Chapter 5: The Betrayal at Zu-Shin Pass
The pile of rubble where a tunnel had once been was not a pleasant sight. A massive chunk of the mountain had collapsed around their excavation site, rendering any attempt to rebuild the tunnel dangerous and costly.
The tunnel through Zu-Shin mountain had been a joint project between the Coalition and the United Republic. The Republic had been longing for a way to trade with the northern Earth Kingdom without having to go around the mountain range that stood between them. It would also have been an efficient way for the Coalition to funnel troops out of the United Republic and into the Earth Kingdom.
Now the joint venture was a pile of rubble. Most people were dismissing it as an unfortunate circumstance of geology. Similar collapses had been happening throughout the Earth Kingdom, in mines and tunnels across the nation.
"This whole continent is like a minefield," Ada noted. She was sitting in a tent near the collapsed mountain. She had resented being assigned here from the very first day, and now all her time spent overseeing this project was wasted effort. Hopefully Sen would wrap up his investigations soon and she could get back to the front lines. "We should just chalk this up to another minor earthquake and move on."
"Where would you want to go, when you go back?" Canto asked. As always, he was supportive. He never bothered asking her to stay behind for a little while. If Ada wanted to fight, she would fight.
"The bloodbenders need investigation," Ada said. "I'd like to track them down. Not on the full moon, obviously."
"Naturally," Canto said. "Though I thought your friend Ariak was handling bloodbenders."
"There's a bit of a nemesis scenario involved there," Ada said. "It might be better if someone else handled it, honestly."
Canto nodded and folded his hands together.
"Did you get a nemesis while you were out travelling the world?"
"No, of course not," Ada said dismissively. "I don't have anything like that."
"I guess that's a good thing," Canto said. "Though knowing you, you'd have fun with it."
"There are better ways to have fun," Ada said flirtatiously. Canto's face turned red and he looked the other way, deciding to watch Sen carry out his investigation.
Sen was clambering across a pile of rocks to examine the rubble. Ada had been watching over the tunnel entrance herself, and had personally assured him that no one had entered or exited in the time around the explosion. The workers had been on a break, even, so the only damage done was to some equipment that had been left behind. Sen still insisted on seeing for himself.
With a slight wave of his hand, Sen cleared a large portion of the rubble. He twisted his heel along the ground slightly, and Gun rose up from below. Together, the two of them proceeded some distance into the collapsed tunnel, clearing rubble as they went. The tunnel shuddered slightly as they travelled. Sen was very careful and deliberate in his motions as he moved forward. It was obvious to everyone watching that he was looking for something.
After going a few hundred feet into the tunnel, Sen seemed to find what he was looking for. He removed a particular section of stone and took it in his hands, then turned his back on the tunnel. It was not long before the area he'd carved out collapsed again. The mountain had been rendered highly unstable by the tunnels collapse.
Sen carefully examined the stone in his hands as he walked out, adjusting his glasses slightly as he observed the stone. When he returned to his allies, he tossed the stone to Detective Zas.
"What do you see there?"
The Detective turned the blackened rock over in his hands. He came to quick conclusions.
"Scorch marks, asymmetrical striations, minimal fracturing in the stone," Zas observed. "Explosives. Low yield. Not powerful enough to cause a collapse on its own."
"Not without multiple sites of detonation," Sen said.
"Multiple strategically placed sites," Zas elaborated.
"Sabotage," Sen concluded. "By someone who knew our operation very well."
Ada perked up in her chair. Her assignment had just gotten a lot more interesting.
Sen kept the piece of scorched stone on his desk as the investigation proceeded.
It seemed the obvious conclusion that the Energybender's men had been behind the sabotage, but even that obvious conclusion was missing some details. He needed more information.
Ada had claimed repeatedly, and truthfully, that there had been no suspicious activity at all in the past few days. The only conclusion to be drawn from that was that the saboteur was one of the Coalition's own members. A distressing thought, but not entirely unexpected, nor one they could not readily deal with.
Much to her chagrin, Whistler had been given a task for once. She usually kept to herself, occasionally appearing at battlefields to crack some enemy heads, but even left to her own devices she was usually making an effort to help the Coalition. She had recently discovered she had a knack for weeding out spies and infiltrators, in the Coalition and in civilian society. Most of her time now was spent lurking around Coalition camps and city streets, on the watch for suspicious behavior. Sen intended to make use of that talent to weed out any potential infiltrators in the camp around Zu-Shin.
