Chap. 32

The Assault

The factory stood on the easternmost crag of the island, towering over the rocky coastline. The building was massive, the tallest structure on the island as well as the widest. Smoke poured from it at all times, blotting out most of the sunlight and casting the factory into perpetual gray. In the past, when the farmers of the island had ventured to it, they had felt their spirits dampened as soon as they fell within its shadow. For this place represented not only the weapons of the Fire Army, and therefore the war, but also the ever-present hand of Ozai upon their lives, forcing them to bend to his will.

Arik felt those feelings once again, as he pushed his cart of food along, the caravan of farmers made their way down the embankment to the entrance of the factory. For his entire life, Arik had felt the hand of Ozai upon him. He'd felt it when his father and brother had been drafted to fight in the war. He'd felt it when their helmets had been returned, along with the mass-produced letters of condolences. He'd felt it when he and his family had been drafted to this island and forced to till the land for the Fire Army. And as he reached the gates of the factory and looked upon the two guards standing there, he could feel it now.

"What's your business here?" the older guard, a heavily bearded man who stank of sweat and ale demanded.

"We've come with the month's provisions for you and your workers." Arik replied.

"Humph. If it's anything like the slop you provided us with last time, you wasted your time." The guard muttered, as he moved over to Arik's cart. Throwing back the sheet, he looked over the food stored within.

"What, no meat?" he snapped.

"It's being kept in the wagons." Arik replied, gesturing to the caravan behind him. "We didn't want it to spoil in the heat."

"Right." The guard replied. "Take it inside and get out. We've got important work to do and we don't need you common peasants mucking it up."

"Of course sir." Arik said, bowing deeply to the guard, who grunted and pointed to the door. Arik nodded and made his way into the factory, the caravan following behind him. The guard returned to his post and glared as they made their way inside. Pitiful farmers. He thought to himself. All they do is cower and grow their little vegetables. If it were up to me, I'd ship them all back to the Fire Nation and get food imported in. Maybe some good ale too….

The guard paused in his train of thought a moment, as he looked around in puzzlement. For a second, he had felt something strange, almost like the earth moving under his feet. But seeing nothing around him, he dismissed the thought and resumed his post, happy to return to his mental rant.

As he entered the factory, Arik could smell the odor of molten metal, could hear the pounding of hammers on steel through the walls. So many people, making so many machines of death. He thought grimly, as he moved into the large, empty room that served as the 'reception area.' The Fire Lord had not been stupid enough to leave his most important factory easily accessible. Anyone who wanted to enter the main factory, and its storage areas, first had to pass through this room, cut off from the rest of the factory and protected by a group of royal guards, who searched anyone and anything before they allowed them to pass.

Arik looked upon those red-cloaked faces now, as the group of nine guards approached the caravan. Their leader, dressed in utter crimson with long shoulder spikes, stepped forward and said, "You are late this month."

"I apologize sirs." Arik said, sounding as humble as possible. "The crops were few, and we only wanted to provide you with the best."

"Save your excuses." The guard hissed, as he moved over to the cart. His fellow guards began to move through the caravan, checking everything with all their skills. Arik and the other farmers stood to the sides, allowing the guards to do their work with no interruption. Finally, they finished their inspection and the head guard turned to Arik.

"This is the second time you have been late with the crops, Arik." The guard sneered. "If this should happen again, I will have to speak with the Fire Lord. If you can't serve him this way, I'm sure we can find something for you."

"It will not happen again sir." Arik replied.

"I hope not, for your sake." The guard said, as he turned to resume his post. But as he moved by Arik's cart, he paused a moment, then looked at it.

"You bring us your best, Arik?" the guard said mockingly, pointing to a rotten fruit that sat in the center of the cart.

"I-I am sorry. I didn't see…."

"Don't bother." The guard said, as he reached to throw the fruit out. But as his hand grasped for it, the fruit actually split apart and opened right before the guard. Before he could react, two impossibly long vines shot out from the fruit and wrapped around his wrists.

"Arik! What kind of devil fruit is this?!" the guard yelled as he struggled against the vines. But Arik just smiled and stood back. Seeing their leader in peril, the other guards moved to help him. But they ran into their own problems. The earth before them suddenly bucked and rumbled under their feet, throwing them off balance. Simultaneously, a long whip of water shot out from one of the wagons and whacked them in their eyes, distorting their vision. As their hands went to their faces, a group of figures suddenly moved out of the wagons, drew weapons, and quickly moved to contain the guards at gunpoint.

"Don't move, and this will be over quickly." Hakoda said, holding his knife directly on a guard's neck.

