Chapter 46: Lost and Found

Although the Empire controlled the planet Earth, there were parts of the world that remained unoccupied.

The vast wildernesses of the continent were largely left unattended, for they had few people to subjugate to imperial law. Occupation forces were concentrated on the urban areas of the planet, where they were most needed to keep the peace. The extensive equipment required to strip mine the planet of natural resources had yet to arrive, mostly due to its remoteness and the existence of more lucrative planets closer to the core worlds. Therefore the natural wilderness remained pristine, surveyed mainly from air and orbit with relatively few outposts on the ground.

The northern mountains of the Earth Kingdom were covered in lush forests, filled with all kinds of hiding places for those willing to make the long and arduous trek. It was a part of the world Zuko hadn't visited before, having been beyond the reach of his old ship from his days of searching for the Avatar. Haru wasn't much of a guide, being a stranger to these parts as well, but having an earthbender along made the trip much easier than it would have been otherwise. At least they had a map of the area, which guided them through the valleys of the mountains, reaching the heart of this hidden part of the world.

"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Zuko asked.

"I'm reading this thing right," Haru said, holding the map in front of him. "It should be just past this valley, if those nomads were right."

Zuko shuddered at the thought of those self-described free spirits. "You know that guy with the guitar had to be high on something."

They continued on their trip through the mountains, passing through one more valley to reach the northern side of the largest mountain. The first thing they noticed was a gash in the forested slope, where a long line of trees had been knocked down. Fresh vegetation had filled in much of the opened space, a sign that this had happened sometime last year. They followed the fallen trees down the slope, which brought them to a small crater surrounded by leaning trees. Inside the weathered crater was a small cylindrical vessel, quickly identified as an imperial escape pod.

"Someone crashed here a while ago," Haru said. He walked up to the pod and pulled some vines off the hull. "This must've been from that ship that imploded."

Zuko tapped his fist on the hull, hearing a hollow ring from inside. "I heard people tell of hundreds of these things rained down that night. Are you certain this is the right one?"

"Ninety percent, give or take," Haru said. He pulled out a small scroll and reread it to be sure. "If the sightings of 'Bigfoot' in this area are to be believed…"

There was a loud and angry roar coming from the trees, which had both Zuko and Haru looking up. They saw a massive furry creature standing on the thickest tree branches, wearing a bandolier on his chest and holding a crossbow-like weapon. Neither of them knew what a wookie was of course, only that this alien being was glaring down at them, ready to strike at a moment's notice. But Zuko didn't try to attack, knowing better than to provoke this alien. Haru held up his hands in a peaceful gesture, trying to appear friendly to a potential ally.

"We are not here to fight," Haru said. "We're with the resistance."

The alien roared something, which sounded intelligent, even if they couldn't understand it.

"Yeah, we don't speak your language," Zuko said. "Do you have anyone that can translate?"

"That would be me."

Emerging from the forest behind Haru and Zuko, Han Solo carried a stolen imperial blaster, and aimed it at the strangers.

Zuko slowly turned around, seeing the older man coming closer to him. "You must be one of the rebels. I take it you and the furry guy came down in this pod."

"There wasn't much of a choice in the matter," Han said. "I'm surprised anyone bothered to come out here for Chewie and me."

"Well we need as much help as we can get," Haru said. "We heard rumors of someone making hit and run attacks on imperial outposts in the area. Then we got word of this pod out here, and figured it was worth a look."

Han lowered his blaster, sorely missing his favorite gun. "I must admit, it would be a lot better to work with a group instead of being on our own."

Chewbacca roared something at Han.

"Yeah, I know," Han said. "Now get down from there and let's get out of here."

Sure enough, the wookie jumped down from the treetops, and the four of them left the crash site. They went down the path Haru and Zuko had taken to get here, which was the shortest route back to civilization. Naturally it was going to take just as long to get back as it did to get here, and they were only a quarter of the way there by the time sunset arrived. They had to make camp at the base of a mountain, and from their campsite they could see faint lights on the horizon. The night was quiet, though they still took turns keeping watch, until the sun rose again in the morning.

They continued their journey on the next day, but late in the morning they had to stop.

