Lin insisted on returning to Republic City, but Korra brushed the warning about Zaheer aside. "I came here for one thing, to find airbenders and I'm not leaving without them."

Republic City's Chief of Police didn't look surprised at Korra's response, though she didn't appear happy about it either. "Fine. Let's get them and get out of here. Where are they?"

"In a military compound. And we're busting them out."

It was still close to the middle of the day when Lin arrived in the city and they had to wait for the cover of darkness before they could start their prison break. In the meantime, they tried to make their plans as best as they could. Jinora had told them what she had seen while searching for Kai, but the base's layout was still mostly a mystery.

Even so, the plan was eventually settled. Asami and Lin would wait in the airships while Korra, Tenzin, Jinora, Mako, Bolin and Bumi snuck into the compound itself. After that, it was hard to decide what to do. There were too many unknowns after they got inside. How many Dai Li agents were there? How large was the compound? Were the airbenders being kept together or separate from each other? They threw ideas around, but eventually agreed that they had to improvise after they got inside.

Darkness descended over the capital city like a thick woolen blanket as the sun dipped beneath the horizon. The moon slowly rose into the sky and was nearing its peak before they began moving towards the palace grounds. Their house wasn't far from the palace itself, but it was still slow going.

They moved from the shadows of one building to the shadows of another building one person at a time after checking around the corners. Korra was expecting to see the conical hat and robe of Dai Li agents every time she looked around to see if they were being followed or watched. But there was barely anyone in sight the entire way. There were a few pedestrians walking along the streets and a mere handful of guards in the palace area itself.

The minimal security surprised Korra at first, but it made more sense as she considered the matter. The Upper Ring was home to the wealthiest citizens of Ba Sing Se and the Dai Li's sinister reputation was enough to ward off trespassers, criminal or otherwise.

Korra stopped at the wall that surrounded the area directly around the palace and the Earth Queen's temple. It was high enough that they couldn't see over the top unaided, but there were some trees nearby that she could use to get a look.

The temple they were heading for sat between them and the palace. Like the palace itself, the cylindrical stone building was a pagoda. Rings ran around its outside and the topmost portion reminded her of the hats that the Dai Li wore.

She had seen the palace from Asami's airship as they had landed in Ba Sing Se, but that angle had scarcely done it justice. It wasn't until now that she realized how massive the queen's palace really was.

The queen was undoubtedly there, no doubt making someone miserable if she was still awake. Part of her really wanted to be there when Hou-Ting heard that that the airbenders had escaped, but she'd live without it.

Korra frowned as she took stock of the area in front of her. Staying hidden was easy when there were buildings or trees for cover but the area around the temple was a flat empty stone plaza with nowhere to hide. One person looking in their direction as they tried to cross and the alarm would be sounded. After that, it wouldn't take long for the Dai Li and city guards to come running. Asami and Lin might be able to rescue them with the airships, but there was no guarantee any of them would leave Ba Sing Se if that happened.

She glanced back at the others as the gears in her head began spinning to figure out a solution. While she was thinking, Bumi climbed up his own tree with some help from Bum-Ju to take his own look. "That's a lot of open space out there. We need a distraction, all we need is a few sewer pipe elephant-rats and a bag of sugar. "

A distraction, that was it. She looked back out at the plaza, there were two guards in sight, one holding a lamp, as they patrolled the area. "Okay. We need to move towards the main entrance over there. Jinora, find a spot and wait for them to run into you. Keep their attention until we can close the distance and knock them out."

There was a small building that visitors to the temple plaza would walk through. A pair of watchtowers stood to either side of it giving an overview of the area. The guard's patrol took them along the outskirts of the plaza wall.

A nearby cluster of trees gave Korra and company enough cover to lie in wait. Jinora split off from the group before-hand to take up a position at the bottom of one of the towers. She could hear them approaching, but waited for the pair to round the corner before stepping away from the wall. "Hi."

The guard holding the lamp looked surprised for a split second at seeing her standing there. "Hey! What are you doing here?"

"Ah, it's just that little airbender girl who came here with the Avatar," the second guard said dismissively before putting his hands on his hips. "You shouldn't be walking around here all alone."

Jinora pointed at Korra and the others as they moved up to take the guards out. "I'm not alone."

