Chapter 51: Of Ash and Snow, Part 2

"How are the modifications going?"

"All the modifications are in place, sir. All that is left to do is to give the order, should it come to pass."

"That is most reassuring to hear. As it stands, I fear that we have been thrown to the rabid wolves. "

"Hmm, that is rather concerning. What are your orders?"

"Should there be any hint of foul play, ensure that Hou Ting's ambitions remain as shattered as her father's kingdom."

"As you command. May the light of Agni shine upon thee."

"May his flame burn bright in you." he replied in kind, before ending his transmission and destroying the radio.

Chieftainess' Office

Interior Directorate Building B

Agna Q'ela

"Alright, so you've got a demo man, a mobility guy, a comms guy and…?"

"Military Intelligence., ma'am."

"I see. Well, here's the deal, all of you will be split up and embedded within the teams, but you report directly to me. That will be all. Now come, time's a wastin and those sons of bitches aren't gonna turn themselves in at the nearest police checkpoint."

"Yes ma'am." they saluted.

Sparring room

Fire Nation Embassy

For a casual observer that would happen to look on, they would have immediately tried to stop what seemed to be a vicious fight taking place between the girls. The next thing they would have noticed was their distinct lack of winter clothing, with both girls in the bare minimum needed to maintain decency as well as afford flexibility. However, there were no such passersby to interfere and if they did, they would have noticed the snowflakes turning into steam where it made contact with their exposed skin.

In one corner, stood one girl with her hair in a bun, hands on her knees panting but defiant whilst in the other corner stood another with one leg forward while resting on the other, heels dug and hands pointed menacingly, a blue haze swirling around her fists, an expression of mild displeasure and disappointment etched on her sharp features.

"Yield?"

"..."

"No."

"Again."

In response, the panting girl took in one more deep breath, and suddenly flicked her right wrist, sending forth a thin purple fire whip hurtling towards the other girl, following it up with a ball of flame. Unfazed, Azula pulled up a wall of flame to protect herself, and delivered a flurry of swift kicks that launched flaming crescents at three different heights.

Rolling to the left, Kiyi kept low to the ground and responded with rapid fire punches, jets of flames lashing out. Dodging in the opposite direction, Azula kicked on her afterburners and chose to close the gap instead. Thinking that she would try to tackle her to the ground, she whirled around to face her.

Seizing the opportunity, Azula made a finger and attempted to blast her in the face. Only the quick reaction of Kiyi pulling up a defensive screen saved her face from looking like her half brother. Not leaving her a moment to breathe, Azula burst through the wall and crashed into her sister. With Kiyi off balance, Azula straddled her and jammed her 'knife-hand' under her chin.

"Yield?"

Swallowing a gulp, Kiyi continued to stare stubbornly at her in a contest of wills. After a long silence, she visibly deflated and shrugged, before finally surrendering.

"Good job, you lasted five more seconds than last round."

"Gee, thanks."

"If you were hoping for compliments you were asking the wrong person."

"Okay missus drill sergeant." Kiyi muttered with a roll of her eyes.

"Hey, it's not like you didn't know what to expect when you asked me to train you."

"Ughh fine. You're such a slave driver you know that?"

"If it makes you a better fighter, then I'm all for it. Besides, compared to what Ozai was doing, this is nothing."

"You and I have very different standards."

"What can I say except you're welcome?"

At this, Kiyi proceeded to cover her sister with her sweat by nuzzling into her, before running away to the nearest shower.

"Why you little shit! Come back here Kiyi!"

"Not a chance." she smirked.

Arnook's study room

Chieftain's residence

"Are you sure of this? Because these are big allegations to be thrown around, especially against one as powerful and high up as him."

"Precisely why we wanted to talk to you about this instead of disseminating this to the teams as part of their target package."

"A wise course of action. What do you think of this information?"

"I don't buy it, not for one moment. Pakku is a grade A asshat no doubt, but he isn't a traitor. At least, for now until proven otherwise."

"What about you?"

"Same. If anything, I suspect that it's a trap devised to make us tear the other apart looking for something that isn't there to begin with."

"If we omit this piece of information, can the teams still perform their tasks?"

"For the most part, yes. However, what they collect onsite might raise questions that would be hard to answer. There's only two of us, and we can't be continuously looking over their backs."

