A new Inquisition

by Atilas

Following an encounter with a Deamonhost and a rushed teleportation, Inquisitor Kali find herself on a new world. Now stranded, away from the Imperium and in a place ignorant of the dangers of the Warp, what will she do? Rebuild the Inquisition would be a good start. Rated M for freedom. Strange/Bad English

3. Setting up the first bases

Hi. Now, this chapter is a little more longer to compensate for the shortness of the previous one. Update should also slow down due to school.

edboy4926: Kali is hovering between Delta and Gamma depending on various factors. Usually though she is a Delta. As for the Healing technique. The Emperor is definitely out as Water Healing is mostly only useful to heal physical damages and the wound of the Emperor are mostly psychic in nature. If Water Healing cannot restore lost bending, I doubt it can heal a psychic wound caused by the powers of the four Gods of Chaos. Roboute, on the other hand, if you can bypass the stasis field, sure. He only had had is throat slashed after all, much more mundane compare to the God-Emperor. Finally, the relation between Korra and Kali might be a little hard, one is a teenager who wants harmony, the other is a veteran Inquisitor wants the extermination of all of Humanity's enemies.

Or not, who knows.

DeathAdder47117: Thanks for the help in the correction of the text.

High Gothic

Low Gothic

Thought

Still really open to review and I hope you have a great time reading.

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Thought for the Day : An open mind is like a fortress with its gates unbarred and unguarded.

Inquisitor Kali reflection : An the one of an unantrained psyker is like a Warlord Titan in perfect condition standing in the middle of a desert. If you don't get to it first, you can be damn sure you and everything on the planet is dead.

Planet: Unknown / Sector: Unknown / 9 246 955. M41 - Republic City / 170 AG /Year of the Horse

Five days passed, five days that Kali used to begin Lilith's training and increased her knowledge of this new world that she had landed on. The first part had been easy, even with the student lamentations. Developed by the psykana Temple Calixis, the training was hard, unforgiving and designed to progressively transform simple humans into physical and psychic soldiers of the highest caliber. Each morning at five o'clock, they would both get out of bed, get dressed, stretched, went on a little five mile run, perform a series of various physical exercises, then come back to the motel to eat, spent the rest of the morning practicing meditation and multiple mental drills, eat again, then a mix of physical and mental training for the rest of the afternoon, and then supper and finally education until midnight. At least, that was the theory.

The Physical part, Lilith hated at first. During the first five mile run, she had collapsed after two. When she awoke, Solomon was standing on her face and the half flesh half metal bird was a lot of things but light was not one of those. By the time they were back to the room, she was feeling more sore and tired than anyone had ever been in the world; at least it was what she told herself.

"W... wh... why do we... have to... do so... much... running?"

"Because anyone who wants to have a decent chance of survival as an Acolyte, they must be able to pass the standard Imperial Guard test, it's a minimum."

"It... is... insane."

"If you need more reasons, It is also a part of your training as a psyker. How can you hope to control you power if you can't even control yourself? Now eat."

Lilith didn't like the second part either. The still meditation positions were uncomfortable and her sore muscles were constantly distracting her, making meditating almost impossible. After twenty minutes of this regime, she blew up.

"It's impossible!"

Kali closed her Witch sight and opened her physical eyes, mentally bringing herself back into the physical room.

"Yes?"

"It's impossible, okay. I can't concentrate."

"Sore muscles?"

"I feel like I've been beaten with a sledgehammer."

"During my training, they used to ask us to meditate while we were training. Any protest was answered with ten whip lashes."

Lilith paused for a moment.

"Seriously?"

"Yes. Do you think it would help you concentrate?"

"No, no, it's okay."

"Good."

Ten minutes passed before she spoke again, still incapable of ignoring her painful muscles and looking for a way to distract her mind from it.

"Why are we meditating?"

"To help you discipline your mind."

"Why?"

Kali's mind twitched. "Sorry?"

"My mind, I mean, I know bending has a kind of spiritual side and all, but you don't really need them. Just, show me the moves, let my chi flow and all that stuff."

It is only thanks to her great self-control that Kali managed to resist the urge to facepalm.

"What was the size of the rock you threw at the Triad member?"

Lilith shrugged.

"I don't know, maybe my two fists together."

"And you were angry when it happened, right?"

"Yeah."

"That, is an example of a very minor uncontrolled psychic power manifestation."

'Minor' Lilith frowned.

"I once saw a Latent psyker like you get angry at her parents when we came to take her. You know what happened?"

"She threw a table at them?"

"Almost everyone's head in a one hundred yard radius instantly blew up."

That shut up her apprentice.

"Really?"

"Yes. If you don't discipline your mind, someday, that's gonna happen. Well, that is, if you are lucky."

"Lucky?" What was lucky in everyone around her having their head blown up?

"Yes. In the Warp, psykers are torches, attracting daemons like a flame attracts a moth."

Lilith gulped, the daemon's image was still fresh in her mind, in fact, she wasn't sure she could ever forget it.

"When they sense a weak minded psyker, they encircle him, reaping at his soul before tearing it open to emerge in reality."

"Emerge?"

"The daemon bursts forth from inside the psyker, making him explode."

Suddenly, Lilith wasn't feeling her painful muscles and way more interested in the whole 'control your mind' thing.

"So, do you still have questions about why you need to strengthen your mind?"

"No."

"Good."

The next set of questions didn't come up until supper. Lilith was devouring her meal with a ferocity rivalling that of a tyranid swarm while Kali was occupied carving the fine pieces of a complex mechanism.

"What are you doing?"

Still eating and with her plate in hand, she was leaning over the Inquisitor's shoulder.

"Working on the critical situation of our firepower level."

"Huh?"

"I'm making a weapon."

The eating girl almost choked.

"You wanna kill someone? Again?"

"Not at the moment, but you will soon find that you can't simply give Cultists or Chaos worshipers a simple slap on the wrist and a warning."

Lilith was fixing the back of Kali's head with undisguised repulsion. She wasn't that stranger to death happening around her, but it was mostly due to accidents or others unwanted circonstances. A direct murder was almost a one in a million occurence.

"You're violent."

"Better be violent and alive than peaceful and dead. And before you start thinking about it, yes, I expect you to be able to kill by the end of this training."

'Yeah, don't count on it'. Lilith turned back toward her meal, ending the discussion for now.

The last and final complaint was heard the moment Kali dropped a rented book in front of her.

"What? I thought they were only for you."

"Knowledge is power, guard it well."

"Huh?"

"An advice. Knowledge is a weapon and you need to be able to wield it. We both need to."

"Both?"

Lilith was a little surprised, Kali was the most ruthless, devious and intelligent person she had met, why would she need to study?

"Yes, my knowledge of this planet is still limited to the one you had when we met."

"Huh?"

Kali sighed. "I'll explain later."

Too tired to argue any longer, Lilith simply shrugged. "Fine."

They both studied, Kali with a little more passion and drive than Lilith. The Inquisitor had gotten the basics of the planet's language and writing from Lilith's head but she needed to expand them and quickly. The first day, she was reading with the level of young a schola, the second, like a young adult, by the fifth one she was fluent in the language and could read heavy text with ease. Phenomenal, though psychic powers may have been involved and there was still a mountain of lore she had to pass through before reaching the knowledge level of the locals. Though, she was probably one of the best engineers on the planet and the sum of her technological knowledge bigger than all of those present in the city.

---

A couple of events worth mentioning happened during those five days. During the third and the fifth day in fact.

---

The first event occurred after Kali took notice that Lilith only had one outfit and decided, against Lilith's will, that her own apprentice needed more than a dirty brown set of clothes. She left the girl to practice some easy mental exercises alone and exited the room, bringing Solomon, her flak coat, force shield, sword and Carnodon with her. Light gear really. Passing through the lobby, she saw the young clerk diverting his sight. After the first night, the motel director had complained about all the screaming and strange odours coming from her room, menacing to evict her, so she had asked to talk to the proprietor. Twenty minutes of private conversation later, she had convinced him to sell her fifty-one percent of the enterprise for one yuan. You find your money where you can after all and at least she didn't have to worry about paying for the room anymore. Since then, no employees had dared to look at her in the eyes.

It was pretty much the same thing that happened in the streets and with taxi drivers. Apparently due to her outfit if Lilith's word was to be believed. It's true that she had started to add typical Imperial adornment to her clothing, replacing the dull sleeve buttons with steel skulls, adding a little golden Aquila on the back of her gloves and so on. The result, every time she went walking on the streets the crowd opened in front of her, scarred at the mere sight of the Inquisitor. Had she been in power armor, Kali could have understood, but in street clothing and minimum armament, really? She couldn't get a grasp of these people but at least she always had the place to walk. What was inconvenient on the other hand was that it was nearly impossible to get a taxi, as if they were scarred of her. She almost had to stop them by grabbing the vehicle.

Anyway, her little quest for clothing took her no time. She grabbed pants, a shirt, a vest and others, all in black, then passed on to the real reason she had went shopping. This city had several shops near the education building they called a 'University' that sold various chemicals. They sold them openly, letting anybody buy them, be it simple pure water or dangerous acids. What a lack of common sense. In any way, she purchased what she needed and made her way back. Well, she tried at least because no taxi stopped for her. 'Fuck them.' Mildly annoyed, she sighed, shrugged and decided to make her way back on foot; after all, the City was laughably easy to navigate by Hive standards. Which explains why Kali wanted to believe very hard that it was by the will of the Emperor that she found herself lost in a park. This was, by the way, another mind boggling thing for Kali, a park, with trees, grass and all this stuff. What a useless loss of space.

She was contemplating all she could have built with all of this green land: ammunitions factory, barracks, training ground, sol-air defense, missiles silo, etc, while leaning against a little wooden bridge over an artificial stream when Solomon suddenly leaped from her shoulder. In the first half second it took her to turn toward the direction he had flown to, she heard a scream and a protestation from a girl and a beast. By the second half, Solomon had landed back on the railing, a fish in his beak and an angry girl at his pursuit. Dressed in shades of blue and accompanied by a rather large white furry creature that had the attributes of a decent predator, the black haired girl was obviously angry and charging right at Kali. It was terrifying.