Hitting both of them in the head to knock them out made Korra wince inwardly, but it was a necessary step to freeing the airbenders. Hopefully the Queen wouldn't punish the pair too severely for getting knocked out and tied up.

The temple was devoid of life at night, but she could see construction materials everywhere as the temple's interior was clearly still a work in progress. It took them a few minutes but they found a stairwell that led deeper into the compound beneath. Jinora had said there was a network of catacombs and tunnels beneath Ba Sing Se, but the room Korra found herself looking at left her stunned.

She had been expecting a series of tunnels or small rooms beneath the palace but this was a massive undercroft. Everything from the pillars to the archways looked to have been carved out of the same green stone. Above her was a kind of vaulted ceiling and in front of her stood a massive staircase that descended into the depths. It had several landings and a series of bizarre statues carved into its center.

There were multiple archways both on the top floor and along the stairs down below. Light blue and pale green crystals set at regular intervals gave an almost eerie glow to the place as their illumination reflected off the walls. How big is this place? The airbenders could be anywhere...

The sound of footsteps coming from a nearby stairwell shook her out of her reverie. She waved her hand at the others behind her and pointed to a doorway where they could hide. Korra felt her heart hammering away inside her chest as two Dai Li agents came into view. Don't look this way, keep walking. Don't turn around.

Their pace didn't change, they looked straight forward the entire time and soon disappeared through the front door. Korra let out a small sigh of relief after they were gone. She had known the Dai Li would be in the area, but coming that close to getting caught before they had even found the airbenders left her on edge.

Tenzin was standing nearest the door leading to the stairs they were hiding on. After the Dai Li were gone, he turned back to the others. "Bumi and Korra, you two will come with me to find the airbenders. You three find Kai. We'll meet on the surface shortly. Radio us if anything goes wrong."

Korra headed down the main staircase, Tenzin and Bumi right behind her. Jinora had tried searching for the other airbenders after finding Kai, but had been unable to locate them. It had only been a few days since Kai had joined them on the airship, but the burgeoning relationship between the two of them seemed obvious, at least to Korra. That attraction was probably why she had been able to find him.

Jinora led Mako and Bolin off towards one of the doorways on the upper level. Knowing where Kai already was made their task easier. It was probably why Tenzin gave that task to his daughter—that and it was less dangerous then searching the depths of this base.

There were three doorways at the bottom of the stairs, each leading in a different direction. Korra glanced from one to the other, unsure of which to take. She turned back towards Tenzin. "Any idea which one we should go through? There are three of us here, maybe we could split up?"

"I think we're better off sticking together," Tenzin replied. "There's bound to be more Dai Li agents in this compound somewhere."

In the meantime, Bumi had been walking between each of the doors, inspecting the ground like an art critic would inspect a famous painting. He pointed at the last one. "I think this one is our best bet. The other two are a bit dusty and this one has some of those lighting crystals in it."

Tenzin and Korra glanced at each other, the latter shrugging her shoulders. She didn't have any better ideas and it was as good a lead as anything else that they had. It was a short walk before they encountered more stairs heading further down into the compound. Venturing this far into an enemy's base without knowing their way around left her uneasy, but she had come this far and wasn't about to quit now.

This staircase looped around in a gentle curve as it descended deeper into the earth. Korra wasn't sure how far down they had gone, but there was a chill in the air that hadn't been present higher up. Eventually they hit the bottom of the stairs, finding a long hallway stretching into the distance.

"I guess this is the bottom of the base. They must be down here somewhere." It was just a guess, but Korra had a good feeling about it. There were a few doors on both sides of the tunnel and one large double door at the end. "Let's take a look."

The first few doors she opened were empty though they had signs of use in them—fireplaces with pots hanging from the mantelpiece and a few tables in one. Korra stopped in front of the second to last door and wrenched it open hoping that this was it. It was just as empty as the others, but clearly was where they had been sleeping.

There were numerous holes that had been hewed out of the stone walls. She didn't see any blankets or pillows, but the holes were all large enough for someone to lie down in. Korra stuck a hand over her mouth and nose as she smelled a horrid stench coming from a hole in the corner on the far side of the room. Guess that's the toilet...

Korra's shoulders sagged in defeat as she stared at the empty room in front of her. "It's the middle of the night; this has to be where they're being kept. Where are they?"

Tenzin gestured towards the last door. "They could be in there or it's possible they're sleeping on a different schedule since you can't see the sun or sky down here."

