Avatar Page #27

LYLE WAINFLEET reaches down and grabs Tsu'tey by his queue,

lifting him painfully.

WAINFLEET:

I hear this is worse than death for you,

chief.

WAINFLEET cuts Tsu'tey's queue off near the base. TSU'TEY

SCREAMS in agony, his nervous system exploding on overload.

Grinning, Lyle holds up the queue -- Tsu'tey's only

connection to the world-consciousness which is his life.

NEYTIRI -- bleeding, bruised -- staggers amid burning

wreckage. AMPSUIT footsteps approach and she crouches behind

a tree. Troopers are seconds from seeing her as --

NEYTIRI knocks an arrow to HER FATHER'S BOW, and readies

herself for a last kamikaze shot when --

THE TROOPER on the far right of the firing line sees

something on his screens.

TROOPER:

Right flank -- something's coming! It's

all lit up out there.

The troopers become aware of the GROUND SHAKING. A slow

building thunderous ROAR and --

AN AMPSUIT comes FLYING out of the trees, cartwheeling past

them, and the SHAKING BUILDS --

137.

EXT. WELL OF SOULS

Mo'at opens her eyes in sudden realization as --

EXT. FOREST

The troopers pivot to face --

A WALL OF CHARGING HAMMERHEADS CRASHING out of the foliage in

a shower of broken branches as --

THE TROOPERS open fire but -- the stampede drives over them

like a wave. Tree-trunk feet shatter the ampsuit cockpits.

Troopers are crushed or asphyxiated.

NEARBY the foot-soldiers see LIVING SHADOWS flow out of the

gloom as --

VIPERWOLVES race among them with flashing jaws. The troopers

FIRE wildly as they go down, hitting each other as much as

their attackers.

The survivors break and run as more viperwolves bound out of

the shadows.

JAKE BANKS, watching as HUNDREDS of rider-less WILD BANSHEES

converge on Quaritch's ships. They literally darken the sky.

JAKE:

What the hell -- ?

The wild banshees wheel among the ships, ripping into them.

ON JAKE -- slowly getting it. EYWA is in the fight.

JAKE:

WHOO-HOOOO!

A GUNNER fires from the door of a Samson. There is a CRASH

and the head of a BANSHEE lunges in the open door, jerking

him out. Other banshees tear at the pilot's windshield.

NEYTIRI watches in awe as the ground troops scatter in

disarray. The viperwolves flash past her, ignoring her.

She senses something and turns slowly to see --

A THANATOR emerging from the smoke behind her. A glistening

black demon. She stands paralyzed before its stygian gaze--

-- and the thanator lowers itself, until its head is just

above the ground. It holds that position -- waiting.

138.

Trembling, she approaches the waiting demon.

EXT. FOREST

A smoky hell. Fires burn all around. The troopers are

disorganized, falling back. Shooting at shadows. Panicked

yelling fills the comm freq.

WAINFLEET and another AMPSUIT are charging together through

the smoky gloom.

WAINFLEET:

A and C squads -- rally at my pos. I

want --

(screaming on the comm)

Who's screaming God damn it?!

TROOPER (ON RADIO)

We gotta get outta here! Whoever's in

charge, call for extraction!

WAINFLEET:

Shutup you crybabies!

SOMETHING slams into the other `suit, tackling it OUT OF

FRAME. Wainfleet whirls to see his squad-mate missing. He

moves through a screen of foliage to reveal --

The AMPSUIT -- ripped open. Driver gone. Blood inside the

cockpit. He WHIRLS at a sound in time to see --

A THANATOR LEAPING straight at him -- WAINFLEET raises his

cannon but--

WHAM!! It's on him, slamming him to the ground. The cannon

goes flying. He's face to face with its nightmare jaws,

right outside his canopy--

On its back is NEYTIRI, and it's a toss up which one looks

more pissed off. The thanator rears back, muscles rippling

as it poises to strike and --

K-KRAAACKK! Slams its teeth right through his canopy.

Wainfleet's SCREAM is brief.

Neytiri's demon mount rears up and its triumphant ROAR echoes

through the forest.

INT. CORRIDOR

Max runs down the hall, leading the other scientists. He's

yelling into an AIRCOM HANDSET --

139.

MAX:

Rogue One, Rogue One, this is Max. Tell

Jake we are in motion.

(to the scientists)

Get in there. Barricade the door!

INT. LINK ROOM

The door is hurled open and the SCIENTISTS charge in.

Science geeks barricade the door as AVATAR-DRIVERS scramble

into their link units, pulling the clamshells down.

INT. CORRIDOR

Max checks the door is secure from his side then runs down a

connecting corridor.

CUT TO:

EXT. SHACK

HUMAN NORM emerges from the airlock, wearing breathing gear

and carrying an AR. He stumbles, dazed, toward the battle.

EXT. MOUNTAINS/ AERIAL

JAKE SIGNALS and a formation of hunters rolls in, diving at

the lead shuttle, which is already besieged by winged

creatures.

THE CARGO RAMP is the scene of a pitched battle. Na'vi

hunters hurl themselves off their mounts in waves,

overwhelming the troopers.

HUNTERS are shot, falling out of the ship, as others fly in.

They shoot arrows and spears from the end of the ramp, and

troopers fall back deeper into the fuselage.

The panicked CREW CHIEF slams a switch and the ramp begins to

close, a second before he is cut down by a spear.

JAKE'S LEONOPTERYX plummets at the shuttle from behind. He

swoops down, flairs to reduce speed, rolls off his mount and

lands, tumbling on the shuttle's broad back as --

GUNNERS try to swing their guns toward him but he RAKES them

with his AR, still running forward and --

JAKE PULLS two grenades from his battle harness, yanking the

pins out with his teeth. He hurls them down the intakes of

the VTOL turbofans as --

HIS LEONOPTERYX BANKS in a tight arc back toward him and --

140.

HE SPRINTS ON as the grenades EXPLODE, shattering the

turbines, which riddle the fuselage with shrapnel and --

JAKE LEAPS INTO SPACE, landing on the back of his mount and

reconnecting. They flap away, gaining altitude as fire

BLASTS out of the bottom of the shuttle.

ON THE FLIGHT DECK, the pilot feels the ship dropping.

PILOT:

Mains to a hundred percent! Get me

airspeed!

The pilot and copilot slam the throttle levers forward and --

The FUSION ENGINES BLAZE, thrusting the shuttle forward. It

still falls, its remaining lift fans screaming, until --

IT'S CLIPPING the tree tops when it gets enough translational

lift to fly and --

THE PILOT PULLS back on the stick, lifting the nose.

PILOT:

We're good!

BEHIND HIM, a surviving Na'vi hunter runs forward and --

THOONK! ARROWHEADS sprout from the pilots' necks and chests.

THE SHUTTLE CLIMBS out of control, at full acceleration. It

SLAMS into the underside of MONS Veritatis. It EXPLODES, and

hundreds of tons of flaming debris drop back into the forest.

ON THE FLIGHT DECK of the other SHUTTLE, the pilots watch the

wreckage falling.

PILOT:

Valkyrie Two is breaking off. And if any

of ya'll want to get off this piece of

sh*t planet, you better cover our ass,

`cause we're the only way back to orbit.

GUNSHIP PILOT:

Roger that.

FROM THE DRAGON COCKPIT Quaritch watches the shuttle bank

away, with most of the remaining gunships following.

Rate this script:4.2 / 7 votes