Chapter 1: The Ship
The planet that hung in space near the edge of its star system was a cold, dark world, a world of ice and shadow, devoid of life for the entirety of its history – until now. Visitors had come from a nearby star, born on the wings of their recently-invented craft, and they had established a small outpost on the surface of the planet which they had named Xinshi. It had been little more than a mine at first, designed to extract elements which were necessary to fuel their vessels' Meiyu Drives from deep beneath the ice. Mostly automated, it had remained largely insignificant until a week ago – when something that should not have existed was discovered beneath the ice.
Now a small, sleek vessel appeared in Xinshi's orbit, dropping out of the strange not-space into which the Meiyu Drive allowed it to dip and cross interstellar distances in the blink of an eye. The ship bore a superficial resemblance to the airships the Fire Nation had invented centuries ago, though it was sleeker, and its hull was silvery in color save for the United Republic emblems painted on its brown.
On the vessel's bridge, a communications' terminal crackled to life. "This is Xinshi Base calling United Republic vessel Yue's Legacy. You are cleared for landing."
"Acknowledged, Xinshi Base," the ship's pilot replied. "We're coming in for landing now."
Yue's Legacy dipped towards Xinshi's surface, cruising above the icy mountains and valleys; one passenger in particular had her face plastered against a window, eyes wide as she tried to soak in every detail of the desolate landscape. Finally, the ship descended into a relatively large valley, and from there into the open mouth of what was far too regular to be a natural cave. Just after it finished passing inside, metal doors slammed shut over the entrance, and the Legacy came to rest on a large open platform with other, smaller ships nearby.
A tall, nervous-looking man in green working clothes designed to be heavy enough to endure the cold waited near the new arrival's main hatch, flanked by two security guards. He breathed deeply for a moment, adjusted his gloves carefully, and then turned back to the hatch as it opened and extended a ramp downwards.
First from the ship was a middle-aged man of average height, dressed in a heavy blue coat that resembled a sleeker version of what his ancestors must have worn centuries ago. His face and hair were dark, though the latter was going grey, and he wore a short beard streaked with the same colors. His eyes were blue and regarded everything around him with interest, and he was smiling; the man in green breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"Welcome to Xinshi Base, Master Ekrad. You can't imagine how thrilled I am that the United Republic and the Order of the White Lotus sent such a respected scholar as yourself to help us with our… difficulty. I am Lao Ban, head of this facility."
"Pleased to meet you," Ekrad said, shaking Lao Ban's hand. "I brought some people with me who might also be interested in taking a look at what you've found here." He gestured back to the ship, where two more figures were descending. The first was a teenager who resembled the master enough that Lao Ban guessed they were probably related; the other wore red, but was muffled so heavily he couldn't make out any of their features.
"This is my son, Hakhun," Ekrad said, gesturing at the Water Tribe teenager. "He's planning on being a historian and archaeologist someday, and I thought that getting a good look at your discovery might give him something to write about before long. The other is my student, Sukasai."
"That's me," the muffled figure said in a distinctly feminine voice before pulling back her hood. Though it could be hard to tell these days, with the United Republic in particular being a cultural melting pot, Lao Ban thought she had the classical look of the Fire Nation with fair skin, gold eyes, and black hair. That hair was pulled back in a short tail, and the eyes – which looked all around them in wonder – were partially hidden behind a pair of glasses. She didn't look any older than Hakhun, and Lao Ban's eyes narrowed as he considered just who this girl might be and why she could be here – only to widen again as a scaly head poked out from under her heavy coat and spat out a small cloud of smoke and cinders.
"Is that…" the head of Xinshi Base murmured, extending a finger slowly; Sukasai nodded and smiled.
"A dragon?" she asked. "That's right, though technically he's just a hatchling. This is Yan." She opened her coat slightly wider and the tiny dragon slipped out, only to coil comfortably around her shoulders.
