Oi watched the airship disappear over the horizon, then dropped back into the hull of the Tundra Dragon. The little tank destroyer was eating up kilometer after kilometer of grassland, its massively oversized engine chugging away with a comfortable roar. He dropped back inside, loosely closing the engine hatch. The inside of the vehicle was dim, illuminated by strips of bioluminescent rock crystal.
"Well, we're out of optigraph range. Until tonight at least. Our command and control airship is the Wary Traveller, right?"
Nutarniq grunted an affirmative, his eyes still on the controls. Sangmu was leaning out the top hatch, one hand held ready on the projector safety. She'd been standing like that for half an hour now, refusing to be dissuaded. Oi glanced across the engine dials, tweaking a few valves to his satisfaction. Then he shuffled back into his bucket seat, leaning against a boiler insulation panel which any non-Firebender would have found near-scorchingly hot. He closed his eyes, sighing. Hurry up and wait. The briefing back at the Owl's Nest had been... well, brief, and then they'd been hustled onto an armoured carrier airship and dropped in the middle of nowhere. The Elrics were headed south, looking to catch the road west to Gaoling. Had the White Lotus not been mobilizing in full force, it would have been a simple enough matter to recover them by air. However, growing levels of Tulpa activation across the Earth Kingdom meant that an air mission was out of the question. A lone tank, however...
Sangmu popped back inside, sealing her hatch.
"All right. Air's clear. Keep us on course, Nut. With any luck we can catch them by sundown."
He sighed. It was going to be a long day.
Al sighed. It had been a long day. Bosco seemed to agree with him. The bear slumped down exhaustedly at the well in the centre of the abandoned village they'd found. Ed harrumphed, slinging the rifle down from his shoulder. He and Al were carrying two Elric Mk. 1's apiece, the four least-damaged weapons they'd salvaged from the wreck. Al didn't find the weight of the weapons at all comfortable.
"I don't like the looks of this place. We should keep moving.", Ed said, glancing about the dusty square.
Al had to agree with him. The village looked long-abandoned, but there were worrying scorch marks and places where the earth had been torn and broken by some unknown force. Still...
"Brother, we've been walking for more than ten hours now. It's getting dark. We need a place to stop and there's water here."
The Lancer, giving his exhausted bear a sympathetic pat, joined the animal on the ground.
"Agreed, my friend. It's been a long trek and we've covered admirable distance, but we are not made of steel. Everyone has a limit, even the Bear Lancer."
"Funny you should mention that..."
Ed sat down, making a feeble attempt to disguise a wince. It was obvious that his automail was paining him. It wasn't designed for marathon hikes. Then, seemingly realizing something, he got to his feet again.
"But we can't sit still! We need fire, water... Al, grab some firewood. Lancer, are there any dangerous wild animals in these parts?"
The Lancer appeared to stare at him for a few seconds, then laughed, tiredly.
"Wild animals? Really, my dear fellow? Had you not realized that we're travelling with a bear, the most noble and ferocious of nature's children? With Bosco and I around, you have nothing to fear!"
The bear rumbled in assent, then something seemed to give it pause. Lifting its blunt snout, it sniffed, then gave a low, warning grunt. The Lancer was on his feet in an instant.
"Someone or something is coming. Be ready."
Al heard it too; a creaking, grinding rumble, which he knew all too well. Surprisingly, there was an equivalent for the Amestrian word panzer in Common.
"Taaaaaank!"
The vehicle sideswiped one of the less sturdy-looking buildings, sending it crumbling. It scraped to a halt a ways from their camp, and Al noticed with some discomfort that the large gun (but they didn't have guns here, did they?) mounted on its prow seemed to be tracking them. A hatch popped open on its roof and a figure protruded, their outline blurred by the clouds of smoke and steam that were rising off the machine.
"Edwaad and, um, Aluphonz Eluric?"
"Zhongwei, the Scrying Directorate has found them. Coordinates are being shunted now."
A row of plant-displays flashed green.
"What should we do, sir?"
The Zhongwei narrowed his eyes, frowning. Logic would dictate dropping a Tulpa on the Elrics, snatching them up and carrying them back to the Spirit World. That would require time, however. And leaving the Avatar and his compatriots out of the loop. The humans wouldn't be pleased about that, he knew. Then again, there wasn't much that pleased them. It was a wonder the Zhujue still kept them around. Then the communications officer gasped.
