The plan was dreadfully too simple. Suyin crouched in anticipation. Her head lowered. Her eyes closed. She could feel her sister's presence beside her more than see it. The both of them waited. Feeling. Listening. Extending their senses through the cold steel that surrounded them.
The truck rumbled and shook as it carried them down the dark and dirty road. Suyin wondered if it would keep her sister from realizing she was shaking as well. She had every right to be afraid. And yet Lin seemed solid. Determined. Unmovable. When Suyin managed to glimpse her sister's eyes there was not even the slightest trace of hesitation. It almost pained Su to know that there was fear.
The truck rumbled to a stop. Both women froze. From where Suyin crouched in the open trunk she could see the silhouette of the driver. Bolin had given them all of the necessary security details they had needed to fashion this particular delivery into Kuvira's main encampment. They were sure that with the outright size of her empire she could not have changed them all so quickly and easily. But they kept their heads ducked and barely managed to breathe until the gateman waved them on.
Su's hand clenched against the icy metal of the truck bed. She wanted something to grip. All around her were boxes and metal cases. Most were filled with junk to keep them from bouncing around, falling over, and making noise.
Lin looked up as the driver turned a corner. Streetlights regularly flooded the interior of the car before disappearing. Lin raised a hand against the light. From where they waited they could only see a grey mass of buildings passing them. Dirty from the rain that had fallen for the past half a day.
How long had passed? An Hour? Three even? Su decided it was better not to keep track. Her mind refused to be still. It kept going home to Zao Fu, now under Kuvira's control. What new laws was she enforcing as a part of her Earth Empire? More importantly she worried about her children. Her husband. Her precious little Opal wasn't supposed to be involved with the war and she was grateful. She was also an airbender so the fight could very well be brought to her. She prayed and prayed that she would be safe.
The truck rumbled to a halt and Su's head snapped up. The driver then backed the car into what Su hoped was the loading dock they were going to. She did not know this driver. Bolin had brought him forward for this mission. He could have just as easily been a traitor.
With a silent hand gesture Lin called her to the back of the truck. There was a window here for the driver's sake but it was high enough their crouch would keep them hidden. Lin waited with her hand flat against the truck's bottom. Su wondered if she could feel the movements of others outside as well. The rubber of the tires made it difficult for Su. Lin had always been the stronger bender.
All Lin could do was listen. They were looking for silence. Some kind of sign that the driver had called the attention of everyone away. They heard hushed words distorted and unrecognizable from inside. Then frantic words. There was a cry. A shout. And then no words at all.
"Time to move." Lin ordered. Without even looking back at her sister she pulled up the back of the truck and the two sprang out. Su did not distract herself with the building or its architecture. Somewhere above them an alarm was going off. Guards were shouting. The driver lay in a crumpled heap under a spotlight. Su would drive them back when they reached the truck.
Inside they were met with no lack of enemies. Kuvira's dependence on mecha tanks was daunting but they were not without the occasional bender. These stood no chance against the two sisters as they made their way through the building. Varrick's directions were surprisingly clear and served them well enough as they reached the elevator. Lin slammed the button as Su shut the hinged door.
What elevator was like this? It was small enough to begin with that as small a group as five would be uncomfortable. But it was all filled with boxes as well. Some metal plated with platinum. Others cardboard stacked high to the roof. They filled every corner so tightly only a tiny place was left for Su to stand. Lin had been forced to wedge herself between the boxes and the wall to reach the buttons.
The elevator started downward. Both sisters placed their hands on the door. Feeling for when the elevator was coming close to the end of its line. The metal was cold and unmoving. Platinum as well. That was proving to be an annoying level of defense Kuvira seemed determined to use on every metal surface.
Su nearly jumped as she felt something touch her hand. She sighed heavily when she realized it was only Lin threading their fingers together. "You fight pretty good," Her sister said. It had been years since the two of them started patching their relationship. Lin's compliments were still few, far between, and almost awkward. Still it was more than Su could have hoped for. She held her hand tight.
The elevator sunk at least ten floors below ground before slowing. Su felt her stomach tie itself into a knot as the door began to swing open. They were not met with an army as they expected. Only Batar Jr. who stood like a soldier with his hands behind his back. After Lin pulled herself free from against the wall both took aggressive stances against him. He remained completely still.
"You can still turn back." He told the both of them.
"We don't have time for this." Lin decided. With one movement he was thrown aside. Su was grateful only that she didn't have to do it. Working for Kuvira or not he was still her oldest son. He looked so much like his father. The two headed down the hallway past him almost ignoring him.