Let it be clear, it was not the girl who was terrifying. She had an angry face that could probably have scarred a class of juvies on their first day of training but that would have made any guardsmen laugh. Furthermore, Kali could sense that it was simply a surface anger, like that of a kid when you take his toy away from him. Finally, she was blindly charging at her and had no visible weapon. Though that had little meaning considering the number of low level psykers on the planet. No, the terrifying thing to Kali was what was hiding inside the girl. To her psyker eyes, it was as if a ball of pulsating raw energy was where her heart should have been; giving her an aura of lightning and white fire so intense she could almost feel heat coming from it and sense her hair sticking up. The girl was possessed by a daemon; one so confident in its power that it didn't even try to conceal himself from Kali's sight. The moment she saw it, Kali's hand tightened around her weapon while her mental defenses hardened and her mind started calculating. The numbers of people around them, in the city, the number of buildings, her current equipment, the power of the daemon inside the girl and other details. 'So... between two or three thousand casualties at minimum. Good odds. For once.' The girl stopped in front of her and Kali removed the security of her Carnodon.

"Hey, your Raven-eagle stole my fish!"

She put her hands on her waist, waiting for an apology, while Kali was waiting for the daemon to take full control of its host. Two things that were not going to happen but both of them didn't know that. They each stood immobile, fixing each other in the eyes like people have done since the beginning of time in order to establish dominance. Or maybe there is another kind of reason why humans fix each other in the eyes but here it was probably the main point of this staredown. It lasted a full minute during which Korra's anger only grew more and more as the person in front of her stayed silent. Who did she think she was? Why did her eyes felt so strange? Did she have red hair? And damnit, why was she wearing so much black? Kali on the other hand was wondering if she could empty her revolver in the possessed fast enough, if it would be enough to stop it and was mentally flagellating herself for not having brought her plasma pistol. They both reach their critical point at approximatively the same moment; Korra was ready to throw a fireball at the girl just to make her react and Kali was slowly extracting her Carnodon from its holster. And as fascinating as it would have been, the battle was fortunately narrowly avoided thanks to two animals.

Naga's low grunt and Solomon's high pitched scream cut through the tension like a hot knife through butter. Both the Avatar and the Inquisitor turned toward the duo so fast that one could have sworn having heard their neck snap. Just beside them, the two pets were engaged in some sort of friendly animalistic conversation with Naga's head resting on the bridge's hand railing just next to Solomon, the two animals eating a fresh fish that had just been caught by the eagle. The two humans froze for one second, their mind doing their best to cope with the strange situation developing in front of them. Strangely, it was Korra who recovered first. She sighed, after all, if Naga found this girl's pet nice, she couldn't be that bad. Even if she wore way too much black. Thus, she extended her hand.

"Hi, I'm Korra."

Kali's mind was running at full speed. The host's anger had suddenly been replaced by calm and she could even sense a true, though very light, intention of friendship in her mind. What were the daemon's intentions? Why hadn't she tried to attack or at least probe her mind? Was the host some sort of trap? Was Solomon's opinion on the girl and her attack dog correct? If she had been anywhere else, Kali wouldn't have hesitated a second to attack the girl and blow her brain out. But here, away from the Imperium and without her usual authority, she had to be cautious. Daemons usually take control of important figures so this girl was probably someone important. Killing her could be problematic at the moment; furthermore, it apparently had not yet taken full control of the host. In these circumstances, she fell back on the motto of an ex-guardsman she had worked with. 'Improvise, Adapt and Overcome.' Hey, in a way, it had been what she had done since she had arrived here.

"Kali." She shook the blue girl's hand.

Before they had the time to continue the discussion though, an Arbitres apparently popped out of nowhere behind them, screaming and waving a stick into the air.

"Hey you, stop! You can't fish here!"

The four of them turn towards him, surprised. Kali was tempted to simply appease the man with a brush of will, but before she could even finish the thought Korra had jumped on Naga's saddle and was dragging the Inquisitor with her. It was suddenly too late for negotiations as the man in armor charged at them with his stick and so Kali simply chose to follow the flow. Thus, in a matter of seconds, the Inquisitor found herself ridding a large predatory beast sprinting through the park in the company of a possessed. This planet was really a cascade of weird first times, most of which Kali wished wouldn't have happened.

The run lasted for a couple of seconds, the time they got out of sight of the not at all tenacious agent of the law who did not even run after them for more than ten meters.

"Pfu, he had no chance at all" Korra turned toward her passenger. "Right?"

"Right. Let's just hope he didn't call backup." Kali said half joking.

"He can?" Korra seemed really worried for a moment, much to Kali's confusion.

"Nah, not for two fish thieves."

Korra pouted. "What kind of stupid rule is that, no fishing?"

'Personally I am more intrigued as to how fish can survive in this park in the middle of the city. Probably put there each day. Another waste of resources.' "You're right. But since you didn't know about it I assume you're new to the City?"

"Yeah, I only arrived this morning."

"Alone?"

"Well, I had Naga with me" Korra pointed at the beast they were riding.

'Alone then.' "So, why come here?"

Korra took a deep breath. "Well, in fact..."

Of course, she was interrupted.

"Are you tired of living under the tyranny of Benders? Then join the Equalists!"

The declaration, amplified by microphone, cut Korra's explanation short and brought her back to reality. Without realizing it, they had apparently stumbled upon some sort of public area where a man standing on a box was haranguing a small crowd of people. Okay, less than ten people, but still. Behind him was a large poster bearing the image of a masked man, probably the leader of the organization the man was recruiting for. They could have easily passed by without attracting any attention whatsoever or listen incognito but apparently this wasn't Korra's style. In fact, it could almost be said that discretion was a foreign concept to her.

"What are you talking about? Bending is the coolest thing in the world!"

If there was a better way to start a public debate, Korra did not know of it.

"Oh yeah, let me guess, you're a bender?"

"Yeah, I am."

Korra was obviously not a rhetoric expert and her opponent had some skills about turning people to his side so the ending of this conversation was already set, but Kali was willing to see where it was going to end, both for entertainment and informational purposes.

"Then I bet you'd just love to knock me off this platform with some waterbending, Eh?"

"I'm seriously thinking about it." Korra said while folding her arms across her chest.

'Critical mistake here but you still have a chance to correct it.' Thought Kali

"This is what's wrong with this city, benders like this girl only uses their powers to oppress us!"

'And you just lost it.'

Almost as if some sort of signal had been launched, the crowd turned toward them, angrily shouting.

"What?" Korra was taken aback by the sudden turn or events. "I'm not oppressing anyone, you're... you're oppression yourself!"

Incapable of holding herself any longer, Kali bursts out laughing. Hell, the last sentence didn't even make senses. It was pathetic, but in the funny kind of way. For the Avatar and the crowd, it was the weird image of an intimidating figure clad in black and skulls that was laughing out loud at their faces. And was she wearing a sword?

"Korra, for having made me laugh, I will win this for you."

"Huh?" Both Korra and the microphone man spoke at the same time. For Kali, it was even funnier.

"You, micro man."

The man on the box seemed surprised. "Me?"

"Yes, you. How will the Equalists find the benders?"

"What do you mean?"

"There is no way to differentiate a bender from a non-bender if they don't use their powers, right?"

"Well, yeah, but..."

"So how are you gonna find them once your revolution happens? You're just gonna pick up everyone you 'think' is a bender?" She emphasized the word. "So if I come and say that this guy." She pointed someone at random in the little crowd, making sure to do it so that the most people felt targeted. "You just make him disappear?"

The people were discretely starting to change sides, giving sideway looks to the microphone man.

"No, we..."

"You kill them." Everyone was shocked by that declaration, though Kali faked her own reaction. "That's how you want to get rid of the benders. Like the Fire Nation with the airbenders. You want to kill them all."

The fickle crowd turned on him like a pack of wolves. Really, it's amazing how easy it is to turn people's opinion when they are shocked by the simple implication of a genocide.

"Let's go."

It took Korra a moment to realize Kali had spoken to her.

"But... but... what?"

"Go, before they switch side again."

"But..."

"Go!"

Apparently the animal had more sense than its master because it immediately started to run away from the debate.

It took the group no time to get back to the streets of the city, leaving the Equalist recruiter behind them. Strolling under the sun and the shadow of the buildings, they resumed their interrupted conversation. Well, after Korra was calmed that is.

"Hey, you weren't serious, right?"

"About what?"

"Killing all the benders."

"Oh, that. 'Well, it would be the most practical and easy solution to what they see as a problem.' I really doubt they have the will to do it."

"You're sure?" Korra was a little worried, the firenation and airbenders analogy having hit her hard.

"Of course. They wouldn't let them speak in public if that was their goal; don't you think?" 'Letting anyone have this level of free speech is foolish anyway and probably extremely dangerous. So, in fact, maybe they don't have a problem with people openly saying they will destroy them to the last. Bunch of idiots.'

"Yeah, you're right." She paused for a moment, switching from worry to light anger. "I don't see what they're complaining about anyway."

"You mean except the bender favouritism?"

"Huh, what favouritism?"

Was she serious? By the Warp she was. Well, after all, people have the tendency to not bother much with the situation of those outside their own close circle.

"Well, there are the numerous jobs that can seem to have been crafted to only allow benders, the fact that the city's high governing body is entirely composed of benders, same thing for the police officers. Also the fact that benders sometimes use their power to push around non-benders, if you know what I mean." Better be blunt with her, she doesn't appeared to be the brightest host ever.

"Oh, yeah." She lowered her head. "Guess you have a point."

"Though, this is fairly minor stuff, the real problem must be because of the Triad's benders."

"The who?" And just like that, her previous grief about her actions was forgotten.

"The criminal groups of the city are composed of benders. It's probably mostly because of their actions that the grudges against the benders have risen. By exploiting the fear and hate they generate, groups like the Equalists can grow powerful and find support were there was none before."

"That sounds dangerous."

"It is. Groups like this one brew tension and violence. Whatever they will do with their new power, it can't be good."

"And how do we stop them?"

'We?' "There are many ways." 'Crucify all the Triad members on a public place. Burn alive any person bearing the colors of the Equalists. Behead this Amon. Hang all the benders to the streetlights.' "But they all require time and effort of comprehension." 'Hey, in a way, yes. There are all the people needed to make the ropes, or the wooden crosses or the matches, that's a lot of people, time and resources involved. Mass murder is really a big business after all and you need to make sure they all understand their jobs and work well with each other.' While reflecting on that, she had the sudden need to let go of a light laugh. Here she was, riding a beast with an Emperor damned possessed and discussing social problems with the host. What next, philosophy with a Khorne daemon and cleanness with a Great Unclean One?

