Chapter XXXII: The Final Countdown
It had been a few days since the argument in the TARDIS and Korra and Mako were out doing reconnaissance while the others were doing their daily business. Saltrall was in the TARDIS, using his regular computer to watch a web series about a bunch of college students in Austria dealing with vampires, Sumerian goddesses, and constant sexual tension. It's an... interesting show to say the least, but Saltrall managed to get himself hooked onto it anyway.
He stretched and stood before walking out and into the main area as Korra and Mako returned and Asami looked irritated. Saltrall sighed softly and leaned against the wall. They ate dinner and the rest of the evening went by quickly and soon they all started to go to bed. Everyone except Saltrall who was fiddling with his Sonic.
He sighed and put it down when he heard movement in the hallway outside. He pulled the monitor towards him and sighed in relief when he saw it was just Mako. He stood and went to the door, making sure he had his key and he stepped outside.
Mako was walking away from him and he was about to say something when he saw him turn down to where Korra was sleeping, so he didn't say anything and decided to walk to the entrance of that hallway. He stopped himself however and decided to go back to the TARDIS to sleep.
The next morning the group was standing at the entrance of the drainage pipe and looking out across the bay.
"Coast is clear," Mako said and they all jumped out of the pipe, except for Saltrall who kept looking out at everything before joining the others on an observation platform above the drainage pipe.
"I don't like this, it's too quiet," he said when he joined them.
"Well, Once the United Forces arrive, we need to be ready to help in any way we can." Korra said, looking out towards the entrance of the bay.
"They're here." Mako said as the thin outlines of ships began to cut through the fog.
"No no no no, this isn't good," Saltrall said quietly, moving to the railing, scanning the horizon before turning to the others, "this is not good at all."
"Why not?" Asami asked him.
"What's missing from this picture?" Saltrall asked back.
"Nothing? I mean, there's no airships or tanks... or..." Bolin said before trailing off, causing Saltrall to nod.
"Exactly," he said turning and facing the others, "I can tell you from experience that this is-" he was cut off by an explosion from out in the bay, causing him and the others to look in that direction, "a trap," he finished.
Before anyone could do anything Korra jumped over the railing and into the bay.
"Korra, wait!" Saltrall shouted after her before groaning, "God I hate her sometimes."
"You and me both," Mako replied, watching her before sighing, "what now?"
"Well, I think we should-" Saltrall started getting interrupted by a buzzing sound coming from the city. They all turned and looked at the source of the noise to see two squads of biplanes flying towards the bay.
"Oh good. Planes too. Fantastic," Saltrall said flatly.
"Where does Hiroshi find the time to keep inventing new evil machines?!" Bolin asked, angry and confused.
"It doesn't matter, we just have to stop them," Saltrall replied as the planes flew towards the fleet and started bombing and torpedoing the ships.
"Well we should probably start thinking quickly!" Asami said as the attack on the fleet intensified.
Saltrall thought quickly before snapping his fingers.
"You guys stay here, I need to get some things from the TARDIS."
"Wait-" Asami started to say but he was already running back down the stairs and back to the sewers. Asami just sighed and looked back at the battle raging in the bay.
Saltrall was inside the TARDIS, throwing things aside, looking for various objects when he heard a commotion outside. He went out and saw that Korra and the others had returned, with Korra holding an unconscious General Iroh. Saltrall, seeing that there was a problem, hurried after them.
He caught up with them while Korra was using her healing powers on the general.
"Whoa, I didn't know you had healing powers, that's really cool," Saltrall said while watching her.
Korra blushed lightly but focused on her healing. Saltrall pulled out his Sonic and scanned Iroh.
"No serious internal injuries by the looks of things," he said, checking the readings.
"What is that device you have?" Iroh asked, watching him wave it over his body.
"Sonic screwdriver," Saltrall replied nonchalantly, starting to walk away, "I'm a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey in the constellation Kasterborous, sorry, I've given this intro quite a bit, it really drags on."
Iroh just looked at him confused before talking to the others. He stood and asked Korra if they had any way to send a message out to the second wave of ships that would be arriving soon, causing Saltrall to wheel around.
"I'm just the guy for the job," he said, smiling.
"You really don't have to, it could be dangerous," Korra replied, "besides, we can just send a telegram out."
"Ah, yes, telegrams," Saltrall replied, chuckling, putting a hand on her shoulder, "I've seen telegrams, telephones, text messages, even telepathy, but you know what I have that they don't?"
