothing went wrong on the trip. "Are we there yet?" Jake asked, making the doctor let out a small chuckle before saying; "Yeah, we're there sunshine. We're there" The doctor smiled down at the ex-marine.

As they prepped him, Jake started to remember how exactly he ended up in this predicament. He was called by agents to a crematorium, where they showed his brother in a body bag ready to be cremated. Tommy Sully is Jake's identical twin brother. By the looks of it, his sibling looked pale, lifeless, cold, and completely still.

It just so happened that a week before Tommy was going to ship out to Pandora, a guy with a gun ends his journey for the paper in his wallet.

The agents closed down the box he was in, covering back up the body of Tommy Sully, right about to be cremated. Jake looked at his brother solemnly before he was covered up completely, seeing him for the last time.

Taking him away from his thoughts, while other patients were being released from their capsules, the head doctor spoke up loud and clear for everyone to hear. "You've been in Cryo for five years, nine months, and 22 days. You will be hungry, and you will be weak! If you feel nausea, please use the sacks provided to you" He instructed.

Once Jake was out of his capsule, he floated up to the lockers with patients' belongings and he headed to the one that said 'T. Sully', which meant it was his brother's but Jake's things were stored in there for the meantime.

Tommy was the scientist, but not me. I'm just another dumb grunt going someplace he'd end up regretting. Now, up ahead was Pandora. You grew up hearing about it, but I never figured I'd be going there.

While preparing to disembark, Jake started to remember the words said to him back at the crematorium. "Your brother represented a significant investment. We'd like to talk to you about taking over his contract" One of the agents said, trying to explain the proposition they had for Jake while they inserted his brother into the chamber.

"Since your genome is identical to his, you could step into his shoes, so to speak" The second agent got a small glare from the first agent, telling him to be more careful with his wording since it came off as insensitive.

The first agent then decided to continue. "It'd be a fresh start in a new world," He said, trying to convince Jake to agree. "And, the pay is good. Very good" The agent said, noticing that Jake was a man who was now permanently stuck in a wheelchair because of war injuries to his spinal column and legs that leave him completely disabled.

Back to reality, Jake remembered where he was. He was now on a jet that was filled with recruits for this operation and was descending with great speed and force onto the planet of Pandora. Many of these recruited soldiers were because of the loss of life occurring on the planet almost daily.

Once it landed, inside the jet, the rest of the recruits, including Jake, started to prepare for landing. The main Chief operating the arrival started to drill instructions into the soldiers. "Exo-packs on! Let's go! Exo-packs on! Come on!" He shouted to the recruits, urging them to put on their masks so that they don't breathe in the toxic Pandoran air.

Everyone on board started to get ready to leave the jet, holding breathing devices and desperately locking them onto their faces so that they can breathe properly. "Remember, people, you lose that mask, you're unconscious in 20 seconds, and you're dead in 4 minutes!" The Chief relayed to the rest of the recruits. "Let nobody be dead today! Looks very bad on my report" He continued.

Jake slipped on his mask and air-tight sealed it so that no toxic air gets in and he breathes through it normally without incident.

"Hell's Gate Tower, this is TAV 1-6 on approach. Crossing outer marker. Mine is in sight" The pilot commanding the plane says, relaying the message while beginning to safely land on the ground.

While descending and reaching the base, the large jet flies over a giant mine with trucks and elaborate vehicles, and machinery to dig out as many resources as possible and efficiently. As the machines continue to drill into the soil, it is destroying the forest in their path as well. This is all in the search for the mineral or stone that was worth millions on Earth, known as Unobtanium.

Eventually, the aircraft arrived at the enormous base and camp the RDA has set up and landed safely on the runway for other flying operations. As the jet landed safely and it was given the okay for the recruits to disembark, Jake got lost in his thoughts as he remembered that once he step foot outside the plane, there was no turning back.

One life ends, and another begins

Once the aircraft was ready for its platform to open, the Chief and other assistants reminded the soldiers to check everything in their gear and that their masks are sealed correctly. "Harnesses off! Get your packs!" The main Chief commanded everyone as all men and women who were strapped in began to unbuckle their seatbelts.

"Put it together, let's go! Let's go! One minute! When that ramp comes down, go directly into the base. Do not stop! Go straight inside and wait for my mark!" The Chief concluded right as the ramp began to lower, revealing the base itself and the environment of Pandora in the far distance of the camp.

