Author's note: As a special treat for you guys, I am uploading the next few chapters in rapid succession.

Chapter Six: Stirrings

As they traversed toward the center of the city, Zuko was gaining curiosity about the strange weapons the guardsmen had, and seeing this, Amicus offered to give him one of the extras they had retrieved from their fallen comrades. Amicus had already given Zuko and Katara each one of the spare uniforms he had "retrieved" from his fallen comrades, stressing to Zuko that it would be best if the girl had more of herself covered around the men and that since there was two extra he should accept the other uniform. Zuko did so, but he was not about accept any more pitying charity, his pride wouldn't allow it, so he pretended not to want one, but when the sly sergeant offered to teach him how to use it, Zuko accepted. Amicus handed him a bolter, stressing that the lasgun was way too complicated for a beginner to learn and there was no way in *some foreign word which Zuko assumed to be an expletive of the worst kind* that he was going to teach a beginner how to use a plasma gun, those things were known to blow up in the face of even the most experienced wielders and he needed the boy because the girl had already stated she didn't really know where the central hive was. Afterward, he asked what type of weapon Zuko was used wielding, assuming the answer would be pistol, shotgun, or one of the other primitive firing mechanisms, the answer, however, was swords. Amicus blinked his eyes twice and asked if Zuko had indeed said swords to which Zuko replied he had. Astounding! How in the name of the Emperor had these people even survived one week after the Tyranids had landed? No guns? He couldn't fathom it. "How do you protect yourselves?" he asked quizzically half expecting to hear that they had never fought before in their lives. "With swords and bending." was the annoyed reply he received. "What's 'bending'?" Amicus questioned and now it was time for Zuko and Katara to exchange glances, not believing someone could not know what bending was. "Basically, it's like this," Zuko explained as flame spiraled up his arm. "It's when you can control an element, for example, I can firebend and Katara can waterbend." Which she then demonstrated, pulling the water from her water-skin and making it sail through the air. That was the most amazing thing Amicus had ever seen, but of course he hadn't seen the god-Emperor himself. After the shock wore away, he commenced to show Zuko how to fire the bolter, how to reload the bolter, and how to clean it as well. By the end of the day the sergeant had drilled every inner working of the bolter into Zuko's head, and all of this was accomplished while they were still walking.

The foreigners had been welcomed into Ba Sing Se and had set up their strange equipment inside the Earth King's palace, but had only been allowed to do so if the avatar consented. Really, the guardsmen could have wiped out most of the populous and done whatever they wanted, but should the god-Emperor need conscripts in the future they were kept alive and the guardsmen followed their rules. Avatar Aang, as the people called the bald boy, was to oversee their plans, and the guardsmen swore they would allow him to do so, but they soon discovered the Avatar was an unmitigated pacifist, and this would not due. There were sacrifices in every war, this they knew, so why on Cadia had these people elected a pacifist, not to mention young boy, to be their leader? They soon found the solution to their problem when Aang first met Brother Ovidius, and was enthralled by the devout monk's tales of the benevolent god-Emperor.

Zuko felt a weight fall from his shoulders that night as he sat teaching Katara what he had learned about the firing of a bolter. The day of Black Sun was approaching soon, and he had been unsure as to how he was going to be able to combat the vile bugs, even though the eclipse was only eight minutes long, it was more than enough time for the cruel things to overtake him and Katara both. These worries slipped from his mind as he clutched the bolter in his hand, he now had a better way to destroy the monsters and for the first time in a long time he was at peace.

Sokka had been questioning the engineers, much to their chagrin, about the inner workings of the complex machinery they were constructing. The construction had spread beyond the palace to the surrounding area, and the weird mechanisms that were constructed had caught the eye of the inquisitive Sokka. Finally being able to deal no more with the questions, which they couldn't understand anyway because he was speaking his native language, one of the engineers suggested that the newest member of their number show the native how to use a communicator. The engineer begrudgingly did so, and led the eager youth away, first to find a translator and then to begin to explain communicators. Sokka would later realize how valuable his annoyances had been. He proceeded to learn the communicator, then the workings of their weaponry, and finally he learned how to pilot a Valkyrie class troop transport helicopter, in theory, he actually did not get to pilot it. By the end of the day he was very satisfied and the engineer was drained of life, vowing to take revenge on his brethren and cursing them in a most horrid tongue.

The next morning the squad of Cadians were awoken to the sound of the girl yelling something unintelligible at the boy, who was red in the face, apparently getting angered at what she was saying, flame licking the closed fist that was tensed at his side. They endeavored to wake Amicus, him being the only one among them who could understand the natives, and as soon as they had, the two stopped their "discussion" and the girl stormed off. Amicus approached Zuko and asked, "What were you and your girlfriend arguing about?" "She's not my girlfriend!" he snapped, then he replied, "Nothing, just a misunderstanding." "Well, next time keep your misunderstanding to a low roar, we are in the 'Nids territory. I don't know about you, but I'd rather finish my mission before I die." Amicus grumpily retorted, he was not a morning person and arguing teenagers were just annoying. He then said something back to his squad, what Zuko wasn't sure, but then he suggested that someone find the girl or she was going to be left behind. Zuko knew he had meant him, because Amicus said it in the language that Zuko understood. Zuko didn't want to talk to Katara just yet, but he didn't want to leave her alone, so he swallowed his pride and went off to find her. Finding her, they both walked solemnly back, not looking at each other the rest of the day. Amicus rolled his eyes, how in all the Imperium could those two do it? Their world was under threat of being taken over by the alien swarm, they themselves were heading toward the Tyranid's central hive, and yet they actually wasted energy fighting with each other, he couldn't understand it. The rest of that march was unusually quiet.

Back in Ba Sing Se something was stirring, Toph could feel the ground shifting beneath her feet, but she couldn't tell what was coming.