Second to last update for this period!
The school year is upon me! Not yet, but, I figure I have one more chapter to update before I put this on hiatus.
Thanks for reading this!
Chapter 11
Data strode down the red hallway. The ceiling of the palace was quite high. For primitive building techniques, the structure was quite secure. Data was not worried about the integrity of a building, however.
While the red-armored guards next to him showed various emotions of awe and mystery at him and his advanced gadgets, the young woman leading the group did not seem the least bit concerned. Even after examining the shuttle, the phasers and his commuicator strapped on his chest, she still radiated the same confidence as before. Data did not know if that should be of any concern to him.
Another pair of double doors were opened up with the slaving of two other guards.
This room was different. There was no lighting except for the wall of fire located in the back of the room. Data could locate a figure in the center of the fire. He was interested how the human could remain unaffected by the flames, surely, the heavy robes he thought he was wearing would combust to the heat of the flames. Data could tell that this was to evoke feelings of fear, awe and wonder at this man's supposed subjects.
Data concluded that this man was the Fire Lord his captor, Lieutenant Chang, mentioned.
"Please," the Fire Lord began, "Azula, go off to the side, I want to see our visitor."
For someone so confident, or, who radiated such confidence, the young women was incredibly submissive to the man. Either she admired him so to do such an act, or there was much to fear about this man.
"Greetings," the man spoke again, "Welcome to the heart of the Fire Nation. Few men have this honor of being directly in my presence."
Data responded; "I doubt honor is the first emotion many of your subjects get when they enter here."
"Honor, fear, awe, wonder, I find many of these emotions in my subjects. You should be fearful, because if you do not comply with us, fear will be your only emotion until your dying breath."
The man sat back as he said this. His face was hidden, but Data could imagine a smile on the man's face. Data chose to break the scilence;
"If I could convey an emotion, it would be disgust. Your military forces clearly have the upper hand on the rest of the world, and yet, you wish to further your ways of destruction. The one thing I would fear above all, is what you will do to the world with our technology."
"It is not wise to resist us, you think you know pain?"
Data could observe the man nod his head towards the young woman that led him in the room earlier. She circled behind him, and Data heard something metal being pulled out. He was an android, who knew little of human emotions. He did not fear what would happen to him.
So he was surprised when his bindings were removed.
...
"Ship sighted!" shouted one of the water tribe men.
The night was dark, a cold wind blew. Riker was on watch on the starboard side. He looked over to where the man pointed.
His face fell when he recognized the ship. It looked like the Key of Freedom, a fire navy ship.
Deanna appeared by his side.
"What are you getting from them?" asked Riker to the betazoid consular.
Deanna concentrated for a moment. Being half betazoid was a benefit to her as consular, as she could read the emotions of her subjects. She was also very useful on the bridge, as reading the emotions of another ship gave the Enterprise a tactical advantage.
Reading the emotions of a crew, however was not an easy task. Sentient beings were always varied in their emotions. However, since crews usually worked for the same purpose, there was always a constant underlying feeling.
Deanna sounded surprised when she stated; "Fear, they fear us."
Of course Riker prompted an elaboration with, "Why?"
Deanna turned back to Riker and interjected with, "I can't answer that Will, I am just as confused as you are."
The ship was close enough that Riker could see the individual crew members. Red, all red. Riker looked down at himself. The crew members of the Freedom made sure that the newcomers got a set of red clothing, just in case they met up with another ship of the Fire Navy. Riker had doubts that just a set of genuine armor was going to convince hostile ships.
Riker looked up again. Another plume of smoke rose from the main body of the ship. He saw some of the crew members fan the smoke four times.
As Deanna saw the completion of this peculiar activity, she sensed a shift of emotions on their own ship. Relief. There was something Hakoda left out in his summary of the invasion.
"Don't worry," said one of the men behind Deanna and Riker. Riker recognized him as the man who had congratulated Worf in the arm wrestle, Tyro.