Having no feeling in his legs anymore really became an inconvenience for Jake at this moment, mostly because he fell behind on leaving the ship while everyone else was up and running. "Go, go, go, go! Get out of here! Keep moving! Let's go, let's go!" The man commanded as soldiers and recruits alike began to file out of the ship in an orderly but quick fashion.

While most soldiers had already left, Jake was watching everyone enter the building, meanwhile, he was still inside the jet and pulling his wheelchair open and placing his body onto it, adjusting his thin legs onto the feet-holders of it.

There's no such thing as an ex-marine. You may be out, but you never lose the attitude. I told myself I could pass any test a man could pass. They can fix a spinal if you got the money, but not on Vet benefits, not in this economy.

Once he was settled, Jake grabbed his bag with all of his belongings and slid it onto his shoulders and on his back, belatedly leaving the ship. The Chief took notice of the last remaining recruit and sighed exasperatedly.

"Let's go special case! Do not make me wait for you!" The Chief yelled, earning a nod from Jake. When he was ready, he began to roll himself out and down the ramp, catching the eye of other soldiers who were around.

"Well, well, ladies," Corporal Lyle Wainfleet took a look at the recruits that were partaking in the mission and jogged right by him and other soldiers who were supposed to welcome them. "Look at all this fresh meat! Whoo!" He said, earning chuckles from his comrades who were doing the same thing.

Back on Earth, these guys were Army dogs, Marines, who fought for freedom

Not only were there soldiers walking into the building from the jet he came from, but from various other aircraft that arrived at the same time. As Jake wheeled himself out, he caught a glance of robots that were controlled by just a single person, and these were called Ampsuits, who Jake coincidentally came in the way of. There was not a single person in this base who was not heavily armed by weaponry. "Look out, hot rod!" The person inside the suit called out, telling Jake to watch where he was going.

But out here they're just hired guns, taking the money and working for the company

Back to the soldiers who were overseeing the recruits' arrival, they looked over to Jake and started snickering. "Hey, check this out, man" Private Fike, said to Lyle. "Meals on wheels" Fike chuckled, referring to Jake coming into the base in his wheelchair. "Oh, man, that is just wrong," Lyle said, clicking his tongue and shaking his head at the sight.

"I got two free guys in about 20 minutes!" A guy from afar yelled, earning a quick reply from his comrade confirming his words. "Got it! Need them!" He replied.

Right before entering the building, a truck that belonged to the RDA passed right in front of Jake, which he noticed had taken quite some damage. The tires were about 5 times the size he was and were littered with arrows with colorful feathers on the ends of them stuck on the tires. Jake looked on a bit more toward the truck, wondering just how much more damage it had received apart from the arrows.

After Jake finally made it inside, he headed towards the main meeting room where all the recruits were listening to the words of Colonel Miles Quaritch. The man was walking up to every recruit present, establishing his authority and presence.

"You're not in Kansas anymore. You're on Pandora, ladies, and gentlemen. Respect that fact, every second of every day. If there is a hell, you might wanna go there for some R&R after a tour on Pandora. Out there, beyond that fence, every living thing that crawls, flies, or squats in the mud wants to kill you and eat your eyes for Jujubes" He said, reaching the end of the room and then turning to face all of the recruits present, all the while Jake had just come right into the room.

Colonel Miles Quaritch was incredibly intimidating. He had a military cut, silver-like hair, and 3 scars stripped onto the side of his head and across his face.

"We have an indigenous population of humanoids called the Na'vi. They're particularly fond of arrows dipped in a neurotoxin that stops your heart in one minute," He continued with his message.

"They also have bones reinforced with naturally occurring carbon fiber. They are very hard to kill. As Head of Security, it is my job and duty to keep you alive. I will not succeed. Not with all of you. If you wish to survive, you need to cultivate a strong mental attitude. You have got to obey the rules. Pandora rules. Rule number one is..." Colonel Quaritch continued with his speech but eventually, Jake's mind trailed off somewhere else.

There's nothing like an old-school safety briefing to put your mind at ease

The long briefing eventually came to an end and Colonel Quaritch dismissed everyone to do what they were supposed to do and where they were supposed to be. Jake wheeled himself out of the room and headed towards the Avatar Program center, along with others heading in different directions.