"Report!"
The central paifang shimmered, displaying the dim image of a campfire with several small figures clustered about it. One side of the screen was obscured by a blot of shimmering gray, like a mercury spill.
"Is that what I think it is?"
"Heavy metal interference sir, with prominent heat and water vapor emissions. It's-"
"The Ember Group."
The great weakness of the paifangs and all the technologies associated with them was heavy minerals: the interference caused by, say, a naturally occurring vein of granite or cobalt made paifang transit or Scrying well-nigh impossible. Despite its low density, sky iron was among the worst. It didn't just interfere with paifang signals, it actively degraded them. It was their remarkable ability to acquire massive quantities of the supposedly-rare metal that had prevented the Ember Group from being wiped out for all these years. They were simply impossible to spy upon, or even locate for that matter. You might as well try to dig up every single mineral deposit on the planet.
"What are your orders, sir? Sir?"
He grunted. His orders were to capture the Elrics. Alive, by any means.
"Slam-drop an air Tulpa. Have them eliminate any Ember Group presence, take the Elrics into custody and return as quickly as they can without risking the lives of their payload."
"But, sir-!"
"Do it."
It was relatively easy to transport a Tulpa via paifang, if you had the energy. When powered down, they were no more than insert hunks of metal, stone or ice. What that meant, however, was that you had to undergo the irritatingly complicated process of powering down a Tulpa to prep for transit, then powering it back up again when it arrived. Hence why all of the Tulpa Hubs and Cradles had their own human personnel: it was much simpler to just keep an activated but dormant Tulpa on-site with the associated Locii than to send one in every time a hub or Cradle. Slam-dropping was sending in a Tulpa still activated, with a pilot inside. It was reasonably doable, but tended to make the Tulpa extremely unstable. And occasionally explosive.
"We have the nearest available coordinates. Slam-dropping."
The screen filled with light.
Five metric tons of leather, balsam wood and anger dropped out of the air above the tank, screeching furiously. There was a massive concussive burst of sound as the air around it whirled in disconcerting ways. It didn't needed to be said, but the Lancer said it anyways.
"RUN!"
They reacted with commendable speed. Sangmu half-dropped half-fell into her seat, wrenching the hatch shut behind her. Nut slammed the vehicle into reverse. Oi kicked the boiler air feed to full overpower, feeling the turbines rev faster and faster as the engine traded power for fuel efficiency. At this rate, it could burn through its main coal-dust fuel reserve in two hours. Moving quickly, he slotted a plate-cleaving shell into the breech, slamming it shut.
"Loaded!"
The steam projector dinged. Sangmu fired at point-blank into the underbelly of the disorientated Tulpa. It reeled, firing a wild blast of air pressure that knocked the tank back. The gyroscopes built into its lower track housing screamed into action, keeping the vehicle from turning over.
"Load hive!"
Oi wrenched the yellow-banded shell out of the floor rack, and was on the verge of slotting it into the breech when he felt his ears pop.
"Overp-!"
He collapsed to the ground, convulsing, as agony tore through his body. Tundra Dragons had bolted hulls and prominent air intakes for their large engines: the crew compartment was by no means air-tight like on the larger Ember Group vehicles. The Tulpa was going to crush them to death, squeezing the air out of their lungs. He felt blood trickling from his nose and ears. Nutarniq was slumped over in the front seat, clutching his head and keening in agony. The pressure on his eardrums was unbearable. Sangmu leaned over him, apparently unaffected. When she spoke, her voice was faint.
"If I depressurize you now, you'll die. Decompression sickness. Take it like a man."
She shoved the hive shell into the breech one-handed, glanced down the sighting periscope, and pulled the trigger. Oi felt a double shockwave run through him as his vision dimmed. Blearily, he thought to himself: short-range hive shell. Hits the target, penetrates, then the sub-munitions ex...plode... Insiiiiiiiide.
He passed out in a smallish puddle of his own blood.
"So, where exactly are we?"
Sokka wrenched open a badly-rusted shutter, throwing up a cloud of dust.
"Let's see haaaAAAAAAAAAH!"