"We have a problem," Han said. He was looking through a set of binoculars, and then passed them off to Haru. "Take a look."

Haru did as instructed, and he quickly found the problem. "That was not there before."

It seemed the imperials had started construction on a new outpost, having just broken ground the day before. Workers were laying the foundations at a natural chokepoint in the mountain range, where it would be reinforced by mountains on two sides, uncharted wilderness on the third, and a road directly to civilization on the fourth. Stormtroopers were on patrol around the construction area, there to protect the workers from the dangers of the natural world. There was no way to get through without being detected, even with earthbending to work with.

"We need to find another route," Haru said. He passed the binoculars over to Zuko. "Or do you want to waste three weeks earthbending beneath them? We'd have to go very slow to avoid detection."

"That is not happening," Zuko said. After looking around for an alternative route, Zuko returned the binoculars to Han. "You guys have been here the longest. You must have gotten the lay of the land."

"You've got a map, right?" Han asked. Soon enough Haru had brought it out and handed it over. "There's a cave over to the east. It goes deep into a mountain, farther than we ever wanted to explore. It might just be a tunnel straight through to the other side."

Haru saw Han put a finger on the map, and he figured out where that was relative to their current position. "Okay, that's not too far away from here. Even if it's a dead end, I could earthbend through the mountain the rest of the way."

Chewbacca roared something affirmative.

"Yup, sounds like a plan," Han said.

The group turned and walked away from their original path, heading for a mountain straight to the east. The slope of the mountain was covered in thick forests, so it was difficult to find this cave from afar, and Haru was thankful to have someone that knew where it was. After forcing their way through the brush they found the entrance to the cave, being an outcrop of rock with trees clinging to the sides. They couldn't see very far inside, but there was a breeze coming out, which was a good sign of another exit elsewhere.

"This is it," Han said.

"Alright, let's do it," Zuko said. He lit a flame in his palm and held it forward. "I'll go in front."

They walked into the cave and soon lost the sunlight, and Zuko's flame was the only light they had. The flame flickered and twisted every so often, following a very light breeze that blew through the cave. The further in they went the narrower the cave became, the walls closing in on everyone. It forced them to start walking in single file, Zuko in front and Chewbacca in the back, with Haru widening the path whenever it was safe to do so. He didn't want to go too far and cause a cave in, not while they were inside the cave.

Just when Zuko lost track of how far they had walked, he stopped in his tracks and held up a fist. "Hold up, do you guys hear that?"

Everyone stopped, everyone listened, but Haru shook his head. "I don't hear anything."

Han was more patient, and he closed his eyes while he listened. "Something's ahead of us. Sounds like an animal, and a big one at that."

Chewbacca growled something at Han.

"Smells bad too huh?" Han translated. "Well unless you guys want to go back through this cave, we need to press forward and hopefully sneak past whatever is waiting up ahead."

Zuko sighed. "Let's keep going forward."

They continued on their way through this cave, despite the potential danger ahead. Eventually they passed the midway point, and from there the cave walls began to widen. Then they saw new light up ahead, and Zuko dimmed his flame and let his eyes adjust. Near the far end of the cave the walls were wide enough to allow everyone to walk shoulder to shoulder, and enough sunlight came in to let Zuko put out his flame. And they started to hear a roar loud and clear, and got hit with the distinct stench of wet fur.

This end of the cave emerged into a tall but narrow valley, with near vertical walls between two mountains. There were waterfalls in the distance, draining into a river below. There were narrow goat-gorilla paths that crossed the steep slopes of both mountains, passable for foot travel but treacherous nevertheless. At the bottom of the valley it would be nearly impossible to be spotted from the air, for a near vertical view was required to see past the mountains. This would have made a good place to hide from the Empire's aerial surveillance, were it not for the dangerous terrain.

And that terrain meant nothing to the beasts that lived here.

Everyone heard multiple roars from above, and Zuko's eyes widened as he ducked. "Sky bison!"

A large and furry six-legged beast of burden came swooping down on them, its massive weight held aloft by the species' natural airbending. The beast's mouth was large enough to swallow a person whole, and its curved horns were ready to skewer anything that got in its way. It swooped down nearly enough to scrape the side of the mountain, and the gale that followed in its wake nearly pushed everyone off their feet. That was close enough to see the discoloration in the beast's fur, resembling the arrow tattoos the Air Nomads used for master airbenders.