Behind Jake, a tall and lanky-looking man was trying to catch up to the ex-marine and tried to get to him through the seemingly endless sea of people in the hallway. "Excuse me, excuse me! Jake!" He called out after him, making Jake turn his head around to face him up until the man made it up to the side of his wheelchair and strolled beside him.

"You're Jake, right? Tom's brother. Oh, wow. You look just like him" The man said in disbelief and awe, but quickly came back to his senses and continued to say what he planned to. "Sorry, um, I'm Norm Spellman. I went through Avatar training with him." He stated, offering his hand out to Jake, then they shook hands, getting properly acquainted.

After introducing themselves to one another, Norm led Jake to the lab where they will be working for the Avatar Program.

"This is the bio-lab" Norm said, leading Jake as the two strolled into the giant laboratory where most of their investigations and experiments will be taking place. "We're gonna be spending a lot of time up here" He chuckled, passing by some scientists as he introduced himself. "Hey! How are you doing? Norm, Avatar driver" He stated to others around him while Jake stayed silent and continued to follow Norm's lead.

"Link...here's the link room, right over here. This is where we are connecting to the Avatar" Norm explained, as Jake nodded but then something else caught his attention and he strayed away from Norm to another part of the lab. Steering his direction somewhere else, Jake noticed that there were two of these huge capsules, or tanks, with some blue liquid of some kind, and inside, were two creatures who he immediately assumed were the Avatars.

The creatures looked incredibly interesting to Jake, seeing as even if they are completely grown, their position looked as if they were babies in the womb connected to an umbilical cord. The creatures had blue skin with stripes, long black hair braided down, a long tail with hair at the end, and feline-like noses as well.

Me and Norm are here to drive these remotely controlled bodies called Avatars. They're grown from human DNA mixed with the DNA of the natives of Pandora

A scientist noticed Jake and Norm's arrival, immediately heading over to them and introducing himself. "Hey! Welcome. Welcome to Pandora. Good to have you here with us" The scientist and doctor, Max Patel, greeted the two men with a smile. While Jake stayed quiet and continued to study the creatures in the tank, Norm replied happily with a 'thanks' as he headed over to his Avatar while Jake wheeled himself over to his to get a closer glimpse of his soon-to-be new body.

"Damn, they got big" Jake chuckled, seeing how big these creatures are up close. "Yeah, they fully mature on the flight out," Norm came and explained with a pause before continuing; "So the proprioceptive sims seem to be working well," Norm said.

"Yeah! They've got great muscle tone too. It'll take us a few hours to get them decanted but you guys can take them out tomorrow if you'd like" Max said, agreeing with Norm's statement. The scientists' words made Norm extremely happy as he grinned while an excited laugh left his mouth, then proceeded to introduce himself properly to Max while Jake strayed off to look at his Avatar. Max headed over to Jake to try and explain a bit more of the process to him since he was fairly new to this.

"There's yours" Max gestured to the Avatar in the tube, who Jake immediately recognized as an uncanny representation of his brother. "Looks like him," Jake said, referring to Tom, at the appearance of the Avatar. Norm and Max came to stand behind Jake to look at his designated Avatar as well.

Norm chuckled, then proceeded to look at Jake and said; "No, it looks like you" He said. "This is your Avatar now, Jake" Norm continued, as all three men looked at the tank while the Avatar itself twitched a little in its sleep.

Later on, Jake was instructed to begin video logs of his experience and development during the program while working with his Avatar, so now he was sitting in front of a camera going through his thoughts and first impressions.

"The concept is that every Avatar driver is matched to his Avatar so that their nervous systems are in tune...or something," Jake began, not feeling very natural at recording himself speaking, or about the topic of Avatar drivers either. "Which is why they offered me the gig. Because I can link with Tommy's Avatar. Which is insanely expensive...is that right?" He finished with a bit of hesitancy, then turned to Max and Norm across the room for approval. "I just say whatever to this video log," Jake asked.

"Yeah, we gotta get in the habit of documenting everything. You know, what we see, what we feel. It's all a part of the science" Norm explained, leaving Jake a bit more at ease. The ex-marine scratched the back of his head nervously and then turned back to the camera while Max continued by saying it's all part of the science and that it is good to have observations throughout the whole process.

"Plus, it'll help you keep you sane for the next six years" Norm laughed softly, continuing to look over the data he was analyzing.