"Mother wait!" He didn't sound desperate. Suyin told herself he didn't sound desperate. She risked a glance back at her son but did not stop. He had called to them. Reached out to them even. But when they did not respond to him he set to placing a few boxes inside the open elevator door.
Lin was the first to find the room they were looking for. She opened it easily. It wasn't even locked. Inside the room was dark and unlit. The glass case they were looking for sat alone on the floor almost as if forgotten about. Su picked it up. The spirit vine inside it hummed as if with electricity and tingled her fingertips. If Bolin was right this was the only sample Kuvira had. Without it they would never complete this super weapon of theirs.
Lin stood ready with her eyes closed. The both of them were searching. Why didn't they feel any movement on their floor? The others were a frenzy of people running all directions. But this floor was all too silent. Jr. was the only one there and he stayed where he was. Packing his little stacks of boxes and almost paying his mother and aunt no attention.
The both of them returned to the elevator. There Jr. was their only obstacle one more. Seeing what they had stolen he threw himself at Lin. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders in a poor attempt to tackle her. All he accomplished was getting thrown into a wall again. After he stood he held one shoulder and spoke with pain in his voice.
"Wait, mother, please!" He almost begged as the both of them forced their way onto the elevator. Whatever he had placed inside made it almost impossible for the both of them to fit. Again Lin was forced to cram herself against the wall. Boxes fell keeping Su from closing the door. She climbed on a few to try to make room
"Shut the door!" Lin command harshly. Beside her the small up button lit up the shadow around her. But there was no way Lin could reach the door in time. She scrambled for it just as the elevator lifted. She reached out with her bending. It was useless against the platinum frame. The top of the door touched the ceiling of the room. This was it. The door would jam. They would be trapped here.
The door folded on its hinges at the slightest pressure. It did not close as any normal door should. Rather its hinges fell backwards with smooth, mechanical precision. The bulk of the door lay flat against the outside wall of the elevator Su sighed with relief as it raised even further. Below them Jr. thrashed madly, kicking boxes that had fallen out of the elevator and pulling his hair. His green eyes seemed so torn and terrified. Suyin knew he loved Kuvira. She prayed she wouldn't be too harsh on him for letting them escape.
She leaned against the walls of boxes that rose on all sides of her and looked at the spirit vine in her hands. All light disappeared except for the vines glow as they rose completely above that basement floor. All the power in the world Bolin had said. But it was only protected by her one oldest son. The one that wasn't even a bender. Who set himself to filling the elevator further once they had broken past him. Lin looked down on it from where she was pinned between box and wall with a dark suspicion. Obviously following the same train of thought.
Blinding white light flooded the elevator through the open door. Su blinked and raised a hand to shield her eyes. She saw men dressed in Kuvira's uniform standing at an aggressive stance. Shards of metal floated in the air around them as they held them in place with their bending.
Suyin realized a moment too late. She dropped the spirit vine. The glass cracked. It was unimportant. Her hands tore at the unyielding boxes. They refused to give way. Had she called her sister's name? The metalbenders outside extended an arm. The shards of metal flew at Su. A bright target lit by the hallways light.
She felt a cry in her throat as shards of metal split her skin. White hot pain burst in an arm, a shoulder, her side. Many more bounced of the metal boxes and clattered coldly to the floor. Another volley struck her chest, a leg, and barely missed the side of her face. There was a sharp ringing in her ears as she collapsed. She knew Lin was calling for her. She couldn't hear her.
The floor of metalbenders vanished as they went above it. In the darkness she felt Lin's warm hand on her shoulders. Was she calling to her? Su could hardly see. Her vision tunneled and blurred. She tried to focus on the shards of metal that stuck deep in her skin. With one hand she tried to take the metal from her shoulder. Her hand bled from the sharp edge. It took every ounce of her concentration to remove the shard with her bending. Pain exploded in her side as Lin removed the second. Dark blood stained the fresh green of her clothes.
Light flooded the room a second time as they reached the next floor. Lin covered her sisters body with her own as the shards flew again and again. The barrage was endless this time. Lin coughed as the assailant's floor sank beneath them. Su felt blood splatter her face. Her sister's limbs shook with effort as she held her.
A third floor came too quickly and by the time it was gone Lin slumped to the ground. Su screamed as a fourth floor appeared. The sheer force of their assault knocked her back onto the ground. The tiny elevator went dark. Pain was overwhelming. The iron taste in her mouth was thick sludge. Everything faded away.
Only the cold hand of her sister twined with hers remained.