Chapter 27: Midnight Hunting Party, Part 3

Agni Kai Headquarters, Northern Branch

Agna Q'ela

"The Association of Fishermen and Seafood Retailers'? Seriously, that is the headquarters location?"

"Let's be honest, do you know how much fish and seafood is traded on an annual basis between the NWT and the other countries? Take a guess." Kiyi replied.

"The fuck am I supposed to know, that shit ain't my job. Interior security, not economics." Bulan shot back.

"It's worth about five hundred million yuan, and that's just the fish and seafood without involving the other associated businesses like the cold chain logistics, shipyards and the like..Illegally, add another fifty million annually on top of that and you can see why it's a no brainer. Besides, I'm sure none of your officers are going to open up every single fish just to check if there's contraband hidden in the guts."

"Fine, you win. Happy now?" she huffed.

"I'm never happy." Zuko piped up.

"No one asked you, grumpy face. Seriously, what does it take to put a smile on your face?" Katara asked.

"Ask his ex. Or his current piece Su-"

"One more word and I will toss you overboard, Kiyi."

"You'd do that to your poor defenceless little sister? I'm hurt." Kiyi retorted as she mimed putting her hand over her heart while giving her brother her best puppy eyes.

"I said what I said."

"Wait till mom hears about this."

"Oh wow, you really gonna play that card? Low blow much?"

"Alright fellas we are getting a bit side tracked here, let's focus on the task at hand, okay?" Aang intervened before it could get out of hand.

"Let's get this show started."

A knock on the door was greeted with the challenge "Ran.", to which Kiyi replied "Shaw."

"Come in Miss…?"

"Kirin."

"Right then, let's not leave someone of your stature hanging about in the cold, shall we?"

"Indeed, let's get down to business."

Over on the opposite bank, Aang fiddled with some instruments and dials before turning around to face them and said "Ah fuck."

"What is it?"

"The ice is fucking up the thermal imaging, audio is worthless."

"Well fuck. Let's hope Kiyi doesn't get into trouble then."

"So what triggered the attention of the council, if you don't mind me asking?" the man seated in front of her asked.

Raising an eyebrow, she replied "Surely you would have heard it by now, one of Ursa's kids almost got blown up by assassins dispatched from the north."

"Well that is most unfortunate. These assassins, they came from the north you said?"

"Fire Nation individuals with genuine NWT passports. They ran a background check on all the individuals and they're all members from this particular branch here."

"Well that is certainly unsettling news, how can I be of assistance?"

"You can start by handing over the operations logs for the past three months plus names of the recruiters who accepted the application of all these men. I'm sure you have records of them, do you not?"

"What exactly are you trying to say? That the northern branch is responsible for the bombing or at bare minimum complicit in the act?"

"I never said anything about the northern branch being responsible, nor were they complicit. Unless of course, either or both of these assumptions are correct, in which case you and I both know the penalty for doing so."

With a deep breath that just about restrained his temper, he exhaled and replied "Fine, but all investigation must be conducted on Agni Kai grounds. No records are to leave the compound."

"If that is the case, I will have to call in backup then."

"Backup will not be necessary."

"That is not for you to decide." In Kiyi's mind, she calculated she was close to making the person in front of her slip up and make mistakes. However, she was also cognizant of the fact that she was treading on thin ice and at any moment, they could call her bluff and remove her from the playing board entirely.

Another deep breath later, the man answered "Fine. But the rules about the records not leaving the premises still stand."

"I knew we could come to an agreeable solution."

"Is that fucking all? Anymore items you want to inspect?" he sneered.

"No that will be all. Have a nice day." With that, she got up to leave. When she finally exited the building, she let out a deep sigh as she realised she was a hair's breadth away from riling up a nasty nest of angry territorial dragons. Making sure to watch her back, she quietly signaled them to come and pick her up.

Inside the building, Aniki was not looking forward to reporting the outcome of the meeting to his superiors. After all, his job and potentially his life depended on appeasing and misdirecting the energies and attentions of the adjutant. Clearly, the fact that Kirin (though he suspected it might be a fake name, but such details were above his pay grade) had played hardball and extracted concessions that he was reluctant to give.

"So, how did the meeting go?"

"Not good, sir. The adjutant is onto us, which means the folks in Caldera smell a rat."

"As expected. Very well then, you have permission to resolve this however you see fit. Just make sure you keep the situation from developing in an unwanted direction as well as not draw any unwanted attention, especially that of the Interior Ministry

Dockside

Kuruk Boulevard

As the couple waited for a ferry to make a stop, out of the corner of her eye Azula spotted unusual movement from the opposite bank of the waterway. Whispering in Sokka's ear, she uttered "There's some people observing us from the opposite side. I don't know how long they've been there so spin me around and kiss me."