"The camps been disorganized ever since the collapse," Sen informed her. "It'll be difficult to impossible to interrogate anyone."
"So you'll have me skulking about to watch things," Whistler said. It was a decent plan. Coalition soldiers tended to recognize her as the Coalitions personal Inquisition; those that were disloyal tended to act strangely around her.
"Whoever placed these bombs is obviously a professional, so I'm going to get you a little something to help," Sen said. "President Dahaka has approved my recruitment request for the Metal Men Division."
Whistler folded her arms sternly. There was a general shaking of heads and muttering from all of Sen's friends.
"Didn't I explicitly tell you that almost every single one of those guys is a traitor?"
The Metal Men were an elite brigade of metalbenders in the employ of the Republic military. Under different circumstances they might have been a valuable asset, but every piece of intel pointed to them being traitors. They had served under the traitor Lieutenant Ahn-Li, and Whistler's own investigations had turned up a great deal of suspicious activity.
"We know that, but they don't know that we know that," Sen said. He was aware of the risks, but he also imagined several benefits. "The Metal Men are traitors, yes, but so is whoever was responsible for this sabotage. I imagine that if the Metal Men have access to the site, they may help our saboteur cover their tracks and escape."
"Oh, alright, I see how it is," Whistler said.
"The Metal Men should not think they're under suspicion," Colonel Kim suggested. "Whistler has acquired a reputation."
"I could deal with the Metal Men," Suda said. "I'll chat them up about metalbending, try to get friendly. They'll just think I'm out to learn some new tricks."
Sen nodded. He next turned his attention to Ada.
"We need an expert on explosives," Sen said. "Can you get in touch with one?"
"I don't imagine I could," Ada said. "Why would you ask me?"
"Well, you were carrying around that explosive from Zaofu for months," Sen said. Ada shuddered slightly at the thought of that strange device. She was glad she'd gotten rid of it by throwing it at the Fogbender.
"I assumed that someone from Zaofu would know more about explosives," Sen said.
"I can try to get in touch with Ko Rin," Ada said. "He might know more."
"Please do," Sen asked politely. "And tell him to come to camp. I still haven't met Ko Rin in person."
Sen's voice was cut with the slightest blade of suspicion. He did not fully trust anyone he had never seen face-to-face. Ko Rin had his hands in the Coalition, the White Lotus, and Zaofu's security network, and yet he had never bothered to meet the Avatar, the one figure that all three organizations revolved around.
Ada nodded and excused herself, heading for the nearest radio. Sen dismissed the rest of his associates to their assigned tasks. Though this act of sabotage was his first concern, there were other battlefronts that required his attention. War was war, and it required a General to have his attention split between multiple fronts at once. The full moon was approaching, and Sarin would soon launch an attack with his bloodbenders. Sen had to make sure they were adequately prepared to defend themselves.
While Sen focused his attention on other tasks, Whistler focused in on hers. There was a large camp to deal with, and the sooner she got started, the sooner she would be done.
The general mood of the camp was leaning towards frustration and anger. With the sabotage being unresolved, the Zu-Shin camp had been completely closed off: no one was allowed to leave. Most of these people were just ordinary workers and engineers with no particular loyalty to the Coalition. They wanted to go home to their families, not sit in a mountain pass waiting for investigation.
Contrary to what one might think, the anger made Whistler's job somewhat easier. People who were frustrated were fairly quick to be cleared of suspicion. This was an unexpected and unpleasant delay for them, not any attitude a saboteur might have towards his handiwork. Whistler kept an eye open for people who were nervous, frightened, or guilty looking.
Even after tracking down suspicious targets, she had little luck in observing any dubious activity. Most of the people she followed seemed to go about their activities as normal, never showing any signs of any deviant or traitorous activity. Whistler settled in and decided to be more relaxed in her observation. Once the Metal Men arrived, there might be some more obvious movements.
It took a few hours for them to complete their transit, but the Metal Men were there the same day that Sen had requested them. They arrived in a series of heavily armored vehicles, as heavy and ironclad as the Metal Men themselves were.