And this sky bison wasn't alone.

Dozens of them were flying through this valley, and they did not take kindly to intruders. Several young bison followed the first to fly past Zuko and the others, combining the wind to similar effect as their larger counterpart. One of them got close enough to hit Haru with a glancing blow, and the hard impact knocked him down the steep slope. He caught himself by bending rock from the mountain into a platform beneath his feet, and now he stood ten feet below everyone else, looking up at all the sky bison above him.

"I thought sky bison were extinct!" Haru yelled.

"Apparently not," Zuko said. He spotted Chewbacca's weapon aimed over his shoulder. "Wait, don't-"

Too late, Chewbacca took the shot, hitting one sky bison in the eye.

That sky bison roared in pain, and the rest of them roared in anger. The whole herd swooped down upon them, and the only place to run was back into the cave. Some of the sky bison appeared to be aware of that, for they struck glancing blows upon the mountain itself, hitting hard enough to collapse part of the cave and cut off escape. Other sky bison went straight for the group, despite Chewbacca continuing to shoot at them. One was enough to hit all three of them at once, knocking them right off the mountain.

They fell a few feet before Haru made another stone platform to catch them, but it was still a hard impact. Another sky bison rammed into that platform and shattered it, dropping everyone again and they tumbled in midair. Zuko managed to grab that bison by the fur of its back, Han got a handhold on its tail, and Chewbacca hit the slope and started sliding down it. The sky bison flew up into the air and flipped over and over, trying to shake off the two people clinging onto it. Both of them fell away from the bison, clutching a handful of fur each.

Zuko ignited flames from his feet to control his fall, and he narrowly avoided a hit from another bison. "Where's Aang when you need him?"

Further down the mountain Chewbacca managed to stop his fall, just in time to catch Han before becoming a nasty stain on the slope, and growled something at him.

"Yes, that was a good catch," Han said. Chewbacca put him down in time for them to duck beneath another sky bison. "You just had to shoot at them, didn't you?"

Chewbacca took aim again, grumbling something under his breath.

Han took out his own blaster. "Too late to stop now, that's for sure."

Now having blaster bolts flying past him, Zuko looked down at the man and wookie shooting at bison. "They're just making this worse."

He was still falling into the valley, the flames from his feet only slowing the plummet and allowing him to maneuver. Zuko managed to dodge two more bison trying to knock him out of the air, only to get hit by a big furry head. He let his flames go out and grabbed onto the bison's left horn, holding on for dear life while the bison tried to shake him off. Pulling on the horn helped to steer the bison one way or another, though it was not ideal by any means. The bison came close enough to the mountain for Zuko to jump off, landing safely back on the slope above everyone else.

Meanwhile Haru had raised stone barriers around himself, forcing sky bison to ram into them instead of him. But the stone barriers could only take so much punishment, shattering after a couple of impacts, requiring Haru to recreate them frequently. In his haste to maintain his defenses, Haru used up much of the rock around him, and the foundation gave way beneath his feet. He started falling down the mountain again, picking up speed as a landslide started around him, heading straight for Han and Chewbacca below him.

"Look out below!" Haru yelled.

Han leapt to the right, Chewbacca leapt to the left, and the rockslide fell in between. But while Chewbacca managed to cling to the mountain, Han lost his footing and slid down the slope. He was still shooting all the way down, until he hit the river below with a large splash. At this time of year the river was only a few meters deep, and Han hit the bottom before bobbing back up to the surface, before the current took him downstream. Some of the sky bison were following him, not wanting to let any of the interlopers get away.

Zuko saw Han being swept away in the river, but couldn't do anything about it. He fell back to the slope and kicked off from it, using a burst of flames to propel himself further, soaring directly into the herd of bison. Zuko spun around, shooting flames from both fists, creating a corkscrew of fire in midair. It had the effect of making the bison scatter, but only until the flames had passed. Zuko spotted a particularly large sky bison, let all of his flames go out, and dropped right onto that sky bison's head. He grabbed a horn in each hand, holding on tight as the bison flipped upside down.