"I'd do what he says." Zuko agreed, as he held his own guard in place next to Hierro and Desierto.

"What is this madness?" the head guard roared, as he continued to struggle against the vines. "You pathetic farmers could never amass this sort of power."

"They didn't; it was just a happy coincidence." Another voice uttered. The guard turned in amazement to see that the voice had come from the fruit that held him. But it wasn't quite a fruit anymore. It was growing and changing, it's skin becoming cloth and flesh. As the guard watched, it finished reforming, into the shape of green-garbed squirrel, an axe strapped to his back, and a pair of vines growing from his palms.

"What in the name of the gods…."

"Actually, it's quite like that." Bosque said, as more vines erupted from his hands. Moving almost of their own will, they wrapped around the guard, pinning his arms to his side and wrapping him up like a Christmas present.

"We good then?" Bosque asked his comrades.

"Ready and willing." Desierto answered, as he and Hierro had already encased the guards in sand and chains.

"Then let's get to work." The squirrel said. "Everybody out." He yelled.

With those words, the wagons began to empty, their cargo not food, but Army members. Within minutes, most of the Army had exited the wagons, as the head guard looked on in surprise and disgust.

"You dare to plan against us, Arik?" he sneered.

"Oh, I was happy to." The farmer replied. "Somehow, a life of slavery and fear didn't appeal to me."

"It doesn't matter." The guard said, as he looked at the group before him. "Do you really think this mishmash of Benders can stand against the united force of the Fire Nation?"

"It's not as united as you think." A voice said from the back. The guard turned towards it, then his face grew even angrier at the sight of the speaker.

"Prince Zuko. Why am I not surprised that the banished prince has become a traitor? You never deserved anything that you were given. Your father will never take you back now. Perhaps he will allow your sister the honor of executing you."

"I wouldn't bet on it." Azula said, as she moved to stand next to her brother.

"P-Princess?" the guard sputtered. "What are you doing?"

"I'll worry about that." Azula replied. "What you need to worry about is making sure you can answer one very simple question."

"And what is that?"

"Where is Sozin Reborn?" Aang asked, exiting the Army to stand with the royal siblings.

The guard looked at Aang a moment, then breathed, "The Avatar? Here?"

"Yes. And if you want to ever tell anyone about it, you'd best answer his question." Bosque said, as he tightened the vines around him.

But if the guard heard that question, he gave no heed. Instead, he turned back to Azula with a strange grin on his face.

"You've always done so well Princess." He said, looking directly at her. "But I suppose everyone has to fail at some point."

Suddenly, the guard let out a yell, and then set fire to the vines around him. Bosque gaped in shock and released the tension, allowing the guard to fall back. As the flaming vines began to reach his clothes, he backed into the wall and managed to stretch an arm long enough to hit a hidden switch. Before anyone could move, a series of doors popped open on the walls and small, metal balls shot out and landed on the ground. Seconds later, long tendrils of purple and white gas began to pour forth from them, filling the room rapidly. Everyone began to cough and choke, except for the guards, who were somehow able to breathe through their masks. Within seconds, the Army members fell to the ground unconscious, as the head guard got back to his feet, gritting his teeth against the pain.

"Awake at last."

"Uhh." Azula muttered, as her eyes slowly opened. For a moment, there was fuzziness all through her vision, and then it cleared.

"Qin?"

"War Minister Qin to you." The older man said, as he stood before her, a large number of guards behind him. "I apologize for putting you through this, but I so wanted to speak to you personally. Your new friends aren't as interesting."

"What?" Azula said, as her mind began to clear. She started to move, only to realize she was chained. She turned and saw she was outside the factory, with the rest of the Army and the farmers bound and gagged with her. Sokka stood next to her, as did Zuko, Aang, and Oscuridad.

"It was a clever move Princess. But not a successful one. Did you forget the power of our chi gas? As long as we have that, there is nothing you can do to harm us, not when we can remove your bending."

"So what do you want then?" Aang asked.

"Oh merely some understanding before I destroy you all." Qin said. "I can't seem to fathom why the Princess here decided to switch sides. Of course, it doesn't matter. She tipped us off to your plans by doing so."

"What?!" Sokka yelled, whipping around to face Azula.

"No! I swear, I didn't do anything." Azula protested. "Sokka please, I don't know what he's talking about."

"As well you shouldn't." Qin said. "The Princess's help was completely inadvertent. You see, when she left to join you, she sent back word to her father that she needed to stay and work here personally. But the Fire Lord knows his daughter too well, and would not tolerate betrayal. So he sent me here to amp the security. A wise precaution, it seems."