"Well, I'm the Avatar so I guess it's a little part of my job to change that."

Wait, what, what had she said?

"The what?"

"I'm the Avatar." Korra's smile was almost reaching her ears.

Kali on the other hand was puzzled, She had seen many Avatar of Khaine on various pict-recorders or video-recorders and had even seen one through binoculars when she worked with an Ordo Xenos colleague on the stopping of an Eldar attack. This girl was no Avatar, unless the standard for one had suddenly dropped from higher than ten meters tall nightmarish xenos fallen god of molten metal capable of tearing whole tanks squadrons apart to a seventeen year old hot-headed girl.

"I'm gonna need more explanations."

Now it was Korra's turn to be puzzled.

"You... don't know what the Avatar is?"

"Nope. But I'm also new to the city so maybe you can explain to me what the title is and means."

Korra was stunned. How could someone not know what the Avatar was? Even the most remote villagers in the world knew what the Avatar was. Was she an alien or what?

"You're kidding, right?"

'Shit. Guess it is common knowledge around her' Kali needed to correct herself and fast. "Of course." She faked a half sorry, half joking smile. "But what do you think your role as the Avatar is?"

Incredibly, it was enough to make Korra almost forget about her previous statement and redirect her mind in an entirely new direction.

"Well, I'm still in training, but I must maintain the harmony between the four nations and between the spirit and material world."

'Oh great, the host thinks it's some sort of bridge to the Warp. Maybe I should just shoot her in the back and to hell with the consequence.' Though, while thinking that, Kali couldn't shrug off the strange feeling she had about this possessed. During all of the time they had spent together, the daemon inside her had not so much as twitched or tried to influence its host in any way she could see. For all intents and purposes, the daemon was sleeping. Frankly, the situation was frustrating to the highest point. 'Fuck it, I'll let her go for now. If she starts sacrificing people, at least I will have some reason to burn her.' With that in mind, she returned to the conversation with Korra.

"Okay, so... does maintaining harmony include beating up criminals?"

"Why do you ask that?"

Kali simply pointed at one of the stores with the outrageously painted car parked in front of it and the three Triad members intimidating the owner. From there, it took less than a second for Korra to jump from Naga and rush toward them, a smug expression on her face.

"...give me the money, or else."

"Or else what?"

The three of them spinned around at hearing the Avatar's taunt. They looked really similar to the three idiots the Inquisitor had killed on her arrival and as clueless as they were. An opinion further enhanced when they all started laughing at the threat.

"Since you're obviously fresh off the boat, let me explain a couple of things. You're in Triple Threat Triad territory and we're about to put you in the hospital."

'Not with those combat stances, jackass.'

"You're the only ones who're gonna need a hospital, and for your sake I hope there's one nearby."

And more taunting on the Avatar's part. Kali, still on Naga, was a little disappointed by the whole situation. First, Korra had opted for the 'Look at me style' rather than the 'Surprise motherfuckers' which would have ended this encounter way more quickly and with way less collateral damage that Kali could see coming fast. But still, it would be a good occasion to see how benders fight and she could still intervene if it ever gets out of hand.

"Who do you think you are?" The apparent leader's tone was irritated.

"Why don't you come and find out?"

And with those words, the fight started. The leader's right eye jerked with anger just before he sent a bolt of water at Korra's chest. It was so slow that the Avatar had the time to react, catching the water and sending it back at the scum's face who didn't react, except if you count making a surprised face as a reaction. Interestingly, the water froze when it hit his face. Maybe she was planning on asphyxiating the scum? Nope, the man stumbled a moment toward the Avatar who then kicked him in the face, sending him crashing against his car and breaking the ice helmet he had. What a shame. The next attack, if it can be called that, came in the form of the earth tone dressed man who made a jumping movement in the Avatar's direction. Kali sensed the psychic power building inside him, but before he could even come close to releasing it, Korra raised the earth under him. That was the moment that Kali refocused on the Avatar. Up until now, she had only seen and read about benders capable of a limited manipulation of one made up spiritual element and now this girl had made use of two. Even more interesting was that the daemon inside her suddenly twitched when she did it, as if the act had deranged him in his sleep. Intriguing. Anyway, back to the man. A part of Korra's power also seemed to include telekinesis because the guy who had saw the ground under him sprung up was thrown into the air a good twenty meters up. Fortunately for him, his would be lethal fall was slowed down by the cables, fabric top and a food stand. Still, his back was probably broken, he had a concussion, three broken vertebrae and a sprained foot. The question now was to discover if Korra wanted to kill him or simply didn't realize what she can do. Anyway, the last one left tried to conjure some kind of fire shower that barely reached the temperature needed for a first degree burn. Without a second thought, Korra jumped through, receiving no damage whatsoever and grabbing the hands of the last scum. 'Wonder how she would react to a promethium shower.' Using only strength and some physics, the mighty Avatar then spun the guy around and threw him through the shop window, apparently forgetting that she had intervened in order to protect the merchant and not trash his store even more. Short, the fight ended with that and a last mock from Korra.

"Got an idea about who I am now, chumps?"

At least that's what Kali was thinking before the Triad car speeded up past them. In a hurry, it picked up the scums and went racing down the street, trying it's best to get away. A futile effort really, because two seconds later the ground under them blew upward and sent their vehicle crashing into another store.

The four of them, Naga, Korra, Kali and Solomon rushed toward the wrecked car, passing stunned citizens. Kali was expecting a scene of carnage, but by some strange coincidence, no one had died. The shop and the car were total disasters of course, but nobody had been crushed by the car, none of the scums had passed through the windshield and no bystander had been hit. Truly a miracle. Constating the situation, Korra turned toward Kali.

"So, what'd you think?"

'Slow, unprecise, you don't understand the power you freely wield around, you make more damage than the criminals, your attacks lack the will to kill and it's only because your opponents are incompetent and as unwilling to kill as you are that you've won.' "Nice." With a smile. 'At least you have the raw power.'

Luckily, before they had the time to continue what would have been without a doubt a very awkward conversation, blasting sirens began to ring above them. They all raised their heads to see the imposing/tiny depending on who you ask airship hovering above them. Painted in black and covered with metal, the metalbender's police zeppelin was truly a sight to behold if you have never seen bigger or were not actively reflecting on the consequence of someone shooting anything remotely flamy at it.

"Police! Freeze where you are!"

'And here are the Arbitres, just after the scums have been incapacitated. What a coincidence.'

As soon as the order was heard, three men in armor jumped from a lateral door. For a second, Kali wondered if these three had suddenly decided to commit suicide before seeing little grapnel lines being shot from their wrist. Of course, she had forgotten about those for a second. In no time, they all reached the ground and came in front of them.

"I caught the bad guys for you officers."

They only gave a side look to the three stunned triad members before ensnaring the trio and taking them away. Korra, of course, had a smug face during the whole time. Well, that is, until the senior policeman stepped in front of her.

"You're under arrest too."

Korra really didn't expect that.

"What do you mean I'm under arrest? Those are the bad guys over there; they were smashing up a shop." She was confused and upset, a dangerous mix when dealing with any authority.

"From the looks of it you smashed up a lot more than that."

'Called it.'

Almost at the same moment Kali had this thought, the Ar.., no, the policeman shot his grapnel at Korra who dodged to the right of it and grabbed it. At this point, it became almost redundant to mention how slow the line was if someone can dodge it at literally point blank range. Anyway, useless to say Korra protested vehemently and awkwardly.

"Wait, you, you can't arrest me. Let me explain!"

Did it work?

"You can explain yourself all you like down at headquarters."

Nope.

Almost immediately the two of them engaged into battle and, of course, Kali was dragged along with Korra. The metalbender shot again and again Korra dodged it with a backflip. A little overkill but it worked. Naga who was just behind him jumped forward, knocking out the policeman and allowing the Avatar to jump back on her. A moment later, they were sprinting away with the three metalbenders in pursuit. Being on foot, they didn't really have a chance to catch up with them but one of them jumped in their direction, grabbing on the furry creature's side. A boot to the face from Kali dislodged him promptly and violently, breaking one of his teeth. The next instant after that little kick were then spent by Kali hanging desperately to the creature's saddle and trying to avoid all the grapnels shot in their direction.

"Why the hell did you resist!" Kali was starting to feel her anger against the Avatar rise, how could someone taking so rash, no, stupid decisions like that maintain any kind of harmony at all.

"What!?" The wind was rushing at their ears, making hearing anything but the loudest sounds almost impossible.

"Why did you resist dumbass!"

"What!?"

"You're an idiarg!"

"What!?"

Kali didn't answer because one of the grapnels twisted itself around her neck. Again, thinking about it after the fact she isn't sure if the metalbender wanted to kill her or didn't realize what he was doing. Being oblivious is apparently a bender tradition as far as Kali could see for they all have the quality in spades. It was only her reflexes and gear that saved her from having her trachea crushed. Her right hand grabbed the metal wire and pulled it with all of its superhuman mechanical strength while her left hand drew a Damaskin blade from one of its hidden sheaths and slashed at the wire. Now, important thing, Damaskin Kineblades are not meant to be wielded by hand. They literally have no handle. Meaning that at the same time the mono-blade cut the metal, it dug deep inside her closed fingers, only stopping at the bone. She gritted her teeth, ignoring the pain to rather focus on the sensation of liberation she felt around her neck.

Korra had apparently not even remarked what had just happened and had just continued to sprint through the streets. And so, when Kali looked around her, she saw they had momentarily lost the policemen and were approaching the suspended road system of the city.

"Go under!"

"What?"

"Under the road!"

"Over the road, okay."

Kali wanted to scream her frustration but it was already too late. Naga had climbed the stair leading to the suspended structure and was dodging incoming cars.

"I sai...!"

Again, she was interrupted by the shock of Naga's jumping from the road and landing atop a passing train. It was at this point that the Inquisitor gave up. It was not something she did often or enjoyed, but here she could clearly see that there was no getting through the adrenaline pumped Host/Avatar and that it would be better to simply concentrate on her own survival. All of this was summarized in two words.

