Hi everybody, no I am not dead yet. Sorry for the long wait but I made it a little longer just for that. So, just for everyone to be at the same level, six (6) month passed between the even at Avatar Aang Island and the pro-bending final. It will be the last big time skip for the season since all of the following event happen in a span of two months if I remember correctly. Next chapter, promise, there will be a lot of violence for all of you blood crazed khornate.
Quelthias: I think you will have your answer. Feel free to tell me if you think there should be more explanations for it or if you think it's not satisfactory. As for Asami, I have a couple of moments in there I am not too sure about. No sure if they feel too forced or anormal. Feel free to critic.
Haruka Kasumi: I think there is a small part of an answer to your first question in this chapter. For the second one, not a lot yet. Sorry.
RENEGADEMk4: A lot. Though I will only say that I will involve Korra more in the next chapters. For the rest you'll have to read and wait.
TheJoker96Italia: Thanks. 1. As of yet, I don't think she has the will needed for. If we go by the serie, she never had. Here though, things might be different. 2. I don't think the avatar world could build a titan if they had three mellenia and the plans for it, sorry. 3. In the future. 4. Maybe. 6. The ship, the spaceship or the warmachine?
Secundum: Thanks.
OBSERVER01: Not yet.
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Thought
Still really open to review and I hope you have a great time reading.
Thank to DeathAdder47117 for the correction.
Thought for the Day: Chaos claims the unwary or the incomplete. A true man may flinch away its embrace, if he is stalwart, and he girds his soul with the armour of contempt. Inquisitor Gideon Ravenor.
Inquisitor Kali reflexion of the day: Yet, the Imperium seem to strive to make as much incomplete men as possible. And I fear that changing this fact will make us fall into another civil war.
Republic City - City Hall – Council room
"Are you saying that you will personally take responsibility for the safety of the spectators in the arena?" Tarrlok asked.
"I guarantee it." Was Lin's answer.
He nodded "It is hard to argue with Chief Beifong's track record."
Internally, he was laughing. Lin was good at catch petty crime and would have been an exceptional lieutenant but she was a poor chief of police. Like her mother, she hated paperwork and it showed. The police finances were in shambles, their organisation disorganised; in short, it was only through the work of her subordinates that Republic City police could still function somewhat efficiently. Good thing half of them were his. And this old business with Tenzin's wife, trying to send her to jail on a bogus charge. Without her name she would have been out of the force in less than five seconds.
He turned toward the other councillors. "If she is confident her elite officers can protect the arena, then she has my support. I am changing my vote. Who else is with me?"
Of course, the three other spineless members of the council raised their hand like him.
"The arena stays open." He turned toward the Avatar and her two fanboys. "Good luck in the finals."
He watched with a smirk as the three shouted with enthusiasm and Tenzin not so discreetly took Lin away for a talk. Really, had he forgotten that there was still one hour left to this meeting?
His face a composed mask, he sat back behind his desk. In front of him, propely stacked, were the last reports of his agents throughout the city. Renovations in the industrial quarter, charity things, the vermin underneath keeping quiet as they should, Heavy Metal last contract with a fire nation transport company for new trains, Asami Sato was pregnant from a Pro-bending player, the usual.
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What really interested him were the many reports about the equalists movements throughout the city that continued to recruit more and more people, though most of them seemed to only be members by name and were far from the trained fighters that his agents were warning him about. Most likely, Amon was hiding those underground somewhere but his contacts had been unable to find out anything yet, only speaking about gangs forming up and some Kali.
'Bunch of cowards, you are benders dammit. What can a couple of two-time criminal do to you.'
At first, he was a little worried about her sudden appearance but the reports from his various agents - after a little uncertain phase at first - reassured him that she was only an entrepreneur and inventor with some humanitarian tendencies. What worried him more now where the agents who had disappeared. It had been a long time ago, their last report had even been about this Kali's activities, and then they simply had vanished. Their apartments had been found empty, their friends ignorant of their location, gone without a trace. Then, some of his most trusted agents had fond proof that they had been captured by Equalist members. The poor souls were lost as far as he was concerned but it was worrying. How could they have been discovered?
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Another paper in front of him was about the visit of the URN's youngest Army general. And only one in fact, the Army was not a really favored branch of the URN. The Army budget was less than 1% of the URN own, while the Navy had 5% and the Air 3% respectively. The population still had a bad opinion of any "army" after the "hundred year war" and Tarrlok wasn't going to turn the city against him by trying to raise their budget. As long as the population stayed convinced that 10 000 soldiers barely equipped with poor gear could stop the Earth kingdom if it decided to invade, he wasn't going to do a thing. Though, maybe try to do so later and let Tenzin block him so if they do get attacked he could blame the situation on him. Anyway, he pushed the information aside; it was irrelevant to the current situation, better focus on the meeting.
Republic City - City Hall – Hallway
"Tarrlok's playing you and I don't want to see you get hurt." Tenzin admonished Lin.
"I know what I am doing and the risks that come with it." There was a deep frustration in her voice but Tenzin had known her for long enough to know that it wasn't directed at him. Or at leas not all of it.
"Lin, there is something else going on isn't there?"
She frowned at him for an instant before letting go of a deep sigh.
"The situation in the underground has become a nightmare."
"The Equalists?"
"Ah, if only. No, it's like the entire underground has become another kind of society entirely. A mad one"
"What do you mean?"
"What I mean Tenzin is that the underground has its own laws, police, custom and mentality to the point of being a different society."
"... Please, you can't be serious?"
She looked at him as if he was an idiot, her usual look. "Last night, I sent five of my top officers down there."
Republic City sewer system - Underground
The five metalbenders in armor were walking along one of the city's sewer tunnels, observing their rather obscure surroundings.
"So, uhm, its darker than I thought." Suzzio commented.
Many of the lights had been scavenged and along with them the wiring, leaving some parts of the tunnel utterly dark and the rest severely underlighted.
"Just as a quick reminder, what exactly are we looking for down here?"
In front of him Naomi sighed.
"To do a survey of the situation and check if the Equalists have influence here and if yes, how much."
"And do we know where we are supposed to look. Because, I mean, the underground must cover something like all of the city's surface so who are we going to question?"
"I don't know, we'll just drive around a little, find some drunk homeless guy and then go back topside. Quick and easy."
"That's not really an investigation." He pointed out.
"Yeah, and who's going to find out? Anyway, nobody gives a shit about the underground so why should we?"
"I guess you're right." He didn't sound very convinced but they all ignored it. All of them had come to terms a long time ago with the fact that unless Lin started to pay attention to you personally, you could pretty much get away with anything.
"Good, now focus."
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There was also another thing that occupied their minds, something that none of them wanted to talk about. A sense of dread like nothing they had felt before. It wasn't the darkness, no, they could deal with darkness. Rather, it was the echo of their own steps that seemed to be doubled and lasted just a little too long. It was their own shadows that deformed under the light of their flashlight, as if they were trying to eat at the light and smother it out. It was the faint stench of blood that permeated the air. It was the feeling of something afraid in their guts trying to claw its way out. It was the feeling that something inapprehensible and dangerous beyond measure was standing just behind them, breathing on their neck, yet when they turned around only more darkness greeted them. It was the feeling that something inside them, some part that had always been there, was suddenly smaller and scared. They all felt it; though none said anything because just mentioning it would have made it a thousand times more real and simply unsustainable for their mind.
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The line of five continue to walk in the tunnels for a time, taking precaution to not fall into the disgusting current running alongside them. Their armor was not great when it came to floating.
From their stumbling into the dark they ended in front of some dimly lit tunnel. Though the sight of light was appreciated, the other sight made them sick; two of them even vomited their lunch directly into the sewer. Stuck to the wall by large metal spikes were the naked corpses of two men covered by their own blood. The metal spikes had been rammed inside their bodies, through their stomach, their legs, their arms, deforming them but not killing them. There was another kind of injurie though that only Naomi managed to identify due to the time were she had helped a fire victim. The head of the two corpses had been set on fire, consuming their hair, boiling their eyes and scorching their skin off their skull. Around their necks, a board with the word: Heretics, written with a red liquid that they all hoped wasn't blood.
"What the hell is that!?" Suzzio screamed between two throw ups.
"I don't know, but we must find whoever did this."
"What! Naomi, are you crazy?" The three other officers agreed.
She turned around and slapped him. "Listen to me, we need to find the maniac who did this before he does it again so we follow through, understood?"
And with that she entered the side tunnel, followed by the terrified metalbenders.
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Five meters farther was a large wall writting: Ironheade's territory, Fuck off!
"Naomi, what if there is more than one crazy?"
"We're five trained metalbenders, we will be okay."
She made seven other steps before noticing the rather obvious thin wire tense just at the level of her ankle. The other four approached, curious.
"They think they're going to keep people out simply with some wire, and people call us idiots."
With a smirk, she kicked the line. Said kick had a strength many times superior to the 15 pounds of pressure needed to pull out the pin of the explosives charge dissimulated at the bottom of the wall. Less than a second after Naomi heard the ping of the pin, her two legs were blown clean off, shredded into minced meat. The left half of her torso was gone as well, the metal of her armor torn by supersonic shrapnel and her inside compressed beyond recognition by the blast. The man just behind her was luckier, only his left leg was severed, four fingers from his left hand, his hip pierced by some shrapnel and the left side of his right leg lacerated to the bone. It only took five minute for him to die. The girl beside Naomi also was mostly spared as there was only a couple of shrapnel that flew right through her ankle and leg muscles. Not a lethal wound. The problem was more the shower of gore and the bloody corpse of Naomi that fell on her and sent the girl falling right into the sewer. With the weight of her armor and of her ex-co-worker pushing her down, she began to drown. The fourth man was maybe the unluckiest depending on your perspective as a single shred the size of a small pebble ricocheted right into his eye and thus into his brain, killing him on the spot. The last, Suzzio, was by some miracle completely untouched. He just stood there, covered in the insides of his friends, his hair wet with brain matter, his armor dripping blood. He started screaming, screaming like he had never done before, and then started to run.
Republic City - City Hall – Hallway
"This is unbelievable. What happened to the last one?"
"Made it back, right now he's in shock at the hospital. I only managed to get his story before he began to shake so much the nurses had to restrain him."
"What is happening down there?"
"I don't know Tenzin, but it's something scary. I just hope the Equalists find it as scary as me."
Underground – Fire Head territory – Headquarters – Chamber
The last memory of Jie was of the brain of her senior exploding, blood splashing her face and the sudden weight of a body throwing her into the murky sewer water. She fought with all of her strength against the combined weight of her armor and Naomi's corpse, trying to scream for help but only managing to swallow sewage. The more she fought, the more she seemed to sink down and always with the monstrously mangled face of Naomi facing her, as if she wanted to drag her into the other world with her. She had seen, though barely heard would be more correct, Suzzio scream as he ran away, deaf to her pleas for help which only resulted in more of the dirty water getting into her lungs. With each second that passed, more and more of her strength vanished until she finally had so little left that the she couldn't even move her arms. At the very end, she even heard voices, one terrible and menacing that seemed to come from the inside of her own mind and another from the outside. Then, blackout and cold water.