He threw himself backwards as a massive, shaggy head tried to push through the tiny window.
"Appa!"
Aang was on his feet in an instant, scratching the obviously-worried bison's forehead. The beast lowed, slumping down against the side of the building with enough force to send dust and plaster drifting from the rafters. Sokka got to his feet, an expression of deeply wounded dignity on his face. Zuko stifled a snort.
"Very graceful."
Sokka glared at him, and harrumphed.
"Well, we know Appa's here. But where is here? The big hairball can't exactly answer my-"
"Gaoling."
"What?"
Katara sighed, leaning against the open doorframe. Her hair caught the light in a way that made Aang's eyes lose focus.
"There's a door, Sokka."
They trooped out into the bright sunlight, gazing down the length of the Ling Valley. The city hadn't changed much since the end of the war- it had mostly escaped the vast political upheavals of Bumi's takeover and the Fire Nation demobilization. They were standing outside a small collection of run-down warehouses on the edge of the valley. A well-trod dirt path led down the hill into town, winding its way past numerous rice paddies, all deserted. The air was full of the hum of cicadas, and an unusual low rumble. Aang couldn't place it. It wasn't a sound so much as a gut feeling.
"Where is everyone?"
"Maybe they heard the Fire Lord and the Avatar were coming and decided to throw a surprise party?", Sokka snarked absently.
This time, Zuko couldn't hold back his snort. Then he buried his head in his hands, almost veering into a rice patch as he did so.
"Oh spirits. Now I know I'm sleep-deprived. That's the only way I could ever find that funny."
Before Aang knew it, Katara had slipped her arm through his. They walked side-by-side in companionable (if awkward) silence as the Fire Lord and the Water Tribesman continued to bicker. Katara sighed.
"They're taking it remarkably well."
Aang glanced at her. There was a peculiar expression of- well, he wanted to say steely determination, but that wasn't it- on her face.
"How so?"
She rolled her eyes, smiling.
"Aang, one of the greatest men on the planet just told us that the organization that helped you save the world is actually some kind of ancient supernatural conspiracy. And another thing- the airship got snatched up early in the afternoon. And we spent some time in the Spirit World. So why is it still early afternoon here? We can't have moved east or west by much."
Aang frowned. She had a point. An excellent point.
"I- I guess it doesn't feel- well, real."
"Real? They tried to destroy our airship! We've already gone over what they tried to do to Zuko! We saw what the White Lotus has built in the Spirit World! It was creepy and frightening, and you know it!"
She stopped, and grabbed him by the shoulders, looking him straight in the eyes.
"Aang, you're the Avatar. Now, I don't know what it looks like to you, but I think you need to bring balance to the world. This- this passivity isn't like you. You always try. You never give up hope. That's why I love you. This is your world to protect. Now get out there and protect it."
He stared at her for a second, then nodded. She was right. (And she loved him!)
"You're right, Katara. I'm honour-bound as the Avatar to get to the bottom of this."
He pulled away from her.
"Sokka! Zuko! We need a plan!"
They halted under a gnarled cherry tree. Appa settled himself contentedly in the sun, falling asleep almost instantly.
"Listen up, gang. I've been talking with Katara and we've agreed that we've been going into this all wrong. It's not enough to just go with the flow and let everyone push us around. We've saved the world once, and we'll do it again. But we need to know what to do."
Zuko smiled.
"And here I was thinking you'd gotten soft, Aang. What're you thinking."
Sokka cleared his throat loudly.
"I'm the plan guy, here. C'mon. Give me a chance."
"I yield the floor, then."
Sokka stood, and began to pace.
"The way I see it, we've got two major goals here. Find the Elric brothers, whoever or whatever they are, and get them to the Ember Group, whoever or whatever they are. Next, find and stop Bumi from doing whoever of whatever he's doing."
Katara's eyes widened. She glanced at Aang. He knew that look. It said 'wait for it...'
Sokka was about to continue, but then he stopped. Ah. He got it.
"And by that I mean whatever he's doing. Not whoever. Not that Bumi isn't allowed to, um do whoever- far be it for me to stop him, um, doing... activities, but the thing is he is sort of old and-"
He stopped, noticing that everyone was laughing at him. He made a valiant effort to look wounded and dignified, but failed. Soon they were all laughing uproariously. Appa covered his ears and rolled over. Eventually the laughing trailed away. Sokka wiped a tear from his eyes and sat up from where he'd collapsed.
