Chapter 52: Of Ash and Snow, Part 3

Team One Transport Vessel

"So...a radio man huh." the team leader asked, leaning against the rope seats while flipping through his file.

"Yeah, what about it?" Jahan asked, popping in a painkiller to dull the ache in his hand.

"Nothing, just thought someone like you would be more at home in front of electronics and radios."

"Are you saying commo guys can't fight?"

"Easy there tiger, just curious. Unless you got something to prove? I mean, if it were up to me, you'd be benched from your injury alone."

"Don't I know it. Still, I can still wield a handgun, and I've got my bending."

"Good enough for me. Now, don't take this the wrong way, but for this one, you'll be running support. Nothing personal kid, but we've got enough shooters for this run. Next op, I promise. I'm sure you understand."

"Of course."

"By the way, now's a good time to get to meet your partners in the comms room."

So much for the interservice training, he thought. Taking off the other items from his vest, he kept his sidearm and medical kit on while he made his way to the comms room of the vessel. Might as well see what I can do. Hopefully the others aren't getting shitcanned to a shit job.

Team Two Transport Vessel

"...and so this dude, who been smoking every single PT and shooting qual thus far, like, he's got this massive ego right, decides to get a tattoo that said 'Hard Ass' on his shoulder, right before we go to SERE school." Aldo paused, taking a drag from a cigarette before continuing, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

"So obviously, everyone's supposed to get caught, like you'll actually fail and recycle if you make it through without getting caught. B-but anyways, so it turns out our cohort had a bunch of ex-Phoenix Program girls as our interrogators."

"What can a bunch of girls do?" one of them asked snidely.

Cigarette between his fingers, Aldo puffed and pointed "See, that where you're wrong kiddo. Now our guy here, he made the same mistake. First, they stripped all off and started to smoke every dude with tattoos they could find, y'know, bust their balls some, take them down a peg or three."

"So when they got to this guy, one of them goes "A hard ass huh? Thanks for the warning label before I peg you so hard you won't be walking for the next three days." Then another chips in saying "I got just the idea to soften him up." and tells another one of them to open up the hose on full blast, right between his asscheeks. Naturally, this sends him down on his knees and he's finally broke. Of course, they all just laughed and beat the shit out of him. Next thing you know, he's putting in an RTU request, we never saw him again."

"Were any of them hot tho?"

"If you're into hardcore S&M, sure. Hell, I'm pretty sure half of them work as doms off base for the sheer fun of it. Word of advice though, never, ever, stick your dick in crazy. That shit's not worth it."

"What's the story on that one?"

"Classified, my friend. Can't be spilling all my secrets now can I?"

"Aw come one man!"

"Alright alright, fine. What do you want to hear about next?" he asked with a knowing smile and a wink.

Team Three Transport Vessel

"You know, you don't strike me as a fresh faced graduate straight out of officer school. Hell, if I had to guess you would have been the team captain instead of the intel chick."

"Growing up in a warzone does that to you."

"Yeah, you've got that look about you."

"So it seems."

"Bet you get that a lot, huh?"

"Yeah, yeah I do."

"I understand how you feel."

"You're a cop, aren't you?"

"Lived through the second Siege of the North, saw it up close and personal when they broke the first line."

"Sorry."

"For what? Unless you were personally involved, I don't see any reason to be sorry. We were all just kids."

"You're right. Now, how long more before we are on station?"

"About an hour and a half or so, now's the time to check your gear and get some shuteye while you can."

"Roger that."

Seating area

Police Launch

West Precinct, Agna Q'ela

"You sure you ready for this? It could get real ugly real fast."

"I'm done sitting on the sidelines, it's about time I earned my place."

"..."

"Alright, but promise me when the order comes down from me, Zuzu or her, there is no hesitation. "

"I-I think I can do that." Kiyi replied, a small quiver in her lip as she fidgeted with the elastic straps on her vest.

"Hey."