Somewhere
Death really wasn't like she expected, no void, no reincarnation, no transcendence, no infinite knowledge, no, it was... stranger. She was being walked through a city of dolls, moved by strings tied to each of their limbs. Around her, other marionettes of porcelain were being moved around, mimicking daily life. There were three colors of strings holding the puppets like her, blue, red and green, they disappeared up into the sky, held by humongous clawed paws. Some had colorless strings attached to them, drifting in the wind and unbound to anything up high and yet still directed somehow, simply more loosely. The strings directed her life like one directed a flock, gently and with suggestion rather than strength. In this scenery she was happy, or at least she thought she was. Things were just simple, falling into place, all was right. But then, a shadow veiled the sun and everything became dark. The peaceful place she had been in was suddenly replaced, breaking down around her like a mirror to reveal an obscure and vast underground cavern that extended far away,. At her feet, a multi-colored ocean which she somwhow knew was neither evil nor good, simply itself and itself was a chaos without any definition. There was good things inside this ocean but they were rare and few, overwhelmed by the dark and alien ones that, although not truly evil, had a sense of moral so warped they would seem as so to humans, and then there was the truly dark one, the predatory entities that would laugh as the world burned and even farther beyond them leviathans that completely eclipsed the light of the stars with powers so vast that naming them gods would be an understatement. Inside her stomach there was something, something kicking and screaming more and more with each wave that came down crashing at her feet. Before she even knew it, the water was around her neck and the monsters inside the ocean were ripping her apart. Contrary to what one would expect of a dream, the pain was unbearable. Her armor was torn away from her body along with her chest, exposing her insides. Rather than tripe, intestines, lungs and all the other stuff usually found there, Jie saw a little imp; a blob of color always changing that was twisting inside her and pumping liquid inside her veins. The ocean grew tentacles that engulfed the monster and started to pull him out of her, ripping off the tube connected to her and sending wave after wave of pain through Jie's body. She screamed and kicked as this part of her was torn away and the thing screamed and kicked as its cousins were trying to drag him back but it was to no avail as her body was violently dragged under the water and for the second time she felt water fill her mouth and turn her vision dark.
Underground - Somewhere
Air filled her lungs as she opened her eyes one more time in a new environment. She almost jumped from the bed she was lying in when she woke up before a strike of pain coming from her left foot sent her back down. Her heart was beating at top speed, almost breaking out of her chest, while Jie's brain was trying to understand what the hell had happened and just where exactly she was. First, obviously she wasn't dead because dead people don't feel pain nor are they thirsty or hungry as fuck. Second, the bed she was in was pretty simple, a frame of wood put atop piles of bricks with a thin mattress and some simple bed clothes. The room she was in was equally simple, a little bare rectangle of three by four meters with no decoration beside a little table with a glass of water on it. Swiftly she downed it, feeling the cold liquid flow down her fiery throat. At the moment, it was the best water she had ever drunk. Third, whoever had brought her here had removed her armor but left her clothes on except for her left foot. That was bad, since metalbender armor are put on and removed through metalbending it indicated that they, no matter who they were, had their own metalbender. Right?
'Okay, observe your surroundings; over. Now the escape part.'
With as much care as she could, she lifted her wounded limb from the bed, observing the bandage and splint around her left foot, before putting it down on the ground as lightly as she could. The pain was hard but bearable for now, though she would need a waterbender and fast. And there was gone her month savings.
Slowly, she crawled toward the wooden door by taking support on the bed frame until she stood just in front of it. After that, it was simply a question of ripping the hinges out of the wall. She stabilized herself as best as she could, took the position, felt the chi and... nothing.
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The hinges did not pop off the wall, nor did she feel any of the usual rush of power through her veins, in fact she felt desperately normal. Then, the feeling of dread hit her back with renewed strength, punching her in the stomach. It was as if something just in front of her had plunged claws through her belly and was trying to pull out her bowels. She fell on her knees and, if the pain stopped, it started the murmurs. Light voices whose laugh sounded like shards of glass scratching a chalk board that filled her thoughts and mind. They were speaking some language Jie did not know of if only that it was unholy and made her want to throw up. Those voices promised her power, not something like metalbending but the power to bend people to her will, to accomplish her dreams and be a leader, to never be looked down upon again. A part of her wanted to accept, the rest was terrified and wanted to run away as far as possible but how do you run away from your own mind?
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And then, the door opened.
"Oh, you're awake."
Jie raised her head to a man who was standing in the doorframe, dressed in a way she had never seen before. His brown hair fell down his shoulder, tainted with cinder and with the tip looking like they had been burned, framing brown eyes and rugged and really short facial hair. His skin was pale from the lack of sun and contrasted greatly with his attire. A black camisole with some kind of demonic figure - Eddie the 'ead - occupying all the front, a sight that almost made her jump back in fear, a red kerchied around his neck, a hard black leather jacket, a revolver at his right and a knife to his left, black leather pants and strong black boots.
"Hu..."
He looked at her position, kneeling in front of him with her hands on her head.
"You know, recently a lot of girls were in your position but I don't think you have the same intention they had. Though if you feel like thanking me that way..."
The words slowly made their way through the mist surrounding her stunned mind and electrified parts of her brain, making her realize just what was right in front of her face. Blood flushed to her face, turning it red with outrage and the muscle of her arm received the order to punch. Her fist hit the sensible part directly but failed to produce the desired reaction by bouncing off the shell protecting the man sensible organ. He did take two steps back though and lowered a hand to his crotch.
"Yeah, not the first time I made that joke."
"Get back you mutt." She struggled to get back on her valid foot.
"Relax, relax, I'm sorry okay. Really, let me help you."
She resisted a little but was forced to accept his help simply to not feel like her leg was on fire.
"You tried to metalbend your way out didn't you?"
The question took her by surprise.
"Yes, how did you knew?"
"Your face. And yeah, better not do that around here unless you are feeling like getting a migraine and horrible nightmares."
So he knew something. "Why? What was..."
"I don't know." He walked her back to the bed where she sat while he leaned against the wall. "All I really know is that whatever gives us our power is scared shitless of this place and that the things that scare it are not nice."
"I am gonna need a little more explanation you know." She had switched to her professional tone, the one she had when interrogating suspects.
"Well I don't have them. Honestly." He leaned against the wall facing her. "How is your foot?"
"Good. Who are you?" She crossed her arms.
"Nice, a question I can answer too. I'm Ash."
"Ash?" She could honestly say it was the first time she heard someone called Ash.
"Yes, now, what's your name?"
"Jie. Where am I?"
"The Ironheade headquarters."
Instantly, the relatively good mood she had been in vanished. "You, you killed Noami!"
She reached forward, forgetting about both her foot and lack of power. Almost immediately she fell on the ground, shaking as her brain felt like about to melt and the voices laughed at her distress. They scratched the inside of her skull with fury, ripping through every moment of her life and turning even her greatest moment of joy into a painful nightmare that made her feel like the worst failure. The twisted and ruined face of Noami duplicated a hundred times, floating around her and screaming at Jie. If she had reacted faster, had been a better officer, if she really had wanted to save her she would have done it. It was all her fault. And then, as brusquely as it had happened, it stopped.
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"I told you to not try this. The more powerful you were; the worst it is."
She moaned. "I thought you said you didn't know anything?"
Once again he tried to help her back on the bed, this time though she pushed him back.
"Don't touch me murderer!"
"Hey, I didn't kill your friends. Your two friends died because of an explosive trap, one that wasn't even well hidden. How in the Emperor's name did you even manage to miss it?"
"I... uhmm... Noami kicked the wire."
"So your friend kicked a trip wire and it's my fault they died?"
"Well... you killed those two poor people like they were animals you maniac or are you gonna tell me you didn't do it too?"
At that, he smiled. "Oh no, that I did it and I would do it again."
That shocked Jie more than it should have.
"Listen, by your uniform you're a surface arbitrator right?"
"I suppose yes, why?" Arbitrator must have been argo for police officer.
"Down here, things work a little differently. Whatever we did to those two, they would have done a thousand times worse to us."
"Of course." She raised an eyebrow, sounded more like the typical diabolization of the enemy to her.
Ash though had already seen this look. "And of course, as you say, you don't believe me?"
"Sorry but no."
He didn't answer; rather he lifted up his pants to his knees, revealing two metal legs that made Jie gasp.
"They captured me three months ago. Spent the next week waist deep in a pool of sewage water with ten other poor souls with rats slowly gnawing at my legs. At the end, I was the only one left alive." He skipped the part about his rescue when the Inquisition came and the others that were with him, their corpses at least, started to walk and tried to eat him. "But it still cost me my two legs. So yes, I think they are monsters."
"But, but, how?"
"Bionics. As I said, you're in a quite different place. Though, I only got these two weeks ago."
His face had now a veil of darkness cast over it as he extracted a small box and a lighter from his jacket from which he picked a little paper tube, put it between his lips and lit it.
"For all it's worth it, I am truly sorry about your friends' deaths." He took a long puff of smoke before releasing it slowly. "From experience, I suggest you find something to occupy your mind and not focus on the things you couldn't have prevented or avoided."
A dark echo flashed inside Jie's mind.
"And did that work for you?"
Another puff. "Yeah, I got three. Casual sex, lho-stick and my voice."
"Voice?"
Another puff, longer this time. "You know, if you accept of course, why don't I show you? You wouldn't be the first to be helped by it."
"By your voice?"
"Amongst other things, yes. So, what do you think?"
She pondered for a moment. Yes he was largely responsible for her friends, well okay more like acquaintances, death but he also wasn't really. He was part of a criminal gang of murderers yet he had treated her injury and wasn't trying to threaten her in any way. Something she felt particularly vulnerable to now that her powers had been taken away. In fact, he had a roguish charm that probably would have worked on her if she didn't know he was a killer.
"Why not." 'It's not as if I had anything else to do right now. Whatever it is.'
He helped her up and out of the room, down a corridor and toward a long staircase which they then proceeded to descend. Down, voices and sounds could be heard indicating a large amount of people.
"Where exactly are we?"
"At the World's End."
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In front of Jie was a large and smoky room with small tables and chairs occupied by various men and women, most dressed in the same style as Ash. Almost everyone in there bore some sort of wound, some in healing, some scars, some discreet, some obvious and all were armed. Knives, swords, hatchets, maces, small and large guns, everyone was packing and seemed pretty casual about it. Some also had the same kind of little lit tube that Ash had, giving the room its smoky atmosphere that ascended to the second floor, a large balcony that could be acceded by spiral staircase and metal ladders along support poles. The balcony ran along three walls, the fourth one was a large stage covered by a black curtain. The left side of the room and the one toward which Ash diriged her was entirely occupied by a large and heavy bar counter behind which two bartenders worked.
He sat her on one of the stools facing a tall man with his back turned to her.
"So, our little wounded is up."
He turned around and Jie almost jumped off her seat in surprise, barely holding back a scream. The right side of his face was covered with tiny scars, damn, his eye was completely gone and replaced by some kind of red optic and a metallic rectangle on the side of his figure that seemed to be incrusted into his skull. Her own eyes slowly slid from this terrifying sight, passing over his legendary chin, to his mutilated hand now massive bionic. Completely metallic, it seemed to be able to crush rocks into sand and yet was calmly holding a glass drink, with wires coming out of it and connected to his arm.
"Heu..."
"Meet Bruce, leader of the Ironheade, owner of the World's End bar, epic bartender and ass kicking monster hunter extraordinaire." Ash explained with a smile.
