A/N: I apologize for the long wait. Motivation to work on this had been low after all the mistakes I've made with this story already. For anyone still following, I promise this arc will finish this story. And it will start by focusing on some characters I neglected last arc.

Chapter 45: The Collaborator

A year had passed since the worldwide aurora.

The people of Earth had no idea what to make of it at the time, as it was rare for the northern lights to even reach the tropics, let alone the entire world. The imperials occupying the world were just as in the dark as the locals, having no idea what could cause such phenomenon. Panic consumed the populace, which led to riots and looting, more than the imperials could handle. The chaos was just as short-lived as the worldwide aurora, and it had not been repeated in the months since then, as if whatever caused it had returned to normal.

Ba Sing Se had been hit particularly hard by the chaos, being the largest city on Earth and packed to the brim with oppressed people. Rioting there had burned down much of the old city, what little that hadn't already been demolished and replaced with imperial architecture. Now only the massive walls remained, left as a testament to the earthbending engineering that had created them. The rings were filled with buildings and streets made in the imperial style, with many skyscrapers under construction in the Upper Ring, fitting a center of operations for worldwide occupation.

Zuko didn't recognize the place.

He was walking down the streets of the Lower Ring, most of his scar hidden by the mop of hair grown out over the last year, the rest covered in makeup to minimize his disfigurement. He was wearing basic peasant's clothes, similar to the first time he entered Ba Sing Se. Back then the streets had been narrow and cramped, filled with people needing to force their way past one another, lined with buildings in various states of disrepair. Those streets were long gone, this part of the ring burned down in the rioting, and completely rebuilt from the ground up.

Now the streets were wide and open, with pedestrians walking in opposite directions on either side, the middle reserved for hovering vehicles on patrol. The buildings were new and shiny, some being several stories tall, all built to imperial code. The Lower Ring was still the poor part of the city, but the people here seemed to have a slightly higher standard of living now. Well, as long as they toed the line and kept their heads down, as those that objected to their poor state tended to disappear. The patrols made sure of that, hovering tanks and stormtroopers going by every few hours.

After one such patrol passed by Zuko ducked into a building, hearing a door chime ring as he entered a shop. "Huh… the more things change…"

This was a tea shop, the air filled with a variety of delicious aromas, both local and imported. At this early hour the place was half filled with customers, most of them locals but with a few imperials among them, all enjoying a hot cup on their morning brunch. There were a few waitresses on shift right now, one of them smiling when she saw Zuko, though he couldn't seem to remember her name. He didn't remember the shopkeeper's name either, but recognized the face behind the counter, and the skinny man winked at him.

Zuko walked up to the counter. "Jasmine tea please, with white jade leaves."

The shopkeeper nodded and discreetly pointed to a table in the corner. "It'll be up in five."

"Thank you," Zuko said, giving a courteous nod and a discreet wink from his good eye.

He went over to sit at that table, putting his back to the wall and having a good view of the teashop. Zuko could see the few imperials from here, off-duty and enjoying a local treat, but still a threat nevertheless. Four minutes after placing the order Zuko's view was obscured by several waitresses, deliberately putting themselves between Zuko and everyone else. A false wall behind him opened, the floor beneath him moved, and Zuko was brought inside in half a second. It went so fast that no one in the teashop noticed, as no imperial ever cared if just one local was there or not.

Now in a back room, Zuko saw someone he hadn't seen in years. "Uncle…"

Back in his old disguise as a humble tea maker, Iroh was happy to see his nephew safe and sound. "It's good to see you again, nephew."

Zuko gave Iroh a big hug, something he should have done a long time ago. "I missed you so much."

"I know," Iroh said. "I missed you two."

"Ahem."

The interruption was from a woman standing nearby, and Zuko did recognize this one. "Suki… um… it's good to see you too?"

Wearing simple brown clothes and none of her makeup, Suki shook her head and put her hands on her hips. "It's been a while, that's for sure."

And standing next to her was the earthbender Haru, who seemed to be trying his best to grow a beard with little success. "I'm here too, you know."

Iroh went back to a nearby stove, preparing more tea for everyone. "Now that we are all here we can get to business."

"Wait," Zuko said, looking around and not finding a certain Yu Dao freedom fighter. "I was expecting Kori to be here. Where is she?"