The soldiers of the metalbender legion were unanimously massive men and women, made to appear all the larger by the fact that they wore massive suits of armor. The ability to metalbend gave them the ability to wear armor that was heavy and durable while still retaining flexibility. A technique Sen had seen demonstrated very well once before.
Their techniques and abilities were vaguely reminiscent of the long-defeated Rahm, and nowhere was this more evident than in their leader. The commander of the Metal Men approached Sen and bowed, far too shallowly to be properly respectful. Suda took a slight step back when he saw the commander's armor.
The armor he wore was dark grey, and plated in the style of ancient warriors. Broad spikes and metal plates stood in a layered shell over his entire body. The influence was obvious. The commander had modeled his armor after the Spirit Metal worn by the late General Rahm.
"Your armor's the wrong shade of black," Sen observed.
"Greetings to you as well, General," The armored man said bitterly. "I am Commander Temujin of the metal men, here at your request."
"Excellent," Sen said. "I'm concerned about our security. You and your men should set up a perimeter."
Sen looked briefly to Suda. He was clearly distressed by Temujin's superficial resemblance to Rahm. Suda experienced a few moments of doubt, but he quickly nodded to Sen, signaling that he would be fine.
"Suda will show you to your posts," Sen said. Temujin nodded and reached to his back. He had a large weapon strapped there which he removed and planted in the ground. Sen had not been phased by Temujin's armor, but the weapon he wielded was more of a concern.
Atop a large metal rod, resting like the head of a hammer, was a black gauntlet, cracked heavily but still intact, clenched permanently into a fist. This was no pale imitation of Rahm's armor. Sen recognized the same clawed fingers that had once reached for his throat, the knuckles that had threatened him with herculean punches. Temujin had somehow claimed Rahm's broken gauntlet.
Temujin nodded slightly when he saw Sen's angered reaction. The Avatar had been under the impression that all the pieces of Rahm's armor had been locked away in a secure vault. It was highly unlikely that anyone would ever be able to wield the SpiritMetal as Rahm had, but it was not a risk Sen wanted to take. The fact that Temujin had turned Rahm's gauntlet into a hammer did not sit well with Sen.
The Metal Men were dismissed to guard posts around the camp. Sen nodded at Suda, and then at the black gauntlet, a subtle signal to investigate Temujin's hammer.
It took some time to get all of the Metal Men into position. Sen had devised their postings, not to provide maximum security, but to put the Metal men in easily observed positions. He wanted to see the moment any of them tried to make any suspicious moves. Temujin never questioned the odd distribution of his troops. He simply ordered them all into place and then took his own post near the center of the camp. Suda stayed by his side.
"So, what's the story with that hammer?"
"Impressive, isn't it," Temujin said. His voice was deep and rough, but not unpleasantly so. Temujin lowered his hammer and rested the spiked knuckles of the gauntlet in his palm.
"The Spirit Metal wouldn't be shaped no matter what I did," Temujin said, sounding slightly disappointed. "I filled it in with a titanium alloy and made a hammer of it. I call it the Fist of Rahm."
"A bit on the nose," Suda said nervously.
"I was never one for subtlety," Temujin said with a low chuckle. "I always admired that about Rahm. Never bothered dancing around his enemies. Not like our esteemed Avatar-General."
Suda bit his tongue. Temujin wasn't even trying to hide the fact that he was evil. As uncomfortable as this conversation was no doubt going to be, Suda intended to keep Temujin talking. It was almost certain that the two of them were going to be fighting sooner or later, so he wanted to get to know his enemy while he could.
"You admired Rahm?"
"I can't say I agreed with his causes," Temujin began. "But I admired the way he went about them. The man was single-minded. He had a goal, and the power to accomplish it. He was the greatest bender of our time."
"He still lost to Sen."
That seemed to upset Temujin. He clenched the rod of his hammer tightly and spoke slowly.
"Rahm was outnumbered and caught off guard," Temujin said defensively. "Under different circumstances, he would have won that battle."
While even Miyani admitted that she might have lost to Rahm on her own, it was near-universally agreed that Sen could have handled the rogue General with ease. Miyani's involvement in the battle had only sped up Rahm's inevitable defeat at the hands of the Avatar.
