The tires screeched against the concrete as Jet pushed the vehicle to its limits along the empty road that lead to the abandoned warehouses of the lower district. Toph sat behind him in the back seat, the Mini Uzi in her lap, her window down ready for her to cause the distraction that would allow the others to sneak in and get the package Long Feng desired. Jet called back to her, she couldn't understand his words over the roaring of the engines but she knew that the next building they would pass was the target. She saw an armoured truck outside the building, a few men dressed in dark clothing with various weapons carrying wooden packages into the building. A few men with high powered rifles stood along the fire escape at the front of the building and a small group of men dressed in suits with other men stood protecting them huddled behind other crates.
Toph pulled up the Uzi and sprayed in the direction of the warehouse, hoping not to cause the death of any of them but to cause enough of a disturbance to distract everyone. As they passed the building and she fired her final bullet she noticed three figures sneaking along the fire escape, she saw one of them slap the guard facing the car, and watched him fell to the floor below. She looked behind her and saw a single man on a motorbike following them, his own Uzi in hand.
Sokka used his knife to break open the lock on the window closest to them. The fire escape wrapped around the building on the floor they were on. The windows were covered in dust and smog and it was almost impossible to make out anything on the inside. Once the lock was broken and the window was free to be open Sokka turned to his closest friends. "Aang, you go in first, you have the silenced gun. Remember these people are killers, and corrupt, if it comes down to it don't hesitate." Aang Gulped and climbed through the window. He pulled the M9 silenced pistol from the back of his pants and quickly hid behind a large crate. The entire centre of the third floor was hollow and looked down on the floors below. There was a two meter ring around the edge of the building with an rusting rail around the entire floor. There were two men to Aang's far left looking out a window they had more or less cleaned. Aang guessed they were looking at the car slowly disappearing down the road. To Aang's right, there were three small rooms he guessed to be offices, the one in the middle had its lights on and he could see a single man in a suit sitting at a desk, his back to the window.
Zuko climbed through the window behind him and rushed behind the crate, Aang pointed out what he saw as Sokka followed them in and closed the window behind them. "Best to take out the guy on his own. Aang, get to that crate over there." Sokka pointed to the wooden box right behind the two men. "If anything happens, take them out with as little noise as possible." Aang nodded and silently crept along the concrete floor and crouched behind the box. "Zuko, you're with me."
They stuck close to the wall, staying out of sight from anyone below them as well as the other men who occupied the floor. He looked into the small room that held the suited man and knocked lightly. Meanwhile Zuko snuck behind the door and waited for the man's attention to be focused on the window. Sokka ducked down and Zuko stepped in through the door. Quickly running and cupping the man's mouth. Sokka closed the door behind him so that the other's wouldn't hear the commotion and waited. He heard light bumps and stifled screams as Zuko beat information out of the man. It only took a few minutes for the man to tell Zuko the location of the package. Zuko threw a final punch at the man's temple, knocking him unconscious in the process. He used internet cables and computer cords to tie the man to the old ventilation shafts.
Zuko opened the door and crouched down beside Sokka. "It's in the basement, the stairwell is outside in the small shed behind the building." Sokka nodded and got Aang's attention by waving his hands.
Aang quietly got back to the others as the two men returned to their posts on either side of the building. The one closest to them seemed uninterested and pulled out his phone, a few moments later the one across the room did the same, completely unaware of the three men climbing out of the window they came through.
Another guard was patrolling along the walkway towards them. His gun strapped to his back and a torch in his hand. He spotted the three boy's standing there. They froze as the guard got closer, they knew they were spotted; they were too scared to even pull their weapons out and take care of the problem. The guard pressed his finger to his lips, signalling for them to be quiet. He turned off the torch and held his hands in the air as a form of surrender. "I won't harm you." He spoke softly stepping closer to them. He turned so Sokka could remove the assault rifle from his back.
"What are you doing?" Sokka asked cautiously. His knife in hand as he passed the gun to Zuko.