"Sukasai," Lao Ban said softly, watching the dragon with a certain amount of wariness; he'd gotten this post because he didn't mind the cold, but he wasn't exactly fond of burning things, and certainly not of lizards that could breathe fire. "I've heard that name. You're…"
"The Avatar?" Sukasai shrugged. "So they tell me."
"You may know that I'm a skilled waterbender as well as a scientist and professor," Ekrad said mildly. "The White Lotus assigned me as Sukasai's waterbending teacher. I trust everything is fine with that?"
"Yes, yes, of course," Lao Ban muttered. "Now then, come with me, this way – what you came to see is down near the bottom of the base, near the mine." He turned to lead the way, his three guests following close behind.
"He's nervous," Sukasai whispered to Hakhun as they walked. "I don't much like it – and I don't like that guy. I think he's hiding something."
"Maybe he just wasn't expecting to have the Avatar dropped in his lap today," Hakhun said. "Most people don't."
"Most people want to put me on a pedestal and use me as a sign of how far our civilization has progressed," she said. "But the idea of the Avatar actually doing something gets them all upset, because if someone needs to restore balance, then maybe the world isn't as perfect as everyone likes to pretend. Even Avatar Meiyu is remembered as a scientist more than for anything he did as the Avatar. But I'm getting away from myself. Lao Ban was nervous even before he knew who I was. Something's going on here. Do you have any idea what they found?"
Hakhun shrugged. "Dad knows, but all he'd tell me was that it was important, and I needed to see it. You know him – he's as easygoing as they come, but he was serious about this. Whatever it is, I have a feeling it's going to change everything."
In her heart, Sukasai couldn't argue with him.
/
Once everyone was gone from the landing platform, a faint blur detached itself from the shadows inside the Legacy's hatch and slipped down into Xinshi base. Following carefully down the track the base leader and his guests had followed, the blur entered the complex's main living area, a system of bare steel tunnels bored into the planet's surface. It slowly picked its way towards a door marked as a storage closet, slipped inside, and deactivated its personal cloaker.
The figure revealed was that of a girl maybe a year younger than the Avatar, dressed in a slick grey jumpsuit. Her hair was dyed a garish blue, but the skin of her face and hands was deathly white, and over her eyes she wore a pair of goggles whose red lenses even now flickered with data as they analyzed every object in the closet and reported them back to their wearer. Reaching up with one pale hand, she deactivated the scanners' visual feed, and activated her communicator.
"This is Ji Lin," she said softly. "Infiltration successful. I am in the building. Repeat, I am inside Xinshi Base."
"Good work, Ji Lin," the garbled voice on the other end replied after a brief pause; even the most advanced modern science and the same dimension-warping principles that powered the Meiyu Drives couldn't punch a signal instantly across interstellar distances. "Get as much intelligence on the discovery as you can, and bring back a sample if possible. This could change the world; we can't screw this up. Succeed, and you will be rewarded beyond your wildest dreams. Specter out."
"Ji Lin out," the girl repeated, and shut the communicator off. So, the plan was still the same; good. Her handlers hadn't been able to determine exactly what it was that had the White Lotus in such an uproar, but if it was big enough to send one of their best minds and the Avatar herself after it, it was important. And there were those who sought above all else to possess the knowledge and power to change the world, and they would handsomely reward those who brought it to them.
That was why Ji Lin had dedicated her short life to becoming the greatest thief Republic City had ever seen; she needed that reward. Some debts couldn't be ignored, and the only way to repay them was to go big.
She tapped the side of her goggles twice, and her personal cloaking field reactivated. Opening the closet door slowly, she saw that a grey-uniformed security guard was now standing casually outside. He didn't look like he had any idea she was here; this must be his routine patrol. Ji Lin slipped two fingers out of the door and flicked them lightly; a tiny whirlwind sprang from her hand and struck the opposite wall with a distinctive thunk. The guard started and spun to investigate; while he was staring at a blank wall, the hidden airbending thief slipped past him and continued deeper into the base.
/
"We're not a large operation," Lao Ban was saying. "Most of the actual mining is done by machines, of course; the majority of our personnel are techs or engineers, plus a handful of security guards, who are mostly here to protect us from each other, admittedly. People can get a bit testy being cooped up in the facility with just the same two dozen faces around for months at a time, it seems. Anyway, here we are; after you, Master Ekrad."