Temujin shouldered the Fist of Rahm and looked over the camp for a moment. He disapproved of this delay, of the time being wasted on this investigation. He had served in the Seventh Kingdom war, and he had seen how a military campaign should be led. Rahm had led them on a relentless charge against the Seventh Kingdom, crushing their outposts, and then crushing the retreating soldiers as well. While the Avatar hesitated to press forward, his enemies were gathering strength.
Which suited Temujin just fine, considering he was one of those enemies. His mission was to gather as much intelligence as possible while he was here, and then do as much damage as possible on his way out.
The food at the camp was just the way Whistler liked it. Just barely nutritious enough to keep you from starving, then doused in salt and cheap sauce until you could barely taste what exactly it was you were eating. Judging from the grumbling she heard around her, Whistler was one of the only people who appreciated their cooks work.
She was making an active attempt to associate with the Coalition soldiers as equals, even eating in the same mess hall, but they did not seem willing to comply. Whistler sat alone, and the only interaction she had with the soldiers were the awkward glances they gave her from across the room.
They saw her as an authority figure, and that put a sickening feeling in the pit of Whistler's stomach. The last thing she wanted to be was in charge of anyone. She was barely tolerant of Sen being in charge of her. She adamantly refused to give anyone orders, and she shot down anyone who attempted to call her "ma'am", but most of the Coalitions rank and file still thought of her as a commander.
Whistler finished her unidentified meal, but remained at her table for a moment. She looked over the mess hall and tried to pick out anything out of the ordinary. She failed. It seemed like the camp was business as usual.
One of the Metal Men soldiers was watching over the dinner, and Whistler was making sure to keep a subtle eye on them. For a moment Whistler thought she might have a lead when one soldier slowly approached the Metal Men trooper, but it soon became apparent they were just trying to make an awkward conversation. Apparently the trooper under all that armor was female. Whistler found no leads on her investigation, but it was at least amusing watching the Coalition soldiers feeble attempts to flirt with the armored woman.
By the end of it, Whistler and the Coalition soldier were both empty-handed. Whistler still had no idea who might have sabotaged the tunnel or how they might have done it. She left the mess hall behind and went on to new territory.
The radio was crackling loudly into the quiet night. Ko Rin was notoriously difficult to contact. When he needed to talk to someone he would have them in minutes, but when it was the other way around he was nearly impossible to reach. It made sense that a man responsible for organizing so many different covert operations would be hard to reach, but Ada still resented it.
She tapped her fingers impatiently while she waited. The thought of talking to Ko Rin again was making her tense. Their contact had been very sparse lately. Ada didn't need to talk to him, nor did she want to. Her eyes still burned whenever she thought of the Spymaster.
Canto was sitting over Ada's shoulder, watching her carefully. She had yet to share her suspicions about their master, but Canto could easily tell that something was wrong with her. In all the years they'd been apart, her nervous habits had not changed a bit. She still toyed with the pommel of her sword whenever she was upset.
After a needlessly long wait, the radio finally hummed to life. Ada sat up straight in her chair and readied herself.
"Ada," Ko Rin said tersely.
"The Avatar has a request," Ada said, skipping any kind of formalities.
"Which I will do my best to fulfill," Ko Rin replied. "What can I do to serve our Avatar-General?"
"The Avatar would like us to do some research into explosives," Ada said.
"Might I ask why," Ko Rin questioned. "I would think that Combustion Bender would give him all the ordnance he needs."
"It's about our enemies, not us," Ada said. "The Avatar discovered that explosives were used to sabotage the Zu-Shin tunnel."
There was an inordinately long pause from the other end of the radio.
"I'll assist however I can," Ko Rin said. "The Energybender being able to sabotage our operations so easily is a serious concern."
"Just try to find out where his explosives might be coming from," Ada instructed. "We're looking for small, shaped charges, probably remotely detonated. You'd need an expert in demolitions."
"We have no such person in Zaofu," Ko Rin said. "I might find a lead, but it could take some time."
"We don't have any explosive engineers on hand? What about the person who created that handheld explosive?"
"That was a one of a kind prototype, Ada, which I might remind you I do not appreciate you taking."
Canto shook his head sarcastically. Ada did not respond. She had done the right thing taking that small explosive from Zaofu. It had been very useful in defeating the Fogbender.