"You're not getting a free drink Ash." Deadpanned Bruce.
"Ah, come on. I'm selling your legend here."
The man raised an eyebrow. "Shouldn't you be selling your music rather kiddo?"
His face took on a concerned look, as if he had just remembered something important he had forgotten.
"Is Ideaki there?"
"Went backstage a minute ago."
"Oh, shit." He turned back toward Jie. "Just wait here, your mind is going to be blown."
And with a last confident smile, ran away into the darkness of the bar's room.
"You drinking?"
Bruce's voice made her twist on her seat.
"Um... well. Do you have sake?"
The frown he made, combined with his weird eye, almost made her squeal on the spot.
"Or something else." Was there even something else?
"First time, I recommend a light blond."
The new voice had come from her left, belonging to a dark haired girl with eyes like rings of ink dressed in form fitting heavy clothes, a leather jacket, a pair of brown pants with a small black skirt over the top, combat boots and the eternal piece of metal everybody carried around here.
"Lilith, didn't see you come in." The barman spoke.
'Didn't hear her either. Damn, how can someone be that quiet?' "... Sorry?"
The girl extended a hand. "I'm Lilith and I said that if you're new here you should try the light blond beer. It's one of their best contraband alcohol."
"Hey, it's not contraband if there isn't any cop saying so and able to prove it." Bruce said half serious.
"Yeah, I suppose it's a good thing they're all drunk or getting massages then."
They both shared a laugh while Jie was stunned by the two of them so openly discussing crimes. Apparently, it didn't escape Lilith's attention.
"Oh, don't worry. The Ironheade are really good guys." From somewhere on the bar someone said: and girls too. "And girls too. Really, they only ever committed minor crimes like illegal alcohol production, assault, possession of explosives, corruption and a couple of other things I must be forgetting. Also, a couple of murders but that's easily forgiven when you take into account all they did."
"Forgive murders!?"
There was a tap when the glass of clear beer was put in front of her and a darker one in front of Lilith. Bruce then left the two girls to talk; he had other clients after all.
"Only a couple and of individuals that nobody will miss, rapists, abusers, other murderers."
"Heretics?" There was scorn in Jie's voice. Everytime someone seemed nice around here before revealing themselves to be bloody killers without a shred of remorse.
"Oh, they don't count as murder."
"So what, there is no law around here and everybody just does as they want?"
"Of course not, just think of the area as some frontier town. Just one two thousand times more dangerous and like fifty feet under the capital. Okay, not fifty, more like eighty around here. The cops take care of petty crimes and the Ironheade make sure that the fucking cultist stay in their Emperor damned holes. As long as they keep some semblance of order and pay most of their taxes they don't get bothered by the Arbiters and the bullets keep coming in."
"And... and everyone just knows it and is okay with it?"
She took another sip of beer. "Well, I'm a clerk at one of the manufactorums and so I got really good at extrapolating the true from numbers which is why I know a lot. Also, it's really the best deal possible for Heavy Metal."
"How in... could that be a good deal?"
"Easy. The Ironheade take all the lost rather than their guys or the cops and if they ever get really in trouble one day, by the time everybody's dead the company will have had the time to muster some troops to deal with the problem."
"And if that fails, what then?" She was arguing but it was only to stall her brain a little longer, he hadn't caught up yet to everything completely and the whole madness it was. "The horrors down here go up?"
Lilith's smile faded for a moment and her voice faded to a whisper. "Then, the Inquisition cleans it up."
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It was as if a wave of cold had swept the bar as for a brief instant, shorter than a second, everybody seemed to hold their breath as if waiting for hell to unleash. And then it passed and things went back to normal. Well, except for Jie. Her brain had pretty much decided, after so much, to do a little shut down and reboot. As such, she missed Lilith getting up and leaving her to make a discreet call, the light going out, the red and blue spot lighting up the stage. What she didn't miss though was the first note of guitar suddenly filling the bar.
"Let me tell you a story to chill the bones
About a thing that I saw
One night wondering in the everglades
I had one drink but no more"
To fully understand what happened then, it is best to clarify some points. First, republic city's most powerful music was light jazz without piano or guitar. Second, with her brain on automatic she had drunk her whole pint then another and another. Third, she was desperate for anything else to think about. Fourth and final, it wasn't as if she could realistically ignore someone playing the Dance of death at full volume only twenty meters away. The next two hours passed in a sort of haze, rhythm and words mixing inside her mind with the alcohol and tranquilizer in her bloodstream. Slowly and unconsciously her inquisitive brain scanned the crowd in front of her, seeing signs of horrible wounds, other people with metal replacements. But there was also something else, an individuality that she hadn't seen before, an energy that seemed to irradiate from them, a weird feeling of power. All of that manifested in their music, every aspect of it. She lost herself into, completely and willingly.
Underground - Ironheade headquarter
As the infernal show produced its final note, Jie was brought back to reality. The kinda smelly, loud and infinitely more scary than before reality.
"So Jie, back with us?"
She almost jumped at the voice to her left. No, scratch that, she literally jumped two inches in the air from her seat and landed back on her wounded foot. But then, she really didn't expect Jing to be sitting casually at some gang bar, drinking some dark amber liquid from a small glass. And his outfit, no armor, no green, nothing remotely showing his tie with the metalbending police. Rather, he wore brown pants over black shoes, a white shirt covered by a beige blazer which itself was covered by a light brown coat and around his neck was a clean black tie. He too also had a lho-stick tucked between his lips and Jie would have been even remotely surprised to learn he also had one of their L thing at his side. He had.
"Jing! What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were taking a sick leave?"
"I am. Psychological shock the psy said, no pay said Lin, don't need a coward with me." He emptied the glass down his throat. "Now, this is my medicine and Bruce here is my doctor."
"Jing...?" That didn't explain at all why he was here.
"Yeah, I know. I could get better booze at stores at the Central Hub, but really I don't get paid that much."
"But, you said you hadn't any pay?"
"Yeah, from Lin." The way he said it, it seemed obvious and a closed subject. "Now, I'm here to get you back so pack up your things."
"What? First, how did you learn I was here and second... what?"
He made a sign to Bruce, handing him a little metallic flask which he then proceeded to fill with more amber liquid.
"She, well they now, know everything that happens around here. Sooner or later, they know."
"Huh?"
"Anonymous tip about a lost metalbender wearing a green uniform with police markings. Seeing as these kind of outfits are kind of rare and that I know that Lin lost a team yesterday, I came to see just who exactly they had found. Must say you got quite lucky in your misfortune, being found by the Ironheade and all."
She groaned. "Yeah, a lot of people said that to me."
With a loud thunk, Ash sat on the stool beside her.
"So, what did you think?
She spun around toward him.
"Ash... I... it was..." For a brief moment she found herself at a loss of words, trying to formulate the experience she just had had. "Truly breath-taking. It's the first time I have ever heard anything like it."
"Nice. Well feel free to come back anytime or buy our album or tune in sometime. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go rub it into Axl's face."
"Wait, where's my armor?"
"Oh, we had to trash it when we took it off you. Sorry."
And with that he was gone.
"So, ready?" Jing slipped his refiled flask into his coat, unfazed.
"Huh... what just happe.. oh just fuck it."
She stood from her seat, grabbing the crutch at her side.
"Just get me out of here."
The Underground – Tombstone - Ironheade territory
The Ironheade headquarters had been built out of an old water control station in the middle of a large underground round vault. Three floors of flackboard, plasteel and ferrocrete had been added to the small station, making this building the highest of the vault. It was also the highest it could go as there was literally only a centimeter between the bar's roof and the roof of the vault. Sprawling from this central point where a whole array of houses build with flakboard, small shops, all the things one could actually find in any ghetto or slum throughout the Imperium that extended into the many tunnels that leaded to this point, sometimes over three hundred meters. Most of the people living here actually worked for the city, the workers maintaining the sewer system, the street cleaners, the janitors, the conductors and engineers for the train network of the city. If one were to ask them why they staid there, the most popular answer would probably be stupidity and the really low housing cost because, yeah, they didn't get paid much. Especially considering the water and electricity was included and quite a lot of entertainment was close by. Another part of the population was actually young adults and teenagers from the surface, some who could have quite easily lived there but choose to come down all for their own reasons. Mostly, rock and the girls. Other, there family simply hadn't the means to keep them and they had been forced there. Due to its position, what had been named either the Hellmouth or Tombstone was the most easily accessible underground town by the surface and saw a lot of travel to and from it to the other part of the underground. Even heretics passed there, though there was a shoot on sight policy for them should they be discovered..
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Jie didn't know any of that but that didn't prevented her to be fascinated by the size of the underground settlement, the crowd that was constantly moving around here, the beautiful paper lanterns hanging from the ceiling, the constant sound, the shades of shadows that replaced both light and darkness, the smell of food, people, metal, water, all mixed together, the dirty child hiding in the alleyways or running in groups between the people, the smell of blood and shit, it was like she was walking in a mix of paradise and hell that had crashed together. She observed all of this from the seat of a motor-strolley, the conductor navigating the flow of people expertly and guiding them toward one of the great lifts for the surface.
"Oh, Jing, Jing, what's that?" She pointed her finger to a rather large building with neons and a rather bright red light.
"That's a massage parlor."
"Really? Are they good? I think I could use a massage, been a while since I got one."
Jing fought down the laugh he could feel build up inside his chest, remembering she was still partly innocent.
"What?"
"Nothing, nothing. Just, I don't think you will like the kind they give."
"Really? You don't even know what kind of massage I like."
"Trust me on that one."
"... okay." She wasn't convinced at all. "And who are those guys?"
This time she pointed at a group of men and women in white robes with red and gold trimming on them and armor over it. They wielded torches, incenses balls and an enormous gold plated eagle. Escorting them were two other men wielding large and unsafe flamethrowers. Flamethrowers nonetheless though.
"Very religious people."
"You mean... like the airbenders?"
"In a way, yes. They meditate a lot too that's for sure. But I never really saw airbenders help with social problems, contrary to those guys. Their fascination with barbecue can be a little off putting, but hey, they feed the homeless and teach the kids so I can get over that detail."
"Oh, okay. Why are barbecues weird?"
"Their version is, enough said. Trust me."
"Hmm..." She felt like pushing him on the subject before her attention was attracted by yet another thing. "Hey, what's that building?"
"Um, that's a dancing club where only the girls dance."
"Why?"
"Club rules."
"Hmm, sounds interesting."
"A lot of guys and a couple of girls certainly agree with you."
She shot him a side-look. 'What's with all the implied phrasing?'
"Oh, and that one?" She pointed again.
"Which one?"
"The one with Ash's shirt on its window."
"What? Oh, the music shop."
"Yeah, I need to get one of his disks... and a gramophone actually." 'Even if he did dump my whole armor.'
"You have the money for a vinyl and a record player on you?"
"I don't have any money."
"Then ho..."
With an ease that having practiced the same move countless times on her father had given her, Jie's eyes seemed to grow and turn slightly wet, her lips turned into a pout and her hands joined together in a supplication pose.
"Please. I'll pay you back, please, please, pleasepleaseplease."
Jing was genre savvy enough to know fate wouldn't let him say no to a cute wounded girl making puppy eyes to him. With a resignated sigh, he signalled the driver to stop in front of the shop and wait for them. Giving him some yuans and a quick flash of his badge to make sure he did.