"What?"

"You heard me." Not waiting for a follow up, she spun him around so that Sokka's back was facing the waterway, shielding her from view as her hands wrapped around his neck. For his part, Sokka snaked his palms around her toned bottom, giving them a tight squeeze that elicited a moan from her as their mouths collided and tongues warred for dominance.

Peeking an eye, she spotted them turn their attention elsewhere, suggesting that they had just been there not long and were clearly out to spot her for some unknown reason. When they finally released, she swatted him and chided "I told you to kiss me, not grope my asscheeks."

Sokka merely shrugged and replied "Gotta keep up the act somehow. Besides, me touching your buns, which are firm yet squishy by the way, is the least of your concerns when I've-"

"Not. Another. Word."

"Well then, guess I'll just have to make do with this.", before sandwiching her flushed cheeks in his palm and giving her another heady kiss that earned them more than a few judgemental glares and muttering about the morality of kids these days and other such comments, as Azula moaned into his mouth.

"Spirits Sokka have you no sense of decency! We're in a public place, for crying out loud!"

"Oh I'm sorry, but you've been a bad bad influence on me, troublemaker. Now let's get on this boat before I might do something that is truly indecent." he teased, before pinching her nose and leading her by the hand on to the ferry.

Taking a window seat on the second deck, she turned to face him and asked "And what might that be?"

"Do you really want to know?" Sokka smirked, a mischievous twinkle appearing in his twin sapphire eyes. Noticing the look in his eyes, she steadied her nerves as whatever he had in mind would most likely end up with her coming in a hot mess.

"Please keep your hands to yourself young man, or else I'd have to toss you off this ferry sir." a voice from behind sternly warned. Spinning his head around, he saw the conductor of the ferry glaring at him.

"Y-yes sir!" he squeaked, feeling like he'd suddenly shrunk ten times in size and for a brief moment, was tempted to use Azula as a human shield.

"Right, now tickets please."

"H-Here you are sir." he timidly handed them over, before it was punched and handed back to him. Once he passed out of earshot, she snickered at his misfortune.

"That's not very nice." he pouted, only to earn more giggles from her as she replied "Not so tough now are you, troublemak-ahahaha Sokka stop! St-ahaha!" as Sokka stuck his hands in her coat and began a relentless tickle assault that left her breathless and squirming. Somehow, she ended up in his lap, where she decided to take the initiative and stick her hand down inside his pants and began to play with his manhood.

"That-that's not fair!" he squeaked as she stroked him at a leisurely pace.

"But it feels good doesn't it, hmm?" she teased, as she guided one of Sokka's hands and placed it on her chest.

When Sokka moaned, she redoubled her speed and nibbled his ear, to which Sokka vainly tried to repress his sounds of ecstasy as his face grew ever redder.

"Aah ah Azu-Azula, I-I'm close please stop, please please please!" he squirmed.

Smirking, she gripped it even tighter and pumped harder using the precum as a lubricant, before ceasing abruptly as their station came into view. Pulling out her hand, she licked her fingers one by one, before putting her gloves back on and giving his cheek a tight pinch. "Hmm, you taste rather salty like the sea." she remarked.

"I swear Azula, you're going to be the death of me one of these days." he remarked as they got off the ferry.

"But at least you'd die happy."

"You're one kinky little dragon, do you know that?" he replied, while giving her buns another tight squeeze.

"I wonder who's to blame for that now, hmm?" she pretended to muse before continuing "Oh that's right, this horny boy toy from the Southern Water Tribe named Sokka, that's who." she finished, before jabbing him with a mock accusatory finger.

"Not like you make things any easier, what with you being as pretty as you are without any effort." Sokka shrugged as he opened the door to allow them both to enter, unaware that a different pair of eyes were observing them from a nearby café.

"Boohoo, learn how to control your horny then, you insatiable savage." she replied, before closing the door behind them.

Ursa's office

Hotel Azulon

"By the badgermoles, do you realise what kind of carnage you and your men created out there last night?"

"I am well aware of that, would you like me to hand you the video clips?" Ursa replied without even glancing at the person sitting in front of her, busy as she was dealing with correspondence with the FNIA as well as the usual requests from her clients. Even with a turf war ongoing, guns, drugs and other illicit materials needed to be processed and shipped, accounts had to be settled and bills had to be paid.

In fact, her workload doubled as normally, Kiyi would have been the pointwoman regarding contracts and account settlement. However, with her currently up north in Agna Q'ela on assignment, she left a rather large void that had mercifully been covered by some of her inner staff.

"You do realise this is an act of war, which violates the ceasefire agreement you just signed not two weeks ago right?"