She backed out of the room, sliding the door shut before turning towards the last remaining room in the tunnel. Korra had only taken a couple of steps when Bumi's radio crackled to life. It was Jinora, sounding desperate and terrified. "Dad! ...There? … Dai Li attacked...we...down. Help!"

Korra wasn't a parent, but the sudden look of fear and anguish on Tenzin's face told her volumes about how he must be feeling. She gestured back down the way they came, telling him, "Go!"

Tenzin didn't need to be told twice and he was gone almost in an instant. Bumi hesitated as he glanced back at Korra but she shook her head. "There's only one room left, I can check it myself." The former soldier still looked a bit hesitant about leaving her on her own. She scowled at him, channeling her inner Lin. "Tenzin needs you more than I do. Get going already."

Bumi rushed off after Tenzin as Korra turned back to the doors at the end of the tunnel. They were heavier than the rest, but still made out of stone. She wrenched them open with her earthbending and looked inside.

Korra had kept a careful eye on her surroundings as she had descended deeper into the compound, afraid of being spotted. The entire compound thus far looked to have been carved out of the rock and lacked any signs of modern technology. They had crystals for light, small holes in the ceiling for venting air and the like.

This room on the other hand, looked like something she would expect to see in Asami's mansion. Thick carpeting, light-bulbs hidden beneath ornate sconces, even some ceiling fans hanging from the ceiling. There were a few paintings on the wall, but they all seemed rather bland looking to her. An empty field of grass, one filled with trees and a portrait of the queen. She snorted at the picture and toward her attention to the furniture.

There wasn't much variety there. All the chairs looked identical and so did the tables for that matter. They had some padding on the seats and chair back's, but not a great deal. She tried to identify what kind of wood it was, but there were few trees in the south pole where she had grown up. The most she could tell was that it was some kind of oak.What is this place? Some kind of lounge for the Dai Li? Why would they have something like that here?

She reached over to touch a nearby chair, perplexed at the oddity of this particular room. Korra froze as her fingers came in contact with it. It definitely looked like a chair made out of wood to her eyes. The color was right and it had a wooden grain pattern to it but the surface beneath her fingertips was undeniably metal.

The Avatar felt the hair on the back of her neck beginning to stand up and goosebumps began to appear on her arms. The room still looked innocent enough, but a voice inside Korra began to scream that something was wrong and that she needed to leave. Now.

She spun about towards the entrance, wanting to follow that voice's frantic urging. Out past the hallway, standing in the tunnel with his sleeves in front of him was a single Dai Li agent. Korra threw a punch with her right hand sending a gust of flame towards the man. His stance remained rooted but his arms reacted, swinging from one side of his body to the other. A wall of metal slid into place between the two of them, blocking off both the doorway and her burst of fire. Immediately afterwards the lights all turned off, leaving Korra in a pitch black room.

It took a moment to realize the significance of what the Dai Li agent had just done, but her blood began to run cold when it did. The Avatar froze in place as she mentally rebuked herself for walking into a trap. She took a deep breath to steady her nerves and began listening for any noises in the room.

There was nothing for several agonizing moments, but then she heard a scuff on the carpet to her left. Korra twisted in that direction, throwing out more fire in the general vicinity of the sound. The room was lit up for a short moment, revealing the Dai Li agent who she had heard. He didn't try to dodge the attack, instead moving his arms in a strangely familiar pattern. A small end-table next to him lifted off the ground and into the fire's path to block the attack.

A room full of metal furniture...

Korra instantly turned to run for the general vicinity of where the exit had been. She couldn't get through where the metal was, but the walls were made of stone. There was another scuffing sound followed quickly by the table striking her in the back. The impact knocked the wind out of her as she was blasted off her feet and onto the ground.

She pushed herself back up to her hands and knees trying to scrabble away from the table, but it was too late. The metal flowed and extended itself around her body, pinning her arms to her sides and trapping her legs together. A portion of it snaked upwards wrapping around her neck before forming a barrier in front of her mouth.

The lights came back on. She squeezed her eyes shut at the sudden glare before slowly opening them again. There were more Dai Li agents in the room now, standing around her. Korra tried testing her bonds, but to no avail. One of the men knelt in front of her, one sleeve covering his face as he stuck a metal spray canister into hers. He pressed down on the plunger before stepping away. Korra coughed for a moment before her vision began to spin then faded away as the aerosol did its work.