"Zaofu has no explosives nor experts on the sort," Ko Rin stated firmly. "But I will see what I can find."
Ada quickly switched the radio off and rested her head in her hands. She felt almost like she had a fever all of a sudden. Canto put a comforting hand on her shoulder while she waited out the sudden rush of heat.
After a few deep breaths, Ada had regained her composure. She stood up, still toying with her swords pommel, and walked out of the radio tent. Canto followed closely behind.
"You think he'll find out what happened?"
"If he wants to find answers, Ko Rin will find them," Ada said. Canto nodded and kicked his feet through the dirt for a moment.
"I think I might go back to Zaofu," Canto said. "There isn't much use for logistics here anymore. Espionage isn't really my skillset."
"That doesn't mean you have to go," Ada said, stepping slightly closer to her boyfriend.
"Believe me, I don't want to," Canto said with a sheepish smile. "But it's about where I need to be, not where I want to be. Our Spymaster needs me."
Ada froze for a moment, looking Canto in the eyes. They were glazed over, unfocused. After just a moment of looking at Ada, he seemed to snap back to attention.
"Go on," Ada said, backing away slowly. Canto seemed confused for a moment, but quickly moved on, heading for Zaofu.
Ada bit her lip and tightly grasped the handle of her sword. She looked towards the Avatar's tent, and then looked away. She headed back to her tent on her own.
Sen was not an easy man to frustrate. In all the years they had known each other, Ada had only seen him truly angry a handful of times. This was not one such time, but it was dangerously close. The Avatar had his fist clenched tight, an obvious sign of stress.
It had been a week since their investigation had begun, and they had nothing to show for it. Every investigation had been inconclusive. The only thing they had managed to learn was a little more about Temujin; according to Suda, he possessed an obsession with Rahm, and mimicking the black knight's metalbending skills. No connection between the Metal Men and the bombing had become apparent, though.
Sen bit his lip and looked over those gathered before him. Whistler, Ada, Suda, and Detective Zas were all slightly ashamed that they had disappointed him. Sen clenched his fist one more time and then relaxed slightly. Stress melted off his face.
"We may have been operating under an incorrect assumption," Sen said. "I have one more thing I want to try, and then we're going to shift our attention elsewhere."
"Alright, what's the plan?"
"We're going to go interrogate the Metal Men," Sen said.
"Well that's just the most brilliant thing I've ever heard," Whistler droned sarcastically. "Let's just go ask the bad guys what they did! No wonder it took you a whole week to think of!"
"There were a lot of potential benefits to an investigation that I'm not going to explain to you right now," Sen said indignantly. "Let's just go find Temujin and get this over with."
"Are we going to fight 'em afterwards?" Whistler grabbed her staff and followed as Sen led the way to the Metal Men leader.
"I don't imagine they'll give up without a fight," Sen said. Suda tightened the straps on his metal gauntlets. There were only a few dozen Metal Men in a camp with hundreds of Coalition troopers, but that didn't mean it was going to be an easy fight. The Metal Men were heavily armored and highly coordinated.
Sen's walk through camp attracted no small amount of attention, as usual. Sen briefly contemplated warning his troops about what was about to happen, but decided against it. If any word reached the Metal Men before Sen found Temujin, the commander of the rogue force might retreat, and take any answers about this sabotage with him.
The camp was abuzz as Sen and his friends finally reached Temujin's post. The ironclad solider was holding his hammer before his face, carefully examining the metal curves of the Fist of Rahm.
"Temujin," Sen said. He barely got a response. Temujin glanced over his shoulder and then returned his attention to his hammer.
"We need to talk about your treason," Sen continued. That got more of Temujin's attention. He turned around to face Sen and planted the long handle of his hammer in the dirt firmly.
"That's a bold accusation," Temujin said. Some of his Metal Men comrades began to gather around their commander. Others remained in their posts, spread out across the camp, but they all took on very tense poses.
"Don't play games with me, Temujin," Sen said angrily.
Temujin tilted his head, shifting the pale imitation of Rahm's helmet that he wore. Slowly and deliberately, he reached to the chest piece of his armor and clawed at the black and white chevron that rested there. He carefully removed the Badgermole Chevron, the symbol of Sen's Coalition, from his chest –and then he crushed it in his fist.