"Haru get out of the way!" Zuko yelled.

Pulling on the horns while upside down made the bison dive, and Zuko saw Haru jump out of the way in time. Instead the bison slammed into the mountain headfirst, and flipped around with a large welt on its forehead. Haru jumped again and got on the bison, grabbing onto one of the horns this time. The bison was steadily falling, and got close enough for Chewbacca to make a leap for it. He grabbed onto it by one of the rear legs, and the additional weight made the bison drop even further, resulting in Chewbacca's feet dragging in the river.

Moving faster than the current, the sky bison and everyone on it quickly caught up with Han. Chewbacca hung on with one hand while stretching out his other arm, reaching for Han to scoop him up and out of the water. He tossed Han up and over the bison, landing on the beast's back, and Haru grabbed Han by the arm to help him stay on. Now even heavier, the bison dropped further, and Chewbacca started climbing to avoid going underwater. Haru pulled Han forward so that he could hold onto a horn, crouching right behind Zuko.

Looking forward the entire time, Zuko saw a problem up ahead. "Rocks!"

Raging rapids were up ahead, starting with several large rocks jutting out of the river. The sky bison was trying to flip itself upside down, trying to scrape off the unwanted passengers on the rocks. Haru punched the air with one fist, and the rocks shattered and fell into the water. So the bison let itself drop into the water instead, and the raging waters ripped everyone off the bison's back. The bison flipped back over and its feet hit the bottom of the river, allowing it to stop while everyone else was carried away into the rapids.

Haru quickly made a wall of rock rise up from the riverbed, catching everyone before they could hit jagged rocks instead. He raised the wall high enough to lift them out of the water, allowing them to stand above the river. But then then everyone saw the herd of sky bison above them, and several were flying down to knock them off their makeshift platform. But then everyone heard a mighty roar, and it made the herd hesitate. This roar was louder than any of the other bison, and it was coming from behind the group.

Slowly, Zuko turned his head, and spotted a different sky bison descending upon them. "Uh-Oh…"

It was a bigger sky bison, and it landed on the rocks downstream of the group, cutting off any escape in that direction. This bison was different from all the rest, having fewer curves in its horns and fewer points along the arrow of colored fur. It looked at each person in turn, as if judging how much of a threat they were. When it looked at Zuko this bison sniffed the air, catching his scent and comparing it to memory. Then it growled some more, as if considering to attack anyway, but then turned its head up to roar at the rest of the herd.

That roar convinced the herd to fly away, and Zuko faced the remaining bison, recognizing the beast he'd followed several months straight. "Appa…"

"You know this one?" Han asked.

Chewbacca aimed his blaster.

Haru pushed that blaster away. "Stop that."

Ignoring everyone else, Zuko walked across the rocks to approach this sky bison. "So this is where Aang left you."

Appa nodded.

"And he found more of his kind for him to stay with," Haru noted.

"I take it this is more than that kid's pet?" Han presumed.

"Appa is Aang's companion," Haru said. "They spent a century together trapped in ice, and until the skies became too dangerous they always travelled together."

Zuko got close enough to put a hand on Appa's fur, glad that the bison would let him do this. "I'm sorry. Aang isn't here. We don't know where he is either. He'd be a real help right about now."

Appa grumbled something that sounded disappointed.

"Great, you've made a friend," Han said. When he walked across the rocks he saw the bison growl at him. "Can we get out of here now?"

"Just don't make him angry," Haru said.

Appa didn't mind Haru, and while he was leery of Han he didn't attack him. But when Chewbacca approached Appa growled at him, and Chewbacca in turned growled back. Evidently Appa wasn't too happy about Chewbacca injuring one of the other sky bison, and Chewbacca blamed the herd for starting this whole mess. They kept roaching at each other back and forth, Zuko and Haru getting a vague idea of one side, Han understanding the other side. This went on for some time, until Zuko got sick of it.

"Yeah, enough of that please," Zuko said. He stood in between Appa and Chewbacca, holding up a hand to both of them. "Can we settle this and move on, please?"

Chewbacca grumbled something in a low tone.

Haru raised an eyebrow. "Was that an apology?"

"As close as you get from him," Han said.

