Chapter 9. As always, this is not my stuff.
Chapter Nine
Roland wiped the sleep out of his eyes as the early dawn light peeked through the window. Korra laid spread eagle with her sheets all across her bed. Roland smiled and sat up straight. His back popped slightly when he reached for his clothes and he remembered all that had happened over the last day or so. I'm getting soft…. I used to kill for days on end with no sleep, and I just slept for at least sixteen hours after just one all nighter. Korra also stirred and she yawned deeply as she sat up.
"So, how'd it go yesterday?" Roland asked as he dressed.
Korra just stared at him sadly. "I believe Sato is involved with the equalists." She said matter of factly.
Roland shook his head to clear the sleep fog in his mind. "Say what now?"
Korra sighed. "I was using the restroom yesterday when I overheard Sato talking to one of his associates. It sounds like he framed Cabbage Corp." She laid back on her bed roughly. "We are going to talk to Sato today and we'll see where it goes from there."
Roland just shook his head a bit. "And the plot ever thickens…" he mumbled to himself.
Korra and Roland met with Tenzin and Beifong to approach Sato in his mansion. "Remember, Korra, let's be diplomatic about this." Tenzin reminded his pupil. "Even though you over heard him, there is still no evidence." Korra nodded to Tenzin as Beifong knocked on the front door. The butler opened it and the party of four strode in. Roland understood quite well that he was there for no other reason than to be the 'muscle' in the group. He wasn't a bender and held no position of power in the city, but if it came to it, everyone knew he could fight.
As they entered, Mako and Asami met them half way down the stairs. Mako grabbed Korra's arm almost too roughly for Roland's liking. "What's going on? Why are they asking Hiroshi more questions?" Tenzin and Beifong strode past the teenagers and continued towards Sato's study.
"I overheard him on the phone yesterday." Korra dipped her head slightly out of shame. "Asami, I don't know how to tell you this, but I think your father might be involved with the Equalists." Korra tried to make this sound as professional as possible, but seemed to be failing miserably.
"What?" Asami was taken aback by the accusation. She turned and started up the stairs after the two leaders. "I don't believe this." She mumbled loud enough to be heard by Korra.
Mako looked shocked at Korra's statement. "You spied on Hiroshi!" Korra took a step back and freed her arm from his grip. "What's your problem?" With that, Mako turned and followed Asami.
Beifong stood calmly in front of Sato's desk. "Mr. Sato, we just have a few follow-up questions for you." She said crisply.
"My father is innocent!" Asami shouted as she entered the room. "Just because we're not benders doesn't mean we support those awful equalists."
"Equalists!" Sato stood from his seat as Asami took a position next to him. "Is that what this is about? I can assure you I have nothing to do with those radicals." Sato shook his head sadly.
Mako glared at Korra and spoke sharply. "Yeah, you don't know what you're talking about, Korra."
"I'd overheard you on the phone." Korra lost all hope of staying professional as she jabbed her finger in Sato's direction. "You said the Cabbage Corp investigation bought you time, and you're getting ready to strike. Explain that!"
Sato smiled and chuckled slightly. "This is all just a misunderstanding, resulting from the young Avatar's overactive imagination. My number one competitor was knocked out of the game. It's providing me an opportunity to strike the market with a new line of Satomobiles. It's just business. Nothing nefarious." Beifong and Tenzin both looked at Korra disappointedly.
"In order to put all suspicions to rest, might we have a look at your factories and warehouses?" Roland asked pleasantly. Asami and Mako both glared at him.
"Roland, why are you even involved?" Asami inquired. "Are you simply here because Korra jerked your chain?"
Roland gave Asami his best I am fully capable of killing you in more ways than you have lived years on this earth look, before he replied. "No ma'am, I just want to get this settled."
"If you feel it's necessary, you're welcome to search all of Future Industries." Sato sat down and wrote out a short note and then handed it to Tenzin. The note allowed access to all of Sato's Future Industries warehouses and factories.
"Thank you for your cooperation, Mr. Sato." Tenzin bowed. "I promise we will be brief in our search."