The act of defiance was quick to turn the stare down into a full standoff. Word of the showdown spread throughout the camp, and Coalition soldiers gathered around the Metal Men traitors in cautious defensive circles. Violence had yet to break out, and Sen hoped to keep it that way.
"You're outnumbered and surrounded," Sen said. "I can be forgiving, Temujin. Give me the answers I want and we can make a deal."
"You want to know about the mountain, I take it?"
Temujin swung his arm and raised the Fist of Rahm. Whistler unfolded her staff in a quick motion, but froze again as Temujin shouldered his hammer. Sen's fingers tensed as Temujin shifted slightly to accommodate the hammers weight. The imitation of Rahm turned his eyes towards Sen.
"We had nothing to do with this collapse," Temujin said. "Truth be told, we're as curious about it as you are."
Sen flinched slightly as the words reached his ears. He could sense that Temujin was telling the truth. The Energybender had not been responsible for the sabotage of the Zu-Shin tunnel. If not Sarin, then who?
It was a question to be answered another time. Temujin had both his hands on the haft of his hammer now.
"It's not what I was expecting," Sen said hesitantly. "But you gave me the answers I wanted. We can talk about surrender."
Just like the General he was a poor reflection of, Temujin seemed angered by the idea of surrender. He removed the Fist of Rahm from his shoulder and held the hammer tight in his hands, ready to swing at a moment's notice. A low growl of hostility emanating from Temujin's grey armor was a clear signal of his intent.
"I defeated Rahm, Temujin," Sen threatened. He clenched his fists and prepared himself to strike. "And you're nothing but a poor imitation."
With a metallic howl of anger, Temujin decided to strike. His hammer swung heavily towards the ground, striking it with meteoric force. Sen felt the earth pound and pulse beneath his feet. The attack did not take the form he was expecting. The heavy pulse travelled through the ground below, never rising to strike anyone directly. The Metal Men surrounding Temujin and spread throughout the camp likewise struck the ground with heavy blows, enhancing and multiplying the heavy shift in the earth as it travelled towards its destination –the unstable Mount Zu-Shin.
Sen heard the first crack of faraway stone. He whipped around, his eyes alight with the power of the Avatar State, and held out his hands towards the mountain slopes. Even as he pressed his power against it, the mountain shifted and crumbled under seismic force, threatening to collapse entirely.
With the Avatar's back turned, Temujin raised his hammer again, ready for another blow. His hammer swung and missed its mark, deflected mid-swing by a cord of metal pulling it out of place. Suda lunged forward and slammed his armored fist into Temujin's helmet, filling the air with a metallic ring as the two heavy metals collided.
"I have to focus on the mountain," Sen stated. His voice was filled with thunder whenever he was in the Avatar State, but Suda got the message. It helped that Sen was quick to leave, as Gun emerged from the earth below and then surged towards the collapsing mountain with Sen on his back. Suda would be fighting the Metal Men without an Avatar at his back. At least he still had Ada and Whistler.
The two women were far less effective than they liked when fighting the Metal Men. Swords and air were of little use against the heavy metal shells of Temujin and his comrades. They were little more than a distraction against the metallic onslaught.
As chaos engulfed the camp and Metal Men turned against their former Coalition comrades, Suda found himself isolated from the general anarchy and drawn into a duel against Temujin. The Fist of Rahm swung past his face as Suda stepped back to avoid the blow. Temujin seemed to have a grudge. Suda let him have his anger. Every blow he aimed at Suda was a blow he wasn't aiming at someone else.
Gun reached the bottom of Mount Zu-Shin's slope, and Sen jumped off his broad back. He held his hands out to grip at the core of the mountain, preventing it from destabilizing any further. Gun barked in confusion for a while: the shaking ground was obscuring his seismic sense and preventing him from seeing straight. As time went on Gun caught onto the idea of stabilizing the ground, and he joined his master in holding back the mountain. The power of a badgermole was a token effort compared to the force of nature that was the Avatar, but in holding back an entire mountain, every little bit helped.
The ground quaked under the mountains power and the pounding blows of the Metal Men throughout the camp. As Zu-Shin trembled, the two sides of the battle realized that they were fighting nature as well as each other. The chaos was further compounded as both Coalition and Metal Men began to try to retreat and fight at the same time.