That put Haru in a grim mood. "She was captured three days ago. The imperials have her somewhere in this city. We need to get to her before they break her."

Zuko nodded, understanding the seriousness of this problem. "What's the plan?"

"We need to find out where they're keeping Kori," Suki said. She unrolled a large map of the city and put it on a table. "They've got barracks all across the lower ring. If we can get inside we look through their records and figure out which prison they've put her in."

"I hope you have disguises," Zuko said. "I am not going in as a prisoner."

"You won't have to," Haru said. He pointed to a part of the map that was close to the teashop. "Our friends on the inside got us a few spare sets of armor. We'll be taking their place for the day."

"That must have taken a long time," Zuko figured.

"We've been preparing for quite a while," Iroh said. He poured a few cups of tea for everyone. "But like many things in life, we must act before everything is ready."

"I know that feeling," Zuko said. He quickly drank his tea, realized just how much he missed his uncle's special blends, and placed the empty cup on the table. "Let's get started."

In a brightly lit room with polished steel walls, Kori found herself completely alone.

She was shackled to a hard wooden chair, bound to it by her wrists and ankles and waist, her hands covered in special manacles that kept her fingers secure. She could turn her head, but there was nothing to look at, only bare walls that glistened in the light. That left her to focus on the aches and pains in her right side, beaten and bruised from the fight that got her captured and thrown in this prison. Having to wait seemed worse than the pain, wondering when an interrogator would come in to find what she might know.

Kori heard a door open behind her. "And I was just getting comfortable…"

There was no immediate response, only footsteps that stayed behind Kori. She heard the door close, and the footsteps moved to her right and stopped. There was silence for a few moments, and Kori imagined an officer inspecting tools for torture. A shadow came into view, allowing Kori to make out the height and frame of this young man, tall and gifted with well-toned muscles, his head topped with shaggy hair. He walked over to Kori, grabbed her by the top her hair, pulling her head back as he stepped in front of her.

There was no mistaking that pretty face beneath that shaggy brown hair, or the way he held a piece of wheat in his mouth, identifying someone Kori hadn't seen in several years. "I thought you were dead."

Wearing a plain imperial uniform, Jet stood before her. "I get that a lot."

"This is very wrong…"

Zuko was wearing a set of loaned stormtrooper armor, one of three acquired by Suki's contacts inside the imperial ranks. It was the red markings on the armor that was disturbing, identifying the wearer as a firebender, one that served the Empire. Next to him Haru was wearing similar armor but with green markings, whereas Suki had armor without any special adornment. It acknowledged a fact of reality that Zuko didn't want to admit, that there were benders of every variety working for their oppressors, even if they did so because they had no other options.

Haru wasn't too happy about it either. "Like it or not, this is our way inside."

Suki was putting her helmet on. "Keep it down and stay in character."

That was another part of the plan Zuko didn't like. These weren't stolen sets of armor, but borrowed from people that enlisted to be spies for the resistance. They had identification cards and everything associated with those individuals, and they would need to act the part. Fortunately the armor covered up everything, as long as no one took off their helmets. Hopefully they wouldn't bump into anyone that actually knew the people the armor belonged to, as hearing the wrong voice could blow their cover real quick.

With their disguises complete, the three of them walked down the street toward the nearest barracks. They looked like a small squad of stormtroopers, and got all the fearful looks from the populace that came with that status. Zuko didn't like that either, being feared by the people he wanted to help, half expecting someone to strike them from a dark alley. Then there were actual stormtroopers passing by, a few nodded in acknowledgement of their presence, and kept on walking. Soon enough the three were approaching the barracks, a building that was roughly five stories tall.

There was a checkpoint at the only road access, and Suki approached a pair of stormtroopers standing at the gate. "Minor patrol forty-two, reporting in."

One of the stormtroopers checked their identification. "Go on in."

The gate was opened, and the three walked past. They entered the barracks through the front door, and inside they saw more stormtroopers in a wide gathering space. Half of them appeared to be off-duty, not wearing their helmets and casually talking to one another. About a fifth of them had colored markings on their armor, most of them green but with a few red and blue among them. There were several doors that led further into the building, and Suki picked one that was on the left. That led into a corridor, and at the far end was the room they were looking for.

Inside were several computer stations, a few in use, the rest open for anyone else. Suki picked one that was in the corner, and she got to work. "Alright, we're in."