It didn't take long to assemble to metal benders and ride out to the factory area. Just as during the Cabbage Corp raid, metal benders checked everywhere, however this time, they found nothing. After hours of searching every square inch, they metal benders gave the all clear and loaded up.
"I can't believe we didn't find anything" Korra stood between Tenzin and Beifong with her back to the setting sun. She had been sure that at least something would be uncovered.
Beifong looked around once more. "It would appear Hiroshi is innocent."
Asami stalked towards them with Mako at her side. "Okay, you did your search. Now you can all leave." She spat.
Mako caught Korra's eye and motioned for her to step aside from the conversation. They took a few steps before he started. "So, I hope you're convinced now." Mako sighed as he noticed Roland walking towards them.
Korra shook her head fiercely. "No, I'm not! I don't care how cooperative Hiroshi's being, I know he's lying."
"Why are you even doing this?" Mako noticed that Roland was only a few yard away now. "Are you that jealous of me and Asami? I know you had a crush on me, but can't you just leave us alone?"
Korra was stunned by his comment. "What?" She was shaking her head and trying to step out of the conversation. "Don't be ridiculous! That has nothing to do with it at all!"
"Oh really? You never once were jealous of Asami? Face it Korra, you wish you were her and your using you status to get back at her." Korra didn't even reply. "If you don't drop this, consider our friendship over."
"I think that will do, Mako." Roland placed himself almost between the two.
Korra had a few unshed tears in her eyes. This was a close friend of hers who was essentially cutting all ties. "I'm sorry you feel this way Mako. Hiroshi is notthe man you think he is."
Mako simply stalked off towards Asami. He put his arm around her shoulder and walked away. Roland turned to look at Korra. She had her head down and was trying not to burst into tears. Roland placed his hand on her shoulder and whispered into her ear. "This will all resolve. It is just life happening right now."
Korra looked up at him with misty eyes. "Then life sucks right now." She turned and walked towards several parked trucks. As she neared them, a man bumped into her and slipped her a note. By the time she realized what had happened, he had disappeared into the crowd of workers who were leaving for the night. She looked down and it read it twice. "I think you guys should hear this" Korra motioned for Tenzin and Beifong to come near. "If you want to find the truth, meet me under the north end of the Silk Road Bridge at midnight." Korra looked at the two leaders, silently asking for directions.
"Midnight is only a few hours from now, we'd better hurry." Tenzin led the way back to the airship. The flight across the city took slightly longer than expected due to a few cross winds, but the four of them along with a few metal bending escorts were on the ground shortly before midnight.
The group calmly walked towards the Northern end of the bridge. Roland had his head on a swivel, this would be a excellent place for a trap.
"Psst. Over here." A man off to the side attracted their attention and walked out from behind a pylon. "Listen, I joined the Equalists because I believed in what Amon said. I thought he could make life better for us non-benders. But I didn't sign up for this…. this war."
"What do you have on Hiroshi Sato?" Beifong asked curiously.
"He manufactured those gloves for the Equalists." The man whispered.
"I knew it!" Korra pumped her fist into the air in triumph.
"And there are rumors he's working on something even bigger. Some new kind of weapon." The worker looked about nervously before continuing. "Supposedly, it is to make bending useless."
"I don't understand…" Tenzin rubbed his shaved head out of confusion. "We searched all of Sato's, Future Industries and found nothing."
The worker looked as if he had the answer to their mystery. "That's because he has a secret factory."
"Where?" Korra inquired.
"I'm not sure I want to say…" The man held his hand out asking for money.
Roland stepped forward with his pistol drawn. "You seem very privy to all of this information. I think this is a trap, so give me a reason to not put a bullet through your gut and leave you for the dogs."
"Wwwaait…" The man stuttered as he tried to step away. "It is right under his mansion. That's all I know, I swear!" The man's eyes darted from Roland's pistol to his eyes, then to Korra's and finally rested on Beifong's. Roland holstered his pistol and looked at the others.
