Protect and Serve

Chapter 3

Shimon stood in front of the briefing room as he talked to the doorman, wearing the task force uniform and a dark grey helmet, decorated with golden ornaments with arms crossed behind his back. The doorman was stationed to prevent imposters from infiltrating the task force meeting, and requested official documents proving that he is one of the men in the task force. Shimon handed the folder in his hand over to the doorman, who scanned through it quickly, flipping pages every few seconds until he reached the end. The doorman handed the official documents back to Shimon, sliding the door open. Shimon realized that there was only one empty seat, meaning that he was last to arrive. Every pair of eyes in the room was trained on him as he walked over to his seat, trying not to make eye contact.

He sat down in the briefing room in a group of men in the task force, made to take down Amon and the Equalists. The room was small and cramped, with men and women wearing identical uniforms as his, their helmets on their respective table. The walls were painted very light grey, with an elevated stage erected at the front of the room with a pedestal in the middle of it, along with an empty board behind the pedestal. He took off his helmet and placed it on the table like the other officers.

They waited for several minutes until councilman Tarrlok stepped into the room, followed by the doorman and a dark skinned teenage girl with a ponytail and two tied up clumps of her hair hanging forwards. Shimon recognized her as the Avatar from the newspaper where she held a press conference as she arrived in Republic City. Councilman Tarrlok stood behind the pedestal, the Avatar and the doorman behind him. He cleared his throat, and began his speech.

"Firstly, I must thank everyone here for joining the task force." The councilman began. "Each and every single one of you has chosen to step up and take upon a great responsibility of protecting the Republic City and the United Republic of Nations against the Equalist threat. I am much honored to work with all of you to protect the peace. Today, we begin to fight back against Amon and his terrorists and show them and the citizen of Republic City, both benders and non-benders, that we do not fear the Equalists, and that they will be brought to justice."

"I would like to bring you to the point of this task force meeting here. As you may be aware, tonight is the night we will conduct our first official operation that this task force will undertake. We have reasons to believe that there is an illegal Equalist chi blocker's training camp… here." The doorman unrolled a map of Republic city, pinning it onto the wall behind the pedestal. Tarrlok pointed his finger towards an apartment block in the western harbor. "It is important to show the people of Republic city that we are not helpless against the Equalist threats. Our men have conducted surveillance of the training camp." The doorman unrolled several photographs of a building taken on different angles, pinning it on the board.

"This may seem like a deserted settlement at face value, however, the training camp is underground, as you can see from the light emitted from the small windows at the base of the house. With the help of the metalbending police force, we have found that there is a tunnel network beneath the building. As for the tactics, there will be two fronts to this raid. The first will be the main spearhead, consisting of earthbenders, waterbenders, and the Avatar. Water will be used to create a tunnel into the camp and subdue the targets, and then we will move in and arrest any stragglers in the tunnel network then secure the area."

"The firebenders will move in and secure the first floor, then find an access point to the tunnel network. After that, they will split into two teams; one team will enter the tunnel network, assisting the main spearhead in subduing stragglers, and the other team will secure the entrance to prevent escape. Although we predict that the underground will be the only part of the building used by the Equalists, we will work our way up and secure the building. Any questions?" Tarrlok said, his arms open. "Very well then, Avatar Korra, would you like to say anything?" he turned to the teenage girl.

From the looks of the Avatar, Shimon knew that she was about to say no, but she closed her eyes and inhaled, nodding as she realized that Tarrlok wasn't giving her a choice and wanted the Avatar to inspire the men. Councilman Tarrlok stepped off the pedestal and Korra took his place.

She thought for a short moment before she started to speak. "As the Avatar, I must thank all of you for joining to protect Avatar Aang's legacy, the Republic City. It is our job to see to it that the people of Republic city are safe from Amon. Thank you." She stepped off the pedestal. Shimon looked over to Tarrlok, who had the facial expression of someone slightly unsatisfied, but he continued anyhow.

"It is time to begin the operation. Grab your gear and get ready." He announced, before leaving the room.