Zuko got close enough to whisper. "You know how to work one of these?"

"I've been getting some tutoring," Suki whispered back. Her hands were working at the keyboard, moving slowly and methodically, as if she wasn't entirely certain of what she was doing. "Still could use more practice at this…"

Standing between them and anyone that might want to listen, Haru was trying to provide cover for what they were looking up. "Is she in their system?"

"Still looking," Suki whispered. It took her a while to find what she was looking for, eventually coming across a reference to a recent prisoner. "There, I think that's her."

Looking over her shoulder, Zuko read the prisoner transfer log, particularly the description of the prisoner. "Sounds right, where was she taken?"

In a few more minutes Suki had the answer. "Middle ring, southwest prison, it's not too far from here."

"Good," Zuko said. "Let's get going."

Kori stared at the young man in front of her.

Although she had only met him a few times before, and years ago at that, there was no mistaking Jet. He had been known for being a rebel against the Fire Nation, back in the last few years of the Hundred Year War. Kori had witnessed his little resistance force in Yu Dao a couple of times, though his actions there had been of little consequence in the now former Fire Nation colony. But as far as she knew his resistance had disbanded after an encounter with Avatar Aang, reportedly for its members to start a new life in Ba Sing Se, and Jet had supposedly met his end when much of the city had been destroyed.

"What are you doing in that uniform?" Kori demanded.

"Isn't it obvious?" Jet asked back. He let go of Kori's hair, and he took a few steps back. "I've joined the winning team."

"You can't be serious," Kori said. "You spent your entire life fighting for the freedom of your people. Now you're working for the Empire that's taken that freedom away."

"I fought against the Fire Nation," Jet said, wanting to be absolutely clear on that matter. "And if it wasn't for the Fire Nation, the Empire would not have needed to take over by force."

"You really blame the Fire Nation for everything, don't you," Kori said.

Jet slapped Kori with the back of his hand. "The Fire Nation is responsible for every tragedy that fell upon our world. Their war ravaged the world for a century, leaving us unprepared for threats from space. And when the Empire arrived to help, it was the Fire Nation that struck first. We could have co-existed in peace, if not for the Fire Nation's thirst for war."

"The Empire was going to invade no matter what anyone did," Kori said. She spat at Jet's feet. "And we weren't going to just lie down and accept it."

"That's just rich," Jet said, shaking his head in contempt. "You're an earthbender that not only accepted Fire Nation rule, but actively supported it. You betrayed your people to their oppressors long ago."

"I supported an independent Yu Dao," Kori argued. "And that was almost a reality before the Empire came in and ruined everything."

"You couldn't be more wrong," Jet said. "The Empire rebuilt Ba Sing Se from the ground up. And they're rebuilding all the other cities in the world. Once people stop resisting them, we'll be able to earn their trust and eventually their respect."

"Like that will ever happen," Kori said.

"It will, but you won't be around to see it," Jet said. He walked to a table behind Kori, picking up one of several tools he would need to use. "I have a job to do. And I know you will not like it."

After leaving the barracks and passing through a gate in the massive wall, Zuko and the others entered the middle ring.

It seemed the imperials had kept this part of the city to its original purpose, being home to the markets and craftsmen that plied their trades in service to the state. But the goods and services being bartered were different, most of it imports from space or local goods made with space age technologies, with a niche for classic items forged with old world techniques. The markets were filled with people going about their business, better off than their counterparts in the lower ring, though the difference was minor in the grand scheme of things.

There was a prison in the southwest section of the middle ring, being a much more formidable building than the lower ring barracks. Ten stories tall, occupying several blocks, with double wide streets all around it, the prison resembled a small fortress. Watchtowers at every corner kept constant watch on the perimeter, tanks were parked in every street, and turrets were mounted all over the walls. A direct assault on this place would be suicidal, for it looked like it could withstand everything short of an orbital strike.

Just like with the barracks, Suki and the others approached a gatehouse in front of the building. "Minor patrol forty-two, reporting in."

One of several stormtroopers at the gatehouse held up his hand. "Wait here."

Another stormtrooper was checking the database, and when he got results he looked at the three arrivals. "Please state your business here."

"Cross-training assignment," Suki said. She handed over a small data pad, hoping that forged orders would be satisfactory. "We're supposed to spend a couple shifts as prison guards."