"Let's go then." Beifong led them back to the airship as the metal benders nearby also fell back on her.
"Raiding the Sato Mansion is a risky move with Tarrlok breathing down your neck, Lin. If we're wrong..." Tenzin was cut off mid sentence by the Chief.
"I know. I can kiss my job goodbye. But protecting Republic City is all I care about. We can't let Amon get his hands on this new weapon." Tenzin nodded and chose to leave it at that. The party boarded the hovering airship and made best speed towards the Sato mansion.
They landed as quietly as possible and surrounded the mansion. It was late in the evening, so very few lights were on.
Roland pressed his back against a wall next to the main entrance. He took a moment to notice how nice the evening was, part of a moon, shining stars in the sky, and the glow of the city in front of him. Add in the attractive girl standing in front of him that just so happen to also have kissed him, and it was a nice night for a raid.
The metal benders led the charge, breaching the house and quickly securing Bolin, Mako, and Asami. "What are you doing here again?" Asami pulled away from one of the guards and ran up to Beifong. She shot a look at Korra once more before continuing.
"We have a reason to believe that there's a factory hidden below the mansion." Beifong stated in her best business tone.
"I think I would've noticed if there was a factory underneath my house. The lies you people come up with just to persecute my father." She shook her head in disgust.
"Where is your father at the moment?" Tenzin asked, looking at the metal benders for an answer.
"In his workshop, behind the house." Asami said innocently.
Roland stepped forward with his pistol drawn. "Show us." His tone revealed that he did not want to be led on turtle duck chase.
"Fine, follow me." Asami led the way out to the workshop. The metal benders quickly set up a perimeter as Asami led the group inside. "Dad? Hello?" Asami looked around the room.
Beifong looked to one of her men. "Chief, the estate's been secured. No one has entered or left the workshop since we arrived."
Beifong looked about the room with her eyes narrowed. "Perhaps we just couldn't see him leaving." She kicked her foot high into the air and smashed it down into the floor. What no one could see is how Lin Beifong felt the vibrations reverberate through her foot. Using this method, she was able to quickly notice everything thing hidden about the room. She could feel the dead rat behind the work bench, the random odd chunks of metal and plastic in the corner under a stone cover, and the hollowness of a tunnel directly beneath them. "There's a tunnel beneath the workshop running deep into the mountainside." She said looking at Tenzin.
"What? There's no tunnel." Asami stated defiantly. Beifong kicked her foot into the floor followed by a quick hand movement. A massive ten foot wide metal plate flew up, exposing some steps below.
"Do you think your dad knows about this tunnel?" Bolin whispered to Asami.
"I don't understand. There must be an explanation." Asami was much more quiet and confused now.
"Oh, and is there also an explanation for this?" Beifong kicked again, and in the corner, a stone tablet slid away revealing some blacken, gray and red armor plates.
Roland walked forward and picked one up. "This is my shoulder piece." He held it up to his right shoulder. The plate was neatly cut through from where the Covenant plasma sword had sliced it open. Asami looked shocked at this discovery. "I don't believe it…" Roland held up his helmet and his M7S suppressed submachine gun. "Most of my kit is in here." He grabbed a sack off a shelf and proceeded to begin to load all of his armor into the sack. Most of the parts to his armor, his invisibility generator, ammo for his M7S, and the best part was, most of it seemed to be intact.
"Asami, maybe you don't know everything about your father. I'm sorry."Korra turned towards the tunnel and started downward.
"Officers, into the tunnel." Beifong waved her men forward. "Be cautious. Roland, secure your armor on the airship and follow us in." Roland nodded and jogged off towards the airship with his armor slung over his shoulder. Mako, Bolin, and Asami started to follow the officers down. "Uh-uh, you three stay up here." Beifong looked at one of her men. "Officer Song, keep an eye on them."
Song saluted as she descended into the darkness. Roland was nearly at the airship at this point. He signaled for them to lower the cables and the rode them up. He quickly stashed his gear in a corner, and while he wanted to go through it all and see what was working still, he instead turned and slid down the cable and headed back into the workshop. The entire trip couldn't have taken him more than five minutes. As he entered the shop, he noticed Mako, Bolin, and Asami standing there looking incredibly useless with the officer watching them.
