"Thank you for your kindness, Mr. Kahn, but I'm already old… Ruling the galaxy is not for me. But I'll do my best to meet your request!"
When Quaritch heard Josh trying to tempt him with ruling the galaxy, he gave a faint smile.
If it had been when he was younger, he probably would have agreed without hesitation.
"It seems you don't really understand how long us dimension traders can live… Take a look at this!" Josh only smiled, then brought up several items.
First was the Pool of Eternal Life from The Mummy: Tomb of the Dragon Emperor world, followed by a Supreme Gene Serum made from Celestial tissue fluid, a Devil's Blood Elixirs from Azeroth, and other high-level alchemical potions.
The thing they all had in common was that they could extend life.
"With these, you don't need to worry about getting old… Honestly, for any trader with a trading beacon, whether for personal reasons or fairness, the best choice is to rule the whole world. Only then can our plans and systems be carried out for a long time, right?" Josh continued to speak persuasively, like a devil whispering in his ear.
And his words made Quaritch's heart stir.
Yes—if he could live forever, and with the countless super technologies Josh could provide, why should he take orders from those rotten Federation officials? Why not lead humanity to find more homes and bring them into a new golden age?
Besides, he had already gone through hell for Earth once—why couldn't he enjoy life now?
"You're right, Mr. Kahn! Maybe I should do something different… But I'm not good at politics…" Although tempted, Quaritch still hesitated. After all, his highest achievement was leading battles with a few thousand soldiers—he knew nothing about governing a country.
"You don't have to worry about that. I have the most professional team, and the most advanced AI systems, which can make the best plans for you. As for carrying them out, robots can handle it. It may sound inhuman to let AI and robots govern, but the truth is, most of the time, they are the most fair, aren't they?" Josh said.
"…You're right… I accept your advice… Then, what kind of support can you give me?" Quaritch thought for a moment, then nodded and asked.
Hearing his answer, Josh was pleased. He immediately showed Quaritch a supply list equal to a full fleet's standard, along with a matching robot army. Among the supplies were also a large number of the super-soldier serums Quaritch had wanted from the start.
Of course, this "fleet standard" was not the same as what Ouroboros used for itself.
Given that Earth's spacefaring level in the Avatar universe was limited, giving Quaritch a high-tier Ouroboros fleet would have been like using a cannon to kill a mosquito—especially when his current opponents were just the Na'vi natives.
When Quaritch saw the list Josh provided, his breathing grew heavy.
With such a powerful fleet, not to mention Pandora, even taking over the whole Earth wouldn't be too hard.
"Thank you for your generosity, Mr. Kahn. I will take over Pandora as fast as possible and start mining the Unobtanium!" Quaritch couldn't help but give Josh a military salute.
"Good. Everything's been traded to you—I look forward to your good news!" After sending all the supplies over, Josh ended the call with a smile.
It was clear that in the Avatar universe, a new and powerful human military civilization was about to rise.
After Josh ended the call, Quaritch, on the other side, looked at the entire space fleet and supplies stored in his system inventory, his heart surging with excitement.
"Jake Sully, I've come back from hell. The second round is coming soon—are you ready?"
Stepping out of the cave, he looked up at a dazzling star in the sky—that was the sign of the RDA transport ship beginning its launch—and a fierce grin appeared on his face.
…
In space, the RDA transport ship Venture Star was steadily accelerating. Although Earth in the Avatar universe had space colonization technology, compared to worlds like Star Wars, their top speed of only three-quarters the speed of light was hardly impressive.
To reach maximum speed and break free of the star system's gravity, surpassing the third cosmic velocity, it would take about half a month of acceleration—and right now, they had only just started. (TL/N: The third cosmic velocity is the minimum speed needed for an object launched from Earth to escape the Sun's gravitational pull and leave the solar system. It's approximately 16.7 kilometers per second (km/s) relative to the Earth.)
Parker Selfridge, the RDA's top administrator on Pandora, stood on the bridge, staring at the shrinking image of Pandora on the holoscreen, full of regret.
Being driven off by a bunch of primitives in such a disgraceful way, he could already picture the scolding—and worse—that awaited him back on Earth.
Losing his position was the least of his worries; prison time was a very real possibility.
But at this point, there was nothing he could do.
Thinking about it, he couldn't help but blame Colonel Quaritch.
So much for being a "military security expert" and "top commander."
When they first came to Pandora, he was all swagger and bravado—and now? Left dead in the wilderness.
Still… at least he himself had escaped with his life.
Just then, the ship shook violently!
"What's going on?" Parker was thrown to the floor and quickly scrambled to his feet, looking toward the captain.
"All engines have failed—we've stopped accelerating!" The captain and crew rushed to check the ship's systems.
"Sir… there's something above us…" an operator reported.
The captain hurried over to check.
Sure enough, on the new display, a red dot was positioned exactly over the white dot representing their ship.
"What? This is space!" Parker was incredulous. This system had been thoroughly mapped—aside from the primitive Na'vi, there were no other civilizations here, and no other large human spacecraft besides theirs.