He continued, "We had agreed on a signal with our sister ship when it was time to gather for the invasion."
"So," Riker mused, "There isn't just one fake Fire ship, is there?"
Tyro smiled when Riker finished, "You would be correct in that."
The other ship had pulled up to the side of the Freedom. Platforms were rolled out from the other ship so that crew members could cross over with the other ships.
Riker could tell, even with his limited experience, that these people were definitely not Fire Nation. They were far too diverse, and far too happy.
"Yeesh," said one of the crew members, "I'm ready to go back to the swamp now. This military humbug is tying me up."
"Yeah," responded the second one that boarded, "Ain't used to be wearin' all this Fire Nation garb."
Riker spotted a few figures behind them. One of them was wearing dorky goggles, another was a short figure, a big figure was beside him, and the final member of their sister ship was ... in a wheelchair?
Dorky Goggles swept aside the two strange men that initiated the boarding. He approached Riker.
"Greetings," he said, his voice matched his appearance.
"Greetings," said Riker. He looked around to see if others were to participate in the negotiations. He then spotted the captain, Hakoda, ascending from the lower deck. Naturally, Hakoda approached them.
"Welcome to the Freedom," Hakoda said. "You arrived at the coordinates just on time."
"Indeed we did," responded the other man, "We have found many a people who are opposed to the Fire Nation, but few who are willing to take arms. Sometimes when the other side wants a fistfight, you've got to bring the fists."
As the conversation pressed on, Riker spotted another captain ascending from the lower decks. This captain, however, was in charge in the sky, not the sea.
"Picard," Riker shouted.
"What's going on?" Picard asked, "I heard we came into contact with another Fire Navy ship. I then heard from another that we aren't the only pretenders here out in sea."
"Well Picard," Hakoda apologized, "I forgot to tell you, but we had stolen another ship which also has been collecting Earth Kingdom sympathizers from other areas. Both of us had scheduled a certain day we would meet up to gather to prepare for the invasion."
"So," Picard said, "The invasion in upon us."
"Not yet," Hakoda shook his head, "The deeper we get into the Fire Nation, the more fleets we will see. Traveling alongside with the other ship will make us less suspicious."
"And what is the name of our esteemed sister ship?"
"Well," the supposed captain of that ship began, "I wanted a more general name. Hakoda has to use a fake name since the 'Key of Freedom' is kind of suspicious."
As he said this, he gave a quizzical look at Hakoda. All Hakoda could respond was that he found the name inspiring.
"Anyways," the man continued, "The name of our ship is the Enterprise."
Picard looked up to the sky, wondering if someone was playing a joke on him.
...
Data was seated at a large table. His body was covered with the lush, red, royal robes worn by those in the building. He looked at his shoulders, heavy padding that jutted out. His shoes had a peculiar upward point to them.
He was confused. He knew they meant to force him in how to reverse-engineer the devices. He knew they were desperate to do that, why hadn't they gone with straight-up torture?
Not that he would have spoken up anyways. It was his duty to keep the workings of the phasers, the shuttle and the communicator unknown to them.
Data was alerted by a presence entering the room. He had expected it to be the young woman ... what was her name? Azula? That part was irrelevant.
He concluded from face and body structure that the human who had entered the room was male. He shared many features with the woman Azula, Data could guess that they were related. A feature stood out among others on this boy, the discolored skin around his left eye. Upon closer inspection, Data observed that the red tint of the skin, and the wrinkled nature of it was a result from a burn, a very grievous burn.
However, Data was not shocked from this. What he had witnessed the past few days justified that burn mark. Playing with fire was dangerous.
"Are you my interrogator?" Data asked the man.
His brow raised, and he opened his mouth. Data assumed that the question sounded illogical to him, and he was expressing his surprise.
"No," he responded, "Azula said we were having dinner with a guest."
"So, there is no interrogation?"
"No, though, being around my sister is similar to one."