"Just follow my lead, do as I say and we'll all be back home for a hot bath and some drinks. Easy peasy lemon squeezy." With a slight nod, the sisters rejoined the rest of the gang, who were waiting for them.

"Aang, how's our commo looking?"

"Solid so far, all teams are receiving signals just fine."

"ECOM?"

"Nothing much out of the ordinary."

"Gotcha."

"Alright then, let's run through the game plan one last time. Sokka, you will be on overwatch duty. Kat, you'll be straphanging with us as medic. The rest of y'all, we'll be hitting the house from the front and side. In and out, ten minutes no more no less. Understood?"

"Don't have to tell me twice." Azula replied.

"Patch me in."

"All units, this is Hotel Q'ela, what's your status?"

"Team one, in position."

"Team two, in position."

"Team three, in position."

"Team four, in position."

"Acknowledged. All units, synchronize watches for countdown, T-two minutes from twenty-two hundred hours. Happy hunting."

"Team one, received."

"Team two, received."

"Team three, received."

"Team four, received."

Team Four's target: Flats, Old Quarter

"Fireteam Alpha in position."

"Fireteam Bravo in position."

"Fireteam Sierra in position."

"Let's get this started."

As the hour display on his watch increased from twenty one to twenty two, Miska gave a tap on Jia Ling's shoulder, who in turn, passed the tap on to the man in front of her, who finally passed it onto the lead assaulter. Moving as silently as possible up the stairs, he led the fireteam up to the fifth floor, where according to the files, three of their suspects lived while Fireteam Alpha hit the adjoining block on the first floor, where the other five lived.

Slowly, the lead man pulled out a set of keys and inserted it, before cautiously turning it, hoping that the sudden howl of snow and wind masked any sound of a door lock being defeated. With a loud click, it opened, revealing a sparse living room. Pressing a toggle on his vest, a dim green light flooded the room, illuminating the path for the pointman.

After what seemed to be an excruciating length of time, in which she was certain the occupants were wide awake by now, each pair now took up positions on either side of the doors.

Three fingers came up. Then it became two. Then one. Then a knife hand.

With that, the two pairs threw stun grenades into the room, followed by loud shouts and cries as each of the pairs split into individual units, with one bagging and cuffing the occupant whilst the other gathered all the papers he or she could fine and dumped them into a dump bag they had carried for this purpose.

While this was going on, in the adjoining block the other fireteam had opted for a more kinetic entry method and had simply kicked the doors down, before rushing in like a tidal wave and giving all its inhabitants a helping of beanbag rounds followed by some corporal punishment via entrenching tool. Satisfied that they were sufficiently subdued, any and all things of note were unceremoniously thrown into the bags to be processed later.

All in all, Team One had a relatively clean and easy run.

Team One's target: Shophouse, East Side

From the outside, it appeared to all as a seemingly innocuous shophouse containing an office downstairs and living quarters up above. At least, that was the impression it hoped it would give to any passer by.

If anyone were to dig a bit deeper, they would find said shop was an import/export agent that organized logistics schedules and shipping for a myriad of entities like fish markets and mining corporations. Needless to say, the unusually high volume of requests and liaison between said office and entities offshore brought it under heavy suspicion. Especially given that said communication was done over reserved channels that should not be accessed by civilians and certainly not an import/export agency.

Sitting on a spare stool, Jahan could only monitor the team's progress via their communications, which was at a bare minimum lest they were also listening in.

"..Fireteam Alpha moving."

"Bravo moving."

"Breach on three."

"Copy that. One, two-"

The sound of glass shattering was partially muffled by the sudden gust of wind that swept from the highlands over the city, followed by the stomp of boots hitting wooden floors and the shouts of panic.

"Get down get down! No sudden moves!"

"Stay down, I'm warning you."

A blast was then heard over the net.

"Fuck me cap, the fuck did he come from?"

"Don't ask me, light that son of a bitch up!"

