Chapter 17: The Snitch
Minister Qin awoke to finding himself tied up inside the Air Nomad Sanctuary. He was surprised about the pain in his shoulder, or lack thereof. It was still sore but the worst of the burn had been healed. Surrounding Qin were ashes and burned pieces of experimental weapons. Part of him wondered what the Mechanist had come up with before the destruction, but the rest of him was concerned with getting out of the situation.
The door to the sanctuary opened, allowing Qin to see Avatar Aang enter. Beside him were Katara, Suki, and Haru, all walking towards Qin. "What do you want with me?" Qin asked.
Haru turned towards Aang. "Why are we keeping him around anyway?" Haru whispered.
"Teo's dad says this guy is really high up in the Fire Nation army," Aang answered. "He might know something useful."
"I'll make him talk," Suki said, cracking her knuckles. "Just give me a few minutes alone with him."
"Is that really necessary?" Katara asked.
"Trust me," Suki said.
"Alright," Aang said.
Suki walked over to Qin while everyone else walked outside the sanctuary. She lifted Qin up by the rope binding him and pressed his back to a wall. "Now are you going to talk, or do I have to break something?" Suki threatened.
Qin simply stared at Suki, not convinced by her act. "You're new to this, aren't you?" Qin asked. "Torture doesn't work when you break things right away."
"Oh I'll figure this out eventually," Suki said. "Say, have you wondered how that burn healed so quickly?"
"No, why?" Qin asked.
"My friend is a waterbender, with healing abilities," Suki explained. "That means she can fix anything I do to you. I have all the time in the world to get this right."
With a short swallow, Qin's belief that Suki was bluffing wavered. He decided to play it safe and avoid unnecessary pain. "Alright, I'll tell you anything you want to know."
Suki dropped Qin and walked out of the sanctuary to her friends. "Told you I'd get him to talk," she said.
All four kids walked back into the sanctuary and up to Qin. "Talk," Aang said.
"First thing you might want to know is that…" Qin was interrupted by something big hitting the side of the mountain and sending vibrations through the temple. "Huh? They're here already."
"Who's here," Haru asked.
"The army division that's supposed to attack this place if I don't come back," Qin answered.
Another vibration shook the sanctuary, slightly larger than before. "Don't go anywhere," Aang said. He hurried out of the sanctuary with his friends and then closed the door.
It only took them a few minutes to get to the balcony overlooking the mountain. Aang sent a windblast down to disperse clouds obscuring the view, and for a minute he wished he hadn't. Dozens of tanks were climbing up the mountain using chains to grabble the rocks. Below them were several catapults throwing boulders at the mountain, trying to shake the very foundations of the temple.
Leaping off the balcony Aang took to the air on his glider. He was followed by several people from the temple on gliders, all hastily equipped with various types of bombs. While the other fliers dropped their cargo Aang landed on the snow in front of the tanks and started bending the snow into a wave that struck the tanks. A few tanks were carried off the mountain, but fired their grabbling hooks to catch themselves. Aang struck the ground to bend the rocks and dislodge the tanks still trying to climb up the mountain.
A few tanks got past Aang's bending, heading straight for the temple. Coming down the mountain were Katara and Haru, using waves of water and earth respectively. Katara's wave grew as she collected more snow on her way down, using the wave to pick up the tanks and toss them aside. Haru moved past each tank and sank them into the rocks, binding them in place.
Catapults near the base of the mountain continued to throw boulders at the temple, some of them set on fire by the firebenders protecting the machines. Aang created an avalanche and a rockslide, then threw air and fire with the falling rocks and snow. The firebenders and soldiers at the catapults fled for cover as the elements struck the catapults, blowing drenching smashing and burning them all. With the catapults destroyed the firebenders boarded more tanks and drove them forward.
"They don't know when to quit," Haru commented.
Katara looked down the mountain and found even more soldiers and tanks heading forward. "Or they must really want our captive," she said.
"I have an idea, follow me," Aang said.
Hurrying down the mountain Aang struck more tanks on the way. Reaching the base of the mountain Aang bent the ground into a wave to push back the tanks approaching. Katara and Haru caught up with Aang on their elements and threw water and earth at the disoriented tanks. Obtaining a brief respite from the assault Aang turned back toward the mountain.
"Help me with this Haru," Aang asked, starting to bend the side of the mountain inward. "Cover us Katara."