Korra shook her head, confused, making Saltrall smile. "A time machine," he said before looking at Iroh. "Write your message, I'll have it in the hands of your comrade before you can say 'damn he's good.'"
Iroh looked at him, slightly dumbfounded before he shook his head and looked at Korra for explanation.
"He's not wrong," she replied, shrugging a little before looking back at Saltrall, "just be careful, okay?"
Saltrall smiled and kissed her cheek as Iroh handed him a note. Saltrall took it and started walking to the TARDIS, looking over the note.
"Hey Saltrall," he heard from behind him, making him turn and he saw Mako with his hand on Korra's shoulder, "don't do anything stupid this time, okay?"
Saltrall chuckled. "Please, Time Lords can regenerate, I'm allowed to be stupid every once in a while."
Mako gave him a stern look and Saltrall just nodded, "nothing stupid, I'll be back in a few seconds."
The others watched as Saltrall and the TARDIS disappeared, leaving Iroh shocked.
"How... how did he do that?!" He asked, amazed and speechless. "It would take too long to explain," Asami replied gently.
Saltrall stepped out of the TARDIS and into what appeared to be boiler room where he was confronted by several sailors holding wrenches and shovels as weapons.
"Oh, hello," Saltrall said, slightly surprised.
"Stop right there, trespasser!" One of the sailors said, thrusting his shovel towards Saltrall, "Take one step and I'll knock your lights out!"
Saltrall just sighed and looked at the TARDIS, which was disguised as an equipment locker.
"A man just stepped foot out of an equipment locker into the boiler room of a capital ship, and you think to hold him at... shovel point?" Saltrall replied before taking a step forward. When the sailor swung at him he caught the shovel and tossed it away.
"Relax, I'm not here to harm you or anyone else, I have a message for the captain of this ship." Saltrall said as the sailor watched his shovel with slight fear in his eyes.
"B-Bumi?" The other sailor asked with a touch of fear in his voice.
"Sure, can you take me to him?" Saltrall replied, a little impatient.
He waited as one of the sailors went to a phone on the wall and soon an officer walked in to escort Saltrall to the bridge.
"Before I take you anywhere I need to see this "note" you need to deliver," he said, holding out his hand. Saltrall put the note in it and the officer read it.
"Yes this is very important, come, we need to hurry," the officer said after reading the note and he quickly lead Saltrall to the bridge where commander Bumi waited for them.
It was a few minutes before Saltrall was back in the TARDIS but he sighed and rubbed his temples.
"What a strange man," he said to himself as he set coordinates to the sewer and arrived a few minutes after he left for the fleet.
Saltrall walked into the room as the group was leaving and he heard Korra say she wasn't going with the others.
"I'm sorry, what?" Saltrall said, scaring the others, who wheeled around and looked at him.
"I want to face Amon face to face, I'm sick of hiding," Korra replied, crossing her arms across her chest.
Saltrall looked at her before looking at Mako. "And you tell me to be careful," he said before walking up to Korra, "no offense, babe, but that's actually the stupidest thing I've heard in centuries, up there with 'Hitler did nothing wrong.'"
Mako walked up next to Korra. "She's not going alone, I'm going with her."
Korra and Saltrall both looked at him surprised. Saltrall just sighed and rubbed the back of his neck.
"Alright, I trust your instincts, no matter how much I disagree," he said, putting his hands on both of their shoulders, "just don't do anything stupid, I'd greatly appreciate seeing both of you guys again, preferably in one piece."
Korra blushed and Mako smirked, "don't worry," he said, "we'll be fine."
"I'm holding you to that," Saltrall replied before walking past them and to the others, "so what are we doing, hopefully something much less... risky."
"We're going to find and attack the airfields that are launching the planes," Iroh replied, "we're leaving in the morning."
"Oh. Good." Saltrall said flatly before turning away from everyone and sighing, "welp, we all going to hell tomorrow."
"Oh come on, Saltrall, it can't be that bad," Bolin said, trying to keep Saltrall from being any more negative.
Saltrall sighed but nodded. "You're right, with the TARDIS infiltration should be easy, it's everything AFTER we get in that will difficult."
An awkward silence filled the air before General Iroh spoke up.
"No matter, we all need to try and get some rest, we leave in the morning."
Everyone else sighed, nodded, or some other form of quiet acknowledgement before the group split up and they all prepared for what undoubtedly be the final attack.