They both entered into the cramped shop, almost all the space being taken by shelves full of album covers. Of course, very few were original yet, most only being copies of Kali's vast digital collection but still, there were some and each month this number augmented. The walls were covered with merchandise and t-shirts, reducing even more the perceived space. Two other people where currently inside the shop plus the shopkeeper, rifling through the albums.
"Okay, get yourself a vinyl, me I'm gonna go talk with the vendor."
Jie nodded, watching Jing make his way through the tight corridor between the shelves. With enthusiasm, she began to search through the mass of albums, her hand shifting between classic, jazz, blues, rock, heavy rock, metal, speed, alternative, disco and many more.
While this was happening, Jing had made his way to the girl behind the counter.
"Okay, so I'm looking for a record player. One with in-built speakers or a headphone port. What can you recommend me?"
"Well." She stood almost perfectly still, weird. "We've got three price ranges. One at around 91.10 yuans, another at 911.00 yuans and the last at 9110.00 yuans. If you take the last one, you even have a free song from the band The Police, Message In A Bottle."
"Oh." Inside his mind various alarms had begun to scream at the obvious message and adrenaline rushed to boost his reflexes. "And this band, it's from the surface or down here?"
Her left hand slowly slides on the counter, stopping at some point on her left where she tapped one time.
"Surface, but it really has an underground touch."
"Hmm." He nodded.
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The next second, he had drawn his revolver and shot twice through the wooden counter. The loud bang covering the scream of pain of the man hiding there as the modified bullets tore his insides. At the other end of the store Jie spinned around toward the double explosions, flashback of the mine passing through her mind and her heart beating like it wanted to jump out of her chest. She had the time to see Jing turn back toward one of the men, his now fuming piece of metal in hand. Said man was on the other side of the shop, lateral to Jie, and was also in the process of drawing his own toy. His hand tightened and the shape seemed to explode backward. She hoped he hadn't blown up his hand. Jing didn't share this concern. His own toy blew up two times, creating two bleeding hole in the man's chest and sending him crashing back into a shelf before collapsing on the ground. Almost at the same moment, a fourth man came rushing from the back room, long barrel in hand and aiming at Jing's back. That would have been the end if not for the girl behind the counter who grabbed a sawed-off pump shotgun from under the cash register and blasted him full of supersonic lead. If that wasn't enough, Jing also spun around a second time to shoot him, just to make sure.
All of this happened in less than five seconds, five seconds of chaos that ended with the last man grabbing Jie by the arm to hide behind her and putting a knife under her throat. He made three steps toward the exit, dragging her with him, and arriving there at the same moment Jing did, his weapon aimed at him. Time seemed to freeze as Jie's eyes set on the smoking barrel of Jing's weapon. His face, previously tired and seemingly dull was now crystal clear, his eyes open and awake, fixed on the man, his hand was firm and steady and most important of all, it looked like he was in perfect control of the situation.
"I know what you're thinking, did he fire six shots or only five. Well to tell you the truth in all of this excitement I kinda lost track myself. But being this is a modified Stormchild loaded with expanded rounds, making this the most powerful revolver in the world, and would blow your head clean off. You've got to ask yourself one question: Do I feel lucky? Well, do you, punk?"
They all stood immobile, the seconds passing like minutes under the unflinching eyes and half smile of Jing until Jie felt the blade on her neck drop and the man releasing her. Still in shock, she was pushed aside by Jing who proceeded to cuffed the robber. The blood from the other dead bodies had started to form a pool on the ground, blood which she simply watched surround her shoes and taint them.
She felt herself drifting off as her brain was still trying to adapt to the constant mood change that seemed inherent to the underground. One instant you were peacefully enjoying the view or just walking along and the next it was hell and death and violence storming around.
"Jie, maybe you should wait for me back in the stroller."
In a second state she nodded and slowly walked back. Outside, the crowd had created a large half circle in front of the store, some having stopped to see what had happened but most simply continued along. Jing simply flashed his badge. "Arbites situation, move along people and continue your day. All has been taken care of." And everything went back to normal.
Jie's family apartment – Surface – Upper middle quarter
Now that the sun had fell over the horizon and that her sister and father were sleeping quietly, Jie sat alone in her room, reviewing the afternoon after having coming back to the surface. Besides the blinding light, different smell of the air and lack of energy that is. When she had passed the threshold of her family apartment, her father had almost crushed her with probably the first hug he had given here since her teenage years. Then it was her little sister who refused to let go of her for the rest of the day, crying for what seemed an hour. With a smile on her face she had surfed through the motion, it's not every day that your family gets the news that you're dead and see you pop back alive half a day later. This night they feasted like as if it was some kind of special occasion, dinning at a restaurant, telling jokes, partying. Crazy how you sometimes need to almost lose something to realize how much important it is to you.
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Sitting on her bed, Jie was looking at the album Jing had gotten her. More precisely, she was looking at the faint blood stain on one of the corners. This blood stain summed up a lot of the underground to her, constantly violent to an extreme and yet full of wonder like the vinyl she was holding. She didn't feel like sleeping, anxiety and the memories of the voices being kind of a major obstacle, but she also wasn't sure she actually wanted to play the disk. Even in the safety of her room it felt like some sort of anchor, a link to the Under and a constant reminder of it. She could discard it and forget what had happened to her and what she had seen, go back to her usual routine and probably be better off. She could also forget and not play the vinyl, probably get nightmares and ask herself questions she might not like.
"Dammit."
She put the headphone over her ears, feeling the slow rhythm of the guitar.
"I am a man who walks alone
And when I'm walking a dark road
At night or strolling through the park"
Republic City – Industrial district
Naruhiko Higashikuni, the only general of the United Republic of Nations Army, stood in front of Heavy Metal's new office. He had heard some rumors from below the ranks about this Kali and her exploits, especially from his soldiers that came from the homeless population and had tried to escape poverty by joining the army, not knowing the army was probably poorer than they had been. One who had spend a week at home came back complaining that his brother was now making more money than him in a month than he received in six. Apparently, still from the same man, the underworld had turned mad with death, blood, psychopaths, a mysterious all-powerful Kali and some God-Emperor guy. After a skirmish with some bandits, he had talked to said man. His own words: The firefight I saw down back home was more terrifying than any skirmish sir. When he had inquired about the meaning of a firefight, the soldier had refused to talk. This had only made him more curious. Oh, and the soldier in question got double guard duty for a week for having refused to answer a superior's question.
Then, one week ago he had received an invitation from the lady herself to assist in the demonstration of a new weapon that would revolutionize war. How could anyone resist that kind of request after all the build-up was beyond him.
Now that he was facing the complex, he could understand why these rumors had been born. Higashikuni had done some research on the new rapidly growing Heavy Metal Company prior to his visit, learning that it owned a large number of factories, maybe four directly and a total of ten indirectly. Impressive. What he didn't know about though was the six meter high wall of metal that surrounded said complex. It seemed like something from another world. A shineless thing covered at regular intervals with spikes and large engravings, a meter in diameter, of a two headed bird with its wings spread and its chest covered by a skull. And if that was pretty jarring, the door he was now facing was even more, decorated by another giant golden two-headed eagle, is wingspan some three meters in length. It was so out of place compared to the rest of the city, Higashikuni was simply stunned by its mere sight.
He turned toward his second in command standing just behind him at attention.
"Tomoe, what do you think of this?"
"It looks like a wall sir."
The black haired earthbender standing at the ready behind him didn't even flinch. To any onlooker, she would have seemed the image of military calm. To the General's eyes, it was the first time he had seen her this worried.
"Tomoe. Something you want to tell me?"
"Nothing to concern you about sir. Simply a bender feeling."
"Hmm." Tomoe wasn't the kind to speak of her feels, so either there was something really wrong or he had finally managed to spike her drink. "If you say so. Let's go then."
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They both walked up to the large door and knocked on it. Well, Higashi tried at least because the moment he raised his hand the double door started to move open, their sheer weight making them creak. Behind them the road was surrounded on two sides by walls similar to those around the complex, extending some fifty meters down. Unlike the outside wall though, these two had people patrolling in them, visible through the tight gap in the structure of the upper wall.
'So these are large enough for the guards to be inside.'
The two walls were linked at the end by a second door. In front of it was a large car with wheels 16 inches in diameter, a thick hull and was all black. Around the vehicle were six people all dressed in various black garments and standing still, watching them.
"Sir, this might be a trap." Tomoe stated.
"Oh come on, this is so cliché." He sighed before starting to walk over to the reception committee. "Seriously the chance of anybody wanting to kill me is laughable. Especially people who invite me in the hope of concluding a business deal."
"Well, maybe they figured out you don't have any money to make deal. Sir." She grumbled.
Though, there was one major difference with the inside walls. Every fifteen meters there were statues as high as the walls of men and women, their stone figure in a perpetual expression of stern contemplation, covered in armour and all bearing weapons. As the duo passed them, they could not shake off the feeling that those giants were watching them, as if their gaze burned on their back, judging them. They were not far from it; simply it was more cameras than some mystical sight.
They both made their way towards the group, taking their time to observe those that were waiting for them. The four standing beside the car were clad in black heavy coat that most certainly hid some kind of armor, their face covered as well by some kind of black skull shaped mask and standing at the ready with odd weapons. If anything, they looked like simple soldiers, okay terrifying soldiers that made those of the United Republic of Nations look like children, but still normal soldiers.
'Hmm, wonder if she could lend me some of her guys.'
The two standing in front of the car on the other hand were a little and a lot different. The two were girls, both also dressed in black but differently than the others. On the right the girl was also wearing the same coat as the soldiers but open, revealing the, yes, armor underneath. Strange armor though. Attached to her belt was what looked to be an absurdly thick blade with a trigger under the sword guard, guard which repeated the golden bird symbol. Her face was, contrary to the guards uncovered and revealed her quite impatient mood, smirk and blue electric hair. As they got closer, they saw that the girl on the right had insignias and other things that were slightly different than the soldiers around the car, higher grade maybe? The girl on the left though was something else. Sure she too was mainly wearing black, but her style was completely different. A clean white shirt under a deep black tunic with all white buttons and gold trim, a black leather belt with a diagonal band, black flared-hip breeches, pants perfectly ironed, black leather jack boots, a dagger at her left and something else in a holster at her right and finally a black visor cap with gold trim. On her collar were some rank markings unknown to them while the cap front was adorned with a single discrete and slightly complex symbol of a silver skull with a small I on it and two silver wings sprouting on each side. Finally, completing the rather stylish outfit was a, compared to those sported by her companion, thin black grey leather coat with silver grey button that she had simply put over her shoulders and a pair of delicate black gloves. The outfit was stunning, but not as much as the giant bird with the red metal eyes and the knife sharp claws that rested on her shoulder. He cast a shadow on her, draping her face in darkness. Such was his size.
"Okay. Tomoe, remind me when was the last time we updated our uniform?"
"The day the army was created."
"Ah, yes. Now I remember. Never mind." 'I want one of those bird.'
They stopped their walk some meters away from the dark duo.
"General Higashikuni. I am pleased to see you here."
'This voice, no, it couldn't be.'
The girl with the cap raised her head as the eagle slightly moved, letting just enough light pass for them to see her face.
"Asami!?"