"…Sir, we're getting a communications request… it's from… Colonel Quaritch?" The communications officer stared in shock at the incoming signal.
As the RDA's highest-ranking security commander on Pandora, Quaritch's name was well known to every human who had been there.
Before departure, Colonel Quaritch had already been officially listed as dead—so where could this transmission be coming from?
"How is this possible?" Parker's eyes widened in shock.
"Put it through!" The Venture Star's captain was much calmer, immediately ordering the comms officer to connect.
A second later, Colonel Quaritch appeared on the main screen, dressed neatly in a Marine Corps general's formal uniform—a set that, at his request, had been quickly made by agile industrial robots. For them, such work was trivial.
"…Quaritch? Are you all right?" the captain asked, unable to hide his surprise.
"Of course, old friend! I've never felt better!" Quaritch laughed heartily. He and the Venture Star's captain went way back.
"Where are you now? We've already started our return to Earth. If we stop and send a team to pick you up, it'll take two days… And what's with that uniform?" The captain glanced at the unfamiliar background behind Quaritch—it didn't look like the human base on Pandora—and wondered why he was suddenly wearing a general's attire.
"It's just a new set of clothes, nothing special. As for you saying you've set out… well, you've already stopped, haven't you?" Quaritch dusted off his sleeve with a casual smile.
"That was you just now? What did you do?" the captain asked, frowning.
"Of course—it was to stop you from following through with that awful plan. We haven't lost yet!" Quaritch lifted his chin. "Are you really willing to just slink back to Earth with your tail between your legs?"
"Quaritch, we've already lost," the captain said with a deeper frown. "And what exactly did you do to my ship?"
"What did I do? Why don't you open your armor plates and see for yourself?" Quaritch's smile widened.
"Open external armor plates!" The captain nodded without hesitation, ordering the crew.
The Venture Star did have transparent viewing ports, but like in many other worlds, during high-speed interstellar travel they were kept sealed under armor plating for safety. That meant Parker and the others couldn't see outside with the naked eye until now.
Since the ship had stopped accelerating, and Quaritch had said this much, they had no choice but to comply.
As the armor plates slid open, they finally understood what Quaritch meant.
A spindle-shaped ship—larger than the Venture Star—was hovering silently above them, projecting a beam of light that completely enveloped the transport.
Clearly, this was the red dot they had detected earlier.
But that wasn't the most important part. Even more alarming was that there were more than a dozen similar ships surrounding them in all directions, sealing them in completely. And somehow, the Venture Star's sensors had detected nothing until now.
Even with the naked eye, they could clearly see the massive gun batteries mounted on those ships.
These weren't freighters… they were warships.
Yet Parker and the others had never seen this model before, and none of them bore the insignia of the Earth Federation.
"What is this fleet? Everything we've done on Pandora has been a business operation. The military has no right to interfere!" Parker demanded, his voice rising.
Even though he didn't recognize these warship models and saw no Earth Federation insignia, he instinctively assumed they belonged to the Federation's military. Pandora's development rights had always belonged to the RDA. Even if they had lost for now, the corporation was strong enough to make a comeback. But if the military stepped in, whether RDA could still control Pandora's development would be another matter entirely. As RDA's top man on Pandora, Parker's first instinct was to protect the company's interests.
"Sorry, Parker—right now I'm not representing the Earth Federation. I represent the Galactic Federation… Allow me to reintroduce myself—General Miles Quaritch of the Galactic Federation Marine Corps!" Quaritch grinned, delivering an answer that left everyone on the Venture Star stunned.
"Galactic Federation? Quaritch, what kind of nonsense is this?" The captain frowned again.
"I'm not talking nonsense. See this fleet? It all comes from an incredibly powerful interstellar civilization—and I'm their new leader. I'm going to build the grandest Galactic Federation ever… and now I'm honored to inform you that you will be its very first citizens. Of course, you can refuse… but I don't think you will." Quaritch—no, General Quaritch—smiled broadly.
"He's lost his mind… He's insane!" By now, Parker and everyone else aboard the Venture Star finally understood what he meant. Somehow, he had acquired an alien fleet and now planned to break away from the Earth Federation and crown himself ruler.
Ridiculous. They were all Earth Federation citizens—how could they betray their own nation?
But they soon realized they had no choice.
At first, the captain, Parker, and the other RDA higher-ups refused to cooperate. But when Quaritch sent in landing craft loaded with robot troops, their black gun barrels aimed at everyone, the ship fell silent.
There was nothing they could do. The Venture Star was only a transport ship; most of its weapons had been taken by the Na'vi back on Pandora, and what little remained was nowhere near enough to resist Quaritch's forces. And then there were those dozen warships outside, radiating power and menace.
Worse still, Quaritch's personal reputation among the mercenaries on board was extremely high. The moment he stepped aboard, a whole group of his old subordinates came over armed and ready to serve.
In these circumstances, what could they fight back with?
Quaritch didn't need a single shot—he took control of the Venture Star effortlessly.
He had two main reasons for seizing it: first, many of his trusted people were on board; second, it would help delay Earth's discovery of what had really happened on Pandora.
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