An Hour Later

Shimon say with his head down, staring at his helmet reflecting off the moonlight shining through the back of the truck. Behind them was a truck towing a tank loaded with water for the waterbenders to use. The driver of the truck was sitting stern, unmoving. Opposite him was a helmeted firebender, looking at a small ball of fire in his palm, which also reflected off Shimon's helmet sitting on his lap. There were also three more people in the back of the truck, all helmeted, sitting up straight waiting for the truck to move.

A slightly fat, older man stepped into the back of the back of the truck and took the last remaining seat, squeezing himself against another firebender. He closed the back door of the truck, blocking the moonlight to his helmet. "I'm Moku, and I'll be leading the squad. We've just got the green light. We'll secure the first floor then we're going into the tunnel network while the other squad secures the entrance." Moku introduced himself as the truck's engine started. Shimon ran his right hand down his helmet, grabbing it and turning it around before he put it on. The ride was a quiet one, the firebenders sat in silence in various postures.

The truck soon pulled to a stop in front of the complex. Moku opened the back of the truck and grabbed a radio from under his seat. The firebenders disembarked from their vehicle and moved swiftly to the door, leaning against the walls, some ducking under the windows. Moku rotated a button on the radio until a heavily crackled, muffled voice was speaking through the radio. He calibrated the radio a little bit until the interference wore off.

"Fire team, are you receiving? I repeat, Fire team, are you receiving?" Tarrlok's crackled voice spoke through the radio.

Moku set down the radio and spoke in to the microphone. "This is Fire team. We're receiving loud and clear. We're in position and on standby, awaiting orders."

They waited for a long moment until Tarrlok spoke through the radio again. "The operation is a go. I repeat, the operation is a go." A loud explosion sounded from the other side of the building, followed by loud shouting and more explosions.

Moku stood up in a firm stance and kicked the door, which jolted loudly. He gave it another kick and the door burst open, firebenders flooding into the room. Suddenly, a silhouette dropped from above and tripped a firebender over. Another firebender was hit by a weighed cable, restraining him. Everything fell into chaos as green smoke covered the room, limiting Shimon's vision to nothing. He coughed twice before he covered his mouth with his hand, his other hand trying futilely to wave the smoke away with his other hand.

A figure in front of him gave a multitude of punches at someone else in the green cloud, making Shimon realize that it was a chi blocker. Shimon tackled the chi blocker from behind, sending them to the ground outside the smoke. While the chi blocker recovered, Shimon got into a mounting position and pushed the chi-blocker in the back of the head, smacking the chi-blocker's face into the floor, disorienting him. The chi-blocker started to move again, so Shimon pushed the chi-blocker's head again, knocking him out.

Several burst of flames flew out from the smoke, sending another chi blocker flying into the wall, knocking him out. Everyone was shouting and throwing fire wildly. The smoke was starting to clear, and Shimon saw an armored figure on the ground. Shimon rushed into the smoke and dragged the casualty out of the green smoke. One of the fallen peacekeeper's sleeves was on fire, and Shimon patted it out with his armored gauntlet. He examined the injuries, and noticed that the man was badly burned, repeatedly shouting out "Friendly fire! Friendly fire!"

The smoke has cleared and Moku was fighting against two chi blockers, dodging the blows faster than a normal man of his size would. He grabbed a chi blocker's arm which was about to strike him and threw the smaller chi blocker over his shoulder, who landed hard on his back and didn't get a chance to get up as several firebenders pressed him down and restrained him.

The other chi blocker tried to use Moku's opening to strike, but Moku lashed out with a wide high kick, throwing out a torrent of flame which caused the chi blocker to back away from the heat. Moku assumed a boxing stance and threw out half a dozen fire punches in quick succession, which the chi blocker dodged. Moku punched wide, throwing an arc of flame out, which the chi blocker ducked to avoid. However, the chi blocker brought his head low when he ducked and wasn't expecting Moku's flaming knee reaching up to meet his face. The strike connected, cracking the chi blocker's mask, rendering the chi blocker unconscious before he or she even hit the ground.