"If that is the case, tell them that if they have questions to come to me directly. In the meantime, I want you to have eyes on Pakku and the entire White Lotus upper hierarchy. Just because Pakku may or may not be innocent doesn't mean his lieutenants or senior staff are as clean."

"One last thing dad. What exactly do we do with this?"

Grabbing the sheet from her hand, Arnook placed it in an ashtray, poured some ice liquor on it and lit it ablaze.

"Does that answer your question?"

"Do you have to be this dramatic? More to the point, I could have you charged with destroying evidence, you know."

"Well then isn't it convenient that my daughter is the second in command of all law enforcement in the entire Northern Water Tribe?" he smirked, tussling her hair as he did so.

Flicking her father's hand away, she tutted "And here I thought we were above nepotism."

"Sometimes, it pays to be the chief.", to which she merely shook her head and sighed.

Interior Directorate Barracks

Outskirts

Agna Q'ela

Sitting on the hard bench, Jia Ling simply stared at the snow white chest rig, unsure of why she was hesitant to put it on. It's not the first time I've put on a battle rig in service of King and Country, so why am I hesitating? I mean, it's not like I expected zero casualties or anything. So why am I having second thoughts now? Is it because I saw someone die in front of me? Lost in her thoughts, she didn't hear someone sit beside her, nor did she feel a light tap on her shoulder.

"Hey, are you alright?"

"Huh?" she replied, startled by the question. Looking up, she saw a man fully kitted, with a velcro polar bear dressed in armour affixed to an empty spot on his carrier.

"Oh, sorry to disturb you but we're moving out in ten, TL's gonna be mad pissed if you show up late."

"Right. Sorry." she sheepishly replied, grabbing the gear and putting it on as they made their way to the garage, where the rest of her team were assembled.

"What's your name?"

"Ling."

"Ling, huh? I like that, has a nice ring to it."

"Are you trying to flirt with me?"

"If you want me to. But relationships don't last in this line of work, just so you know."

"The voice of experience?"

"I'll tell you about some other time."

"What's your name by the way? It's only fair that I know yours as well." she mumbled into her balaclava.

"Miska."

"Tui and La, I told you to go fetch our new plus one, not take a romantic stroll."

"You didn't say how, chief."

"Spirits know one of these days son, you're gonna get burnt from playing with fire."

"Tell me something I don't know, like our target for tonight."

"Well, we're going after a big one boys tonight. Apparently he's some higher up in the food chain, so be on guard. I don't expect him to come out quietly. Keep your wits about you and we might come out alive. "

"Are we taking prisoners, sir?" One of them asked.

"Outside of the main target, no. If he resists, then put him down."

"Copy that."

"Any last questions?"

"What about civilian concerns?"

"His compound is located on the western edge of the suburbs, civilian presence is minimal at best. Now let's go, time is ticking if we are to be at our objective on time. It's going to be an hour before we get there." With that, the team filed into the vessel, carrying with them duffel bags and large hard cases onboard. With a loud throb, the vessel departed her moorings and motored out into the waterways.

Nanuk Special Police Unit HQ

Mid-town

Agna Q'ela

While the various Interior Directorate troops were either preparing to move out or were already on their way to their respective targets, the Blue Spirit employees were also kitting up for a mission of their own. Instead of hunting down paramilitary criminals, theirs was a completely different task, which was going after their handlers and enablers.

With help from Aang, they intercepted communications between what they presumed to be EK cells and their leader. To no one's surprise, their leader was the Earth Kingdom ambassador, who was also the chief of station for the Northern Water Tribe. Obviously, they could not go after him as not only did he have diplomatic immunity, he was also a 'declared' individual in much the same way as the Fire Nation ambassador was, which was to say one could not move against such people without repercussions unless their parent organization declared them 'open'.

On the flip side, their agents and couriers were not afforded the same protection and thus, were treated as disposable assets, even if they had given long service. Better for one cell to be destroyed than let the head of station fall into enemy hands. Still, such cells represented a good chunk of time and resources invested and thus, most were loath to see them dismantled without at least putting up a good fight. At the very least, a competent station chief would ensure that the cells could fight on their own or had connections to powerful backers.

"Are we ready?" Hahn asked.

When the rest of them nodded, he followed up with "Remember, no prisoners. Now let's go."