"We need to get down there and see what is going on!" Mako shouted.
"No, absolutely not. We are going to wait right here until Chief Beifong gets back."
Mako glanced at Bolin. "Alright, we'll stay put. But could we wait outside or something? It's so dusty in this workshop."
"No! We wait right here." The metalbender said definitively.
"Okay, don't blame me if I start to sn-neez-if I don't sn-sn-sneez"
"What's your problem?" The officer closed the distance between them.
"I'm about to- AACHOO!" As Mako sneezed, he shot fire out of his nose causing the officer to jump backwards. As he did, Bolin earth bent a bump in the floor, causing the man to fall over. Bolin then proceeded to jump on top of him and pin him down as Mako tied him up. "Sorry pal, we know you were just doing your job." Mako smiled at the guard, and then he noticed Roland.
"Yeah, just stay put until the Chief comes back." Bolin was down in the man's face. "That sounds very familiar doesn't it, why? Because you said it."
"Are you going to stop us to, Roland?" Mako asked the Spartan. He knew that he and Bolin wouldn't be much of a match for him.
Roland grinned slightly. "No, let's go help." He said as he led the way down.
They moved along until they discovered a huge metal door. After determining that it was unopenable, they worked on finding a way around. After a few minutes, Bolin was able to earth bend a tunnel into the room on the other side of the wall. He stuck his head up slowly to see what was happening. "Oh no." He breathed before dropping down. "It was a trap, they are all unconscious."
Roland poked his head up to see for himself. Sure enough, the unconscious bodies of Korra, Tenzin, Chief Beifong, and several metal benders were scattered around the room. Sato stood over Korra with a look of glee on his face. "Well, I'd say that was a near flawless test run. Load everyone into the transports and deliver them to Amon. We'd better thank the Spartans for their help in this." Roland looked the room over once more and saw the massive armor suits that were scattered about. They had a few resemblances to him and Jonah's SPI armor, but were much heavier and better armed. It seemed that using the suits, Sato and several equalists had easily over powered the Avatar and the others.
Roland dropped back into the tunnel and looked at the two brothers and the beautiful daughter of a mad man. "Alright, here's what we're going to do."
The plan was simple, Roland would draw attention while Bolin and Mako grabbed as many of the unconscious people as they could. All of them had insisted that Asami stay in the tunnel where she was safe. It seemed crazy enough to work. Roland jumped out of the tunnel and fired off half of a magazine towards the equalists. Only two of the six bullets missed a target, as Roland sprinted from the hole. Equalists dropped to the ground, dead or dying as the Spartan ran for cover.
"It's him! Try to take him alive!" Sato shouted as he ran towards his own suit.
All attention was diverted towards Roland, so Bolin and Mako grabbed Tenzin and a metal bender and managed to get them into the tunnel. At the same time, Roland was dodging attacks from two of the powerful suits. They were able to shoot an electrified claw out towards an opponent, and without his enhanced reflexes, Roland wouldn't have been the slightest match for them.
He dodged a few attacks and fired a double tap into the viewing screen of one of the armored suits. The bullets easily punched through the glass and killed the Equalist pilot, causing the suit to slump over. Blood and brain matter coated the inside of the helmet and started to ooze outwards, adding to the fears these people already had of the Spartan. This time, Bolin and Mako grabbed Chief Beifong and another metal bender and got them inside, however as they came up, Sato stood over the hole with his armored suit. "Not so fast, boys." Sato grinned wickedly inside of his suit as electricity coursed through the claw.
"Hello, Mr. Sato. Wow! What a really swell, scary factory you have here under your giant mansion." Bolin prepared to jump back into the hole.
"Sponsoring our team, supporting the Avatar." Mako shook his head in disgust. "It was all just a big cover."