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A little backstory. When Asami's father, Hiroshi, began looking for teachers in order to train his daughter in self-defence, his wife's cousin immediately proposed himself. At the time a colonel Higashi was, in Asami's opinion, the best teacher she ever had. On Higashi's side, this period spent training Asami was also a great one. The little girl was full of enthusiasm and determination, also a little mischievous. In short, they had formed a friendship until the then colonel was forced to leave due to his duty.
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"Asami!" He stepped forward, pulling her into a hug. Ignoring the slight mechanical cry of protest from the bird. "What are you doing here? Did Future Industry just buy Heavy Metal? Or the other way around?"
She hugged him back. "I'm happy to see you too Higashi. And no, nothing like that happened. I simply found a job."
"You found a job." He raised an eyebrow. "Your father let you get a job outside his company? By what miracle did that happen?"
"Hey, I'm a big girl you know. Lots of people my age take little jobs."
"Little job?"
"Okay, Heavy Metal R&D department director and possible next CEO."
"Little job for sure."
She smirked. "You can talk mister general."
"... Point taken." He took a step back. "So, uhm, your outfit, is it the new trend or does your boss have a private army?"
"Pfu, it's called a PMC actually and it's more the size of a battalion."
"...You're joking right?"
Silence and a sly smile answered him. 'Where has she learned that kind of smiles?'
"Oh damn." Higashi's eyes turned toward Asami's companion currently engaged in a staring duel with Tomoe. "Is she...?"
"Oh no, no no no." A little louder. "Allow me to introduce you to Chief Warrant Officer Azula, our driver and bodyguard for today."
The girl made a perfect salute, not the kind untrained civilians do, a real one.
"Unfortunately, miss Kali was delayed."
"Delayed?"
Badlands – Isolated depot
With delicate care, Kali finished the scalping of the live prisoner and revealed the hard surface of her cranium. Like the twelve before her, she had eight black needles shoved inside it and linked together by what looked to be blood drenched barb wire.
"Electromagnetic auspex."
Hui rolled the device beside the patient, powering it up.
"Hmm." Kali picked up the data pad beside her. "Like the precedent subject, presence of an electrical current between the different needles. Basing myself on the previous vivisection I can hypothesize their position as well as the area of the brain they penetrate and where they end. Now, for try fourteen I will stimulate needle D14 while connected to the others."
Without a word, Hui positioned himself in front of the radio transmitter.
"AM frequency number 83."
He turned a dial on the captured radio and instantly the girl woke, screaming in a twisted mix of anger and pain, wrestling against the straps.
"Yes! Ah fuck! More! More you fucking prude! Bleed me! Oh yes!"
"Hui, if you please." 'I really hate experimenting on slaanesh cultists. The three other kinds I can deal with but those guys are just constantly annoying.'
Tranquilizer filled the girl's body and sent her back to unconsciousness.
"Good. Let's skip the higher setting, it would yield no result anyway."
"And we don't want to clean more melted brain from the ground." Hui spoke.
"Also. Now pass me the isolator."
Carefully, Kali isolated the needle D14 from the others without cutting the barb wire.
"Okay, isolated needle D14, AM frequency."
Again, Hui turned the dial and again the girl woke up. This time though she only started to cry in pain, wait no, rather pure ecstasy.
"Yes! More! Come on, fuck me!."
"Oh just shut up."
An instant latter she went back to sleep and Kali picked up her data pad.
"My theory that the needles are used to influence the subject seems to be right. More experiments will be needed in order to uncover the details but I am confident in the validity of it. Next is the psychic test."
The Inquisitor moved in front of the sleeping subject. Even as her body was kept in near comma and immobilized by over ten heavy duty scrap, she still managed to unconsciously moan and shiver. Her exposed skull as well as the coldness and humidity of the small room didn't help her state either. Kali didn't care; she put her hands on the girl's ears and summoned the energy of the warp. Through her witch-sight the universe changed. The small room with bare cement walls where they had setup the improvised medical unit started to blur, the details of the many objects inside it became fuzzy and the occupant of the room seemed to become translucent as the Inquisitor's mind came closer to the warp. One time use objects like the scalpel blade were all but invisible while others like her force sword was like a blazing torch of pure white fire. Hui's shape was vague, lit from the inside by a small flame, his freed soul. Without the demonic presence hidden inside him he had fell back to Omicon in terms of power, none in practical terms. Didn't really matter anyway since what Kali valorised was his mind and not his powers. It even showed in his aura, a feeling of cold thinking and constant cogitation coming from him. While Zhao and Azula's where rising through the ranks and Lilith was focusing on her more diverse and psychic training, he had spent all of his time drinking in all the scientific knowledge Kali was willing to give him and even a little more if his tentative at bribing Solomon were any indication. She let him free after having almost literally burned into his mind the warnings every Magos has to learn by heart when it comes to technologies. He was no enginseer but he might become a good Magos one day. Though she wasn't sure about his idea of adding grenade launchers to bionic legs.
The cultist in front of her was a mess. Physically, almost every possible spot on her body that could have piercings, had, the rest was covered by multicolored tattoos and scarification. Mentally, well she was a cultist of Slaanesh. Enough said. Psychically, her soul was torn to shreds, pulsating purple and being pulled on every side as if it tried to cover its wounds. She was lost. Good thing Kali wasn't looking to help her. The Inquisitor's attention was more on the pins jammed into her brain and the sick dark aura they had.
Now, the reason why they were in a dark room four kilometers away from the city was actually because of exactly that. When they had arrived, what Kali had started to consider the equivalent of a planet sized void shield was covering everything. Now it showed small scars all around the girl's head, as if it had been slashed with a knife. She made a sign to Hui to send another burst of electricity into her at an even lower setting. The girl convulsed but the really interesting thing was the sudden expansion of the tears. It was almost invisible but it was there, constantly tugging at the shield and dissolving it slowly. That's why the shield was almost gone underground. Hundreds of cultists constantly ripping away at it day and night. It wasn't a normal process of course, Kali's witch-sight revealed the tiny occult symbols engraved into each nail, the usual eight-point star accompanied by others more uncommon signs. This was, Kali had to admit it, ingenious. As far as her seventeen experiments had showed, it worked two ways.
First, it was a radio receptor, but not of normal frequencies. This is why they were using the radio they had captured along with the cultists to make their test and which had managed to not register on the wave-scanner they had been using. The radio-thing was covered in blood symbols and a part of the inside had been filled with a living brain inside a glass jar filled with acid and hooked up on a battery. It worked as a regular radio, if you don't mind the time it receives messages two weeks old or from a week in the future nor the time when it activates on its own and start speaking to you personally in an inhuman voice. But anyway, when using a certain frequency the needle on subjects head reacted. Fit of frenzy, suicide, orgasm, even movement if in a limited way, all could be caused by the right frequency. If you isolate the needle though, the effects are much more powerful and specialized. That explained the bloodlust that seemed to have taken the "innocent" equalists as well as their sudden fit of insanity.
Second, the connected needles seemed to canalize the low psychic energy possessed naturally by all humans - At least those over sigma level, the point where someone can be considered an anti-psyker – and then focused it specifically to chip away at the shield of the planet. Alone the effects where minimal but in groups they probably increased by orders of magnitude. Luckily, even in high numbers the effects were too weak to breach the fabric separating the physical world from the Warp. It would take over a billion Wired people just to make a small and brief breach. Though, they did weaken it a little, maybe just enough to allow a weak psyker to make one or even invoke a daemon. If Lilith and Celest's previous imprisonment showed anything it was that someone in the Equalist movement knew about psykers. So, the possibility they had more locked up somewhere wasn't that crazy. It was also a very dangerous and potentially catastrophic situation.
Kali broke contact, dissipating her witch-sight and stepping away from the cultist.
"Hui, euthanize the subject and bring the next one in. We'll try to pinpoint each frequency's function when linked and separated."
"Uhm... sure, but..."
"What?" 'Scruple? Now?'
"Didn't you have an important meeting today?"
Kali looked down at her watch. "Ah dammit."
She rushed toward the door. "Okay, don't forget to burn the bodies and lock the transmitter in its safe when you're over. Also, if they start to bleed out use bleach to clean it up." And walked out of the tiny cement warehouse in the middle of the field. Five cars and six armed people, two beside the door and four hidden under camo around it, just a way further, were waiting outside, plus a sweet ass Imperial bike.
"Sergeant Jao."
The man on the right of the door saluted.
"Yes Inquisitor."
"I'm going back to Headquarters. If anything happens, you're in command. If you have to run, kill the prisoners and destroy the radio. When this is all over, check the box and make sure it is locked. If not, consider Hui to be hostile and restrain him if possible, if not you know what to do. If he wants to bring back one of the prisoners, contact me first. If he argues, same as before."
"Understood."
She nodded and made her way toward her bike. It was a true bike, one with a reinforced plasteel frame capable of handling a twenty foot fall without deformation and direct bullet hits, with twelve inches run-flat tires, front facing twin-autoguns, an insane engine, off-road capability and a weight to match. It was, in one word, perfect. As she mounted the vehicle, Kali hoped that a cultist would try to stop her on the road just so that she could run him over, a couple of times, before unloading a couple of rounds into him. A nice thought that followed her as she rode toward Republic city at full speed.
Republic City – Industrial Quarter - Imperial Enclave
Tomoe, Higashi and Asami had climbed into the back of the black car while Azula sat behind the wheel.
"So, what happened while I was gone?" Higashi asked, watching the renovated quarter passing by the window. Great stone statues now adorned the heavily reinforced walls of the factories, gargoyles crowned every high spot, laughing and grinning at those below, large doors ready to be close at any moment where at almost every intersection.
"To me or the city?"
"You first."
"Hmm, okay. Well, life has been pretty much what I was expecting. Though, between dealing with the bitch mobs and the sleazing greedy guys, I did find use for my free time. Like after my father built a private track for testing our new race car models I began taking driving lessons. I got pretty good, even made the qualification for the United Republic country wide race."
"Oh, how did it go?"
"Well, turns out you have to be eighteen to actually participate in the race. So, they kicked me out."
"Ouch, sorry."
"Yeah, the newspapers had a field day with that. But anyway, I also continued my studies in engineering."
"How's that going?"
"Good, good. Recently found a new teacher who believes a lot on practical projects and self-learning."
"Hmm, I see. And any boyfriend?"
Not a sound could be heard besides Asami slightly blush. That is, if one omitted the laughing of the driver coming from the speakers.
"Oh yeah. She's trying to bed a pro-be..."
Cue Asami smashing the speakers' control. "Thank you Azula, and how is it going with Mei?"
"Fucking better than you and M..."
"Oops." The speaker suddenly died, which had nothing to do with Asami almost reaping off the control panel. "Man, they should really build those things more sturdily. What were we talking about?"
"Ah..."
"Ah yes, the city. Well, the Equalist movement has decided to change its message and be a little more aggressive in the propagation of its ideal, lead rather than words."
"Hmm?"
"They decided to kill anyone who didn't join them on their new goal of being insane cultists determined to drag the planet into a living hell and torture, slash, kill everyone and then rape their dead bodies."
"... Okay. Are you serious?"
"Completely. Don't worry; Kali will explain all of this because even I have a hard time really understanding those guys. Anyway, apart from that there's the Avatar who came to town."
"Ah yes, I heard about that. How is she?"