"Wow. I think we all needed that. It's been one of those days, you know? Now! To business."
He drew one of the Kiyoshi fans he'd had stuck in his belt since they'd left the Wind Chariot, and began doodling in the sand.
"So. The Elrics are somewhere in the Earth kingdom. Normally I'd say head to Ba Sing Se or Omashu, because we know people there, but," he scratched a crude, somewhat bug-eyed face into the soil, then wiped it away, "Bumi's not an option. We need to find someone else who has their ear to the ground. Which means Toph. Although I can't say I know where she is."
Aang shrugged, clearing his throat.
"I only know as much as you do. She said she was going back to Gaoling to sort things out, but..."
Zuko leaned forwards.
"I think there's another option. I mean, we might as well start looking for her here, but I can think of a place where we might get the information we need. Stuff that even the White Lotus doesn't have."
Katara put a hand on his shoulder, shaking her head.
"Zuko, you can't be serious."
"The Library."
Aang added to the chorus of protests coming from Sokka and Katara.
"Zuko, I'm sorry, but you weren't there. Wan Shi Tong is crazy at best, and totally murderous at worst. Plus he sunk the place! We'd never find it again."
Zuko shrugged, leaning back.
"Well, it was worth a shot. So, we find Toph, or at least find where she's gone, then go out and, what- search the entire Earth Kingdom for two people?"
Sokka waggled a finger.
"Two people with yellow hair, strange not-Bending powers, and a weird way of talking. Also a machine leg. It can't be that hard to find."
Zuko ran a hand through his hair, straightening up.
"Sokka, do you have any idea what the end of the war did to the Earth Kingdom? I've read the reports. There are refugees everywhere. They're calling it the greatest human migration in history. Whole territories have been destroyed, entire cities raised. I didn't get much from the Elrics, but I know that they have a long history of being hunted. If they think that someone's after them- especially people as dedicated and militant as the Ember Group seems to be, they will disappear. They're foreign, but they're not stupid. If they want to vanish off the face of the map, they can. I mean look at Kuei. From the last diplomatic packets I read, an entire wing of Earth Army Intelligence has been trying and failing to find him for a year now!" He paused for a second. "Although... I suppose he could be dead."
There was an uncomfortable silence. Katara broke it, speaking slowly.
"I just realized something... we met with the Zhujue, right?"
They all nodded.
"What did he- it tell us?"
"To find the Elrics,' Aang said, "And to bring them back to the White Lotus for safekeeping."
There was something cold in her eyes; it was a light he had only ever seen when Katara's life was on the line. Or when she was going after the people who killed her mother.
"Yes, but what did it actually tell us? Can any of you remember what it said? How long were we in that briefing? And Sokka- when was the last time you shaved?"
Her brother patted his face, his eyes widening. Aang noticed it too- he had stubble. Sokka never let himself get stubbly. They teased him about it. He'd sometimes shave twice a day if he felt it necessary. He claimed that Suki didn't like to be poked when they-
Katara turned to Aang.
"We're missing time. I don't know how or why, but it explains why it's still afternoon here! We were in the spirit world for at least a day!"
Aang stood.
"Iroh was right. We need to get a move on. Let's get into town and figure out what in the hells is going on here."
Sokka cocked an ear.
"Do you hear... cheering?"
"Shit."
Oi sat up. Something drove a thick iron needle through both of his ears. He lay back down again.
"Ssssssshhhhheeeeaaaaaaaargh."
He blinked. Suddenly Sangmu was leaning over him, smirking affectionately as only she could.
"Good. You're awake. Any you can hear me. So your eardrums aren't punctured."
Oi sat up, more slowly this time. He was stretched out in the back of the tank, leaning comfortably against the boiler hatch. By sheer force of habit, he checked the gauges. Running smoothly, if a little cold. He was quite impressed.
"...hey. Ow."
Nutarniq gave him a glum wave from the front seat. The normally morose Water Tribesman looked like a puppy that had been kicked. His eyes were bloodshot, and his face was covered with lines of crusty red. He wore a pair of earmuffs clamped over gauze pads on each ear.