The manager stopped at what looked like a perfectly ordinary door; Sukasai raised her eyebrow at Hakhun in response to the surprisingly mundane sight. Lao Ban pulled the door open and stepped through, gesturing for the three guests to step inside. Sukasai followed after her teacher and her friend, one hand resting lightly on Yan's back where he rode on her shoulder – and then she stopped, eyes wide.
They had stepped out into an immense pit in Xinshi's icy surface; though they were still deep underground, she pulled her coat more tightly around herself nonetheless. However, it was not the cold wasn't what had caused the Avatar's amazement. In the center of the pit, now being held up by scaffolding and attended by both mining robots and human techs, was a ship that had clearly not been built by human hands.
It was roughly the same size as Ekrad's shuttle, and had an aerodynamic wedge shape, but their its resemblance to human engineering ceased. The ship's hull was made of what appeared to be crystal and formed a continuous seamless shell; Sukasai couldn't say for certain what color it was, because it seemed to shift slowly but continually; it had appeared violet when she entered the pit, but it was now bleeding towards blue even as she watched. At its front the vessel came to a point so sharp she imagined she'd cut herself if she touched it; at the rear were a series of nubs that looked like they must have been engines.
"It's beautiful," Sukasai found herself saying, and she meant it; the human machinery that surrounded the ship looked downright primitive in comparison.
"Come this way, please," Lao Ban said, gesturing once again for his guests to follow. He led them around the platform on the pit's edge, stopping when they arrived at a walkway that lead directly to the ship's side. Immediately above where it connected was what was unmistakably an open hatch.
"How'd you get it open?" Ekrad asked slowly.
"I'm… not entirely sure," Lao Ban admitted. "We weren't even aware the door was there until a few days ago, when one of our techs was prodding at it and suddenly it just… sprang open. Ah, there he is now."
A young man with a thin face, the beginnings of a goatee, and a somewhat scattered expression stuck his head out of the hatch – his eyes widened when he saw who was there. "Uh, hey, Mr. Lao Ban," he said. "Nothing new since yesterday; sorry. Who're the new people?"
"This is Engineer Tian," Lao Ban said. "Don't let his appearance deceive you, he's the smartest we've got, when his mind is in the game. Tian, this is Master Ekrad, Hakhun, and Sukasai." He paused for a moment. "Avatar Sukasai."
The engineer's eyes widened for a moment, but before he could properly react to the news of who, exactly, had just arrived in the base, Hakhun cut him off. "You said nothing new has happened since yesterday," he said. "I'm honestly curious – what happened then?"
"Oh." Tian rubbed the back of his head, looking sheepish. "We figured out how to work what I guess was their shower, kind of by accident. Unfortunately, it took us a couple of hours to figure out how to turn it off. It got kind of wet."
"The systems are still working after… however long this thing's been in the ice?" Ekrad asked. "I'm impressed."
"Well, we don't really know how old it is," Tian admitted. "We just found it last week, when the mining robots dug it up. But so far, everything we've managed to turn on has been in complete working order. No idea how any of it actually works, of course, but it's all so amazing!"
"Perhaps you might be interested in giving Master Ekrad the tour?" Lao Ban said rather pointedly.
"Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing the inside." The master gestured to Hakhun and Sukasai. "Come on."
Lao Ban leaned in close to Ekrad's ear. Sukasai couldn't hear what he was saying, but she did catch the words "children" and "think it wise", and to her great displeasure, the master was nodding along with them. Finally he turned to face his son and student.
"Lao Ban thinks it best if only I go aboard for now," he said. "I know you both wanted to see the ship, but I'd be more comfortable if I could have a chance to see if there's anything dangerous on board. I'm sure one of the employees could give you a tour of the facility."
"Of course." Lao Ban gestured, and one of his security guards stepped forward to stand in front of Sukasai and Hakhun. Ekrad nodded once, and then he, Lao Ban, Tian, and the other guard boarded the ship.