"What are you waiting for, jabber jaws! Orders are to search for a way down!" Moku took off his helmet, showing a man around the age of sixty with grey, curly hair and a long, messy scruffy white beard. He had large, menacing green eyes and a missing front tooth. The firebender began searching everywhere, behind the drawers, under the stairs. It took only a minute to find the entrance, as Shimon treaded around the building; he heard a different footstep sound as he stepped on a small carpet. He grabbed the carpet and raised it up, showing a trapdoor.

"Hey! Take a look!" he shouted to the firebenders, who quickly ran over to him.

"My team, follow me down! The rest of yer sorry bums, stay here and secure the entrance!" Moku shouted orders as he climbed down the trapdoor, which barely fit his body. Shimon lightly grabbed the handle one handed and slid down it like he would slide down a cable from a metalbending police force airship. The others followed quickly into the dark tunnel, lit only by a few lamps jammed into the dirt walls. They could hear loud, rapid footsteps and shouting from inside the tunnel. Two people, a man in brown pants and vest and a woman in green dress with a piece of cloth covering their mouth and nose. (AUTHOR'S NOTE: Note that "Voice in the Night" Equalist raid, two Equalists ran from Tarrlok and Korra and as they chased them two chi blockers dropped from above. I doubt that those are the runners as I doubt that those two can change from civilian into chi blocker clothes, laid out a trip wire and hid in the ceiling within a few seconds of leaving the room)

They stopped as they saw Shimon and the firebenders. Two more armored figures followed them, which Shimon made out to be Councilman Tarrlok and Avatar Korra. The Equalists looked confused, not knowing what to do being trapped between the Avatar and the firebenders. Shimon could see the fear in the eyes of the woman in green dress. The Equalists turned around and around again as the task force closed in on them. The female Equalist, in despair, undid the piece of cloth covering her face, going down on her knees with her hands up. "I surrender!" she shouted in a shaking voice.

Suddenly, the male Equalist pulled his comrade up, drew out a knife from his pocket and put it against the other Equalist's throat. "Let us leave peacefully, or she dies!" He shouted at Tarrlok, pressing the point of his knife closer to the female Equalist's throat to prove his point.

Tarrlok raised his head, giving the Equalists a smug look. The hostage started to cry, tears rolling down her cheeks in fear. "Why, Should I care for the welfare of an Equalist?" Tarrlok spoke, raising his left arm.

"Hong, wha- what are you doing?" the woman whispered, sobbing.

"You're a traitor!" The man shouted. "I thought you were devoted to our cause, to Amon! Those benders are oppressors, taking advantage of us at every turn! It's time for us to rise against them and fight for equality! If you have joined, then you are willing to give your life for our cause, and if you are not, I will see to it that you do!"

"Please, Hong, please don't do this…"

The Avatar shot an angry look at Tarrlok. "Let her go, or else." She said adamantly at the Equalist , one of her fists on fire.

Korra stepped forwards, and the Equalist turned towards her, which meant they turned away from Shimon and the firebenders. Shimon saw the chance and decided to take it. Shimon took his helmet off, dropping it on the ground as he took a stable stance, creating a circular motion with his arms, inhaling as he blinked hard. He opened his eyes and exhaled as he thrust his right arm, with two protruding fingers forwards, aimed at the Equalist's back. The Equalist turned his head around upon the crackling noise, but it was too late. The lighting struck him and the female Equalist in the back, causing him to drop the knife and both of them to fall unconscious at the same time.

The firebenders moved in to secure the prisoner as Moku and the others secured the area. The waterbenders and the earthbenders caught up to them and the Equalist prisoners was carried out onto the streets through the tunnel the waterbenders created for the press to see their work. They stood behind the prisoners, their arms crossed behind their backs as the photographers took their photos, flashing and clicking rapidly.

Councilman Tarrlok walked over to him as he was about to enter the back of his squad's truck after the photo shoot. He saluted at the councilman, standing straight. Tarrlok put a hand on his shoulder.

"Nice initiative back there, officer." Tarrlok praised him as he walked over to the press to give an official statement.

Shimon stepped into the back of the truck and sat down, sighing. It wasn't long until Moku and the firebenders joined them in the truck. "Good work out there, everyone. I look forward to working with you jabber jaws again." Moku announced as the truck drove off.