Appa grumbled something else, and then turned to the side and tilted his back toward everyone.

"I guess he accepts it," Zuko said. He saw Appa nod. "And I think he's offering us a ride just to get us away from the herd."

Han put his blaster away. "Better than swimming down this river."

All four of them climbed onto Appa's back, and right away Zuko was wishing the bison still had its saddle. They had to hold onto fur as Appa soared into the air, and it looked uncomfortable to have four sets of hands pulling on him. Appa flew high above the river and followed the path of the valley, weaving in between the mountains toward the southern exit. The river below flowed out of the mountain range and turned east, joining with several other rivers on the way to the eastern seas. Appa continued to fly south, going over the forested lands beyond the mountains.

Despite having seen an aerial view many times before, Han rarely did so without a cockpit around him, and he didn't like the wind blowing through his hair. "Where is this thing taking us?"

"I don't think he has a destination in mind," Haru said.

"Well we're going in the right direction," Zuko said. "If Appa can get us most of the way to Ba Sing Se, we can reach a safe house from there."

"Assuming we don't get spotted," Haru pointed out. "Aang left him with that hidden herd for a reason."

"Yeah, it's very easy to spot Appa in flight," Zuko admitted, having done so plenty of times. "I suppose we could try to stay inside of clouds whenever possible."

"Won't do much to fool sensors," Han said. "If we see any patrol ships I suggest we land until they pass. Maybe then they won't detect us."

"Better than nothing," Haru said.

Chewbacca growled in agreement.

Appa continued on his way southward, apparently glad to have an excuse to soar across the continent again. He flew inside of clouds wherever possible, which got everyone on his back soaking wet, much to Chewbacca's annoyance. The journey continued for a couple of days, and they easily avoided the scattered imperial outposts on the northern lands. There were a few patrols encountered along the way, and Appa landed just to be sure, and the patrols passed without incident. They made good time traveling across the continent, far better than they would have on foot.

A few days brought them most of the way to Ba Sing Se, but the massive walls of the city were still beyond the horizon when Appa landed in a narrow meadow. It was sunset when they arrived, and after a long day's flight it was time to set up camp. Haru earthbent a nearby hill into a small cave for Appa to hide in, should any patrols come by with bright lights that might spot them. Everyone took shifts watching the southern horizon, though on Chewbacca's shift he kept on eye on Appa, occasionally growling at him and being growled back in turn.

In the morning Zuko was getting a little impatient. "Shouldn't we have gotten the signal already?"

Haru was stretching his neck as he walked out of the small cave. "We got back a lot sooner than planned. No one might be looking up here yet."

Overhearing them from the cave, Han was digging through his pockets for something. "What are you two talking about?"

"The resistance has an underground base nearby," Haru answered. "There's no permanent entrance, we get in and out with earthbending. We have to wait for someone inside to come up and let us in."

"Can't you just do it yourself?" Han asked. He found what he was searching for and pulled out a small gray packet. "You have earthbending."

"They might mistake someone barging in for imperials blasting their way down," Haru said. "So we wait for someone to check up topside."

Zuko watched Han open that little packet. "What have you got there?"

"Oh, this," Han said. He held it up and plucked a bit of meat from inside. "Ration pack from the escape pod. Last one I had too. Taste's awful, but it's better than nothing."

That had Haru's stomach grumbling. "We could all use some breakfast."

They still had some of their travel rations left, supplemented by animal meat hunted during the journey. Haru earthbent a small pit with a cover into the ground, Zuko lit a campfire inside it, and Chewbacca got to cooking. The sparrow-quail meat was quick to cook and easy to season, making it a simple meal to prepare. It helped to pass the time, and helped to improve the mood, something they all needed after the long trip. Unfortunately Appa was left out of the communal meal, needing to forage on bushes and other foliage, and needing a lot of it for the sake of his size.

Just when they were finished eating, Haru felt the slightest tremor in the ground. "They're here."

Zuko stood up and looked around, spotting a path of ground breaking apart. "There."

The end of a tunnel opened there, and a couple of earthbenders rose up from the underground, relieved to see Haru and Zuko. "We weren't expecting you two to be back this soon."