"Fuck it."

But of course, even that was buried under the sound of a screaming horn coming from the airship that had suddenly come over them. Considering where they were, Kali knew there was no way out of it. Well, at least not while riding with Korra or without going at length that would shock this prude word that is. 'Solomon, hide.' And thus, as her friend plunged in the shadows of the low streets, Kali braced herself for whatever Korra and Naga were going to do. Unfortunately, they did not disappoint by deciding to jump from the train to a nearby rooftop, getting caught by the metal wires of the airship the moment they touched the roof. The cold lines ensnared the three of them in a tight grip, raising them into the air and preventing any escape. If you were a simple human or bender that is, but Kali wasn't looking to escape. In fact, she was mostly upset that the lines were forcing her left fist to stay close and thus were making the Damaskin cut deeper in her flesh. Korra, herself, was simply really upset and angry at having been captured.

Restrained, they were slowly being dragged back to the headquarters, leaving ample time for a discussion. Agreed, the wind forced them to scream everything but apart from that it was pretty okay. It was Kali who started, mostly to vent her frustration and take her mind away from the blade bitting into her palm.

"Korra!"

The Avatar raised her head.

"What!?"

"Are you really the Avatar!?"

"Of course I am!" Had she not seen her bending three elements?

"Then why did you resist!?"

"But he wanted to arrest me!"

"You have a rank over the leader of the nations, you would have gotten out in no time."

"I don't have a rank."

"Aren't you supposed to maintain harmony?" 'Or some shit like that.'

"Well yeah, but I don't really have any real position of power. I think I'm more supposed to be some kind of advisor."

"So you are supposed to maintain harmony but you have no power, no army and anyone can ignore your decisions?"

"Well, I wouldn't put it like that but..."

"Stop. Just... why did you come here then?" 'Other than ruining my day.'

"You remember when I said I was still in training?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"You know, Tenzin, last airbender master?"

"No I don't."

"Really?"

"Really, now please explain." 'If only she wasn't a host.' Trying to uncover more than her surface thoughts would have opened a weakness in her own defenses and when facing a daemon it's the last thing you want.

"Okay, okay. Tenzin was supposed to train me but because he has responsibilities in the city he couldn't stay. So I decided to come here to be trained instead."

"Since I found you wandering in the city without anyone, I guess your travel to the city wasn't approved by a lot of people."

"Not really, yeah."

"Great."

The pain coming from her hand wasn't that bad after all.

---

Officer Jing was not in the best of moods. When they had received the call about the trouble caused by a couple of Triad thugs down in downtown, he assumed it would be a good occasion to collect the Triad's 'get out of jail' contribution. They arrived after a couple of minutes, just enough for the Triad guys to finish whatever they were doing, and found himself at what looked to have been the scene of a flash tornado. Two stores were destroyed, the street was in pieces, the Triad car was wrecked and the three scums were badly hurt. Zolt was not going to be pleased with that, not one bit. Then, when he tried to arrest the waterbender responsible for the destruction, he was knocked down by her giant dog-bear and she ran away with her accomplice. Probably the earthbender responsible for the street's state, even if she wore black rather than green. He and his men ran after them and he definitely felt one of his wires grab something at one point. Probably the accomplice. But he was then suddenly dragged forward and had his line cut, sending him crashing into one of the city's rivers. Then after having finally caught them with the airship and brought them back to headquarters, Bei Fong simply took the waterbender away and forbade him to approach her, leaving him with only the earthbender to interrogate without any explanation. Let's just say it didn't help his already shitty mood.

As he was making his way to the cell they had put the earthbender in, he was reviewing what little info they had about her. She had red hair, green eyes, a pretty face, was dressed almost completely in black clothes, had a strange sword with her, 'A sword, really, pfu, as if everyone didn't already know they were useless against metalbenders.', many little pointy lead cylinders and some strange hair dryer. In short, she was a complete mystery to everyone and Jing didn't like mysteries, not at all. He entered the cell with a classic angry police face, dropping on the chair facing her and faking to read her file while really observing her. It was the usual tactic they used to make the criminals crack, putting tension on them and so on until they start confessing. But here, it was all wrong. Each time he raised his sight from the papers in his hands, he found two piercing green eyes fixing him. It was as if they were gazing at his very soul, never flinching or even moving. He couldn't even sustain her stare, always diverting his eyes first. And if that wasn't enough, he could feel a headache slowly growing, like as if someone was hitting his helmet with a hammer. In the end, angry and exhausted, he broke the silence first.

"So miss, what's your name?"

She didn't answer, making Jing's headache and anger grow. He wasn't used to lowly scums giving him attitude.

"Hey, I said..."

"Officer Jing, how much do the Triads pay you to assure their members protection?"

He slammed his hands against the table.

"What!" 'Five thousand yuans a month.'

"Thanks for your answer. Now, where are my weapons and things?"

"Now wait a minute you, I never answere..." 'Confiscated evidence room.'

"Of course. Is this file all you have on me?"

Jing's headache was the worst he had ever had and the fact that he couldn't even look the girl in the eyes didn't help. She had progressively passed from pretty face to real beauty to goddess to terrifying goddess of flames. Her hair seemed to be ablaze, framing her face in red and gold. Her eyes were fixed on him, never moving and seeing his very thoughts. The air in the room had become hot and hard to breathe, and he couldn't even cough, immobilized as he was under her gaze. In fact, right now as she was looking through him, he couldn't even imagine lying to her.

"Yes madam."

"Do you have the key to the confiscated evidence room?"

"Yes madam."

"Stand up."

He stood up, incapable to disobey. On the other side of the table, the goddess rose too, approaching and standing in front of him so that he was forced to look her into the eyes. They were terrible and magnificent at the same time, two blazing vortexes of pure power and energy, pulsating with lightings and silvery blue lights.

"From now on, you work for me. I want to know everything that happens and is of any interest. Anything about the Triads, the police, the Equalists, strange murders, madmen, I want to know. Understood?"

"Yes madam."

"And if you ever even think about betraying me..."

Before he could even think an answer, his left hand erupted in pain as if it was melting. Which was not far from the truth. A white fire was covering the back of his hand, eating the flesh away and leaving a black carbonized mark in the form of a large strange letter, a capital I.

"... I will not simply kill you, I will kill your girlfriend, the one with the red scarf who likes lemon cakes, I will torture you both to the point you will consider death a relief. I will make you regret to have even met her, to have even been born. Am I clear?"

Jing was on the ground, panting in pain.

"Yes, yes madam."

"Good. But if you serve me well."

Instantly, the pain disappeared. Replaced by a fresh cooling sensation.

"Not only will you keep the Triad money, I will even pay you and give you a gift beyond your wildest imagination. Now get up."

Jing got on his feet, massaging his still marked hand. There was fear and anger in his eyes but he had enough intelligence to understand that the girl who had just casually burned his hand and threaten him of death was something way more scary than Zolt would ever be. His head lowered, he walked up to the door and was about to open it when he remembered a detail.

"What about the file?"

"What file?" Damnit, even her smiles were scary.

"The file." He turned toward the table, only to find a small pile of ashes where the papers previously were.

"Oh."

"Yes, now let's go. I've fallen behind on my little project with all of that."

---

Kali descended the stairs of the police headquarters, one of the only buildings that partially met the Inquisitor's size expectation, accompanied by her new informant and absentmindedly scratching the fading scar on her left hand. Using the energy of the Warp to heal one's flesh wasn't Kali greatest or favorite ability but it had its uses.

"Jing."

"Yes?"

"What happened to the person who was with me?"

"I don't know, the chief took her away for a personal interrogation."

"Hmm, when you get news, you know what to do."

"Where do I send them?"

Kali didn't answer as a single high pitched scream pierced the air a moment before Solomon landed on Kali's extended arm, surprising the metalbender. He was even more surprised when he saw that one of the bird's eyes was a metal contraption with a red glowing light.

"Wh... what?"

Kali grinned at him. "Don't ask too much questions Jing, it will get you killed. And for contacting me, you already know where and why."

It was true; Kali had implanted the information in his mind. She had also implanted a bashing headache each time he would have the itch to talk about her to someone else but she wasn't going to tell him that.

"Good day officer."

When she finally came back to the room around noon, Lilith was hectic. She almost jumped at the Inquisitor when she entered.

"Where were you?"

"Talking with the Avatar."

"What?" A look of disbelief and confusion appeared on her face.

"Yes and honestly, if those are your standards for planetary peacekeeping, it explains a lot about this place."

"What do you mean it explains a lot?" She pouted at the indirect insult.

"You'll understand some day. Anyway, I also made a trip with her that ended in a police cell."

"Really? How'd you get out?"

"I simply convinced an officer to let me go."

"As simple as that?"

"Yes. I also convinced him to give us any information we want and he has."

Lilith just looked at Kali, a dumbfounded look on her face.

"Psychic powers are an advantage in these situations I admit. Now, you, I expect that you continued with the exercises, yes?"

Suddenly, the previously angry looking black eyes of Lilith were filled with dread.

"Well, you see, I was really preoccupied with..."

"No dinner." Kali grinned like a cat.

"What?"

"No dinner for you today. And if you don't start immediately with those exercises you're not getting supper either."

The young girl stood immobile for an instant.

"What are you waiting for, go!"

That got her to move.

The rest of the day passed without any other major incident, save for one minor. Lilith was in the middle of meditating, having finally managed to ignore her physical body and the many sounds of the room when some asshole in the corridor started talking about the pro-bending competition and the team he was supporting. She tried to ignore it for several minutes but the guy just wouldn't shut up about it. Slowly, she felt her frustration and anger build up inside her, each of the man's words striking at her nerves like needles until she simply couldn't bear it any longer.

"Hey! Jackass! Shut up!"

She opened her eyes to find Kali's face two centimetres away from hers. Surprised, she jumped backward.

"What, what I do?"

Like every time she looked into Kali's eyes when they were filled with power, her heart's tempo went crazy. She felt the temperature of her face rise as the Inquisitor leaned over her.

"There was no one talking."

"What?" Of course there was.

"No, and he was two floors below us."

Lilith stayed silent, absorbing what she had said and decoding their meaning.

"You mean..."

"Yes. You read his thoughts."