"Yes, and the most difficult part was watching my daughter traipse around with a fire bending street rat like you!" Sato prepared to fire when Roland slammed into the side of his suit, knocking it off balance.
"GO!" Roland smashed his unarmored hand into the side of the suit. It hurt like heck, but it crumpled the unbendable metal. Roland drew his pistol, emptied the rest of the magazine into the joints, and then threw the pistol to Mako. "Get out of here. I'll get Korra and get out. Bring help back soon!"
Mako caught the pistol out of the air. "But they'll kill you." Bolin had already jumped into the hole.
Roland grinned with a mix of sadness and joy. "Spartans never die." And with that, he ripped the arm off of the machine, sending oils splurging out and leaving Sato's real arm exposed. Mako dropped into the hole and it vanished when Bolin sealed it behind him.
Roland rushed towards another of the machines and again smashed his fists into the metal. He noticed his knuckles starting to bleed, but didn't focus on anything other than killing. The driver shouted in horror as Roland ripped away the windscreen and shoved his fingers into the woman's eyes sockets. She batted her hands at him, but he simply smashed his fist into her face.
He dropped off the machine and ran towards Korra. Roughly grabbing her, he threw her over his arm. Roland looked at the five remaining metal benders who lay unconscious on the floor… there was nothing he could do for them. The equalists were regrouping, and he only had seconds to act, but he hadn't noticed Sato targeting him with the claw. It shot out, and with Korra's weight on his arm, Roland wasn't able to dodge. Everything went white as the electricity coursed through him, followed quickly by black.
Roland awoke, chained to a wooden board. Just by the weight of the chains, he could already feel that he could break them if needed, but he chose to look the room over first.
Korra was chained up across from him and a small wooden table with tools of torture was sitting menacingly between them. She was obviously unconscious, but in pain from the electrocutions. Before Roland could notice much else, Sato walked in along with a very large, very sinister looking man.
"Ah, I see the heroic Spartan has awoken." Sato took a seat in a chair by the door.
Roland cocked his head to the side. "Well, neither of us have any information that you need, so I am guessing you just want to be a monster."
Sato smiled wickedly and leaned back in his chair. "Precisely. I want the Avatar to feel the same pain I did when I lost my wife. What did the great Avatar Aang do about it? Nothing. So now, the next Avatar can feel what I wanted to do to him." Sato nodded to his man who started to wake Korra. He used a smelling salts, because they both worried that if water was used, she could kill them.
"So what about me?" Roland inquired.
"Unfortunately my courageous friend, you are an object of the Avatar's affection, so you must die first." Sato grinned wickedly.
Roland sighed. "Figures, it won't be quick either, will it?"
"No, it will not, and she will suffer through watching it all." Sato held up his hand and started to count off his fingers. "We'll start with something like you eyes or nose, just to cause you pain. We'll continue on your face until it is so mangled, it will rest with the Avatar all her life. After that, we'll do something to your hands and feet, and from there, we will probably kill you. Although I won't just have you killed outright, no I'll have you gutted alive."
"Roland?" Korra coughed quietly. "Where are we?" The man jerked her head up by hey pony tail, to which she responded by spitting in his face. He ripped her shirt off in anger, leaving her only in her chest bindings.
"No, remember, the Spartan first." Sato reminded his heavy hitter.
The man shoved a metal rod into a fire and let it heat. "Just a sec, boss." The man grabbed the hot metal rod, and grabbed Korra by the hair again. "Spit at me again." He commanded. Korra refused to, so he took the rod and pressed it almost into her left armpit, then let it rest against her breast. It took a moment for it to burn through the bindings, but as soon as her screams started, Roland considered breaking free. As the sickly sent of burning flesh mixed with burning cloth and cooling metal entered his nostrils, Roland griped his chains and was about to break out, but as soon as he applied the slightest pressure, the man stepped away from Korra. Her skin was weeping with sweat around the burn. The rod hadn't been hot enough to simply cauterize it; instead, it left a long third degree burn stretching from just in front of her armpit across her breast.