Queen Hou-Ting was nervous but she would never have admitted it. It didn't show, of course, because a ruler could never show weakness. The Dai Li were her greatest tool, but they had failed against Avatar Aang during her father's reign. If they failed tonight... well, she still had the world's largest military at her disposal if it matters spiraled out of control.

She resisted the urge to tap her nail extensions on the throne's arm. Never show weakness, especially not to the Dai Li agent who was approaching the dais her throne sat upon. He knelt down on one knee at the correct distance to show the proper obeisance to her majesty. She lifted one hand, inspecting the golden extensions that she wore on her ring and little fingers. The Dai Li had never shown any signs of disloyalty, but it never hurt to remind them who was in charge.

After a long moment, she set her hand back down onto the throne's arm and turned her attention to the Dai Li agent as if just now seeing him. "Your report?" She tried not to make it sound like a question, but an order befitting her status.

The head of the Dai Li had spent his time walking to this meeting considering how best to deliver his news. Hou-Ting's temper was volatile at the best of times and her fixation on the emerging airbenders bordered on obsession. He considered his options one last time upon entering the throne room. Taking matters into his own hands would be easy enough, but Hou-Ting wasn't without cunning of her own and she could serve as the lightning rod if things went badly.

"Your suspicions were correct, Your Majesty. Beifong's allies were seen visiting Lake Laogai earlier today and they broke into our temple compound as expected."

The queen had always hated the Beifong family for reasons unknown. He had tried investigating the matter before, but nothing had ever turned up. The idea that any of the Beifongs were behind this in any fashion seemed like paranoia to him, but Lin Beifong had arrived for whatever reason earlier that day. What really bothered him was how they had discovered their training area in the temple compound. Perhaps it had been the fault of that one boy who had claimed to be with the Avatar. A matter for another time, he thought.

"We expected them to stay together, but they split up shortly after entering so we had to adjust our plans." He hesitated for the briefest of moments: the Queen never liked receiving bad news. "I regret to inform Your Majesty that we failed to acquire any of the airbenders. The girl Jinora and the brothers Bolin and Mako proved stronger than anticipated. Our focus was on the Avatar and Tenzin so we only sent a smaller force after the rest and they held out long enough for Tenzin to arrive."

Hou-Ting scowled at him. "You failed to capture any of them? I will not stand for such incompetence. If that's all you have to offer me, then you'll find yourself in the deepest dungeon cell in the city before the sun rises."

The four Dai Li agents standing in front of the throne didn't move, but their eyes flicked towards each other than at him questioningly. He tapped twice on the ground with the hand hidden underneath his sleeve. It wasn't much but it was enough to send two tiny tremors through the stone floor for his men to sense.

"I take full responsibility for underestimating the intruders, Your Majesty. However, there is some good news. We made plans in the event that anyone escaped and those are currently in progress. And we did not come up empty-handed. The Avatar fell into the trap we had prepared." He paused for a moment to let that sink in. "What are your orders, my Queen?"

Hou-Ting had been hoping to snare Tenzin or his daughter. Either would have sufficed for her purposes, even the man Bumi may have worked. But to capture the Avatar herself, to be able to take revenge on Aang's reincarnation for the humiliations he had forced on the Earth Kingdom...

The Queen never smiled; it wouldn't do to show pleasure in the presence of her subjects, but the corners of her mouth almost twitched upwards.

Korra groaned as she came to. Her head was pounding something awful and everything was swimming back and forth in front of her. Gradually it came into focus and she began to take stock of her situation.

She was seated in a heavy wooden chair without any padding on its back or seat. Thick bands of metal pinned her wrists to the chair's arms and another pair trapped her ankles to the legs. Another piece of metal was fixed over her mouth and held in place by a pair of leather straps that were cinched together at the back of her head.

In front of her was a stone ring, several feet in diameter. One of the Dai Li was standing inside as he lit the candle inside a glass lamp. The lamp began to slide along the circle, its light blinding Korra as it passed by her during each rotation. His voice was soft, lethargic and even strangely comforting as he began to speak.

"Your name is Karman. You live to fight for the Earth Queen."

The lamp passed by her on its never ending loop, the light blinding her again.

"Your name is Karman. You live to fight for the Earth Queen."