"I did? I did!" She felt exalted, she had just read the thoughts of another person. Then, she felt a little terrified. She had just read the thoughts of another person.

"Don't be scared. You will learn to control it and protect your own mind. Now come, time to eat. You earned your supper."

She extended her hand, lifting the aspirant from the ground.

"Soon, we will be able to pass to the hard part of the training."

The look of horror on Lilith's face was so funny, Kali simply bursted out laughing.

---

The Fifth day.

It was around noon while they were eating, interrupted by a really interesting conversation.

"Kali?"

"Yes?"

"Are you an alien?"

The Inquisitor almost choked when she heard that.

"Lilith, really, I like you. But if you call me an Emperor damned Xeno one more time I will rip your eyes out with a spoon."

"Woah, sorry. It's just, you're obviously not from around here and by around here I mean the world."

"Really, what gave it away?" Kali was smiling, the amusement quite apparent in her voice. 'Took you long enough to ask.'

"Gezz, where to start. There's the way you dress, the fact that you walk around armed, and that your eagle's eye is a freaking metal one or maybe just that your have some super freaky power. By the way, how come no one has stopped you from your weapons?"

Kali took the time to finish her bite before answering, thinking.

"You're right in a way. I do not come from this planet but I can assure you that I am human. And as for the weapons, it's simply a question of assurance. Most people are weak and when they see someone confident they tend to shut up and let them do whatever they are doing."

"So, if you are not from this p-planet..." She stuttered a little on the word. "... where are you from?"

"From the Imperium."

"The what?"

"The Imperium. Founded more than ten millennia ago by the God-Emperor, the grand empire of Humanity spans the galaxy and millions of worlds. Uniting untold billions of humans under its banner, it is an empire in eternal war with those that want to see it destroyed."

"Okay." Lilith's face was the image of calmness; her mind on the other hand was like a volcano at the moment. Still, Kali could sense that her mental defenses were slowly growing. Passing from null to paper thin, good progress for only five days of training.

"I see that you have many more questions. Let me tell you the history of the Imperium before asking them, okay."

"Is it a story of honour, courage, friendship and love?"

"Yes. Under a heavy layer of abominable treasons, countless horrendous sacrifices and a constant struggle for survival that is but, in essence, yes."

And with those words Kali began to tell the bloody and long history of Humanity since its beginning on Holy Terra up to M41. She spared the girl no details, even the goriest and inhumane ones. The three wars of Armageddon, the thirteen crusades of Failbadon, the Tyrannids, the Necrons, the Orks, Chaos, and the Horus Heresy. So many wars and so many enemies. Sometimes, it feels like they are the only things on the Imperium, wars and the enemies fighting in them. That and the mountains of bodies that are grinded between the rusted gears of the Imperial war machine. She told the girl of the Imperium, its organization, the many worlds she had visited, the enemies she had fought, the horrors she had seen, the people she had saved, those she couldn't save, those she had killed, those she had killed slowly. At many points, Lilith began to sob uncontrollably and shiver as Kali was describing her many fights against Chaos worshipers and cultists. There was the Agri world Opal III where a group of Khorne berserkers had replaced the fields of wheat with fields of impaled humans. 90% of the planet's population, men women and children had been slain in the name of the God of blood. The Shrine world of Zalaria, who saw fifty percent of its population infected by a Warp plague. It is said that one can still smell the odour of burning flesh hanging in the air, the result of the Holy purification brought by the local Sororitas Commandery on the fallen. Kali, herself, mostly remembered the massive burn she had gotten from firing a heavy-flamer almost continually for two weeks at the endless horde of zombies.

When Kali finished talking, almost three hours had passed. Lilith was sitting silently on the bed, reflecting about the story Kali had just told her. From anyone else, she would have laughed and put that person in the crazy category. But from her, the scary red haired woman with all the strange powers. She wasn't the kind to tell stupid stories or lie, not that kind at least. That meant that there was no other way for the story to be anything but the truth. Which was unfortunate, because it meant that the universe was now crazier and more dangerous by a thousand fold compared to this morning. In fact, she almost wished that Kali's story was false so that she wouldn't be so scared shitless. Lilith could still feel the taste of bile that had burned her throat when Kali had explained to her in detail her march through a village of cannibals.

"Well, that explains why you're so violent."

Kali lifted her head from the multiple powders aligned in front of her, turning toward Lilith.

"Because if you weren't you would have died a long time ago." Lilith added.

"Mostly, yes."

Lilith sighed.

"Why do I feel I would have been better off not knowing anything about this?"

"Because it's right. Knowledge is a double edged weapon and fighting the Enemies of Humanity is not work for the coward or the sane."

"So you admit you're insane?" Said Lilith with a smirk.

"Of course, any sane human being would have killed himself a long time ago."

Lilith nodded. "The worse thing is, after all that you have told me, I think you are right."

"And here you are, still alive after having seen a demon."

Lilith couldn't repress a shudder when she heard Kali say that.

"So, how insane am I?" Her voice was but a faint murmur.

"Not too much. You still have enough sanity to doubt your choice of going on. Don't worry though; I'll fix that soon enough." That made her smile a little. 'But you're not gonna like one bit.'

A little silence latter, she spoke again.

"How do you do it?"

"What? Kill people?"

"No, well, yes, also but I meant how do you continue to fight each day knowing that for every problem you solve, ten appear somewhere else on the... galaxy." She still had a little trouble with the concept of the galaxy being so big and so full of people.

"Most Inquisitors have a deep faith in the God-Emperor and believe it is their sacred duty to protect Humanity until His return. Most also have a deep hatred of Chaos in all of its forms and fight it in any way they can. Then, there are a lot of other reasons that varies from one individual to the other. Me, well, I have faith, in my own way. I have seen too many times what beliefs and will can accomplish to not have it in some form and the Emperor is the closest thing Humanity has had as a benevolent god. Even if having read the Imperial Truth has given me a different perspective, I still believe that, in some way, some part of him watches over us. Though, the journal of a certain commissar has also taught me that the safest way to stay alive is still to make sure that the Emperor doesn't have to help you. It distracts him from the bigger things. As for the hate against Chaos, oh yes, that, I have in spades. The Imperium is not perfect but Chaos, no, Chaos is a maelstrom of death, destruction and madness. The only thing it brings is pain and sadness and each victory I make against it means one less person who will get hurt, one less kid losing his parents, one less city being destroyed, one less planet being exterminated. We are nothing but pawns for the Chaos Gods and every occasion I have to spit in their eye and prove that Humanity is not a race of weak slaves, I will gladly take." She took a second to breathe and collect her thoughts. "And as for personal reasons. So that the sacrifice of my friends was not in vain, so that my soul is not eaten by a freaking demon, to prove I can make a difference."

Lilith looked into Kali's eyes, two artificial green irises that radiated power.

"And did you?"

Kali raised herself from her chairgaze and didn't flinch but her face suddenly bore a great smile.

"One day, on some feudal planet I can't even remember the name; I saved a bunch of little girls from a Slaanesh cult. Wasn't really an exceptional thing, a simple swipe and clean. But after the attack, I don't know how but I found myself sitting on the top of a ruined tower with one of the saved girls. She was maybe nine or ten with dirty hair that had once been golden and tired deep blue eyes. That I remember. We both sat there in silence, simply watching the sunset on the endless forest of red and blue trees that was surrounding the tower. It was as if the world had become an ocean with waves of flames. I shared what was left of my ration with her, not much really, cold grox meat, a little water, some bread, but I still think it was one of the best meals I ever had. And once the sun had disappeared, we watched the two moons of the planet slowly rise over the horizon. It was then she extracted something from her pocket, it was a little white flower, and the moment the moonlight touched it, it changed to a silvery ruby red. She handed it to me and simply said: Thank miss, Miss Inquisitor." Kali paused for a moment, gently smiling at the memory. "For this girl, I made a difference."

Lilith turned her head away, trying to hide the small tears that were rolling down her cheeks.

"Hey, you're not supposed to cry when it's a happy story."

"I'm not crying." She said while sweeping away drops of salt water from her face.

"Mind reading, remember."

"Shut up okay." She sniffed and raised her head. "What happened after that?"

"She joined the Adepta Sororitast, the Order Hospitaller in fact. As for the flower..." Kali unscrewed the bottom of the sword that never left her side, extracting a little crystal that contained the ruby red flower. "I still have it with me every time I fight."

They both smiled, enjoying the little moment of peace until Kali sighed and rose from the bed.

"Enough with the peace, enemies are coming our way."

"Huh?"

"Three people are climbing the east wall and coming for the window. Solomon saw them. I guess the TTT found out who killed their men and now they want payback. Take this." She threw her chainknife at Lilith.

"What's this?" It looked like a knife but with metal teeth along the blade, scary. And heavy, seriously what was this knife made of?

"Chainknife. Press the trigger on the handle when you use it."

She did and the teeth suddenly began to swirl rapidly around the weapon with a furious roar. The weapon had just passed from scary looking to vicious looking.

"The fuck!"

"Nice. Keep your fingers clear of the teeth and everything should be fine. Now go block the door and stick that inside anyone who tries to pass through."

It took Kali only a couple of instants to organize the defense of the room. But then again, it is not that hard to organize the defense of a ten by twenty meter room that basically only contains two beds, a table with two chairs, a workbench, a sofa and a big shelf. Of course there was other little rooms attached to the main one but they didn't have any windows on the east side while the chamber had two. Also, the floor was in hard wood with a heavy green carpet, the walls were red and the ceiling was bare, if anyone cares. The table and chairs had been put against the main door, the couch against one of the windows and the shelf had been placed just beside the other window with Kali leaning against it. Her Carnodon in her left hand, she was waiting for the first of the assailants to pass the window. She had unlocked it but not opened it; it would have been way too obvious otherwise. Soon, she heard tapping against the glass and the sound of fingers pushing upward the wooden frame. Then, the creaking of the window being lifted and of someone sliding inside. Really, these assassins were as loud as a pack of orks; she could have heard them from the other side of the building.

In short, she spinned on her feet, coming right in front of a young man, maybe seventeen, half in half out of the room and really surprised to find a six foot tall woman in front of him all of a sudden. He didn't have time to voice his surprise though, before a hand gripped him by the collar and threw him on the bed with enough force to stun him briefly. Protests were heard from below the window when he was pulled inside, but a shelf slid in front of it shutting them up. Back on the bed, the boy in shoddy clothes tried to get back on his feet only to be stopped by a supersonic lead bullet shot just between his legs.