When they were gone, Sukasai turned angrily to Hakhun. "Did you hear what he said?" she asked. "Children? We're sixteen! In some places we'd have been adults by now. Fire Lord Zuko took the throne when he was sixteen, and Avatar Korra wasn't much older when she fought Vaatu!" On her shoulder, Yan hissed in apparent agreement – or maybe the dragon hatchling just didn't like the cold.
"I don't like it either," Hakhun said, "but I don't think yelling about it will do any good. The boss here obviously doesn't want us poking around his precious project. But look on the bright side – we're on an alien planet! You're the first Avatar to be able to say that – even Avatar Meiyu never actually left the planet on one of the ships he designed."
Sukasai smiled. "Well, when you put it that way…" She turned to the security guard. "I believe you were going to show us around?"
The guard, whose expression clearly said he thought he'd been given the worst assignment on Xinshi or any other world, sighed and led on.
No sooner had they passed through the door and back into the main complex, however, than Yan arched his back on Sukasai's shoulders and hissed, spraying sparks into the air. "Whoa there, little guy," she said, "calm down. What's the matter?"
"Maybe your pet just doesn't like our climate?" the guard said, rather snidely Sukasai thought.
"Wait," Hakhun said, pointing towards the end of the hallway. "What's that there?"
"That" was what initially appeared to be a strangely discolored patch on the grey metal of the wall, but Sukasai's eyes widened as she realized that it was actually a rippling effect, and that it was – slowly- moving. And, most importantly, it was three-dimensional and shaped, roughly, like a person.
"That's a cloaker!" the guard shouted; he reached down to his belt and pulled out a gleaming silver Varrick Industries handheld blaster, which he levelled at the ripple. "You, drop the cloak and put your hands up! Now!"
The cloaked figure didn't do as requested; it duck and spun and then struck out with what must have been its hands, and from nowhere rose a gust of wind that slammed into the guard and rocked him back off his feet. Even as he slammed into the wall, the figure turned and ran in the opposite direction.
"That's an airbender!" Hakhun shouted, completely unnecessarily. He and Sukasai traded quick glances, and then both of them dropped their heavy outer coats to reveal sleeker tunics and pants beneath – his blue, hers red – with heavy pouches on the belts. No sooner had the coats hit the ground than they were both off, sprinting after the airbender. Yan leapt from Sukasai's shoulders and followed swiftly behind them like a strange, scaled bird.
They rounded a turn only to find that the cloaked figure had stopped just long enough to send a slice of air shooting down the hall at waist level. Sukasai barely managed to leap over it and then struck out with one fist, sending a fireblast streaking down the hall. The figure dodged it almost effortlessly, and the Avatar thought she could hear high-pitched laughter coming from somewhere just ahead.
The fireblast impacted on the end of the hallway, and Sukasai winced; nobody had been hurt then, but if she kept firebending in these tight corridors, sooner or later somebody would be, and whoever this person was, they were too fast for her and her friend to catch up on foot. "Wait," she said, stopping and holding out a hand to Hakhun to do the same. "Let's change tactics." She grinned. "I think this place has enough ice already that nobody's going to complain about a little more."
"I think you're right." Hakhun returned her grin, and then they both raised their hands and stuck them out sharply before them. Jets of water erupted from their belt pouches and coated the floor; both benders breathed out slowly, and the water froze solid. Ahead, the blurred figure suddenly yelped and slipped; but Hakhun was a skilled enough waterbender to slide effortlessly along the ice, and Sukasai simply melted it where she passed. The blur was getting back to its feet, wobbling slightly, when they reached it; each seized it by one arm and shoved it up against the wall.
"Show yourself, now," Sukasai said.
"All right you got me," the blur said; a girl's voice. It shimmered, and then revealed a short, skinny young woman about Sukasai's age, her garish blue hair clashing quite spectacularly with her red-lensed goggles and deathly pale skin. She wore a jumpsuit that resembled those favored by the airbenders Sukasai had met before, but while theirs were mostly red and orange, hers was solid grey. "Name's Ji Lin. How're you doing?"