The man turned back around he was at least twenty years older than the group of young adults. He had long hair down to his shoulders with facial hair that went down to his collar bone, two small beads separating it into dreadlock like strands. "My name is Hakoda. And I wish to help you in your goal."
"How do you know about that?" Sokka questioned him, focusing more on the name, he was almost certain he had heard it before.
"I have been looking out for you for the last few weeks, ever since that stunt at the mall." Hakoda placed his torch on the railing beside them. "The chemicals were never even at that mall. It was a trap to take you guys out of the picture."
"How can we trust you?" Aang questioned.
"Ozai treats us like we are trash, his general, the man in charge of Fire Nation involvement in the Earth Kingdom is here, and I want to take him out." The group looked amongst themselves, seemingly all believing the story.
"Continue." Sokka stated.
"I sent a few of the men I work with to ambush Jet so you would leave before getting caught. What I didn't know was Sozin; the general, found out and sent his own men which set another trap." Hakoda apologized for Zuko's injury and his involvement. "I wish to make it up to you; I can get you inside the basement."
The lone guard continued to trail them into the dense areas of industrial Ba Sing Se, he occasionally shot a burst round of bullets at Jet's dodge challenger, a few bullets penetrated the frame of the car, shattering his back window and breaking his back lights. He didn't stop though, he was on his way into the city, where he knew the gunman would cease fire, and probably return to the factory.
Jet swerved to avoid street poles and other debris that had fallen onto the road from years without use. The light emitting from the motorbike behind him began to fade as the gunner stopped his chase and turned back towards the factory. Jet turned the corner and saw a few lights on in a factory building; he knew he had reached the populated areas of industrial Ba Sing Se. His only worry that remained was how the others would get out from the factory, they hadn't discussed much of an escape plan.
Hakoda opened the door to the shed that lead down to the basement. "You need to know, that there is the chance you may never return from down there." Hakoda said pointing down the stairs into the dark.
"It's the chance we have to make; if we don't go down there then Long Feng will kill us anyway." Zuko said, he had passed the assault rifle back to Sokka and was holding his revolver in his hand.
Hakoda pulled his torch out and shined it down the stone stairwell, the light reflected off the steel vault door. "Please tell me you know how to open that." Aang said pointing at the door.
"Fortunately yes." Hakoda walked down the steps and opened the lock mechanism, the door opened easily, clearly used often and maintained well. "This factory has been used by earth kingdom rebels and fire nation activists for over one hundred years."
"What do they do here?" Zuko asked as he looked inside the door, it was dark and looked like there was a drop as soon as you stepped through.
"The manufacturing of chemical weapons." Hakoda replied. "It was originally built by Earth kingdom rebels during the one hundred year war, after three months of use it was taken over by fire nation soldiers and the rebels and soldiers worked together." Hakoda sighed, remembering his history lessons. "Eventually the fire nation lost the war, and everyone thought they shut down the chemical factory. What they didn't know, is that the real factory is underground. Down there." Hakoda pointed down the shaft. "They've been working on a chemical weapon for fifty years, and it is very close to being complete."
"We know. That's why Long Feng wanted us to get it for him." Zuko replied. "From what we understand, he wants to use it to enhance the protection of the Earth kingdom so it can't be invaded again."
"That's correct." Hakoda stated. "Now come on, let's get the package."
They had been creeping through dimly lit halls and down stair wells. It smelt like cleaning equipment and old people, and every so often a strong breeze blew through the hall, like someone had opened a window. They spent roughly twenty minutes sneaking through the complex before meeting the first guard, Hakoda didn't hesitate, lunging forward and digging a blade into the guard's spine, killing him. They were outside the laboratory that the chemical was being mass produced in.
"The goal is to destroy their product line and take the original." Zuko stated. His revolver in hand, He looked in through a window, "There are at least a dozen scientists in there, and guards everywhere. There is no way we can get in there without a fight."