In contrast, a burst of what almost seemed like static echoed, followed by "Check the rooms for any more stragglers, I don't want no surprises, that blast damn near took his head off." Soon, the sounds of more doors being kicked open and what sounded like fabric being ripped repeatedly filled the airwaves, followed by the ever soft but ominous tickling of brass on flooring.

"Alright, I want Bravo to take up overwatch positions. You there, get our radio boy up here, I need him to make sense of this gizmo."

Team Two's target: Mansion, South Side

"Damn this place is out in the boonies."

"Yeah but look at them houses, they huge as fuck. Wish I could afford one them joints."

"Makes sense if you ask me. Open terrain makes it hard to sneak up on, plus you can spot guys a mile aways."

"Well, you know the drill boys. Any stray shots and you'll be gifting your kidney as payment to fix up one them houses."

"Good thing this one ain't one of them."

"Alright fellas, enough assgrabbing, let's go."

Coming up against the walls of the mansion, they peeled into four teams, with each one taking a cardinal direction. Digging into his backpack, Aldo pulled out a cratering charge and some detonation cord, wiring it up to the charge before jamming it into the wall. With the clouds and snow starting to set in, now was as good a time as any before all visual contact was removed from the equation.

"Stand back guys, this's gonna be massive. I don't know about you but I don't doubt it for a second if they had planted IEDs in the walls itself."

"So we're going to blow up their entire wall?"

"Something like that, yes."

"You've got to be crazy."

"Not crazy enough to walk in expecting a red carpet and a hot tub from these dudes that's for damn sure. Now stand back, cover your ears and open your mouths. Don't say I didn't warn you."

"Aldo, are you ready?"

"Yes sir, waiting on you, boss man."

"Hit it."

On the opposite sides, ladders were placed and men stood ready with weapons drawn, aiming at the second story of the building while some got ready to smash the power box, killing all electricity to their compound. When the command was given, Aldo set off the charge, blowing a large section of the wall to smithereens, even as the lights went out. Meanwhile, shots smashed into the upper stories as men clambered over, rushing for the entrances.

Wasting no time, the first ones to the door pulled out their favourite breaching tools and made entry into the building, accompanied with lots of yelling and shouting for the occupants to come out with their hands up.

Of course, the reply they got was to be expected of criminals who didn't wish to spend the rest of their lives held captive in a frozen wasteland, as a machine gun from somewhere inside the house opened up, briefly illuminating the dark room before seven cylinders of white light honed in on the position, suppressed submachine guns filling the air with unburnt powder and the squelch of high speed metal on flesh.

With more men flooding through the battered doors, those inside peeled off to flush out any combatants they might find. Outside, police warnings were blared and flashing lights deployed to warn the residents to not exit their houses, lest they catch a round. Upstairs, they found shredded papers and three locked doors. Of the three, two of them were dry holes in terms of suspects while the third door contained two men and a woman lying on the ground, their cranial matter spattered across the floor.

"Well fuck me to tears, ain't this a bitch way to go out."

"Better than them charging at us with a suicide vest."

Back on the ground floor, they had discovered a hidden basement where three teens were found, their eyes wide in fear and shock as they were greeted by armed men in ski masks. Pulling some of the less bloodied and torn cloaks, one of them draped them over the teens while the commander called in for an ambulance to meet them.

"Kallik, get me the precinct chief, tell him I want a missing persons record at my desk tomorrow."

"Roger that."

"Spirits damn these sick sons of bitches."

Team Three's target: Waterfront property, Southwest Corner

While it made sense to use scuba gear and SDVs for the operation, Jiro couldn't help but think that it was a little too much like a military operation than a typical police one. After all, no police force he knew of had their own SDVs. Returning back to the task at hand, he steered the craft through the inky cold waters, a far cry from the warm clear waters of the Fire Nation, where one could see for hundreds of meters down into the depths, Up here in the pitch black, there was no way of knowing what might be lurking beneath the waves. Looking at the small luminous clock in the driver seat, he knew he was in the right area and adjusted the buoyancy of the craft, before following the rest of the team to the surface.