"You, five seconds to find a reason for me not to kill you. Five, four, three, tw..."

"Noooo! Stop!"

Lilith had thrown herself in front of Kali's gun, waving her hands and shaking her head left and right.

"Don't shoot!"

Then, something surprising happened when the boy jumped, well, bumbled in front of her. Covering her with his body.

"Don't hurt Lilith!"

Only for Lilith to put him back behind her and say almost the same thing.

"Don't hurt-" 'Zhao'

Now, it could probably have gone longer, but Kali isn't one who likes to play along cliché. Pressing the trigger once more with her gun pointed upward, she took control of the situation.

"Both of you shut up!"

They stiffened immediately.

"You, Zhao, I guess you are a friend of Lilith coming here to save her. Right?"

"Uh, yes."

"Okay. Lilith, I suppose you have completely forgotten to inform your friends about the situation here and have also forgotten to inform me about you having friends crazy enough to climb a motel wall in the middle of the afternoon and assault us."

"Yeah... sorry."

Kali sighed before putting her gun back into her holster and turning away from the duo.

"Well, I have some things to pick up. I should be back in around an hour so use this time for your reunion talk, bring back your other friends and if you fuck, I don't care as long as it isn't in my bed. Goodtime."

Facing away from them, she didn't see their faces turning an interesting shade of intense red but she did feel the embarrassment and numerous images that stormed their minds. Very amusing.

---

When she came back, the room had been put back into its usual state and the entire gang was sitting around in the room. Of course, there was Lilith who was seated on the couch, mostly dressed in the black clothes Kali had gotten her. She had black pants, a black camisole, and an open white shirt that she insisted on wearing despite Kali's protests, a pair of red shoes and a black leather wristband with pentagrammic runes that Kali had forbidden her to take off under penalty of death. Her dark hair had been cut pretty short, giving her some sort of tomboy look. On the same vein, her face lines were rough but well defined, a result of her life and one that the training only contributed to enhance. Combined with her tired small black eyes, she gave away the vibe and look of some small feral cat. Now, if only she could convince her to start bearing some weapons. Beside her was Zhao. He wore some dirty green pants, no shoes and a brown t-shirt. On most people, they would have given away a feeling of poverty and pity but on him they only gave a feel of strength. Not really the usual strength as in physically strong, though he had a muscular frame that indicated a certain raw force, but more in the sense of a strong mind, of determination, that he would go on through anything thrown at him. Most of this feeling was coming from his face. It wasn't especially rough or cut with a knife but it was solid. Mostly, it's his eyes, calm brown eyes that examined each situation with attention, always focused on the present and the task at hand. Kali had seen the same look on factory workers, the kind who made the best guardsman. Yes maybe there was something she could do with him, even if right now Kali largely saw doubt in his eyes. Sitting, well, more down on the bed was maybe a fifteen or sixteen year old girl with, again, dark hair. Wearing a pair of black pants, yes, a fire red camisole, a pair of dark boots and a red glove with no fingers on the right hand, she was apparently testing the springs of the bed and was the only one who didn't look at her with only doubt and suspicion but also curiosity. Though, since she was intensely eyeing Solomon, it might not have been her she was curious about. She also had the unique psychic signature corresponding to a bender and if she could trust the color coding these people had devised as to make themselves more easily shootable, she was of the fire kind. With her wild long horse tail, big black hair and twisted smile, she gave off the image of a wild card. A third one was looking over her workbench, currently protected by Solomon, and was wearing a bluish jacket and pants. From him, she could feel more curiosity than doubt. Lastly, Kali could feel the loyalty toward Zhao and distrust of her from the three in the room.

She turned her head toward Lilith.

"So I guess you have told them what has happened."

"Yes."

"And a lot of what I told you."

"Yes."

"And none believed you."

They all answered.

Zhao. "No."

The wild card. "Nope."

Blue man. "Not really."

'Well that's a shame.' They all jumped, except Lilith that is. In fact, Kali even sensed her mind harden a little. Good.

"How did you do that?" It was blue boy who spoke first.

"I believe Lilith has already told you that."

"And how can you expect anyone to believe you." Now it was Zhao's turn.

"I can melt your brain if you want more proof."

"Watch out Zhao, she's capable of doing it." Lilith said.

"Yes I am, but I would rather not have to hide a body today so, now that you know that Lilith is in no danger, why are you still here?"

There was a little moment of silence that was broken by the wild one.

"Well, since you really come from space and a super violent empire always at war, I want in."

The three teenagers turned toward her in surprise.

"Azula!" They shouted.

"What? We all thought the same thing."

"Stop" Kali wasn't going to let this evolve into some kind of juvenile drama. "And wait, from what I have read Azula was the name of the older sister of the previous ruler of the Firenation and it apparently wasn't a common name. Care to explain?"

"What do I get?" Her grin was impressive in its deviousness.

"Me not raping your mind..." Her smile faded. "... and a job."

Her smile grew back while the face of everyone in the room except for Kali's decomposed.

"I didn't like the name my parents gave me and I like villains, seemed right."

"Okay, and what's your real name?"

"Secret." 'Don't think about it, don't think about it.'

"Work with me, you're hired." 'Funny.'

"Wait! Wait! What?" These were Lilith's words, then Zhao and then the blue guy, quick mind reading, Hui.

"Come on Zhao, we were all thinking it." Azula raised her eyes to the sky.

"Maybe. But that's no reason for throwing yourself at her."

"There is a job in it for you too Zhao, in fact I have a job offer for a lot of people. As long as they are not afraid of extreme death, turning insane, or life and death situations."

"And that's supposed to interest us?"

"Well, there is also a lot of cash, adrenaline and high-tech weapons."

"Hell yeah!"

"Thanks Azula."

"You're not helping Azu." It was Hui who spoke this time, making her wince.

"Pfu, you're the one who's talking. You're looking at her stuff like you want to eat it."

"I don't."

"So you say while leaning over her workbench."

He sprung back at the mention of his position. Not so subtly walking away from the pile of junk and pieces that was on top of the bench.

Before he could respond or Azula could make another snarky comment though, Zhao brought the conversation back on track.

"Everyone shut up. Hui you were totally fawning and Azula stop that." The fact that they didn't even respond to that and simply obeyed described their relation pretty well. As she was thinking, sergeant material.

"Yes, this conversation was going nowhere."

"Okay, Inquisitor... Kali, is that right?"

"Yes." From then on, it was mostly her and Zhao who talked.

"It's true that you aren't hurting Lilith or holding her here. Also, apparently the crazy story you have told her is true, for now. I still don't know if all of this stuff about a space empire of hell is true but you certainly have some weird power. If you offer jobs as well, I guess we'll trust you for now."

"Great." 'Not that he had any choice anyway, but still, it's nice to have people trusting you. Even if it's totally naive of him.'

"So, what do you offer exactly?"

"I need watchers. People who know the tunnels and passages under the city like the back of their hand and can report to me anything of interest."

"Like what? The Equalists?"

"More like eviscerated bodies, people with weird mutations or powers, places that suddenly got blocked off. These kinds of things."

"You know, it's not really common around here, those kinds of things." He visibly struggled a little with the idea of eviscerated bodies and mutation.

"For now, but I feel they will soon become."

That line of thought was based on Kali's speculation that her arrival might have created a small crack in the protection of the planet and the Warp storm. She had already sensed many weaknesses on the ward of the planet, though without any references from before her arrival she couldn't precisely tell if it was a normal state of the barrier or had been caused by her. Also, this world seems to have had a pretty low and disparate population for a very long time with only one or two cities having more than 100 000 inhabitants and their industrial revolution being less than a hundred years old. The sudden increase of human minds could have had an eroding effect on the Ward and began to attract daemons. Of course, there was no way to be sure of that before the problems start arising so the only thing she could do for now was to wait and watch for the corpses to start piling up.

"That's all?" There was a mix of disappointment and relief in his voice.

"For now, yes. Depending on how the situation evolves from now and if you survive long enough and keep some part of your sanity, well, then we will find something else."

"Okay. How much do you pay?"

"The equivalent of a factory worker's salary with a bonus if you find anything."

"That's a lot for simple surveillance."

"I also want a full map of the Underground, a description of the criminal network, the main refugee groups, their leaders, the police presence and anything even remotely interesting."

"Oh, that's a lot more than surveillance."

"For now, yes. Is there anything else you want to discuss because if not, I have other matters to attend to."

"No, it's okay."

"Then, we have a deal." She extended her hand and he shook it.

"Yeah."

"Perfect." She reached into her coat pocket, extracting the exact amount of yuans equivalent to three workers monthly salary before throwing them at her new employees. They all reacted in their own way, Zhao simply looked at the papers before putting them in his pocket, Hui counted it in silence and then pocketed it, finally, Azula started to play with them with an: "Oh yeah, money" and shoved it in her bra.

"See you soon with results." Kali steped out of the door path.

They all left soon after that, Azula being the only one leaving only a slightly upset Lilith and a content Inquisitor behind.

"You got my knife?" Kali said as she was looking at her workbench. She had hidden all of the important weapons or technology she had and the various pieces on the wooden surface were useless to anyone not already knowing what to do with them but better be safe.

"Yeah, I got your freaky knife."

She rose from the sofa and violently dropped it on the bench.

"Hum, my great powers tell me you are upset. Why?"

"Why don't I get paid?"

Kali was taken aback for a second.

"You want money?"

"No! Well, yes. But no. I just, why they get paid and not me."

"Because I am training you. You aren't working for me in any way or helping at all, in fact you are a drain of resources and time. That's why you aren't getting any money."

It calmed her a little.

"Once your training is over, we will discuss about you getting money. But, for now, if you want something, just ask. Okay."

"Okay."

"Great, now get prepared."

"Huh?"

"This morning I got a letter. You, as my sister, and I are invited to the pro-bending match of tonight. A gift from Asami Sato."

"Really?"

"Yes. Seriously you should know by now that I don't lie about things like that. Now, again, get prepared. And, by the way, all this time we are losing on your training will not be forgotten."

"Oww, damnit."