"You look like shit, Nut.", he said, doing his best to smile. It hurt to swallow. The brown-skinned driver smiled weakly back.
"You'll never guess what I feel like, Oi."
"Shit?"
"Bingo. Urgh.", he moaned, slumping back in his seat. Sangmu clambered into the commander's seat, cracking the hatch.
"We'll hit Gaoling midafternoon. I'm guessing that the Elrics and the guy with the bear will take the shortcut through Stonewall Valley, so they should arrive roughly when we do. Road's been clear."
Oi gasped. Road? Oh, no, she hadn't...
There was a crunch, and the tank rocked slightly. Oi pushed his head out the engineer's hatch, blinking in the sudden darkness. It looked to be just before dawn. Then his eyes adjusted to the glare of the tail lights and he stared in horror at the ruins of the cart they'd just run over. The voice of its elderly owner was a faintly receding wail.
"M-my cabbages!"
He dropped back inside the tank, mind boggled.
"You took. The road."
She didn't even glance back at him, but did kick Nutarniq gently in the shoulder.
"Yep. Nut, tell me next time we're about to hit something? I keep needing to reset the projector sights."
"You took. The road."
She shrugged.
"It was that or try to drive this thing overland by myself for four hours. It wasn't that hard. Road's pretty straight. I just matched the gyro compasses up with the maps, set them to automatic, and corrected for drift every few minutes. Also, turns out that the engine can run waaaaaay more efficiently than you let it. Er, if you're constantly injecting nearly-pure oxygen into it, that is."
Suddenly, the pain in his head was gone, replaced with utter flabbergastedness.
"What about a covert mission do you not understand? You're taking an Ember Group vehicle with undisguised markings down the middle of a public highway in the southern Earth Kingdom? Are you stupid?"
She still didn't look back.
"Oi, don't be dense. First. If you'd take the time to think, you'd know the Tundra Dragon is so named because its profile is similar to the Tundra-series siege 'tanks'," the word dripping with sarcasm, "used by the Fire Nation, and now the Earth Kingdom. Second. We are in the middle of a public highway. It's also very early in the morning, it's not a market day, and I've had confirmation from the Traveller that the way is clear. They were within optigraph range for five minutes about three hours ago."
Oi blinked.
"Shit. You're making an incredibly irritating amount of sense again. You bitch."
"That's captain bitch to you, Sergeant Butt-pirate."
"Oh for the love of Tui and La, will you give it a rest? I can barely hear you, but all you're doing is making my head hurt more.", Nutarniqu groaned.
Oi didn't need to see Sangmu's face to know she was pouting facetiously.
"Awwww, bay-bee. Oh!"
She perked up.
"Y'know that guy with the bear?"
"What guy with what bear?", he said, deeply bewildered, "Not all of us can see out the main hatch, you know."
"The Elrics have run into the Lancer."
"Seriously? Wow, Kuei's really travelling far and wide this time. I doubt it'll complicate things. He knows we know who he is. Does he?"
Nutarniq slammed the brakes for a half-second, jostling them about.
"Guys. It's too early in the morning for witty banter. Ugh, I almost miss you being severely injured. So much quieter."
As the sun rose, they collapsed in a copse of trees a ways from the narrow trail. This time, no one tried to light a fire or stand guard. The Lancer and the bear curled up with each other, while Ed and Al both took a bush. Al was asleep before his head had hit the ground. He was awoken by the rising sun shining in his eyes. The Lancer and his brother were already awake, conferring quietly a ways away. He stumbled to his feet, legs and back aching. The night had been a blur- a frantic jog/run/hike westwards, fleeing the distant rumble of explosions and the roar of engine noise. There'd been several hours where they clambered over and around a huge field of boulders. Thankfully, the tank hadn't followed them far, and they hadn't seen any more of the- the thing it had called down on them. They could all agree, though: someone or something was after them.
"Al! Good, you're awake. We've been making plans."
He sat down beside them, leaning carefully up against the still-dozing Bosco.
"Awake? Barely, brother. Sometimes I miss not having to sleep. What's the plan?"
The Lancer who, he noted, was still wearing his full mask, pulled out a scroll and unrolled it, revealing the map within. It took him a second, but Al managed to decipher the odd vertical script.