Unlike the other teams, where they were somewhat restricted in terms of engagement, here it was a free fire zone as the property occupied one of the small nearby islands close to the coast. According to the last intelligence briefing, it was an illegal casino that should have been shut down years ago but somehow, it had always eluded closure thanks to some well-greased wheels.

Making their way along the jetty, the pointmen immediately flicked their safety catches off and riddled the guards on duty with multiple bullet holes, even as the rest of the team came up to rendezvous with them. Once a headcount performed and all men were present, they fanned out across the courtyard, taking up positions and changing their footwear into something more appropriate.

A small nod indicated that it was time to hit the building and thus, they did with a mixture of aggression and speed that left its occupants stunned and resistance in shreds. Leaving a small force to watch over the unfortunate high rollers, whose luck had ran out, Jiro and the rest of the team scoured the lower floors, fingers tensing on triggers, ready to pepper any movement with a hail of bullets. Peeling off the train, he moved to take up a position beside a door. On command, they kicked down the doors and lobbed stun grenades in, before following up with a savage beatdown with their rifles as clubs and a pair of ties around their hands and feet. For good measure, a bag was placed over their heads and a chi-blocking serum injected in case anyone tried to firebend their way out of custody.

"Ikiak, pop the red flare."

"Roger that."

While the boat was coming in, all the valuables were gathered up and dumped onto one of the gaming tables, where two of the officers were counting out the value.

"What's the count?" he asked when they finally finished counting.

"About five million cash, and a quarter mil. in gems, boss."

"Good haul. Start divvying it up based on rank."

When Jiro heard this, he turned and asked "What the hell are you doing?"

"What does it look like we're doing?"

"That's police evidence right there!"

"How else you think we buy our gear kid? SDVs and rebreathers don't come cheap, especially not brand new. Here, go spend it on something nice for the missy back home." he replied, stuffing a wad of neatly bundled cash down his chest rig along with a stone for good measure.

"But-"

"That's the way we do things around here kid. It's why we're loyal to the bosswoman and her boy toy only. Five grand a month, plus a sixty percent cut of whatever we find. Now, I can tell you're still on the fence, so let me ask you one time and one time only: Are you in or are you out?"

Suburbs,

West Precinct,

Agna Q'ela

Tagging along behind her sister, emotions and thoughts were running at a hundred miles a minute as now, it was her turn to deliver her captors a world of hurt, the same that they had done to her. Only this time, it would involve permanently ending their journey in this realm and sending them over to the Spirit Realm instead.

Like most Agni Kai safehouses, it was sparse. Some nondescript generic pictures hung off the walls, but that was as normal as it got. Focusing his heat, Zuko sensed four bodies in two rooms up ahead. Five people, two rooms.

Zuko, Bulan and Hahn stacked on the first room, while Azula and Kiyi stacked up on the other. Slowly easing the doors open, both of the teams sneaked in and stood ominously beside the sleeping men. Killing in the heat of combat had been one thing, but a sleeping man?

Looking over, Kiyi saw her sister raise her weapon and pointed it at the man's torso, waiting for her to level hers at the next man's head. A sudden bout of indecision gripped her, just as the pre agreed signal of "Up!"resounded.

In what seemed like an eternity to her, Kiyi weighed her options, before making her choice.

She fired, just as the rest of them did, a controlled pair into the torso and one to the cranium. Switching on the lights, the gruesome handiwork revealed itself as the sheets were stained red from blood leaking out the corpses. Wasting no time, they turned and started to rummage the rooms for any sort of evidence. In the closet, White Lotus militia uniforms were found, along with papers and identification.

Moving the corpses onto the floor, they slashed the mattress open, finding a distinctive green passport and a dog tag hidden inside.

"Jackpot. Now let's get out of here."