"She's just a kid," Hakhun said. "No older than us. What's she doing here, anyway? For that matter, how'd she get here?"
"Stowed away in your ship, genius," Ji Lin said, smirking. "For the record, the engine room is really noisy – but it was the only place I could be where that flying lizard wouldn't smell me. Just my luck I ran right into you when I did."
"Who are you, anyway?" Sukasai asked. "I can't imagine someone would stow away to another solar system on a whim, and you don't really seem like the scientific type."
"I'm here to do a job," Ji Lin said. "A job of the slightly less than legal variety, the details of which you're not scary enough for me to share. What I'm not here to do is hurt you, your friend, the professor, or anybody here on the base. So if you'll just let me go, we can all get on with our lives."
"So you're some kind of petty crook?" Hakhun asked, his tone decidedly unimpressed. "How'd an airbender end up like that? Thought the Air Nation had higher standards."
"Petty crook!" Ji Lin yelled, struggling in her captors' arms. "I'm not a crook. I'm a thief. A great thief. And I'm not, never have been, and never will be with the Air Nation."
"Well, Miss Thief," Sukasai said. "Maybe you can tell your life story to Master Ekrad and Lao Ban and let them decide what to do with you. Come on, Hakhun. Let's take her."
Hakhun nodded once, and they both tightened their grips on Ji Lin's arms before hauling her all the way back to her feet. Yan circling over their heads and still hissing, they turned to take her back towards the pit where Ekrad waited and would sort this out.
They hadn't gotten more than a step before the ground rocked beneath their feet, and every light in Xinshi base went out.
/
High in orbit among the planet that had existed long before the humans had found it and given it a name, a vortex opened in space. It expanded until it seemed large enough to swallow Xinshi whole; its red depths swirled with energy and seemed to spiral down into infinity. However, the vortex made no move to devour the planet; instead, a fleet poured from its depths.
/
"Well?" Lao Ban asked. "What do you make of this?"
Ekrad shrugged. "Honestly? It's like nothing I've ever seen before in my life, but I think you already knew that." He glanced back over his shoulder at the alien ship. "I couldn't tell you what it's made out of or how it works, but if Tian is right and it can make faster-than-light trips for days at a time…" He shook his head. "The Meiyu Drives can't take us much farther than one system at a time without burning up, which is why we've only been able to explore and settle a handful of the closest stars. This technology is something else. I'd like to make a call back to Republic City and see if either the White Lotus or the University can get a bigger ship out here to tow it back home. I think we can do more with it in my lab than you can out here."
Lao Ban swallowed. "Of… of course. Right this way."
He led Ekrad over to a small communications console that had been set up on the walkway at the pit's edge. He slowly seated himself at the desk and activated the screens, then frowned. "That's… odd," he murmured. "I've never seen readings like that before…"
The words had barely left Lao Ban's mouth when Xinshi suddenly shook with such force that he was knocked from his chair and onto the walkway, and at once every light in the pit died, plunging the scene into darkness.
"What's going on?" Ekrad demanded as he pulled Lao Ban to his feet.
"I have no idea!" The base leader snapped, "but the emergency power should be coming on right… now." At that moment the lights flared back to life, dull and red now but clearly functional; in the distance, blaring alarms could be heard. Lao Ban hurriedly seated himself at the console and began furiously typing. "Just give me a minute and I can pull up exterior cams, so we can see what's going on. Xinshi's not a geologically active world, so I don't know what could have caused… oh. Oh my. I think you should see this, Ekrad."
A holographic display flared into being above the console, and Ekrad's eyes widened as he realized what he was seeing. Some sort of vast portal had opened above the planet – it resembled those created by the Meiyu Drive, but it was far larger and far more stable. And from its depths emerged ships of no human design.