Temujin never took a step back, but as Suda began to retreat, Temujin pursued. The Fist of Rahm swung and crashed, with Suda always barely a step ahead.
"Coward!"
Temujin's cry did not phase Suda. He had no desire to be buried under a mountain just to seem brave. The earth rose up into a circular arena as Temujin attempted to trap Suda, but Suda swiftly collapsed the wall ahead of him and retreated further. The mountain's quaking was intensifying. Sen was holding Zu-Shin up for now, but his attempts were only building the seismic tension. As soon as he released his hold, the mountain would collapse hard and fast. The only thing he could do now was give his men time to evacuate.
"They say you're the greatest metalbender of our time," Temujin shouted mockingly. He still pursued Suda, despite all attempts on Suda's part to shake him off.
"My reputation may be slightly exaggerated," Suda shouted back. He was good, but he had never claimed to be the best. He'd say he was the worst metalbender ever if it would get Temujin off his back.
Temujin grew frustrated with Suda's attempts to avoid conflict. He had expected him to put forth at least a token effort. He had heard a great deal about Suda's power, but he was not using it. Temujin sought to give him the proper motivation.
The armor of the Metal Men was a versatile suit, rigged with many useful tools, and one such tool was a line launcher similar to the ones Suda wielded. Unspooling a length of black wire, Temujin cast out his hands towards the battle around him. Suda would evade for hours if it was only him at risk, but he cared far too deeply about his friends.
Ada was in the middle of a rather enjoyable clash with one of the more lightly armored members of the Metal Men when the line caught her by the waist. Temujin glared hatefully at Suda as he reeled in his catch. Suda, on the other hand, seemed mildly amused.
No sooner was Ada in Temujin's hands than she was fighting to free herself. She took the dull side of her blade, pressed it against a crease in the arm of Temujin's armor, and flipped the switch. Blue lightning shot through the metal shell and crackled across Temujin's arm. Temujin let out a low bellow of pain and dropped his hammer to the ground.
Ada went in for the kill, diving towards Temujin;s chest, but he was quick to swat her aside, preventing her second strike. His right arm hung numb by his side, but with his right hand alone he grabbed the handle of the Fist of Rahm and hefted it into the air. Ada quickly put some distance between herself and Temujin as he struck with a sluggish blow.
The air was again filled with metallic ringing as Suda's gauntlets clashed with Temujin's armor. Suda struck out at Temujin's one good arm, hoping to disable him further, and hopefully take him out of the fight completely. The armored renegade was quick to retaliate in kind, sweeping the Fist of Rahm in a wide arc, pushing Suda back.
Knowing she was unlikely to succeed at a frontal assault, Ada struck from the back, trying to position her blades electric strike against a weakness in Temujin's armor. He was quick to shake her off, swinging his numb arm lazily, as if swatting an insect. With his right hand he swung to keep Suda at bay as well.
With a moment of reprieve, as the two were knocked back, Temujin managed to raise his numb arm and once again take hold of his mighty hammer. Ada stepped back and Suda stepped forward, confident that he could dodge the blow.
Temujin surprised them both by not striking directly, but spinning, swinging his hammer in a broad circular motion all around him. Suda, unprepared for such an unconventional attack, stopped and held his armored hands in front of him. Suda's gauntlets met Rahm's broken fist, and he was knocked backwards by the force of the impact, landing on the ground. Temujin seized on the brief moment of vulnerability, charging forward with his hammer raised above his head.
Ada lunged forward and pressed her blade against the vulnerable underarm of his armor. Temujin briefly roared and trembled as the electrical current surged through him. Ada felt a brief moment of hope as the Fist of Rahm began to drift backwards. Temujin's arms faltered under the electrical shock -but only briefly.
Temujin roared and Ada screamed as the black hammer slammed down onto Suda's chest.
He was nearly a mile away, focusing all his effort on the mountain, but Sen could still feel the moment of shock, pain, and then the biting cold. The mountain began to crumble as Sen's eyes ceased to glow and began to water. He abandoned any attempts to control the collapse. He frantically climbed onto Gun's back and commanded him to charge. The badgermole did not hesitate. Gun could feel what his master felt.