The stormtrooper examined the pad for a bit, checked something in a computer, and then handed the pad back. "Go on in. The commander will meet you inside."

The gate was opened, and the three walked through. They were still watched by all the other stormtroopers in the area, many biased against those with colored markings, not yet ready to fully accept benders in the ranks. Up close the prison looked even more intimidating, with massive metal doors that could only be opened from the inside. Entering the building brought them into a small lobby, with all the security measures one would expect from a prison. Every door out of here was heavily guarded, no one could go anywhere without clearance.

Zuko was glad to have the helmet on, for he couldn't hide the worry that was plain on his face. "Okay, we're here. Now what do we do?"

"Quiet," Haru whispered.

There was an officer in a plain black uniform entering the prison lobby, with close cropped red hair and piercing blue eyes. "So you are the local squad here for training. Please introduce yourselves."

Now was the time to put their disguises to the test, and Suki went first. "On Ji, reporting for duty."

Haru raised his hand. "Yuan, sir."

Zuko gave the imperial salute. "Hide, at your service."

The imperial officer nodded in acknowledgement. "Commander Woldar. Now then, please come with me. We have a lot to cover today."

Even more bruised and beaten now, Kori refused to break.

Jet had been using a variety of torture methods, trying to make Kori give up the names and locations of her fellow resistance fighters. Although he hadn't gotten anything yet, he still had plenty of options to choose from. He didn't seem to mind the prolonged time to break her, enjoying the opportunity to inflict pain on a traitor to the Earth Kingdom. Kori was an earthbender that identified as Fire Nation, something that had been inconceivable to Jet before he saw it with his own eyes. Of course, he could never admit out loud that he was enjoying this, since that would get him pulled off the assignment.

"Perhaps this will prove enlightening," Jet said. He picked up a small taser, having it crackle for a bit, and then turned back to Kori. "You know, I don't understand the mechanics in this little device. Yet it is simple enough to use. Like a lot of the new toys brought by the Empire, it is very user friendly."

He jammed it into Kori's arm, sending a shock through her body so intense it made her scream.

"Of course, it's not friendly to the target," Jet said. He steadily turned a dial, increasing the voltage and the pain it inflicted. "But I suppose you know that already."

After a minute he pulled away the taser, and Kori felt numbness across all of her skin. "I bet you feel big right now… don't you…"

Jet put the taser away and considered his other tools. "Hardly. My place is small in the grand scheme of things. Reality is bigger than anyone can comprehend. I can settle for this small role I've been granted."

He chose a syringe filled with a clear liquid, a nasty little concoction that Jet found amusingly fitting for this subject. Jet slid the syringe into Kori's arm, slowly injected the liquid into a vein, and then stood back to watch it work. He could see little blue lines appear through her skin, tracing the path through her bloodstream, quickly spreading throughout her body. Kori closed her eyes and clenched her teeth, feeling pain starting in her arm and growing fast. It was like her skin was on fire, burning just beneath the surface, cooking her flesh from the inside out.

She started to scream, and Jet leaned in front of her. "Fascinating, isn't it? All the pain of being burned alive with none of the physical injury. A real fire would eventually make the body numb to heat, but this will be just as painful as the first time, every time."

It took a lot of mental effort to force words through the pain. "This… this won't get you anything. Your fancy… toys aren't going to… get you want you want."

Jet shrugged. "Perhaps. Perhaps not. Either way works for me."

Who knew guard duty could be so complicated?

Zuko certainly didn't, as he hadn't expected there to be so many regulations involved. Every action taken on duty had to be logged, all incidents involving prisoner resistance required detailed reports, and all recordings had to be transmitted to a central database elsewhere. Haru pretended to understand most of it, enough to pass for learning the regulations, only to maintain their cover. Suki was looking for ways out of here for use in a hurry, and hid her frustration at finding none. Commander Woldar seemed to think they were catching on well enough, better than to be expected from the usual local recruits.

It had been a couple hours since the start of training, and by then Commander Woldar figured they should take a break. "Alright, I think that's enough rules to cram into your heads for now. It's time for something different, and I've got something special today."