The opening of a door interrupted the conversation. Data recognized the young woman who walked in the room, a confident smile on her face. She was followed by two other figures, female by Data's inspection. The one behind 'Azula' wore straight hair that was wrapped into to buns at the top of her head. She wore red-colored robes, but their form, and weaving gave off a "gloomy" essence. Data thought that emotion would best describe her.
Her companion was just the opposite. She wore a pink top that showed off her midsection; Data was sure Dr. Crusher would deem that "improper". Her mood seemed lighter and way more joyful than the gloomy one.
"Welcome, guest," Azula interrupted.
Data stood still among the others. He did not respond.
"Such silence from one so talkative," she continued.
"Well," Data began, "Now you shall hear from me, what are you planning?"
"Azula," the young man butted in, "What's going on here?"
"Let me finish, Zuzu." Azula responded, her expression getting a little playful. Data saw her revert to her previous state as she finished; "I'm here to make you an offer."
"An offer not to torture me, in exchange for instructions on how to operate our technology?" Data shook his head, an abrupt sign of refusal, "As I have stated before, none of your techniques will work on me. I am impervious to pain, I can go years without consuming your food, my only fear is you obtaining the ability to use my devices. You have reached a dead end."
Data sat back. Somehow, a thought occurred in his computing brain that what he said was pointless. Humans, especially ones driven by a thirst for power, were stubborn creatures. Her facial expressions confirmed his assumption. Azula opened her mouth
What next? The tingling feeling came back in Data. He really must get his mechanics checked, he found that it was hard to move his limbs. He also appeared to have difficulty processing thoughts as he awaited Azula's answer.
"I merely want to have a nice chat over dinner," she claimed. Data suspected otherwise.
"Your offer, Data, is monetary and positional. Our engineers are considered the best in the world, of course. However, your expertise makes them look like a bunch of Water Tribe builders. 10,000 a month."
Data saw the pink woman reveal a pot of gold coins. An element humans placed a lot of value on.
Azula continued, "You would be one of the most respected men in the Fire Nation. Men will seek your consul on technology. Women will seek your hand in marriage. You even may have my father's ear in some occasions, though father likes to act on his own accord."
Azula smiled as she said this. Data could not believe this. He had no interest in the gold coins, the enslaving of the entire world was far from the worth of the coins. He was more interested in the influence he could bring to the nation. If he had the general respect of the populace, he could turn their opinion against the war, and bring the Fire Nation's ambitions down from the inside out...
No, silly, he was not on a moral duty run. His job was to make sure the world remained pure of the Federation's technology. Helping out the Fire Nation mass produce shuttles and phasers would only make the situation worse.
"I refuse," Data stated. It felt like an eternity since Azula made the offer. Picard had often said time slows down when one is deep in thought, or did time speed up?
The complexion of her face changed. It was scrunched, snarling, angry; it was as if she could not believe that he refused her offer. I had already mentioned that my goal was to prevent them from learning our technology, why is she angry?
"You dare refuse us?" she snarled.
"You have heard me correctly. I do not seek your money, nor do I seek respect from you. You have established yourself as a threat to this world, and I do not wish to exonerate it. As I've heard from others, deal with it."
"Fine!" she spat, "My offer now turns into a threat, Lieutenant Chang may not be an expert interrogator, but I am! I will crack your spirit, and soon, you will learn to bow down before me!"
Zuko looked at the fit his sister was having. What in this man caused her to lose her composure? It appeared the man firmly believed in his ideals; it was no mystery to Zuko why he refused her offer. Why was Azula mad?
Because he was out of her control. This "Data" was not manipulated by money, nor was he manipulated by pain. He was someone outside of her control.
Zuko looked at himself, ever since he had found out his full ancestry, he had changed. If the man Data came before that moment, Zuko would be easily helping out Azula. However, he no longer supported his own Nation's goals.
He was now outside of their control. And now, as the man was led away, Zuko knew exactly what he wanted.
Next week, farewell chapter! (until winter break :)