Their thundering charge was only hastened by the rockslide beating at Gun's heels. The mountain was collapsing in earnest now. A cataclysmic landslide chased after them as a mountain was reduced to so much rubble. Sen paid no heed to what was behind him. The empty vehicles and hollow tents being consumed by the rockslide meant nothing to him. The only thing that mattered now was ahead of him.
Gun reached his destination, scooping up the motionless Suda and the despondent Ada before continuing their forward charge. Zu-Shin camp and everything in it was buried under a mountain of rubble.
"He's been lucky, but all the luck in the world won't make this an easy recovery," Tlun said. He had begun to oversee Suda's care almost instantly, aided by some of the best doctors in the world.
"He's going to be alright?"
"Maybe," Tlun said firmly. He was not one to mince words. "None of his broken ribs punctured anything, but there's so many fractures-"
"Tlun," Ariak said stiffly. Tlun shook his head and forced a smile.
"He'll be fine," Tlun said awkwardly. His bedside manner was still a work in progress. "Though he might be facing an early retirement from the Coalition. And fighting in general. And walking up stairs without losing his breath."
"Ah, the big guy's tougher than that," Whistler said. Though she was hanging out at the back end of the group, trying to seem disinterested, she had rushed to the hospital alongside the rest of them.
The only one lurking further back than Whistler was Sen. He sat in a chair along the far wall of the room, resting his head in his hands. All the blame for this incident, for the loss of the camp, for the Metal Men's escape, and for Suda's brush with death, rested on Sen's shoulders. He knew that very well. He was exhausted, mentally and physically, by everything that had happened.
Time went on, and Tlun grew tired of trying to placate Suda's crowd of friends. He refused dozens of requests to see Suda, mostly from Ada, and then banished all of them from the hospital halls. It took quite a bit of doing, especially in Miyani's case, but he managed to move all of them away eventually. Tlun took one look at Sen, however, and decided to leave him be.
He sat there for a while in silence, with nothing but his own thoughts for company, and they were not exactly pleasant company at the moment. He was slightly relieved to notice someone coming to join him, but was a bit surprised to see it was not anyone he had met before. There was one important figure in Suda's life he had yet to meet, and it was easy to guess who she was.
"Hello, Yoki," Sen mumbled.
"Hi, Avatar, General, Sir," Yoki stammered. She quite hesitantly sat down next to him.
"Just Sen is fine," He assured her.
She kicked her feet awkwardly for a moment. She was biting her lip.
"Is Suda going to be alright?"
"He should be," Sen said. He was reasonably confident that Suda would recover, but nothing was certain.
"That's good," Yoki said, relieved. "I know that, really, I haven't known him very long, but I, uh…"
"You love him," Sen said. Yoki turned red and nodded slightly. Sen smiled slightly and sat up straight, turning towards Yoki. "He loves you too. It's easy to see, when he talks about you –the way he lights up inside and out."
Sen did not have much experience with love, but emotions that strong were self-evident. When people were in love, they had a peculiar kind of fire in their hearts that was never found anywhere else. He could feel it burning in Yoki's heart just now, even as her cheeks burned red.
"That's, well," She began, and then paused. She was not particularly eloquent, and she didn't know how to say what she was going to say next. She crossed her arms and stewed for a bit in her own confusion before deciding on the right words.
"He tells me about you, you know, and I'm not as, uh, all-seeing as you," Yoki said. "But I can tell he loves you too."
Sen paused slightly before looking away from Yoki. She worried for a moment if she had embarrassed herself, but pressed on all the same.
"You're his hero," She continued. "He met Bolin, and Ada, and, well, me, and that was all because of you. And he's done a lot of amazing things because he was with you, and, just, you're really important to him."
Sen looked at the floor.
"I think he'd be okay with getting hurt once, after all the good things you've done for him."
Yoki hesitated for a moment as she realized Sen had yet to respond. She nervously tapped her fingers against her leg as she waited. Eventually, one more thought occurred to her.
"And, you know, he told me the story about how he and Ada met. So who knows? Maybe Suda and this Temujin guy will be best friends someday."
Yoki's nervous hesitation was finally brought to an end as Sen sat up and straight and chuckled slightly. She breathed a heavy sigh of relief as Sen put a hand on her shoulder for a moment and then stood up.
"Take care of Suda for me, would you?"
Sen put his hands in the pockets of his coat and walked out of the hospital. There was still a lot of good to be done.