"So, what am I to do?" Qin said, looking out at the Army. "This is far too many traitors to simply imprison. I suppose execution could be fun. In fact, why don't we go with that? Yes, the Fire Lord would like that. Of course, he'll want to deal with his children himself. But the rest…."

With that, Qin turned his attention to Aang. Standing over the boy, he drew a long dagger from his sleeve and said, "By the time you come back, it will be too late to stop us."

Aang started to move, but two guards moved to hold him place, as others restrained Osc, Zuko and Azula. Qin raised the dagger high over his head and then brought it down. But in the split-second before it hit Aang, there were cries from the guards, movement, a blur of color, and then a scream of pain- a female cry.

Qin looked down in shock, as he let go of the dagger impaled in Azula's shoulder. The Fire Princess stood there unsteadily, struggling against the pain that flowed through her body. Everyone started in horror and shock as she struggled to remain upright. As blood began to fall from her shoulder, Azula managed to manipulate the chains enough to reach up, and grab the dagger. With a visible effort, she pulled it out, only to fall to her knees from the pain. Looking up at Qin, she said, "Tell…… my father…… he can….. go to hell." With that, she finally collapsed to the ground, as Sokka rushed over, frantically screaming for help.

But his cries only fell on Qin's deaf ears. Turning to a guard, he said, "Put her out of her misery. Then the Avatar."

The guard nodded and moved to face them. He summoned a fireblast, and then prepared to lob it back at the two of them

But just as the flame left the guard's hand, a gust of wind suddenly shot down from the sky, one so strong it extinguished the flame and sent Qin and the guard sprawling back. As he struggled to regain his footing, a figure descended from the sky, dressed in white clothing. As he came closer to the ground, Qin could see that there were strange protrusions coming from the figure's arms. But as he landed, Qin could see those protrusions clearly, and he then knew whom he was facing.

"I thought that the Knights were one sort." He said, as Aire folded his wings back and drew his staff from within the folds of his cape.

"Aww, did you go and start the party without me?" the falcon replied. "I was really hoping to get in on the fun."

"I'm sorry to inform you, but this party ended before it began." Qin said, as he got to his feet. "But don't worry, you'll have plenty of time to spend with the guests."

"I don't quite think so." Aire replied, as he turned to face his friends. "Wow, you guys made one hell of an Army here." He said to Oscuridad, as he looked over the vast group of soldiers.

"It wasn't enough to take down this factory." Qin said with a sneer. "Despite the unexpected help.

"Unexpected?" Aire asked.

"We got a few unexpected recruits." The bat replied, gesturing towards Azula. The falcon's eyes went wide at the sight of her, but he simply nodded, and turned back to Qin.

"I've heard about you before Qin." He said to the War Minister. "Your family has been in the royal service for many generations. In fact, I believe your great-grandfather performed a great service for Fire Lord Sozin. What was it again, I can't quite remember."

"My great-grandfather led the assault on the first Air Temple." Qin said with a smile.

"Hear that Aang?" the falcon said, looking at the Avatar. "Quite an accomplishment, isn't it?"

"Yes. The Fire Lord rewarded him well for the destruction of your people." Qin said, sneering at Aang, who stared back with rage in his face. "But as much as I enjoy my family history, it's time for you to join your friends."

"I told you, I don't think so." Aire replied. "What I do think, is that I am going to take this factory, destroy its weapons, and see you imprisoned."

Qin looked at Aire a moment, then gave a brief, cruel laugh. "What kind of fool are you? Godsent or not, you don't have a chance here. Your friends are incapacitated. We can render you powerless with ease. We are an entire army. You are but one man. What could possibly lead you to victory?"

"One thing." Aire replied. "Viva la raza."

"What?"

"Oh I'm sorry. I forgot you don't speak that language here. Let me translate." Aire said. "Viva la raza means one thing- the people live."

"And is that supposed to mean something?" Qin asked. "Your people are imprisoned before me."

"I see I need to clarify." Aire said, as he held up his right hand. As Qin looked on in amused curiosity, the falcon's hand began to glow with white light. Slowly, three circles began to trace themselves into the hand, until the symbol of the Airbenders shone forth.

"Viva la raza, you dumb shit." Aire said. "Viva la raza."

The falcon smiled, as he watched Qin look at the symbol. He smiled more, as he saw Qin's arrogance be shattered by recognition and understanding. He revealed in it a moment, then delivered the final blow; "You didn't really think you got all of us, did you?"

As the falcon spoke those words, he saw Qin shake his head, to try to disbelieve those words. But despite his efforts, the last of his arrogance was shattered a second later when Trueno looked up to the skies and cried out, "The eagles! The eagles are coming!"