---

The pro-bending stadium had some charm, Kali could give it that. In fact, it reminded her of some small Imperial Governor's palace she had visited long ago. The fact that she had put a bullet through the aforementioned Governor's head removed nothing from the memory. Built on a stilt base which was itself standing on small peninsula, the large building was connected to the city by a narrow path. Meaning that it was probably built before the popularization of the Satomobile, unless having to walk half a mile on an open-top wooden bridge was one of the traditions of this sport. Four towers, one at each corner, and a large rectangular structure of rooms, pathways, gyms and other things needed to run such a building were surrounding the proper stadium and the building on itself was lit up by powerful spotlights that, combined with the yellow painted wall, gave the illusion the outside was made of pure gold. Even more impressive, the massive circular arena had an immense glass roof with no visible supports, even if it was a little pointless when at night since there was no light to let in and the lights inside hid the sky, overlooking the playing field and the spectator's benches below. To enter this massive stadium, one had to pass through a ten meters high entrance with large golden doors bearing the symbols of pro-bending, then, from there, navigate your way through a labyrinth of small passages, stairs, private lodges and spectator seats. That was the end of the easy part. God-Emperor help you if you want to go grab a snack between the matches or go to the bathroom or exit quickly or find a particular room. In the end though, even if Kali had discovered these details way before actually coming to the building by simply, that alone upset her greatly, acquiring the public blueprint of the structure, it had been far from easy to find Asami's lodge. Hell, even entering the damn thing had been a problem.

---

Kali felt the powerful energy of the crowd the moment they crossed the large gate's threshold as a massive wave of emotions brushed over her mind protections. At her side, Lilith felt it too, but, unaccustomed to the psychic effect of a large concentration of overexcited human minds, many even being low-end psykers, reacted much more violently. She dropped on her knees, holding her head between her hands and struggling to understand why there was a siren blasting from inside her skull while at the same time trying to hold the contents of her stomach in.

"UGGHAARGH! What's happening!"

Kali bent down, putting her hand on Lilith's shoulder.

"Calm down Lilith. Simply breathe deep and remember what I taught you."

For a second, the aspirant psyker wanted to punch the Inquisitor. 'Seriously? Breathe down and remember your training, what a load of bullshit.' Fortunately, it was only a brief thought that flashed through her before she began to raise a barrier around her mind. Slowly but surely, the feeling of her brain being crushed between two gold ingots faded away.

"Better?"

"Yeah."

Lilith picked herself up, still feeling a slight pressure against her mind but otherwise fine.

"What was that?"

"You letting your guard down." As they were progressing through the maze of stairs, Kali slapped the back of her apprentice's head. "I told you to keep your protection up at all time. What would you have done if someone had tried to attack you? If a demon had try?"

She gulped. "Sorry."

"Don't be. Just make sure it doesn't happen anymore."

"It never did before." True, she had never been able to hear so many mind before. Yes, she had, involuntarily, read the thoughts of a man and of a couple of others, but it had always been in moments of extreme calm. There, it was as if thousands of voices had started screaming inside her skull, each burying the other and creating a maddening echo that sunk her brain and made any thoughts impossible.

"That's no reason. The point of training is to prepare yourself for things you have never experienced before."

"Sorry."

"I already said I don't care. If you're brain starts to boil, it will be too late for excuses." The Inquisitor sighed. "At least today was a good warning for you." She stated before producing a small white tissue from one of her coat pockets. "Here, take this for your nose."

"My nose?" Lilith's hand reflexively moved up to her face, staining her pair of new leather gloves with a crimson liquid. "What?" Quickly, she grabbed the handkerchief and used it to stop the bleeding.

"Minor side effect. Don't worry about it, unless it becomes non-stop or happens to those around you in a couple of tens of meters."

"Hum, thanks."

"No problem. You remember your role for tonight?"

"Yeah, yeah, why do we need to do that rather than simply telling the truth again?"

"You mean telling her about demons? Or maybe about me or the Imperium which I have only meagre proof of, like the Chaos in fact."

"You could use your powers."

"You almost broke down from seeing one mental image of a daemon; I doubt a highborn like her would react any better."

"I was talking about mind control or something like that."

"Possible, but she has a strong mind, enough so that she would almost certainly notice any deep probing and react the same way you did. Do you want to hold her as I do it?"

"No, no, it's gonna be okay."

"Perfect. Remember, it's also a part of your training."

"Yes, yes, ready."

And with that they entered the reserved VIP seats of Asami Sato.

For Asami, her encounter with the mysterious woman, Kali, had been a welcomed one. Usually, the life of the daughter of one of the richest industrialists of Republic City was one of refined glamor, numerous suitors, formal events, money, motived backstabbing, deceiving friends, honeyed lies and boredom. One of the reasons why she liked the Moonsoon was that nobody important ever went there. So, when she found the black obsessed woman bathing and could not recognize her, she though that, maybe, it would be a somewhat normal conversation not involving any manipulations. Also, she had really interesting hair, red hair in fact; and she had never seen anyone with that before. The conversation had started and, well, at first, she thought she was a little stupid, damn, she knew almost nothing of the city, of Future Industries, of the world, and even her vocabulary was a little limited. But, despite that, the look in her weird eyes, the way she spoke, her attitude. It all attested to a sharp intelligence. Then, strangely, the more and more they were talking, the more and more her speech improved. A word she had difficulty understanding, a minute later she could use near perfectly. The weirdness didn't stopped there for if all of her questions seemed innocent at first, after the fact Asami had realized she had revealed far more than she had intended to. She just couldn't explain why. In the end though, all of that was eclipsed by her arm. A freaking metal arm. Not just a simple piece of metal, no, an arm that replicated every movement with a level of precision equal or even, maybe, she had almost turned crazy thinking about it, surpassing those of a real arm.

Now, she was well intended into using some of the many skills she had learned from her father and previous betrayals to learn everything she could from this walking mystery. Seriously, nobody knew anything about her and even less about her arm. It could have been a secret, but the attitude of the girl didn't really point to that. More that she seemed surprised that Asami didn't know of it and had teased her with the knowledge. It would be a long shot, but tonight would be the begining of her learning all of her secrets. As for the fact there was also a pro-bending match tonight. Well, no problem with mixing business and pleasure a little after all.

She heard the door being opened, rose from her chair and, 'shit', black obsessed might have been an understatement after all. Kali was filling the door almost in its entirety, blocking the light and framing her in shadows. Yet, the spots from the stadium revealed her and her outfit in all of their strange grandeur. She was wearing a pair of heavy leather black boots that reached the knees, with steel toes which had double headed bird engraved into them and a menacing white skull at the knee with a gold letter I incrusted atop it. Her pants were also in the same shades of black but were partially covered by a large red sash and a strong belt from which her sword hanged as well as a strange object that reminded Asami of a small hairdryer and was positioned in front of her left leg. Aligned on the belt were small lead cones with more even skulls carved into them. On her torso, she was wearing a coal corset that looked strong enough to act as armor over a deep red shirt. The cuff were large, covering around half of her forearm and the leather protection she also had under it, with sleeve buttons in the form of even more ominous silver skulls. As well, the leather protection had decoration in the form of ruby runes surrounding a big steel I. Then, cladding all of her outfit was an intimidating black leather coat, or at least she though it was leather, which had all of its buttons in the form of black skulls with embedded red jewels as eyes, golden Aquilas on the wrist and a large one around the collar whose wing tip acted as the coat's highest straps. Both of her hands were covered with dark red gloves that had heavy steel stylish skulls at the knuckles and small Aquila on the back of it. Around her right finger was a small ring in the form of an onyx skull with red eyes while hanging on her chest was a medallion in the form, again, of the mysterious I and skull, all in gold and ivory. Finally, she had a dark brown wide-brimmed hat with the skull and I motif in onyx and gold pinned at the front. In short, her outfit could be described with one word: grim.

That was already a shock in itself, especially when one is more accustomed to the comparatively plane Republic City clothing style. Then, Kali stepped in and revealed the person accompanying her, her sister. She also wore boots but in a more simple style in that they only came up to a little over half of her legs and was of a simply sombre green rather than black. Her pants were also of a simple brown, though the tissue was solid and of high quality. Her top on the other hand. It looked a lot like a military vest but it opened in the front in two flaps that went down to her knees. Deep black with golden buttons in the form of square crosses, the piece of clothing gave away a feeling of sturdiness and discipline while staying kinda sombre. 'Kinda' because the collar and cuff still had the menacing skulls. Like Kali, she also covered her hand with vermilion gloves. She too was also wearing a belt holding a weapon, a large dented knife it looked like, but was lacking the hat of her older sister. In the end, it looked like a simpler version of what Kali was wearing but retained a menacing look.

This sudden double apparition left her agasp, so much in fact that she had to force her mouth to close and shook herself out of her shocked state. That's when she realized that Kali's hand was hanging in front of her.

"Oh, eh... hi." Quickly, she raised hers and shook Kali's.

"Hi." Kali's iron grip, quite literally, clenched around Asami's lightly gloved hand.

"Nice clothing."

"Thanks, I was afraid it was too simple for the occasion."

Asami laughed at the joke, before realising that it wasn't one.

"Oh, well, no, it is quite sufficient." 'Look more complicate than the earth queen robes. But then, she hasn't a tent of Kali presence."

"Good. Now, let me present you my sister, Shino."

The girl in the military clothing stepped up and Asami already felt a difference. Where Kali was a tall fire hair savage kind of beauty with a green gaze strong enough to melt steel, her sister had a more childish look with her short and unkept dark hair, a wide smile and eager deep black eyes. A first impression that clashed with the sharp line of her face, her thin body and the tiredness she could see behind her eyes. These two were definitely a strange duo, and more important, way more interesting than the usual fake admirer. But there was a little thing that bothered her.

"You know, you don't really look like sisters"

"Yeah, people say that often." Kali's voice came from behind Asami, as the Inquisitor had moved toward the VIP balcony guard-rail.

"It's because my parents adopted her." Shino answered.

"Really?"

"Yes, it's because you were so insupportable that they needed a big sister to kick your ass." Asami could hear amusement in Kali's voice.

"Hey, that's so not true!"

"You bet it is."

Shino's replies, which would have certainly been great if one had heard it, was drowned out under the cheer of the crowd. Immediately, Asami and Shino both rushed to Kali's side, looking intensely at the highly lit up arena. The two exited girl suddenly were inebriated with excitation.