Looking up from her work, she calmly replied "And I'm supposed to take the hits to my personnel silently without any retaliation? What type of leader willingly allows their followers to be hunted down without repercussions?"

"What exactly do you stand to gain from kickstarting another turf war that will only bring the attention of Ba Sing Se on us?"

"Pfft, Ba Sing Se's authority only extends as far as the Outer Wall reaches. If anything, it's one of those upstart regional warlords that concerns me. Although I will say, the recent reshuffling of the Earth King's cabinet is something to watch out for in the meantime."

"Look, even you yourself noted the importance of keeping a low profile. What you ordered out there last night was anything but. Think of the repercussions, Ursa!"

"I understand the concerns of the Sankan Group, but as I previously mentioned, attempting or causing grievous injuries to any of my men will be met with extreme force. Besides, I'd rather get this skirmish over and done with and save on blood and treasure than pretend nothing existed."

"And this bloodletting will solve it how?"

"See here's the thing, I will stop if and only if the Terra Triad gives up those responsible for the attack on my children. I have no interest in pursuing their wholesale destruction as some form of competition is good for business, keeps people on their toes. Until then, this campaign will continue. Besides, I have the backing of the FNIA to prosecute as I see fit."

"Be that as it may, you still broke the ceasefire and some form of penance has to be extracted, lest people think they can get away with rule breaking, which you and I know just won't do."

"If it's a cheque you want, I'll have my accounts department wire you the funds."

"Throwing money at the problem doesn't necessarily solve it, you know."

"You know what, this conversation is starting to bore me. Come back when you have something concrete to present. Also, is that spirits-damned fuckface Chin getting the same talk as I am right now?"

Taken aback by her sudden usage of vulgarity, the representative was stunned for a moment before stammering "H-he's ah, uh, um, in the, er talks with Yi Ching on what, um, the blood price will be."

"Agni almighty could you not stammer so much? It's like you've never heard a lady cuss before."

"I, er, well-"

"There it is again, Agni have mercy on me. Get the fuck out of my office you spineless dick and tell your boss, the Agni Kai will not now, nor ever negotiate from a position of weakness. Ever."

Somewhat still in shock, the representative froze in his seat before Ursa finally lost her temper and pulled out a hidden machine pistol from her drawer and shoved the barrel in his face. Finally getting the hint, he scrambled out of the room as fast as his feet could carry him.

As he beat a hasty retreat, one of Ursa's lieutenants entered the office, almost colliding with the man.

Before she gave her daily brief, she asked "Um, I know this sounds out of place, but was it really necessary to threaten a Sankan rep like that? What if they decide to excommunicate us?"

"As much as the Sankan group like to project an image of strength, there's only so much they can do. Besides, excommunication only happens if shit goes down inside the Sankan premises. Out in the streets, it's anyone's game and besides, they don't have enough manpower and good outfits are hard to come by these days. Now, what do you have for me today?"

Safe house

Agna Q'ela

"Alright, so what do we know so far about the organization Kiyi?" Azula asked.

"They are clearly up to something. But what that something is, is the million yuan question."

"What about their security systems? Any metal detectors, scanners etc?" Aang asked.

"None that I saw so far, though I wouldn't put it past them to have hidden sensors scattered around the compound. Were you able to pick up on conversations or heat signatures?"

"No dice there, the thermal imaging was a shitshow as the heat reflecting off the ice made any footage worthless, audio wasn't any better. We were deaf, dumb and blind out there."

"Guess we have to resort to old fashioned methods then. I'll see what the technical division can come up with. Anything else that stood out or that you managed to gather?"

"I got access to their logs, but I don't know if they're gonna cook the logs between now and tomorrow. I did manage to get them to allow another person in with me, which I think will come in handy, I think."

"I'll go with you, what materials do I need to brush up on before tomorrow?" Azula volunteered.

"Are you sure about this?" Sokka asked in a concerned tone, squeezing her hand.

"It'll be fine, Sokka. Besides, Kiyi might need someone who can read people as well as watch her back if need be." she replied, squeezing his hand in return.

"Anything else?"

"You might want to exit out the back, someone or some group is conducting surveillance on us. Azula told me we had people watching us back near downtown, but if they're as shaken as they are now, they might have someone watching this place."

"Is that so? Well then, let's try to turn the tables on them and bag a live dragon for ourselves."

"Shishio, this is Sen. Any movement on your end?"

"Nah, there's been no movement for the past half hour. Should we call Aniki to send in a strike team?"

"Is Papa Charlie still in play?"

"No idea. She didn't exit through the front door."

"Then hold position. Once Papa Charlie is no longer in play, then we'll send in the crew."

"Understood."