"We're at least a day's fast march from Gaoling, the nearest major city. If we can get there, I have... friends who can get you to safety. I don't know who is after you, but they obviously mean business. That wasn't an Earth Kingdom tank, of that I'm certain."
"How exactly will getting to a big city help us?"
"Refugees. If you can join a refugee convoy, you can make it to Ba Sing Se. And in the Impenetrable City, no one will ever find you. You'll be as safe as can be. Getting you the right passes will be difficult, but I can pull some strings. Maybe even get you a place in the Middle Ring. Extremely cushy, for refugees."
"And how exactly can you pull these strings?"
The Lancer laughed, an act which caused his hat to slide off the top of his head. He hastily clamped it back on.
"A vigilante with secrets to hide never reveals his dark past! Now, on to Gaoling!"
The whispering crowd sat in darkness. Any minute now. On Aang's left side, Sokka was bouncing up and down in his seat, hands clamped over his mouth. Occasionally, he let out high-pitched squeals of delight. Katara was sitting bolt upright on his other side. She was probably as tense as Aang felt. Zuko was one seat down, leaning back and evidently enjoying himself immensely.
"So when's it going to-"
He was interrupted by a thunderous drum roll, an explosive flash of light, and a roaring voice, amplified by the clever carving of the bowl-like arena.
"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. WELCOME! WELCOME TO BENDING... RRRRRRRUUUUMMMMBLE!"
The triangular arena was awash with light. In the first corner, a waterbender, surrounded by a dazzling cloud of ice. Next, a firebender, dancing in a shimmering heat haze. Finally, an earthbender, orbitted by fluorescent crystals. The crowd roared.
"THE BEI FONG METALBENDING ACADEMY IS PROUD TO PRESENT A HISTORICAL EVENT THAT WILL BLOW YOUR MIND. THREE BENDING STYLES. ONE RING. THE WORLD'S GREATEST COMBATTANTS, FIGHTING FOR YOUR ENTERTAINMENT!"
With a thunderous explosion, the lights dimmed. The announcer's voice grew tense and hoarse. Aang found himself straining forwards in his seat.
"AND NOW. YOUR HOST..."
The lights swivelled to one end of the arena, where an immense dias of stone was grinding out of the earth. A small figure stood atop it, its metal-shod arms pointing triumphantly skywards.
"A FIGHTER WHO NEEDS NO INTRODUCTION. I GIVE YOU, AT FOUR FOOT ONE, NINETY POUNDS, THE CURRENT EARTH RUMBLE CHAMPION AND OUR GENEROUS BENEFACTOR..."
The people in the arena were shouting hard enough to make the earth shake. Aang noted absent-mindedly that he, Sokka, Katara and even Zuko were on their feet, screaming their lungs out.
"TOPH 'THE IRON BANDIT' BEI FONG!"
The crowd exploded.
"WHO THE HELL IS THIS GUY? HE'S TINY!"
"WHAT?"
"HE'S TINY!"
"SHE'S THIRTEEN!"
"OH."
Al knew, in a detached sort of way, what an Amestrian pro-boxing match was like. He knew there was often a lot of spectacle involved. A lot of audience participation. This, he guessed, was quite similar. He still wasn't sure why he was on his feet, clapping frantically and screaming in Amestrian. He winced as the Lancer bellowed in his brother's ear. Again.
"ED, TOPH BEI FONG IS MY CONTACT. SHE'LL GET YOU TO SAFETY."
"WHAT."
To be honest, Al wasn't even surprised any more.
"Girls, how would you like to invade the Fire Nation again? For old time's sake?"
"If it were anyone but you asking, I'd say no way. Not my business. Count me in."
"Would I ever! Any chance to show off!"
"Us versus an army. Can't say I like their odds."
-~0X0~-
And with that, HtE passes the 100-page-of-size-12-Times-New-Roman mark. Yay!
Massive thanks to everyone who read, reviewed, favourited and subscribed, as well as the indefatigable Leneia for being immensely clever. I'm trying to increase the dialogue and decrease the TENK TONK IMMA TANK. So yeah. With midterms done, I may be able to get the next chapter done earlier than a month behind schedule! No guarantees!
Expect a new Document up within a few days. Ciao!