"Neither were we," Haru admitted. He pointed a thumb over his shoulder. "You can see why."

Appa roared at the earthbenders.

"Oh…" one earthbender said. "Well… well come on in."

The earthbenders opened their tunnel wide enough for a sky bison to fit through, allowing everyone to walk down the steep incline to the underground base. Appa was hesitant to follow everyone underground, having had bad experiences with tunnels in the past. It took some coaxing from Haru to get the sky bison to follow, and the earthbenders widened the tunnel further to accommodate. It was a long walk through the tunnel to reach the base, and when they arrived the tunnel opened up into a wide and cavernous space.

An eerie green glow filled the place, a result of the green crystals used for lighting down here. The crystals had been smuggled out of the catacombs beneath Ba Sing Se, and it seemed the Empire either didn't know or didn't care about those ancient caverns even the slightest bit. No torches were allowed to be lit down here, since the quality of the air in a confined space had to be carefully controlled. The glowing crystals had to suffice, along with a few colonies of fireflies for lanterns, where temporary lighting was needed.

Once they were inside the main area one of the earthbenders faced Haru and Zuko. "I'm sure Kori will want to see you two right away."

Zuko nodded and then turned toward Han and Chewbacca. "We shouldn't be too long. Keep an eye on Appa for us would you?"

Chewbacca was currently glaring at Appa, who was glaring back at him.

"That won't be a problem," Han figured.

Haru and Zuko left them behind, heading to another part of this underground base. There were several small buildings set up, and one in particular was dedicated to medical care. Inside they entered a room assigned for Kori, where she was recovering from her brief stay in imperial custody. She was still bandaged quite a lot, and not yet ready to walk unassisted, but on the road to recovery nevertheless. Kori wasn't about to let her condition stop her from assisting with the rebellion, and she did whatever she could from a hospital bed.

Sitting in a chair beside the bed, currently looking over intelligence reports, Kori looked up when she heard them enter. "Haru, Zuko, how did your mission go?"

"Better than we expected," Haru answered. He sat down next to Kori. "We found the rumored escape pod. There wasn't much we could salvage, but we did find the people that came down in it."

"One looks human enough, the other is an alien," Zuko described. "They go by Han Solo and Chewbacca, and Han claims he was part of the rebel alliance."

"Was," Kori specified. "Is he not with them anymore?"

"I imagine he's been cut off from them since that mess in space," Haru said. "If he had the means to get back to them I'm sure he would have done so already."

"Still, they know more about the Empire than any of us do," Zuko said. "And they could provide us with the technological edge we sorely need. We've been using stolen tech so far, but we haven't been able to repair any of it or build new ones."

"Good, put them on it," Kori said.

"There's one other thing," Haru said. "We found Appa."

That had Kori raising an eyebrow. "Aang's sky bison? Where was he?"

"In a valley to the northeast," Haru answered. "He's why we got back so early. Appa gave us a ride."

"I imagine he thinks we're his best shot at reuniting him with Aang," Zuko said.

"If only we knew where Aang is," Kori said.

"That's something we'd all like to know," Zuko said.

Kori picked up the reports she had been looking over, flipped through the pages, and then handed one sheet to Haru. "Since you're back early, do you mind looking into this for me?"

"Sure," Haru said. He glanced at the sheet, reading enough to understand it. "We'll be right on it."

Haru and Zuko left the room, allowing Kori to return to rest. It was a short walk back to where they left Appa and the others, and along the way Haru let Zuko see the report and understand what their next task would be. Apparently there was an imperial supply camp nearby that was undermanned, according to spies that observed it in the last week, but still ready to handle an assault from below. Hence why Kori gave it to them, having Appa available now opened a lot of new possibilities, should the sky bison be inclined to join the fight.

When they got back to where they left the others, Zuko stopped dead in his tracks. "What in the world are they doing?"

"I have no idea," Haru said, staring in disbelief. "But I like it."

Chewbacca had been busy during their absence, and no one here had been willing to say no to the large wookie when he wanted something. He had been taking all kinds of scrap metal from nearby and cobbled them together around Appa, creating a makeshift set of armor for the bison, the stolen imperial metals being light yet durable. Then there were the contraptions Chewbacca bolted on top of the armor, which were only the beginning of whatever the wookie had in mind. It seemed like Chewbacca's way of apologizing to Appa, giving the bison a much needed upgrade.