He led them to a room deep in the prison, up on one of the middle floors, far from the ground. The room had some computers and other equipment, looking like they were meant for monitoring prison activity. But one wall had nothing in front of it, simply bare grey metal across the entire surface. There were officers at the computers here, actively monitoring the surveillance feeds from all across the prison, and they nodded to the commander as he entered. Woldar went over to one of the stations, and he smiled to the others.

"Keep your eyes on the wall," Woldar said, and he pressed a button.

The bare grey metal of the wall disappeared, becoming a clear pane of glass, allowing everyone to see into the next room. It appeared to be an interrogation chamber, complete with a variety of torture tools placed along the far wall. The room was currently in use, with a young woman bound to a chair in the center, and an interrogator questioning the prisoner. Suki and Haru were instantly looking at the prisoner, recognizing her and relieved that Kori hadn't broken yet. Zuko on the other hand, was looking at the interrogator, remembering an incident with him long ago.

"Jet…" Zuko muttered.

"You've come on a good day," Commander Woldar continued. "We'll have this prisoner telling her secrets by sundown. Pay attention, and you might learn something."

They watched for a few minutes, observing the way Jet paced around Kori. They didn't hear the questions he had, though they could assume everything in there was being recorded. Jet appeared to be a little frustrated, and he went to a door to leave the room. He disappeared from view for a moment, and then entered this room from the other door. Jet saluted to the commander, and then turned to what looked like three local stormtroopers. He eyed the markings denoting bending ability, and faced the firebender among them.

"You there," Jet said, pointing at him. "Come with me. I need to make a point."

Zuko nodded, not wanting to say a word.

"Go ahead," Woldar said. "It'll be a good learning experience."

Jet returned to the interrogation room, and Zuko followed him inside. Once there Zuko got to see Kori up close, and she seemed to be in worse shape than he thought. She was bruised and beaten from both her capture and the interrogation, and she was in quite a lot of pain. Zuko wanted to say something, to tell her that rescue was here, but couldn't while Jet was in earshot. He couldn't be certain whether or not Jet would recognize his voice from the brief time they shared years ago, but the risk was too great to maintain their cover.

"Now then, where were we?" Jet wondered aloud. He smiled and snapped his fingers. "That's right, we were talking about your precious Fire Nation."

"What about it?" Kori forced out through the pain.

Curious about Jet's point, Zuko looked at him.

Jet leaned over in front of Kori. "See, it may have resisted the Empire for a time, particularly since the Fire Lord revolted. But you should know that it has fallen, its precious firebenders never stood a chance. And this one, well, he has seen the error of his ways."

Seeing a gesture for him to come over, Zuko stepped in front of Kori.

"See, firebenders believe they deserve to rule over everyone else," Jet continued. He pointed at the man beside him. "This one has realized that is not true, that firebenders should be servants instead, listening to their betters instead of lording over us with their supposed superiority."

That hadn't been true since the Hundred Year War, Zuko knew that Aang had made certain of that.

"You may want to brace yourself," Jet warned. He faced the firebender and pointed at Kori. "Show her that her devotion to the former Fire Nation is misplaced. Burn her."

Zuko turned toward Kori, glad that no one could see his face, wishing there was a way to not do this without blowing his cover. He could slow it down as much as possible, and make it look like he was drawing it out for dramatic effect. Zuko held out a hand with the palm facing up, and a flame ignited in his hand. He let Kori see the flame for a moment, and Jet seemed to appreciate letting the fear sink in. Zuko brought the flame closer to Kori, taking it as slowly as possible, silently praying someone could get him out of this mess.

That was when the wall exploded.

The decision had been taken out of his hands, for Suki had taken action. She had called upon the power taught to her by the most powerful alien long ago, something she kept to herself since the Empire took over, not wanting it to fall into their hands. The living energy within everyone could be harnessed into a weapon, and Suki focused hers into an explosive blast. With it she made the transparent wall explode, and then fired another one in the opposite direction, blasting open another hole in the far wall. The twin explosions scattered dust and debris everywhere, obscuring the view for a few key seconds.

Zuko turned his flame on Jet, unleashing a small plume of fire that hit him in the chest, knocking him away to slam into a wall behind him. Then he got to work removing the shackles that bound Kori to the chair, the air having cleared enough for him to see what he was doing. To her credit Kori wasn't resisting, either having figured out what was going on, or thinking it was some imperial trick to get her to cooperate. She was in no condition to resist in the latter case, and she was limp when Zuko got her out of the chair and slung over his shoulders.