They were like nothing Ekrad had ever seen in Republic City's spaceport, and they had nothing in common with the alien ship now housed in Xinshi Base either. They were monstrous things, with thick, knobby, almost shell-like hulls, and no two of their misshapen forms were alike. There must have been a dozen of the strange craft that even now converged above Xinshi, and Ekrad knew in his heart that they were coming for the base.
"Light and Darkness," Lao Ban whimpered. "What can we do?"
"I," Ekrad said softly, "have no idea."
/
No sooner had the lights died then Jin Li swept both her legs up, kneeing Sukasai in the stomach and Hakhun in a somewhat more sensitive area. Slipping from their grasp, she gave a mocking laugh and raised her arms; from her underarms and the sides of her bodysuit there extended short wings, and she launched herself into the air and glided towards the end of the ice patch. There she landed, gave a mocking wave, and began to run back towards the pit and the alien ship.
"I really hate that kid," Hakhun gasped, still doubled over.
"Come on – we can catch her," Sukasai said; she pulled her friend to his feet, and together they hurried down the corridor, turned right, and arrived at the door they wanted – just as Ekrad burst out of it, a terrified Lao Ban behind.
"Dad!" Hakhun said. "What's going on? Did you see the thief?"
"Thief?" Ekrad asked. "No – that's the least of our problems. We're under attack by… something. I have no idea what. I need your help to get as many people to the Legacy and whatever ships the base has, now. We're getting out of here."
"Got it!" Sukasai and Hakhun said at once. "Is there anybody still in there with the alien ship?"
"I… yes," Lao Ban said, "Engineer Tian is still on board."
"We'll get him," Sukasai said. "Come on!"
She and Hakhun raced into the pit, even as the ground rocked beneath them once again. "I think somebody's shooting at Xinshi!" Hakhun said. "That's what's causing these quakes. But what could they want?"
"I think they want that," Sukasai said, gesturing at the ship; it seemed to be glittering dangerously in the red emergency lights. "Let's make sure they don't try to take any of our people along with it!"
They raced around the platform until they came to the bridge, and it swayed dangerously beneath them as they crossed and jumped into the hatch. Inside, the ship was every bit as eerily beautiful as outside, and, thanks to glowing panels on the ceiling, was actually brighter than it was out in the base. Sukasai glanced around quickly – they seemed to be standing in some sort of entryway that was largely devoid of other features save for hallways to their left and right. From the direction she thought was the cockpit, she heard the sound of voices. Raising one hand, she gestured to Hakhun to be quiet and follow her; together, they crept towards the voices, Yan drifting along silently above them.
"Look," the first voice – Engineer Tian – said, "I don't have any money, and I don't know what you want!"
"Anything," the second voice said – Sukasai started as she recognized Ji Lin. Apparently, the airbender had managed to sneak by Ekrad and Lao Ban after all, with the help of her cloaker. "Anything you have on the ship, any part of it that can be detached and is small enough to carry. I have debts to pay, but if you help me, I won't hurt you."
"I, um, keep all my calculations in my head," Tian said, sounding somewhat embarrassed. "And I don't want to going around tearing off parts of the ship. I think that might be, ah, bad."
Jin Lin swore. "Well, then," she said, "if you won't help me willingly, maybe I will have to hurt you after all…"
"No you won't," Sukasai shouted, bursting into the cockpit. Ji Lin spun, surprise written across her pale face, but before she could react Yan was on her, tearing at her goggles. The thief stumbled back with a cry and landed in what appeared to be a copilot's chair; Sukasai bent a long strand of water out of her pouch and wrapped it tightly around the girl's midriff before freezing it in place.
"Is it safe now?" Tian asked, getting up from where he'd apparently been laying on the floor. "I didn't know we had people like her out here; did she come with you?"
"Not deliberately," Hakhun said, shooting a dark glare at the airbender. "Now come on, we've got to get you out here."
"Really?" Tian asked, glancing around the cockpit. It was surprisingly spacious, Sukasai saw, holding the four of them with room to spare, and had several swiveling chairs around the edges as well as a larger one front and center, directly facing what looked like a transparent crystal window that Sukasai assumed was actually some sort of display, as it wasn't visible from the outside. What there certainly wasn't any sign of was any sort of control. "I mean, I think I'm pretty close to a breakthrough here, and if you just give me a few more minutes I might be able to figure out…"
"Listen, Tian," Hakhun said, "are you aware at all that we're under attack?"