Han was watching the wookie at work, and he turned to look at Haru and Zuko. "So… um… Chewie's been wanting to build something for a while now."

"I see," Zuko said. He watched for a few moments, and then turned away. "I'll just… let him work. Let us know when he's finished."

A few kilometers away, unaware of the underground base nearby, the imperials at a supply camp were not in a good mood.

Being used as bait would do that to people.

Everyone knew about the insurgent activity in the area, and yet this supply camp was undermanned anyway. The higher ups in the chain of command did that on purpose, to make it look like an appealing target. But reinforcements were only minutes away, and they were watching this camp very closely, waiting for the inevitable attack from below. Still, for the people that would be forced to fight for those first few minutes, the wait was agonizing and seemed to stretch on forever. The work helped to keep the stress at bay, but everyone kept at least one eye on the ground at all times.

They should have been watching the sky instead.

The sky was overcast today, thick clouds shrouding the sun and promising rain in the very near future, with ominous thunder in the distance. Perfect cover for a sky bison on approach, and Appa emerged from the clouds directly above the supply camp. With armor reminiscent of the invasion on the Day of Black Sun, but in the dull grey of imperial steel, Appa dived straight down at maximum speed. No one saw the bison until it was too late, and Appa pulled up at the last second for the attack, right on top of the camp.

Four bison-armor-mounted-turrets opened fire.

Attached to the back of Appa's armor, each with a person aiming them, the blaster turrets fired into the supply camp. They carved a path of destruction through the camp, from one end to the other in half a minute, then turning back around for another sweep. Imperials scrambled to turn their defenses skyward, but in the moments that required it the bison turrets had destroyed much of them. Appa weaved through the blaster fire aimed at him, until the turrets destroyed enough to eliminate the danger.

On the third pass earthbenders on Appa summoned pieces of ground to them, carrying imperial machinery and supplies with them back to the bison. They took as much as the sky bison could carry, and discarded the excess earth to lighten the load. Appa made one more pass for the turrets to shoot another volley, damaging much of the equipment that had been too heavy to take. From there Appa retreated back into the thick clouds he had emerged from, leaving behind a smoldering wreck of a supply camp.

By the time imperial reinforcements arrived the sky bison was long gone.

In a narrow ravine created by earthbending, the sky bison landed with the stolen machinery and supplies.

Han smiled when he saw Appa land. "Looks like a good test run."

Chewbacca laughed and roared at the bison.

Appa roared back, though in a more positive tone than usual.

Everyone on the bison got off, taking the stolen imperial equipment with them, and Haru climbed down before approaching Han and Chewbacca. "Well that went better than I expected."

"Did they send reinforcements right away?" Han asked.

"Looked like it," Haru answered. "They were definitely expecting an attack from ground level."

After glancing at the equipment brought here, Zuko walked over to the others. "I take it they were not expecting an aerial assault."

"Of course," Haru said.

Chewbacca walked over to Appa, inspected the makeshift armor he created, and roared something back to Han.

"All we need now is a portable shield generator and we'll be set," Han said.

Everyone got to work bringing the stolen equipment into the underground base, earthbenders making the tunnels while others carried the loot. Once everything was underground the tunnels were sealed, and everything was unloaded near the center of the base. From there it would be sorted, analyzed, and repurposed for what the resistance needed. Having Han and Chewbacca around made it easier, for they could instruct others on what the equipment was and the best way to use it, and how to get around certain imperial safeguards built into the tech.

While they were working, Han had been glancing at the people in the resistance, and he paused to face Zuko. "Do you have other resistance cells on this planet?"

"Several, but most are here in the Earth Kingdom," Zuko answered. "I'm sure they could all use you and your friend's help."

"Not why I asked," Han said. "I was just wondering if a friend of mine ended up with your people. Last I checked he was stranded on Earth just like Chewie and I."

"We could ask around," Zuko suggested. "Who's this friend of yours?"

"Luke Skywalker," Han answered.

Zuko gave him a puzzled look. "Never heard of him."