Slowly Aang and Haru reshaped the base of the mountain while Katara blocked incoming fire. The already steep mountainside became a cavern with a high roof, the rocks above higher than the length of the chains the tanks used to climb. Repeating the same earthbending they made the new cavern deeper and wider, trying to make it impossible for the tanks to grapple their way up. But no one expected the new cavern to meet an existing one already beneath the mountain.
Approaching tanks continued to throw fireblasts, most of which were blocked by Katara's waterbending. A few stray fireblasts flew over everyone's heads and into the deep cavern. Suddenly an inferno spewed out of the cavern as a deposit of natural gas was ignited by the stray fire. Heading straight out of the cavern the inferno destroyed everything in its path.
Panicking Aang took flight, his glider just barely getting above the flow of fire. The heat of the blaze singed his clothes, nearly setting them aflame. On the ground Haru bent a shield of earth over himself and Katara, then buried both of them deeper into the ground. Even below ground the heat nearly cooked them alive, only going deeper kept them cool enough to survive. The tanks and soldiers had no defense, the inferno overwhelming attempts by firebenders to redirect the blaze.
Just as suddenly as the inferno ignited it passed and dissipated. Aang landed on the ground out of breath, exhausted from the near death experience. The ground nearby broke open as Haru and Katara climbed out of their hole, both soaked in sweat. The terrain around them was reduced to a barren wasteland, nothing remained of the army sent to destroy the temple.
"What the hell was that?" Haru yelled.
Katara looked at Aang's vacant expression. "Did you know that was going to happen?" she asked.
For a moment Aang didn't say a word, since his jaw was hanging in disbelief. Then with one hand on the back of his head and his eyes closed he said "Uh, yea. I meant to do that."
No one believed him.
Returning to the temple Aang and the others found the locals celebrating. The Mechanist was surprised that Aang utilized the natural gas deposit he had known was beneath the temple, and Aang tried to avoid the topic. He headed straight for the sanctuary and get back to where he left off with Qin. The minister was right where Aang left him, still tied up in the back of the sanctuary.
"Now where were we?" Aang asked after opening the sanctuary doors.
"I believe he was just about to tell us everything," Suki said.
"Well then, talk," Haru said to Qin. "Cause I doubt there's another army division coming to get you."
"Alright," Qin said. "But could you please untie me? This position is really giving me a crick."
Katara and Suki looked at Aang, wondering if he believed Qin was being sincere. Aang nodded to them and they slowly untied the rope binding Qin. Once they were finished they took a few steps back from Qin, suspecting that he might try something. All Qin did was stand up and stretch his limbs, then leaned back against the wall.
"So what do you want to know first?" Qin asked.
"Wait a minute," Katara said. "How do we know you aren't just going to lie to us?"
"In case you forgot, Princess Azula shot me in cold blood," Qin said. "She left me for dead, so why not rat her out."
"So that's what crazy blue fire girl's name is," Katara said.
"That was the Fire Nation princess this whole time?" Haru asked.
"No wonder she hates us," Suki said.
"And I want to pay her back for what she did to me," Qin admitted.
"Okay, what did you have in mind?" Aang asked.
Qin crossed his arms and smiled. "There's a secret project I started with one of the Mechanist's designs," Qin said. "A giant drill near Ba Sing Se, powerful enough to tunnel through its walls."
"A giant drill?" Haru said. "That sounds crazy."
"Crazy enough to work, which is what I told the Fire Lord when I proposed the drill," Qin said. "It is still under construction, and Azula was supposed to put her hunt for you on hold to oversee its completion. If you hurry you can stop the drill before it's finished and humiliate Azula in the eyes of the Fire Lord."
"What would stop her from building another one?" Katara asked.
"Resources," Qin answered. "The damn thing is massive, and there simply isn't enough material available to build a second drill."
For a moment Aang considered what Qin had said. While he doubted the likelihood of the drill existing, if there was any chance of it being real he had to do something about it. "You know where this drill is?" Aang asked.
"Of course," Qin said. "If you like I can show the way."
"And there's no strings attached," Suki said, suspecting that Qin had another motive. "Nothing you want in return?"
Qin chuckled for a bit. "Well there was something I thought could be left unsaid," he answered. "Assuming you win the war, which is unlikely at best, I'd like to be in the Avatar's good graces."
"So no matter which side wins, you win," Haru said.
"Correct," Qin said with a nod. "But let's not get too far ahead of ourselves. The end of this war is still far away."