Meanwhile Haru had brought out the meager amount of rock he had smuggled in under his armor, fashioned into stone blocks around his hands. With one he punched Woldar in the face, and the impact had the commander down instantly. Then he turned to the other imperials in here with them, swinging stone fists at each other them in turn, keeping them from calling for help. Of course the alarm was already blaring, but it helped to get rid of immediate enemies. And he needed to keep them off of Suki, who was about to get them all out of the prison.

She was charging up a big energy blast, in a fashion mimicking the alien that showed her this was possible. In between her hands was a bright ball of light, containing more power than she had ever all upon before, and she thrust both hands at the hole away from everyone. She fired the large energy blast through, burning through thin walls before hitting the thickest one, and the resulting explosion tore open a hole in the side of the prison. Sunlight came in through the new hole, beckoning for anyone that wanted to escape.

Although she was exhausted from the effort, Suki forced her legs to move. "It's time to get out of here!"

Zuko was carrying Kori out of the interrogation room, spotting Haru fighting off some imperials. "Come on, let's go!"

That was when Jet recovered from the attack on him, and he heard the voice that he never thought he'd hear again. "Lee?"

Hearing his old alias, Zuko turned and aimed his free hand at Jet, shooting more flames into the room. Jet reacted quicker this time, kicking up the now empty chair with one leg, getting it between him and the flames for an improvised shield. Then he kicked the now burning chair into the flames, sending it straight toward Zuko. But right before impact Zuko caught the chair by the leg, and the flames consuming the wood went out in an instant. He threw the burned chair back at Jet, but didn't bother to stick around long enough to see if it hit or not.

Suki made it to the outer hole first, and she was met with a five-story drop. "That's a big fall."

It wasn't the only problem out there. The explosion had drawn the attention of imperials outside, and they had sent hovering tanks to respond. Six of them were right outside the hole, and more were on the way. They had large blasters aimed at the prison, waiting for a target to come out. Suki wasn't going to just stick her head out to get shot, but instead pointed a finger at the hole. She shot out little energy blasts from her finger, deliberately missing the hover tanks out there, sending them out in several directions across the middle ring.

"What are you doing?" Haru asked.

"Sending a signal," Suki answered. She kept firing those little energy blasts, until she saw flickering light in the distance. "And there's the countersign. Everyone get down!"

There was a bright flash of light, and one of the hover tanks exploded. The boom of the explosion was matched by the louder boom of thunder, which echoed across the middle ring. Debris from the destroyed tank slammed into the prison, tearing into the thick wall of the building. A second bolt of lightning shot across the city, hitting a second hover tank and making it explode as well. Now the tanks were turning to search for the threat, only for more bolts of lightning to strike them down one by one, and all that debris hitting the wall left a lot of gashes and holes in the side of the prison.

Once the thunder stopped Suki looked outside, and she saw a clear way down. "Come on, before they send more tanks after us."

She dropped off the edge, grasping handholds in the pockmarked wall outside, climbing down the prison at a brisk pace. Haru followed shortly afterward, molding the rock on his hands with earthbending to better grab the various holes, keeping to a few feet above Suki. Zuko set the floor ablaze behind him before going down, buying even a few seconds before it would be extinguished, carrying Kori the entire time. On the way down they spotted stormtroopers approaching en masse, several dozen from both directions around the prison, converging on the damaged side.

The ground around the prison was covered by a thick sheet of steel, impossible for Haru to pull fresh earth through for defense. When they reached the bottom Zuko created a wide ring of fire around them, obscuring them from the view of the stormtroopers. Blaster bolts were fired at them anyway, passing through the flames regardless of consequence, only missing because the three targets had ducked just in time. From a crouching position they made a mad dash for the wreckage of a fallen tank, and Zuko maintained his ring of fire around that now.

"Now would be a good time for extraction!" Zuko yelled, handing Kori off to Haru.

"I'm sure the lightning strikes caught their attention," Haru said. He put Kori over both shoulders, managing the extra weight better than Zuko did. "They should be coming any second now."

Suki heard something approaching from the air, and she looked up to see a transport coming toward them. "That would be them."