"Great, so you can torture an unprotected, shackled young woman." Roland thought of how he was going to kill the large man. "That's a great man you have there, Sato."
The man covered the distance between them in two steps and smashed his fist into Roland's gut. He played it off as if it had actually hurt him; however, his metal bones probably hurt the man's hand far worse. "Okay…" Roland pretended to wheeze. "At least let me ask something before I am to broken up to talk. What did Amon do to Jonah to make him work with you, why did you have my armor, and who is Amon?"
Sato laughed loudly. "Amon has taken control of your friends mind physiologically. He believes Korra has you brain washed as he slave." Sato was still smiling broadly as he continued. "We found your armor shortly after we found a half dead Jonah.. I never really had time or the technology to work on it, and my ideological friend, even I do not know who Amon is." Roland knew the fat man was telling the truth, and so, he was done being a prisoner. With a flick of his wrists and ankles, he was free. Sato's look of shock was the last thing Roland saw as he managed to escape out the door, but the big man tried to fight.
Roland simply grabbed him and slammed him into the wall. He chained him quickly and broke Korra free as well. With her slung over one arm, he grabbed a shovel full of coals and dumped them on top of the chained man's chest. He screamed in agony as the smell of burning flesh filled the room. The coals made a hissing noise as they burnt into his skin. "Sucks, don't it?" Roland asked before he crushed the man's neck with his foot. He hit it hard enough, that the broken bones ruptured the skin and sent the bright red blood all over Roland's boots. Roland wiped most of the blood off on the man's shirt as the smell of urine and feces filled his nostrils. Apparently the man's bowels and bladder had already relieved themselves.
He kicked the door down and followed the hallway out. No one was around, and the seemed to be inside of the city. He looked out a window and could see Avatar Island in the bay. Korra seemed to be recovering from the pain and electrocution and she saw it to. "If you can get us to a boat, we can make it." She whimpered as she clung to Roland's chest. She had never been tortured before and she felt completely violated even though the man had hardly done anything.
Roland simply busted the window out and held Korra bridal style. They were only on the second floor, and Roland hit the ground without breaking stride. They made it to the shoreline, but instead of heading to the island, Roland noticed a Police check point. They both ran towards it.
"By the Spirits, it's the Avatar, she's alive!" A policeman shouted.
They were quickly escorted to the police headquarters where they were met by Beifong and Tenzin. Korra was taken away to be tended to by the medics and Roland sat there alone after having debriefed Tenzin. They had gone out to find the building and raid it, but Roland was sure no one would be there. After nearly an hour, Mako walked through the doorway. "Roland, are you alright?" He asked, taking a seat by him. "Is Korra okay?"
"Yes, she has a nasty burn on her breast, but I'm sure the medics can handle it." Mako handed Roland back his M6C pistol. "Thanks for holding onto it. I didn't want it falling into the wrong hands. I've only got ninety bullets left for this thing."
Mako nodded and the two sat there silently for a moment. "I'm sorry for what I said earlier about you and Korra. You two are great together."
Roland nodded to his friend. "Korra mentioned earlier that she invited you and Bolin to stay at the temple. I'm sure the invitation still stands. Bring Asami to, I'm sure it could get interesting, but what the heck."
"Thank you." Mako stood and bowed slightly Roland sighed and stood to his feet and held out his hand. "What is that?" Mako asked.
"It's a handshake. You grab my hand and we shake. It is better than all this silly bowing." Mako took his hand and shook firmly. "Alright, you can go ahead and start getting ready head to the island now, I doubt Korra will be much longer so we should be there to meet you."
Mako nodded and went to get Asami and Bolin. Only a few minutes later, Korra was led out. She was still tired and in some pain, but as soon as she saw Roland, she latched onto his arm. "Let's go home." She groaned. Roland led the way, and soon they were each in their own bed, sleeping soundly, and enjoying each other's presence."
Whatdya think? Got to have a bit of a fight scene, and I wanted to use the idea of Spartan armor being copied by the tech of the day to create some type of fighting suits. I think I forgot to mention, they are called Mecha Tanks.