Asami thought for a moment. "She is nice. Really determined and passionate when it comes to the things she likes. Minus points because she always gives me side looks and grimace when she thinks I'm not looking."
Then Higashi raised an eyebrow, she answered. "She, kinda might be, probably, I'm not sure, have a crush on my boyfriend and it is kind of becoming annoying."
"Ah." He coughed. "Sorry I'm not really the best when it comes to relationship advice."
"As if I didn't already know that. Anyway, the Underground is in the middle of a complete restructuration and social revolution, Tenzin and Tarrlok are playing their; who has the bigger cock match..."
The general choked a little. "Where did you learned to speak like that?"
"Metal bar, I'll try to show you latter. Apart from that, the police are still super-efficient at stopping purse stealers and not much else. Though recently the triads have either gone underground or been converted or exterminated so the surface criminal word is in shambles."
"And the other criminal world?"
"He doesn't give a fuck."
xxxxxxxxx
The car stopped in front of Kali's office and the new R&D department of Heavy Metal. Less than half a year ago it was a run-down factory with no buyer in sight. Now, it had become a gigantic fortress of pure black and metals that casted shadows so deep around it that torches and lights were needed. In a sort of octagonal star shape, it climbed high in the air like some sort of giant had put the same floor atop one another, making them just a little smaller each time. Full of sharp edges, statues three times the size of a man lined in the wall three floors up with over them rows and rows of menacing gargoyles looking both down and high, watching everything. Guards clad in dark patrolled each superposed section of the fortress wall and many more were probably hidden in the shadows or inside the building. To Higashi's eye, it was at the same time a masterpiece and terrifying. The walls were thick, way too thick. Catapult rocks, earthbender projectiles, firebender artillery, yeah, they would bounce off that for years. But even a firebender tank could do that and only needed maybe a couple of inches of armor. These things were twenty centimeters thick at their tiniest and could go to up to two meters of armor plating. They were also full of thin slits almost invisible to the human eyes in all this blackness. To the general, this seemed like an application of the mass archery idea in defense. To use archers in order to fight off an assailant rather than with benders. An interesting idea never put into use due to the lack of sufficient archers. But here, the whole defense seemed strangely designed for that kind of weapon without any consideration for benders. That was the masterpiece part. The terrifying part was that this thing was in the middle of Republic city and was apparently full of guards, private guards. From there, the fortress could pretty much dominate the city. He could only imagine the nightmare that would be to lead the army into the city and to try to not only take this stronghold but all the defensive systems around it. He really hoped this Kali had no plan of mad conquest because if yes, the war would turn the rest of the city into a wasteland. Also, how the hell had she managed to build that without no one panicking.
"Don't worry."
"Hmm?" He turned its head toward Asami.
"I can recognize that look on your face. Don't worry about a war before you even spoke to the other general."
"I suppose you're right." He gave her a faint smile, still a little anxiety in his heart.
While that was happening, Tomoe was repressing a panic attack. On the other side of the car, her forehead against the side window, she was feeling as if her heart was going to burst out of her chest. The feeling of panic had stared the moment they had passed the first gate, as if there was suddenly something missing inside of her. The sensation had only grown in strength as they advanced deeper into this new part of the city and she didn't like it at all. Everything felt wrong, the car felt wrong, the walls felt wrong, the ground felt wrong, even the air felt wrong. She couldn't feel anything, as if she was suddenly blind, deaf and had had all of her limbs cut off.
"Hey."
The earthbender turned her head to see the blue haired girl standing calmly beside her.
"What?" She snapped back at her. She really wasn't in the mood to talk.
"Oh don't get your pantie in a twist miss; I'm trying to help you here. You're feeling sick, like there's a jackhammer in your chest and your brain's trying to get out your skull."
"Not helping." She said through her clenched teeth. Her vision had turned fuzzy and she could feel her legs shaking under her.
"Don't worry. Take deep breaths and try to concentrate on something else. Should pass faster. You could also try this."
From the inside of her coat, Azula retrieved a small pack of small paper tubes.
"Personally I don't like it but a lot of benders find it helped them."
Uncertain, Tomoe picked up one of the sticks. It smelled a little sour and earthy.
"You're fucking with me?"
She rolled her eyes.
"Here, let me show you."
She stole the lho-stick from Tomoe's hand, putting it between her own lips before lighting it up with a small flame dancing on top of her finger. This was the most she could manage nowadays without a painful headache or worse.
"And now you take a small puff."
A little awkwardly, the brown haired girl picked up the smoking tube. She still felt like shit but at least her vision was back to normal. Tough she wasn't sure she wasn't going to puke the next instant. Trying to show no sign of embarrassment or weakness in the process, she inspired. And immediately began coughing.
"Shit, what the..."
"Yeah, it has that effect for a while. Sorry."
"Tomoe, are you coming?" Higashi's voice came from the other side of the car.
"Yes sir."
She made a gesture to throw the lho-stick but was stopped by Azula.
"Keep it. At the least it will give you something to focus on."
She considered refusing for an instant, but her fingers' shaking ultimately made the military choose otherwise. With a nod, she left the coat girl and rejoined the two others.
Republic city – Industrial quarter – Inquisitorial fortress
Asami strolled down the featureless corridor of the building, the only sound being the one of their boots slamming against the metallic floor. Only candles were aligned along the long hallway's sides, providing only a dim lighting. Though she knew that in case of attack, powerful electrical lights would illuminate this place as if it was noon on a cloudless day. Tiny alcoves also lined the walls, some empty but others were a place of rest for cleaned skulls with red mechanical eyes. Cameras watching their every move. They passed by unmarked doors behind which she knew were ranks of clerks typing reports, classing reports, reading reports, almost three entire floors of the building were entirely dedicated to desk work. It did represent 90% of real spy work after all; simply reading and classing the mountain of data they received every day. Patrolling the building, guarding the elevators and stairs. They didn't speak but checked her identity each time, even if they had seen her each day for the last three months. She was used to it by now. In less than fifteen minutes they made their way to Kali's comfortable meeting room, as opposed to her uncomfortable meeting room, public office or private office.
As they approached the double door, they suddenly opened to let out a uniform dressed Zhao.
"Major."
"Miss Asami. The Inquisitor will receive you all now."
He saluted the general and walked away. She didn't know exactly what he was going to do, but the way he was dressed it probably meant that the Inquisitorial troopers were making a move against the Equalist. As long as it meant that tomorrow's pro-bending final could happen. Anyway, she opened the door for the general and his aide-de-camp and left. She had other things to prepare for the next part of the meeting.
Kali had rushed back to the fortress at full speed, close to 150km per hour. Speeding through the streets and the sewers she managed to reach the main hangar almost at the same time as Higashi climbed into the car with Asami. Using hidden elevators she reached the comfortable meeting room, well, comfortable was a matter of perspective. The deep red and black carpets covering the entire floor sure were cosy, as were the leather couch and armchair facing the roaring fireplace on the left. The two full bookcases on the right and the small painting from the five nations adorning the walls too were nice to watch or read. The unsettling part came when you started looking at all the functioning weapons hanging on the wall, the cleaned skulls put on the fireplace, the massive desk of dark wood at the end of the room, the lack of any window, the somber atmosphere and finally, the massive, as in two meters high, painting from Kali of the God-Emperor sitting down on the golden throne and looking down at everyone in the room from the wall behind Kali's desk. The painting was lifelike in a disturbing kind of way, the eyes of the Emperor seemingly always looking at you no matter where you where, judging you and your entire life. Very relaxing from an Imperial point of view.
The bookcase pivoted as Kali exited from the hidden lift and made her way to her desk.
"Haruhi, any messages?" She asked her secretary through the intercom.
"Well, I have Zhao pacing in front of me right now digging a hole in my floor. I also have Asami and the general almost here."
"Okay, send Zhao in and have him bring me my outfit."
xxxxxxxxx
Five minutes later Zhao walked in to see an almost naked Kali.
"Inquisitor I... uhm... a..." He spun around. "Sorry."
"Oh stop being prudish, you've long past that point."
She grabbed the package he was holding and began dressing up. Leather boots, of course, with a line of tiny ivory skulls lining the boot's lapels, black stockings, a white shirt with no right sleeve, her assault gauntlet over her left hand and a large part of her forearm as well, a four layer dress and over it her Inquisitorial rosette. The four layer dress started with what could be qualified as the lower part of a skirt, only reaching a little over her knees, made of red silk with gold threaded writing. Then there was the under layer of the dress that reached to her ankle on the side and back, made of black leather lined with circling silver patterns but on her right arm, stopped just under her shoulder. The upper layer was of crimson color with an onyx Inquisitorial I on each side adorned with golden and silver skulls. Then, over her chest she wore the final part of the Imperial idea of a polite dress. A polished plasteel plastron decorated with onyx Inquisitorial heraldry to which was attached a segmented armor dress that stopped at the edge of the red silk dress and a pair of plasteel shoulder pads with gold wing carvings. The finishing touch; lace sleeves, electoo swirling over her left hand, the decoration over her right bionic arm, her digi-ring slid on her right index and a haircut from Malfia. As she was dressing up, she talked to Zhao.
"So, any news?"
"Yes, the number of pings is rising gradually. If this continues like that, they will probably reach their maximum tomorrow."
"Hmm. Good, good."
"A problem?"
'Seems too easy.' "Are the troops ready?"
"Yes. All is ready."
"Then be more ready. If this turns out to be a trap I want you and your battalion out of there with minimal losses."
"You really fear a trap?" His face was stoic but she could see his thinking. He was taking her concern as a doubt about his capacities. He was in the military system since less than a year and he already had the mentality.
"We're fighting chaos here, not some common criminal. The entire garrison could turn into mutants and fill the corridors with fire or explode into minor daemons. So yes, I always fear a trap Zhao and remember that I have been doing this for over a century. Now, they have weapons and they will be desperate. You will lose people in this attack, the sooner you accept that the better. I just want to make sure we lose the fewest and so should you."
He grunted.
"Now if you will excuse me but I have a meeting. You can invite them in on your way out."
As Zhao turned around and walked out, Kali could hear his frustrated thoughts rumbling inside his own mind. Yeah, definitely a military mind. The operation will be a good test for him if he survives it.
xxxxxxxxx
Kali, standing in front of her desk, watched the general enter the room, surprise flashing on his face for a brief instant before turning back to an unreadable mask. Well, unreadable for anyone not used to deal with Imperial nobles that is, or possessing psychic powers. His mental dialogue was actually kind of funny.
'Oh damn. Okay, we need more redheads and fast. And her clothes, shit. Who thought of that and why did it not catch on. I mean, sexy and badass. Yeah. First Asami, then this guy, then her, damn they have some awesome designer. And the skull motif, I can just imagine the looks and faint she must get on the streets. Lin would have a fit just looking at it. Oh, man, if only I could convince Tomoe to wear that sometime. Okay, focus, your approach here doesn't need to look like a creep. Nice legs though. And those patterns on her hand, what are they? Fuck that, does she really have a freaking metal arm with an epic battle carved on it? Okay, now that's even more awesome. Stay calm Higashi, stay calm. She's looking at you now so be cool, she's not some impressionable farm girl. Damn she's hot. Though that painting is kind of intimidatingly creepy. Okay, you're a general, act like it for once.'
She extended her hand to him which he immediately grabbed, almost
"General Higashikuni, pleased to meet you. I am Kali Ravenor, president of Heavy Metal industry."