"Really?" Tian asked again, genuinely shocked. "I had no idea. Do you know by who?"
"No idea," Sukasai put in, "and that's the problem. We don't know who they are, what they want, or what they can do. All we can figure is that they're here for the ship, so let's get you out of it before they blow you up or cart you off to Wan Shi Tong-knows-where."
The ship shook with the force of another blast, and Tian winced. "That might be a good idea," he said, and then glanced over at Ji Lin. "We taking her?"
Sukasai looked hard at the airbender, who started back defiantly. "She's a criminal," she finally said, "but she's also a person, and I don't think we should leave her to face whatever these are. We're taking her." She raised a hand and the ice that bound Ji Lin dissolved back into water and flowed into her pouch; the thief leapt to her feet with an expression both surprised and wary on her face. "Now let's get out of here," Sukasai said.
/
Ekrad stood by the Legacy's hatch, directing Xinshi Base techs as they scrambled aboard. "Hurry, everyone!" he shouted. "I want to get you all out of here as soon as possible. Let's not stick around on this iceball a minute longer than we have to."
Suddenly the emergency lights flickered, and from above Ekrad could hear an ominous groaning sound, as though the ice was shaking under some vast weight. "What could that be?" he demanded.
"I don't know," Lao Ban said from beside him, "but I think we might not have much time left after all.
/
Far above, on the surface of Xinshi, one of the alien vessels came to a slow landing, sinking its claws deep into the ice. Directly ahead of it was the crevice at the base of which lay its prey; from the ship's front, a long, thin tube descended, a burning light at its end. It planted itself firmly against the ice with a hiss, and then, slowly, it began to dig down.
/
Sukasai had just turned to lead Tian, Hakhun, and Ji Lin from the cockpit when she suddenly stumbled, a dizzy feeling overtaking her. Something was here… something old… something strong… and she doubled over, clutching her head. Deep within her subconscious she felt something stirring, something which she thought she'd buried long ago, but she had no time or ability to force it down now. That presence, however, did not seem hostile towards her; instead it too was curious and afraid of whatever power was even now closing in on Xinshi. Then, all at once, both sensations faded and Sukasai was left panting on the floor of the alien vessel.
"Are you all right?" Hakhun asked, bending down beside her. "You just… collapsed."
"You didn't feel that?" She asked; all three of her companions shook their heads.
"Must have been Avatar stuff, I guess," Hakhun said as he helped Sukasai to her feet; Yan landed on her shoulder, chrrring nervously. "Come on; we've got to go."
"I don't think there's any more time for that," Sukasai whispered. "Look!"
Directly in front of them, the ship's hatch was closing of its own volition; Ji Lin barely had time for a disbelieving cry before it closed completely. The four of them turned and sprinted back to the cockpit, not knowing what else to do and hoping there was some way to get the door open again. Tian flung himself into the main chair.
"Come on, come on," he growled. "Work with me here!"
At once, the crystal panels flashed brightly as if in affirmative, and from the ceiling directly above Tian's head descended what looked almost like a helmet attached to a crystalline cable. Sukasai tried to shout a warning, but before she could the helmet enveloped Tian's head; he said perfectly still for a moment, and then his eyes widened.
"It can talk!" he shouted excitedly. "The ship's talking to me! It's confused… it just woke up when it sensed the invaders… and its afraid… but it says it can get us out of here!"
"Getting us out of here sounds good!" Ji Lin shouted. "Tell it to get going!"
"Preparing for take-off in three… two… one… and here we go!" The ship lurched beneath Sukasai's feet, and she, Hakhun, and Ji Lin stumbled into three of the other chairs. Then, as gracefully as if it had never been imprisoned in the ice for however long it had been, it leapt into the air; from the viewing panel the Avatar could see the sides of the pit shooting past them as the ship shot directly up from its depths and out into the starry sky.