It looked like an imperial transport, with all the proper identification markings on the three-winged design. To the stormtroopers on the ground it looked like it might be bringing in reinforcements, right up until it went over their heads instead of landing further from the escape attempt. The transport came in for a landing next to the ring of fire, bottom wings folding up and the entrance ramp opening toward the flames. Now realizing the transport wasn't for them, the stormtroopers fired at it now, but their shots did nothing to the transport's armored hull.

"Everyone aboard!" Suki yelled.

All three of them hurried aboard the transport, carrying Kori along with them. Once they were inside the entrance ramp was closed, and the transport lifted off again. Haru set Kori down in the center of the transport and examined her physical condition, tending to the variety of wounds on her person. Suki went straight to the cockpit to coordinate with whoever was flying this ship, while Zuko stayed behind to watch over Haru and Kori. Everyone heard hundreds of blaster bolts striking against the hull, gradually fading out as the transport flew away from the prison.

After pulling off his helmet and tossing it aside Zuko went into the cockpit, spotting Suki with her helmet off and talking with the stranger in the pilot's seat. "Where did you get this thing again?"

"Stole it a few weeks ago," Suki answered. "We've been saving it for a special occasion."

"We can't stay in it for long," the pilot pointed out. "They're bound to be tracking us already. Pursuit can't be far behind."

"Just get us outside the city," Suki instructed. "Once we get to open land we can go underground."

Watching the stolen transport leave from his viewpoint at the prison wall's hole, Jet clenched a fist so hard it hurt.

It was infuriating to have been caught off guard like that, to lose a prisoner under his watch, and to see the people responsible get away. The silver lining was that he wasn't the one being blamed for the entire affair, but rather Commander Woldar for not properly vetting the would-be guard trainees. Jet still blamed himself though, mentally kicking himself for not recognizing the firebender earlier, wishing that he had asked to remove the helmet first. He would just have to resolve to do better in the future, so that this wouldn't happen again.

There were imperial investigators surveying the scene, and Jet turned to one of them. "If your superiors set up a task force to go after them, I want to be a part of it."

One of the investigators nodded in understanding. "I'll keep that in mind."

At the end of the day, Zuko found himself in an underground bunker outside Ba Sing Se.

The transport had been abandoned a few miles away, the distance traversed by earthbending, and then more earthbending was used to get everyone underground. This bunker appeared to be an offshoot from the crystal catacombs of Old Ba Sing Se, connected to the network of tunnels beneath the surface city. There were several small chambers in the bunker, and Zuko was in a small one and wanting to be alone. Suki and Haru were in a different chamber tending to Kori, allowing her to rest and recover from the interrogation.

But Zuko wasn't alone for long, all but sensing a familiar presence behind him. "Uncle…"

Sure enough, Iroh had entered the chamber, but stood far enough away to give his nephew some personal space. "How are you doing, nephew?"

"I'm fine," Zuko said. He had long since taken off the stormtrooper armor, but had the helmet placed on a table in front of him. "How about you Uncle? All those lightning bolts must have been tiring."

"It was quite the exercise," Iroh said. "Evading pursuit was more exhausting."

Zuko had a brush in hand and some paint on the table. "I suppose you can't let yourself be seen in public for a while. I don't recall anyone getting armor for you."

Iroh simply shrugged. "It wouldn't have fit me anyway."

Painting on the front of the helmet, Zuko took great care to recreate an image from memory. "So what's next for the Dragon of the West?"

"I will be heading south," Iroh answered. "There is a meeting I must attend. Hopefully it will prove enlightening for us."

"Good luck with that," Zuko said. He continued with his painting, switching between white and blue as needed. "I guess I'm going somewhere else. Suki said she had another mission in the works that had to be put off for the rescue."

"Yes, I know," Iroh said. He walked over to his nephew and gently put one hand on his shoulder. "Take care nephew. I expect to see you again when this is over."

Zuko nodded and turned toward Iroh. "I wouldn't miss it Uncle."

Their little heart to heart moment over, Zuko was left alone in the chamber when Iroh left. Zuko continued with his little painting, and when he was finished he set the helmet aside for the paint to dry. It wasn't perfect, but it was close enough to the old mask he used to wear years ago. The painting was the face of an oni, with blue skin and white markings, its eyes lined up with the eyes of the helmet. This visage was something from his childhood, from one of the old plays his mother would bring him to, his favorite character from Love Amongst the Dragons.

The Blue Spirit had returned.