"Oh no, it is me who is pleased. I have heard a lot of things about you."
"As I have." She gave him a smile that left Higashi stunned for a second.
"And you must be Tomoe." She moved to her, grabbing her hand. "I also have heard a lot about you and your relation with the general."
Surprise, then confusion, then understanding, then a furious blushing. They all passed over her face in less than a second.
"W... what?"
"Yes. I always wanted to know if all the rumors were true. So, are they?"
She stammered. "W... of course not. What kind of people would think such, such depravity. I would never, never, never, engage in whatever those rumors say."
"So you are not a loyal and competent aide-de-camp? Oh well, I suppose you do have a spicy relation with your superior officer then."
She sighed. Tomoe was incapable of any word.
"I don't blame you but alas." She took a step back, looking at them both. "As long as you are happy."
xxxxxxxxx
Tomoe was completely stunned, at a loss for words like never before. Higashi, on the other hand, was barely repressing a laugh.
"Well then. Shall we start?" Kali indicated the couch and chairs. 'Way easier to scan the mind of a distracted target.'
The three of them sat down.
"So, Miss Kali, why exactly have you invited me here? I doubt it is to sell me something."
She crossed her legs. "Actually, it's exactly what I am going to do."
"Really? How?"
"Well for starters, by convincing you to drop all of your other contacts. Then we'll discuss the rest."
"Hmm, you know that breaking those contracts co..."
"It has already been taken care of, do not worry."
He raised an eyebrow. "Okay. You must really want us to use your material if you spent so much just to us cut off. That or you really don't like competition."
"Oh no, I do thrive on competition. What I don't like though is an industrial age army fighting with feudal tactics and logistics."
"Sorry?"
"You live in an age of mechanization and transport revolution and yet your tactics are, at best, archaic and simple minded. Half of your battles seem to be two groups of soldiers charging at each other to engage in one-on-one with a couple of benders on the side engaging each other and somehow determining the winner."
Tomoe's eyes flashed with irritation but Higashi simply nodded. He wasn't a fool, but going against tradition when you are popular was already hard. In his position, it was near impossible.
"I will admit that our army tactics have not changed a lot."
"Not just your army. Your navy has armored ships and yet merely a couple of hundred yards of range, tanks so light they flip off at the first breeze and an air force that you don't seem to be able to use for anything else than fuck around on circles over a fight."
"So what, you're going to offer me a military revolution?"
"Exactly."
Espace
It was Tomoe who broke the brief silence.
"And what will it be? Longer spears? Tougher armor? Cars that work on water? A slight improvement or a ridiculous idea is now a military revolution?"
"I was thinking more along the lines of mass produced weapons able to kill a man at a thousand yards and bigger ones with some fifteen kilometers in range and the ability to turn an entire house into exploded rubble in one shot." 'Also need to upgrade their ships. If only a couple of them could get wrecked and in need of extensive repair.'
Asami entered the office at this moment, a large dossier in her arms.
"I will give you some time to read this. Feel free to ask any questions."
The general accepted the file from Asami who then left silently. 'How is it going?'
'All according to plan. Is the demonstration ready?'
'Yes, all clear.'
'Good.'
Higashi began to read with Tomoe peaking over his shoulder. Their expression going from slightly bored, to interested, to surprised, to fascinated, to bewildered, to completely astonished and all of that over the span of twenty minutes.
"Miss Kali, if that is true I will indebt the army to the eyeball without a word of protest. But you must understand that I will need more proof."
"Of course. Just follow me."
They exited the room to find Asami waiting for them. They lead them directly to an elevator and down to the testing range. The two eyeing Asami's pistol and the guards' autogun all the way.
xxxxxxxxx
They passed through the more industrial and rough part of the fortress, making sure to pass by windowed rooms where her troops were training, hard. Physical training, knife fighting, CQC, drills, bayonet fighting, all of it. They were making good progress, helped a little by the totally legal chemical enhancers, subliminal messages and psychic conditioning regime they were submitted to. Kali made no secret of it, nobody simply bothered asking.
'Okay, note taking time.' Those were the general's thoughts.
'Shit. If she's not kidding... I can't even... did I train as an earthbender for nothing.' And those were Tomoe's.
They reached the firing range, a selection of rifles already there with munitions, stone statues down the range and four ensemble of safety gear.
"General, captain Tomoe. Asami will be the one making the demonstration."
"Right." She almost jumped at that. "First, please pick up the safety gear."
"Are the weapons dangerous for us?" Tomoe asked.
"No. But the sound when firing can be quite loud, especially indoor. There is no real danger to single exposure but firing for a long time can cause some minor hearing problems. Just to be sure, we use these earplugs, so just put them on when I say so. Now, our first model, the battle rifle for the regular soldier."
She picked up the weapon.
By the end of the demonstration, Asami had presented three battle rifle models, two sharpshooter rifles, three submachine guns, two revolvers, three pistols, four models of autoguns, one version of a light autocannon, one missile launcher, two grenade launchers, three kinds of grenades, and finally one model of flamethrower. The statues down range had been turned into gravel, the walls were scorched black from the repeated impacts and you had to be careful with each step less you trip on a cartridge but damn had she done a good job.
"General. Maybe you would like to discuss the rest back in my office."
He nodded weakly, his gaze empty and hovering around the weapons. Kali almost had to drag the two of them by the end back to the room while Asami stayed behind, cleaning up.
Once sat on the couch, the two of them seemed to get out of the haze they had been stuck on, Higashi first.
"So. You had a contract in mind?"
She handed him the document which he began to read with renewed attention.
An anxious mask washed over his face. "This, this isn't just a contract for the weapon is it?"
"No. Just giving you the weapons and munitions would not achieve any meaningful result in the long run. If you want those weapons, you will have to not only restructure but also retrain and refurnish your entire army."
He rubbed his temples, sighing deeply. "Yes. I was kind of afraid of that. And you know I simply don't have the money for that kind of thing so what is your angle here."
Kali settled into her seat, sighing too.
"What is a Republic, general?"
'What kind of subject change is th... oh.' "I though you weren't going to start a war?"
"I am not starting a war general. Trust me on that. But you didn't answer my question. What is a Republic?"
"A Republic is a form of government in which the power is held by the people through elected representatives running the government according to the law. Most often in the form of a constitution."
"Textbook definition yes. And I suppose you know my next question?"
Tomoe was looking at the both of them, uncertain of just what exactly was happening.
"If we are a Republic, where are the elected representatives?"
"Exactly."
"Wait, what?" The captain suddenly said, only to see two pairs of eyes immediately turn toward her. "I mean, isn't the council like elected by the people of Republic city?"
"Now why would you think that?" Kali said in the same way an old professor speaking with a naive student would.
"I... I don't know. I mean, they're the council right? Chosen by the Avatar. That... that must mean something right?"
"Well, beside the facts that the Avatar was not an elected representative with this power and more a spiritual leader, was, if we go by his past actions, a really poor politician with close to zero formal education and, again by his past actions, had a really, let's say binary to be polite, vision of the world. Really I don't see the problem. Simply maybe it would be better to change the name of the Republic to the United Theocracy of Nations if the officials are named by the spirits' representative."
"Okay, maybe they're not really the best."
"That's not the problem. The problem is that the leaders of your state are five people who answer to nobody. 'Who matters.' Only two of them seem to have any agency and one of those two is also a spiritual leader and, surprise, the son of the one who gave those people their position. 'Not to mention, again, Tenzin's apparent lack of formal education or interest in the affairs of the state."
"But, but, he is the representative of the air nation."
"Oh yes, the air nation. The nation which consists entirely of fifty people who don't pay taxes, an, strangely again tax exempted, island and a history that less than a hundred people care about. That's not a nation; it's a weekend cult with a private island."
Tomoe tried to say something but she just couldn't think of anything that wouldn't sound like childish protest. So she simply grumbled and retreated back into her seat.
"Okay. You made your point. Now where exactly do you want to go with that line of thought?"
The Inquisitor reported her sight on the general.
"Simple really, I want to put a real republic in place."
"Through a military coup?" His tone was an inch away from accusatory.
"What? Of course not." 'I did consider it though.' "I fully intend to have true – 'If slightly influenced.' – elections, not through military actions but through popular indignation. I already have plans in motion to take the population out of this apathetic state it is currently stuck in and engage the process which will lead to elections."
"Hmm. Then why exactly do you need me?" There was a larger plan going on here and he wasn't sure just how honest she was about it. She had the ability to take control of the city and probably keep it, so why was she arming him.
"Legitimate protection and authority."
"Are you sure we aren't talking about a coup? Because I am pretty sure that is what the police are supposed to do."
She shot him a 'are you kidding' me look. "You either are trying to make a joke or haven't kept up with the recent events. The chief of police..."
"Never really was the right person for the job, everybody knows that. But still..."
"But still, the recent power-play by councillor Tarrlok has turned the metalbending police into nothing more than his personal attack dogs."
"And what do you want me to do about it?"
She took a deep breath. "In two days the final for the pro-bending tournament will happen. In response to a threat made by the Equalist leader, the police will deploy in mass around and inside the arena to insure the security of the event. This will, even in the previous circumstance, be a monumental failure."
"Why?" There was suspicion in his voice.
"Because the Equalists are way more organized, determined and deadly that a police force that has trouble catching a purse snatcher and needs to mobilize two airships to stop a girl running away on a polardog, could ever be. There is no question here that they will get trashed. Once that happens, you need to move part of the army into town."
"To do what exactly?"
"Public relation. This event will destroy the population's trust in the police. If you move the army into the city in order to re-establish order and security, supported by the newspapers, and go light on the martial law, you can shift the population to your side. With that, and once this crisis is over, you and I will push for real elections with the support of the general population and you will finally get your well needed budget raise."
"That's it?"
"Pretty much."
He raised a sceptical eyebrow. "And what if the newspapers don't get on our side?"
"They are on the side of the one who pays the best – 'Or threaten better than anyone.' - they will be on our side."
"And if we don't manage to solve the Equalist problem?"
"With my help, you will. It won't be easy but with your new weapons it will be possible. Try to take that into account by the way."
"What?"
"The troops you will bring into town will be the first to be trained and equiped by my company. I will equip them at credit for now but they will be all. Any more question?"
"No, no, I think I have all I need."
"Very well. Let me accompany you back."
xxxxxxxxx
They walked once more through the fortress back to the main entrance and the car waiting there.
"Of course, I am not expecting an immediate answer so I took the liberty of renting a hotel room for you two and provide you with many interesting reading material." 'Hope he will quickly get the Imperialis tactica. Bah, I suppose the bugs and hidden camera will tell me.'
"Thank you. This has been quite an interesting meeting."
Inside the car, Tomoe was looking at Higashi and Higashi was looking at Tomoe. Not a word was exchanged for almost fifteen minutes.
"So... what do we do?" Tomoe broke the silence first.
"We go with her."
"What? But why? She's clearly manipulating things in her favor. Somehow."
"Because it's either that or be left in the dust. These weapons she's selling us, she probably has crates full of them taking up dust under a mountain of munitions. She also has the bodies to use them, trained bodies. If I don't accept her offer I take the very real and big risk of making our entire army as dangerous as a bunch of toddlers armed with cushions."
"But those weapons need ammunition right, constantly. We do that and we become dependent on her for them."