"It's starting!"

All the spots were now focused on the playfield and the micro wielding annunciator who had just rose from the ground on a platform in the middle of the arena.

"Introducing the Fire-Ferrets!"

His words rang throughout the stadium, gaining even more energy as it mixed with the cheer of the crowd. At the rightmost end of the ring, a light shined on three men wearing red protection over a beige uniform and waving weakly at the spectators.

"And their adversaries, the Golden Temple Tigerdillos!"

As for the first team but on the other side of the playfield, three other men dresses in shades of brown uniforms appeared and made their way to the middle of the ring.

Asami had been following the first team since their beginning, her admiration of them only grew with each of their victories.

"Who are they?"

Her head twisted toward the young Shino.

"You don't know them?"

"Not really. I only ever have heard pro-bending at the radio and not regularly."

"Oh, so you aren't from Republic City?"

It took her a weird second to answer with a slight twitch.

"No, I was born in the Fire nation."

'Sure seems like their style idea.' "Okay, then, the red ones are the most recent team, they have had a streak of hard won victories against every team they faced. Those fighting them come from Tu Zin and are a really strong pro-bender team."

The radio broadcaster began to describe the match both for the present spectators and the many radio listeners throughout the world.

"The rookie ferrets came from out of nowhere and made it further than anyone could expect this season, but tonight, they face their toughest test yet folks."

"Told you."

"And they're off!" The announcer shouted.

Kali watched the match unravelling under her and the expression of both Asami and Lilith becoming more and more frantic and excited. It reminded her of the trance some people entered during gladiator matches she had had the enjoyment of watching, without the blood lust, simple lust and death that is. Though, gladiators die way less often than people expect, the point is to make a spectacle not simple murder after all. But back to the pro-bending. The two teams were giving all they had, with a clear advantage for the Golden Temple Tigerdillos. Using stone disks, water or fire, they were trying to push their opponents back or, with luck, throw them out of the ring under the vocal cheer of the crowd. For Kali, it was a really good occasion to learn more about the way their 'bending' worked. First thing, if concentrated, they could throw many attacks in a rapid succession, as fast as they could punch for the firebender, kick for the waterbender and a combination of both for the earthbender. It was impressive, the speed at least, the power, less so. The disks shattered into dust at the merest impact, though that could be because of their use as sport equipment but then apart from clay maybe she had never seen anything as fragile. The water moved by the bender also lacked speed and density, making being hit by it more or less the equivalent of receiving a hard push. As for fire, she had had hope about it. The rules forbid them to use continuous blasts, but convection and a higher enough temperature could probably set the opponent's clothes on fire. That was the scientific approach. In reality, a fire bolt from a firebender was apparently on the same danger level as a really good punch and not much more dangerous for the skin. Disappointing. Of course, she understood that these were game techniques, not military ones, but it was still a little, well, she had difficulty understanding why everyone was so afraid of people that could have been taken out with only two or four archers working together. Hell, in this city, a simple knife stab from behind and they were down

.

Lilith watched the match with a gleeful joy. As she had said, the only official pro-bending she had 'watched' was on the radio. On the other hand, she had watched lots of unofficial pro-bending, which kinda lacked rules of almost any sort. The rocks used in the underground were broken down cement, ice spikes where considered fair and it wasn't rare for a player to end a match a hair short of being crippled. Good thing the medical services of Republic City were so advanced and free, mostly.

Back to the ring, two members of the red team had just been pushed back a zone.

"Ouch. That's not gonna be easy to recover from." Asami commented.

"Can he make it?" She questioned Asami.

"If he's lucky."

The moment these words had left her mouth, the third member of the red team took a disk to the chest and was thrown back.

"Apparently he's not."

Almost as quickly, the waterbender of the Fire-Ferrets was pushed back over the edge and fell in the water. Fortunately, the two benders left, apparently brothers if the commentator was right, managed to hold on until the end of the round.

Asami used the one minute pause between the rounds to start questioning Kali, turning toward her.

"So, how is your stay in Republic City?"

"Great for now."

"Good. Hey, would you like me to give you a formal tour of the city, you could come visit my father's factory when you have some time?" 'Associate yourself with a exciting even so people remember you in good.'

"Sure, why not." 'Not that exciting by my standard, sorry.'

Below, the second round began, signalled by the powerful roar of the crowd. Instantly, Asami's sight switched to the ring. The match began brutally, the entirety of the red team being pushed one zone back mere seconds after the bell.

"Come on. Go Fire-Ferrets!"

As if they had heard the young heiress, the team began to pound the Golden Temple Tigerdillos. They were tough though and it took many hits and effort to send them back through the zones and win the round.

"Yeah, Fire-Ferrets!" Asami whistled before turning toward the towering figure of Kali.

"You saw that?" Her excited smile vanished when she saw that she wasn't looking at the arena at all but at the player's room.

"Hey, you okay?" Asami asked.

"Yes. Simply looking at her."

"Huh?"

Asami, intrigued, focused to where Kali was looking. Leaning against the rail of the player room was apparently a watertribe girl cheering for the Fire-Ferrets.

"What's with her?" Asami questioned. 'The girlfriend of one of the players maybe?.'

"Simply wondering what would happen if she was to play." Kali responded.

"What do you mean? Is she a pro-bender?"

"Oh." Kali chuckled. "No, I fairly doubt it. More trouble than anything. But if you get the chance, I suggest talking to her."

Asami shrugged and refocused on her interlocutor. 'I can deal with weird.'

"You know what, maybe you should invite Magos? I'm sure he would like to see my father manufactory since he seems to be into enginery."

'He would probably laugh at you before burning your factory down and rebuilt it a hundred times bigger.' "Unfortunately, he is too far away for that."

"Really, where?"

Kali grinned and Shino answered with an exaggerated hand motion. "Spaaccce!"

"Real funny, but seriously?"

"Seriously... I don't know and I have no way of contacting him. Also, two things. Magos is a title and he will be no easier to extract info from than it would be from me."

The bell rang again before Asami could answer and the combined cheering of the spectators and the almost constant observation of the radio broadcaster made continuing the conversation impossible.

"Asouk tumbles, and now he stumbled into his teammate, he and Bolin better untangle quick if they don't want to ooh, too late."

And with that, two third of the Fire-Ferrets were thrown into the water some ten meters down. Kali wondered how many had seen their injuries aggravated by a fall directly into hard water before asking herself if they could even link the two. It was mostly a stupid reflexion and she knew it but it did not stop her from thinking about it. Asami and Lilith, they, were still totally focused on the lone fighting firebender of the Fire-Ferrets who was struggling to win, or was it simply staying alive. They followed each of his movements with passion, cheering as he dodged the barrage of attacks thrown against him with an equal mixture of luck and skills before roaring with the crowd every time one of his blow landed and he sent one of his opponents back and into the water.

"It's a knockout! What a wing-dinger of a hat trick, folks! Mako pulls off the upset of the season, winning the match for the Fire-Ferrets!"

The two girls at Kali's right exploded in screams of joy, victory motions and other things that the victor's supporters are allowed to do. For her part, the Inquisitor contented herself with a light hand clapping.

Feeling slightly exhausted, Asami and Shino fell back on their seats; they had spent almost the entire match standing.

"What a match!" Asami exclaimed.

"Yeah. What now?" Shino asked.

"Oh, it's over for tonight." Asami responded.

"Really?" Lilith or Shino as she was currently known was a little puzzled, underground matches usually lasted around half an hour.

"Waow, and how much did it cost us?"

"Five thousand yuans per VIP seat."

'Shit!' As enjoyable as the stadium matches were, Lilith now knew she probably enjoyed the illegal one way more.

"Tell me, do you have bionics like your sister?"

"No, she doesn't." Kali joined the conversation. "And she doesn't know anything about them so stop trying to extract information from her."

"I wasn't trying." 'Not hard anyway.'

"Come on, give me some credit." Kali's cat smile cut Asami's protest short. "Furthermore, I intend to give you something else tonight."

Now that was interesting. "Oh really, and what would that be?"

Kali extracted rolled sheets from her coat and passed them to the young woman. These were the technical plans of a low-medium performance engine Kali had saved on Solomon's cogitator. In fact, she had saved almost any Imperial blueprint she had come across inside his mind. When she started reading and realised she had the schematics of an engine between her hands, Asami smiled slightly. Then, when she actually began to read the details like power output and fuel consumption, her smile vanished under a blank mask. The engines used by her father's company were simple enough to make, cost effective and efficient. If anyone had brought her plans to say, improve its performance while keeping it the same size or would have improved the fuel consumption by say, 10%, she would have smiled, laugh and hired the person on the spot. The plan Kali had handed her gave the details of an engine that could have been built by someone under a mountain with a pile of scraps, could run on almost anything from gasoline to alcohol passing by cooking oils with a consumption ration and had a power output superior to anything she had ever seen. In fact, she could say that around 90% of the engine propriety had not been imagined by anyone else other than fiction authors and yet, all the details on paper made perfect sense. There was no doubt possible that she was holding the plans of the best engine she had ever seen.

"Interested?" Kali was a little worried, Asami's mind had suddenly went hyper-focused and had blocked any thought. Combined with her lack of expression, it made the Inquisitor worried she would have to offer more. Maybe VTOL or a nuclear power pant would do.

"Kali?"

"Yes?"

"If someone ever comes to you and offered you money to go work with them. Come to me and I will quadruple it, okay."

"I sense you want to hire me."

"Whatever you want." Negotiations be damned, this girl was going to work for her even if it costed her everything.

"It's gonna cost you a lot."

"Not relevant."

"I'm going to need you to restore a complete factory."

"Consider it done."

"Loads of materials."

"Done."

"No questions."

"No problem."

"Murders may happen. Lots of them."

Asami stopped for a second. "Who?"

"Nightmares and daemons"

She looked at Kali's face, the hatred in her voice, the seriousness in her eyes and the absolute confidence that what she was doing was right. There was no humour in her at this instant. She was absolutely serious and, at this instant, Asami was completely convinced that she was telling the truth, no matter how stupid it sounded.

"Okay."

Kali's hand extended and shook Asami's own.

"We're gonna go far together." 'Though I doubt you will like where it's gonna end. '