"Look, that must be one of the enemy!" Hakhun shouted, pointing; Sukasai's eyes widened as they took in the monstrous, deformed-seeming vessel that loomed in front of them. Their craft swerved to avoid it, and the entirety of the cockpit suddenly blurred and became transparent. Looking down, Sukasai could see another of the enemy vessels lifting off from Xinshi's surface, and fought down another wave of vertigo.
"And there's the Legacy," Hakhun added, and indeed Sukasai could see it, and several of the colony's ships, taking off behind the enemy. "Dad's all right – the attackers look like they're ignoring him. He must have thought we didn't make it, though, or else he wouldn't be leaving. Does this thing have any communications? "
"Wait a minute on that; they're ignoring him because they're targeting us!" Ji Lin yelled. "Hey, tech-boy, does this thing have any weapons?"
"At the moment, I'd settle for just escaping," said Sukasai. "How fast is it? Maybe we can get home. Can it do faster-than-light?"
"Better than anything we've got," Tian said. "All right, baby – get us out of here!"
The space outside the windows suddenly seemed to glow with a brilliant violet light, and when it faded and Sukasai could see again, they had left the battle far behind.
/
"The alien ship is gone!" Ekrad said as he watched from the cockpit of the Legacy. "Was that my son and Sukasai aboard, do you think?"
"It must have been," Lao Ban said, looking more nervous than ever. "The greatest discovery in human history and the Avatar, both gone on my watch. What a nightmare! But we have at least one thing to be grateful for – look!"
True enough, the invaders' ships were even now turning and flying back into their great vortex; once the last one had vanished, it gave one final swirl and then broke apart, leaving empty space behind.
"They must have only wanted the ship," Lao Ban said. "Well, let us be thankful for small mercies."
"I'm more concerned about if – when – they'll be back," Ekrad said darkly. "And most of all, I want to know where my son and my student are. You were the one who convinced me to take off when that enemy ship landed; if we never find them, I promise you, I won't forget."
Lao Ban gulped audibly.
/
"Where are we?" Sukasai asked, staring out over the unfamiliar stars.
Tian was silent for a moment, obviously communing with the ship, and then he turned to look back at the Avatar with haunted eyes. "Far from home," was all he said, and everyone on the bridge felt a terrible sinking feeling in their gut.
/
Just a few quick notes/clarifications here. First. I deliberately made the Meiyu Drive (this AU's faster-than-light engine) only capable of comparatively short jumps to give a reason why the Avatar-world's people were able to set up small outposts in other star systems but have yet to encounter any form of intelligent alien life (which, as this chapter proves, is definitely out there…)
A bit of clarification on Ekrad; he's a scientist, a professor at Republic City University, a high-ranking member of the White Lotus, and a powerful waterbender – the last being why he's Sukasai's mentor for the moment (though she's known him and Hakhun since she was first discovered as the Avatar as a kid). Sukasai herself is intended to be distinct from both Aang and Korra; she's more introverted than either of them, generally more of a thinker than a fighter (though she is, of course, fully capable of fighting when necessary), but she's starting to chafe at the fact that the world as a whole seems to feel like it doesn't need the Avatar to take an active role any longer.
Yan is probably less than a year old; there could really be no other choice but a dragon for Sukasai's animal companion, but taking a full-sized one on a spaceship didn't seem like a wise idea, so she gets the conveniently travel-sized version instead. Ji Lin has a bit of Kai in her in terms of being an airbending thief, but she comes from a darker place and is deep in debt to some very dangerous people, though it'll probably be a while before we delve too much into that. Tian is a non-bender, which I didn't have a good place to put into this chapter, and he's our tech guy and the one person to really be able to interface with the ship.
We've met some of our antagonists this chapter in the form of the mysterious attackers; they've not got a lot of depth at this point because, hey, they're supposed to be mysterious. We'll meet some more antagonists next chapter who'll hopefully be a bit more interesting.
-MasterGhandalf