"Alright. Whatever..." Jake sighed, leaning back on his chair, and adjusted the camera. "So, uh...here I am, doing science" Jake chuckled, trying his best to be serious.

From across the lab, scientists were exclaiming and warning that one of the drivers are coming out. Max, Jake, and Norm all entered the link room, seeing scientists prepare for a link disconnecting from its driver.

"Attention. Driver's coming out of the link!" A woman called out through the speakers of the lab. One of the pods opened to reveal Grace. She sat up and groaned, rubbing her hands through her face in exhaustion. "Oh, God.." She sighed, then turned to the rest of the room. "Who's got my goddamn cigarette?" She asked, lifting her legs out of the pod and onto the floor while she stood up.

"Guys! What's wrong with this picture?" Grace said, waving her hands around, then seeing her assistant run over to her with her cigarette in hand and lab coat. "Thank you!" Grace replied sternly, putting her cigarette in her mouth.

Right at that moment, the three men were making their way toward Grace, while Norm explained to Jake how important she is. "Grace Augustine is a legend. She's the head of the Avatar Program. She wrote the book, I mean, literally wrote the book on Pandoran botany" Norm went on about Grace, clearly being a very big fan of hers.

"Well, that's 'cause she likes plants better than people" Max chuckled, then turned to Grace who was only a few steps away. "Here she is, Cinderella back from the ball. Grace, I'd like you to meet Norm Spellman and Jake Sully" Max introduced the two men to Grace, who she inspected up and down.

"Norm," Grace started, removing her glasses and cigarette from her face, releasing some into the air. "I hear good things about you. How's your Na'vi?" Grace asked.

"May the All Mother smile upon our first meeting" Norm replied in Na'vi, and Grace nodded, impressed with his ability in the language.

"Not bad. You sound a little formal" Grace spoke fluently wand fluidly, given her experience with the Omaticaya.

"I studied for five years, but there is still much to learn" Norm replied with a proud smile on his face, showing how hard he's worked for this project and program altogether. Their conversation left Jake confused, not knowing anything of the language at all.

"Grace?" Max quickly intervened in their conversation, gesturing to Jake so that he can be introduced. "This is Jake Sully" The scientist stated, while the ex-marine rolled his wheelchair forward and extended his hand. "Ma'am," Jake said, trying to be formal.

"Yeah, I know who you are, and I don't need you. I need your brother." Grace said harshly, not taking Jake's hand, to which he retracted back awkwardly. "You know? The Ph.D. who trained and studied for three years for this mission?" Grace stated.

"He's dead," Jake said with a poker face on, not happy about her sudden attitude, even if she was his superior. "I know it's a big inconvenience for everyone," He said sarcastically.

"How much lab training have you had?" Grace asked as she crossed her arms, not amused by Jake whatsoever.

Jake shrugged and said; "I dissected a frog once," He said in all seriousness, making Grace look at the recruit with wide eyes and a scoff leaving her lips at what she was hearing.

"You see? You see? I mean, they're just pissing on us without the courtesy of calling it rain. I'm going to Selfridge" Grace said, storming off. "No, Grace! I don't think this is a good idea" Max said, trying to go after her.

"No, man. This is such bullshit!" Grace huffed and yelled, leaving the lab. Jake and Norm stood there confused about what just happened. "I'm gonna go kick his corporate butt. He has no business sticking his nose in my department this way" Grace spat in annoyance.

Feeling defeated, Max walked back to Jake and patted him on the shoulder. "Be here at 0800 tomorrow. Try and use big words" Max said before walking off and Jake sat there trying to decipher if he had already messed up on his first day on the job.

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Happy New Years everyone! I made it a goal of mine to finish this chapter before the end of the year, since today is the 31st and I did! Im so proud of myself lol

Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter. Don't forget to comment and vote! I appreciate them and read them all, I swear.

I didn't want to make this chapter excessively long because it's already at 4k words, but for future chapters, tell me if you guys would like me to make them longer than that, i'd be happy to!

I hope you guys will stick around for the rest of this story, I have so much planned and I can't wait for you all to see it. The interesting parts are coming up soon, I promise shsjsj

Anyway, that's all for now! See you all in the next chapter! Stay tuned, Ill be updating right after New Years, because I feel super inspired and I can't wait to write down everything I have in mind

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