"And if we don't we become relics. Tomoe, the thing here is that she could have done all she said completely without us. I don't know if I can trust a single word from her but I know that if we do follow her we will finally establish a real republic, get rid of the corrupt council and kick the ass of the Equalists. Then, if she reveals herself to be a tyrant, we will have much more means of stopping her than we will have if we don't go with her."
"So we'll take her offer? Just turn all of us benders into useless junk?" Scorn tainted her words.
"Oh come on Tomoe. You won't be irrelevant. Just, maybe your bending won't be the game breaker it is right now and more a little boost. I mean, you will still be able to raise walls and the things you earthbenders can do."
Five seconds of silence.
"You're enjoying this aren't you?"
"What?"
"The fact that this will literally make anyone with a gun more dangerous than me."
He sighed internally. If there was one thing he knew Tomoe for and it was the sense of pride she put on her bending as a defining characteristic of her worth. Right now this feeling was shaken and in danger of crumbling.
"More like they will be as dangerous as you with a gun. Though if you think you aren't capable of learning..."
"What?"
"Ah, don't worry. I mean, it's not like you could be better at shooting than a rich heiress."
"Hey! ...Is that a challenge?"
"I don't know. Are you gonna learn to shoot?"
"Of course I am. And I'll show you who's the best."
"Wanna bet that you're better than Asami?"
"Anything you want." The faint veil of sadness in her eyes had been replaced by the flame of challenge, the gifted lho-stick stuck tightly between her lips extinguished since long.
"Oh really..." His smile turned into something wicked.
Pro-bending arena – VIP lodge – Final night
In her seat beside Kali, Asami was restless. Gripping the arms of her chair, constantly looking around and specially in the direction of the players' waiting area, grinding her teeth, stomping, all in an attempt to ventilate her stress.
"You're sure he will be okay?"
For the twelfth time, Kali answered.
"You know I can't guarantee that. We can only do our best for it to not happen." 'Though I could give less than a fuck.'
"I know, I know, sorry. It's just..."
"You're feeling like you have no control at all on the situation and completely powerless to do anything?"
She lowered her head. "Yeah, kinda exactly like that."
"Don't worry. We all feel like that at one point. But the truth you must remember is that even in those situations you can still control yourself. So I suggest you get on that quickly."
"Sorry." Almost immediately her eyes turned toward the players' bench, again. "Or maybe I could go see him one more time?"
"Asami, if you go down there to kiss him even more he won't be able to even finish his first round. Let him survive the night, and then you'll fuck his brains out."
At this she both calmed and blushed furiously.
"What, really?" Kali sighed.
"I... just haven't found the right time yet."
"If you say so."
And of course Azula chose this moment to enter the lodge.
"Everyone's in position and ready. No explosives as of yet and the obvious Equalists have been spotted. Not that hard since they are the only ones with freaking masks on but hey, I'm not complaining." She stopped, looking at the both of them. "Am I interrupting something?"
Kali simply shook her head. "No. Asami, it's between you and Mako so do what you want. Azula, what about the underwater ways?"
Asami nodded as the two began talking, calming herself for a moment before her sight was attracted to the player area.
Pro-bending arena – Player area – Final night
In full gear, Korra was sitting down in the locker-room, looking vaguely at the arena in front of her, her ears assaulted by the constant shouts of the crowd, her nerves up through the roof and her mind assaulted by deranging thoughts. Here she was, about to play the final in Republic city, literally a dream come true, and she couldn't help but to think about a six old month conversation. Dammit, she didn't know why but Kali's words had struck a weird cord in her. Before that she never really had thought about her place as the Avatar. First the Equalists who say she is irrelevant, which is insulting but hey they're assholes so that's normal. But what Kali had said was way more disturbing, that she was just a tool for others, a blind figure manipulated like all the other Avatars. Yeah, that sounded like crap also but... Well, what did the Order of the Lotus teach her? Bending, yeah, bending. She was awesome at that. What next. History, history too. Well, she remembered some history lessons all right and things she had picked up like general knowledge. Okay, she couldn't name the Earth or Fire queen but really who can accept intellectuals. Math too, she knew math. Addition and subtraction and some multiplication and division. And of course writing. Yeah. She was the Avatar, the one who keep the balance. What more would she need to do that? Besides airbending that is.
"Korra, are you ready?"
Mako's voice brought her back from the depths of her mind. She shook her head, chasing away the bad thoughts.
"Yeah. Let's go win this tournament."
Tonight would be an awesome night with no Equalists, no reproach from Tenzin and, particularly, no dreams of fire and screams.
Republic city - 6th District – Final night
"Are you ready Interrogator?" Zhao asked into Lilith's ear.
"Let me think for a second."
She let her eyes pass over the covert car interior and the shadowy street. The roads were empty of people as apparently the whole city was stuck to their radio post, ready to listen to the fifteen minute match and then discuss it for the next three hours. Personally she didn't care, gladiator fights were much more interesting, but if it kept the potential collateral out of the way, good thing. Beside her on the passenger seat was Celest. She was clad in a greyish light flak suit with knives and clips strap all over the many harnesses tightened around her body, legs and arms. On the inside of the suit were many small wards and only text in gold thread she had woven herself after an entire night of prayers. If Kali had had doubts before about her mental strength they had been swept away by the fire of her faith. She possessed a zealous determination that the Inquisitor had only seen in the Imperium before. It did mean that she hated her powers, even more when she used them, and spent the time following her visions praying and fasting though. Even now she was praying, a tiny book of her favourite prayers written by hand between her joined hands, murmuring to her autopistol. Lilith's sight moved back to herself. High armored boots with, for now, blank metal plate on the front, dark pants, a white t-shirt, a crimson dolman with gold braid and silver Inquisitorial buttons, some armored bracers, an engraved plasteel garget, a three point black leather belt going from her left shoulder to her right side, an awesome dark grey flak trench-coat with red and gold edges, she particularly liked the second layer over her shoulder decorated with the quite striking Inquisition's heraldry and purity seals which also hid her plasteel spaulders. Resting on her legs was a reproduction of Kali's armored helmet, tinier and only with primitive photo-sight lenses and gas mask integrated into it, but still more advanced than any other factions and still a good protection against headshots.
'Damn I like this outfit. Might make it my casual one.'
On the weapons side, she had a dagger and saber around her waist, a newly made hand-flamer strapped to her right thigh and a backup autopistol comprised her usual equipment. Tonight though, she was also holding six damaskin kineblades between her hands, feeling the psycho-active material right underneath the razor-sharp alloy twitching at even the slightest of her mental touch. She had been training with them constantly for the last week, attuning her mind to them, Kali's orders. The Inquisitor's reasoning being that was if she insisted on being such a bad shot, and she was, at least she was going to have proper telekinesis weapons. With a flinch of will, the unique weapons rose from her palms and began hovering around her. Almost unconsciously she could dirige them, make them fly toward her enemies and turn them into pin cushions or, the way Kali had trained her, cut the wings of a fly on the other side of the room with one while doing a haircut with the other. That last part had drained a lot of her personal cash as she had had to pay a lot of drinks and gifts to the girls and guys whose hair she had ruined.
Espace
"Yeah, pretty sure I'm ready. You, be careful."
"You're infiltrating a cultist base full of maniacs and psychos with only Celestine as your partner while I am sitting here with a whole batallion waiting for your signal to attack. I don't think I'm the one who needs to be careful."
"Okay, point taken. Then I promise to bring you back a gift."
"Come back without a scratch, that'll be my gift. Over."
She shook her head with a smile before turning her attention to Celest. She had finished her prayer and attached her prayer book to her belt.
"Ready?"
The little girl nodded silently, her eyes burning with cold zeal.
"The Emperor protects." 'However far he is I hope.'
And they both stepped out of the car.
Republic City – Underground – Equalist base
The Lieutenant, for he was only known by that name amongst the equalists, spoke calmly into the phone.
"Mister Sato..."
"No, I told you that I will not add those, those modifications to my machines. I am an engineer, not a murderer and Amon will hear of this... this monstrosity, you can be sure of that!"
"You are completely right."
"... What?"
"Yes. Now that you have established that you will not do it under any circumstance, how is your daughter doing?"
There was a long pause on the other end of the line.
"Now what exactly are you..."
"How old is she now, sixteen?"
"Eighteen."
"Eighteen of course. They grow up so fast. I wonder where she is right now."
"You!..."
"Do you know where she is, each day at every moment? Really you should be more careful, who knows what could happen to her while she is away during these troubled times."
"If you touch a single hair on her I..."
"Will you do the modifications?"
"... You are a monster."
"Short-sighed and weak minded often fear the necessary sacrifices that must be made in order to bring about change, calling monster and traitor to those who have the needed strength. Will you do the modifications?"
Ten seconds passed before Hiroshi answered.
"Yes."
His voice was broken and low, barely a murmur.
"Good. Always a pleasure Mister Sato."
And he hung up the phone.
xxxxxxxxx
"Bloody coward."
He turned back to his own second in command, Hanjian, follower of the Architect of Fate, currently grinning with all his teeth. Though in his case it was his usual expression as the flesh covering them had been surgically removed. He loathed the man to the point of murder. If only he didn't need the man he would have gladly ripped his bowels out of his stomach and hang him with them.
"Problem?"
He asked with a shrug, his blue and purple robes shifting around him. Gods did the Lieutenant want to rip all of his teeth out with a needle. Let's see if he could smile after that.
"Can we get the Sato girl?"
"Of course."
"When?"
"A year or two."
Anger veiled the Lieutenant's face as he took a step toward Hanjian.
"Any reason for that?"
You couldn't see a hint of fear in the scared man's expression.
"The young miss is closely involved with Heavy Metal, and thus the Inquisition, constantly watched and protected. It would take a great show of brute force to take her away now and an equal one to keep her hidden from the Inquisitor's wrath."
"More than now you mean? But yes, it is probably not worth the effort. Damn to the Warp be this woman. She is ruining everything we have built." 'And in a way, helping us.'
"Yes, but she also has given us wonderful weapons and technologies, accelerating the obsoleteness of the benders faster than we alone could have."
"Both of which she uses viciously against us. Dammit, if it wasn't for her determination to burn us all she would have been a great ally."
"But for now she is our most mortal enemy, one who is turning the underground city to her image."
'That is one development I won't be complaining about. If only the rest of the world could take example on those people, then maybe all of this wouldn't be necessary. Alas.' "In any case. Have the cells left the city?"
"Yes."
"Good. This whole Equalist organisation is falling apart faster than I expected."
"Probably because the Inquisitor is not a moron." The Lieutenant could have sworn the man was insulting him somehow.
"Yes. In any case, after tonight order the dispersions of our true members into hidden cells and destroy every paper."
"And you?"
"I will continue to lead this farce of a revolution with his bender leader until its end. Tonight's little show will put them at the forefront of everyone's mind and then they will soon be crushed."
"And what if they were not and actually managed to seize control of the city?"
"... Is that an attempt at humor?"
"Not at all."
"If they manage to actually take over this city for longer than two days I will chop my right hand off. Now get going. This ritual is not going to accomplish itself. Me, I have a tournament to turn into a bloodbath."
Fun fact: Only around 10% of gladiator fight in the roman era were fatal. The point was to make a good show, not to kill the other. A little like wrestling.