"We have one automatic weapon, there is no way we could fight them off with this." Sokka stated.
Hakoda looked in through the window. "Every laboratory down here has an armoury right around the corner." He studied a small map on the wall outside the lab. "It's just down here." He pointed to his right and the group followed him. A short walk left them standing in front of a closed roller door, a small wooden door beside it. "In side everyone, don't want someone to find us down here."
They stepped in through the door, Hakoda's key unlocking it for them, their was a jeep with a mounted rail gun on the back parked in the middle, along the wall to their left were various rifles and machine guns and to their right was ammunition and attachments. "Whoa." Sokka muttered as he surveyed the room.
"Take whatever you prefer, grab a spare if you need." Hakoda said walking over to the closest stand that held a group of m16s the same rifle Sokka had taken off him; he attached a grip to the front and a sight to the top to help with his aim. Sokka spent longer studying the different shotguns before taking an SPAS 12 and his own M9 pistol, he didn't attach anything but filled his pockets with ammo. Aang grabbed a light machine gun, choosing to provide cover for the others, he attached a larger drum mag, and his own grip. Zuko wanted mobility, he wanted to dash between cover whilst Aang provided him with cover. So he opted for an ACR with extended mags. "Everyone ready?" Hakoda called from the door, a band of grenades around his torso. "Everyone know how to use their weapons?"
"I'm good, this was the weapon I used when I was stationed in Iraq." Zuko called mentioning his military experience.
Aang placed a grenade in his pocket, "I could use some help reloading, but as long as I can rest this thing on something I should be fine." Aang strapped the huge weapon to his back and held his pistol.
"My step dad and I used to go hunting every now and then. So I should be fine." Sokka held his shot gun to his chest, he had decided to attach a flashlight to the front for just in case purposes.
"Then let's go." Hakoda pushed the door open and the others followed him back to the lab. The halls were still empty when they arrived. "So what's the plan Sokka."
"Hey, Zuko is the one who served in the army, ask him." Sokka stated defensively.
Zuko looked through the window and saw the dozens of armed men strolling around the room, a few helping to move large boxes, and others standing against walls guarding the scientists. "Aang, you have the LMG, we need you to provide cover for Sokka and I while we make our way through. Stand by that window over there, the metal wall should be enough for cover." Aang nodded and crawled to the window to wait for the go. "Hakoda, stand behind this beam." Zuko said pointing to a large stone beam a few feet from Aang. "Protect him while he reloads and provide covering fire so they can't take him out. Sokka, we are going to slowly make our way through the lab."
Everyone waited for Zuko's orders as he pulled a grenade from his pocket and pulled the pin, Sokka shot the window and Zuko lobbed the explosive into a large group of soldiers. Aang smashed the glass with his LMG and lodged it on the windowsill. He opened fire on any of the guards that hadn't yet made it to cover while Hakoda shot small bursts at anyone who peeked up from cover in an attempt to return fire. Zuko threw another grenade before climbing through the broken window and took cover behind a meter high concrete wall. Sokka did the same to his right.
Zuko blind fired over the wall, hitting a few guards. Aang had a few guards pinned down in the left corner while Hakoda threw a couple grenades towards them, as they dashed out of cover to avoid the explosion Sokka shot them down. Zuko took this time to quickly run to his left getting behind the row of enemy gunners that had grouped up in the centre. He waited for Aang to get their attention before shooting them down. Hakoda then walked into the lab and with Sokka killed the remaining guards.
"How the hell did we manage to do that?" Sokka stated as they regrouped in the middle of the room.
"That was pretty impressive for a bunch of kids." Hakoda stated as he gathered up the M4 carbine rifles that were littered across the floor.
"We need to destroy the chemical weapons and the production line." Zuko stated, "Hakoda, where can we get better explosives?"
Hakoda placed all the weapons onto the table and began checking their ammo. "There is a military bunker through that wall." Hakoda pointed behind him, directly opposite the door they had sieged in from. "It was used during the war, I'm sure there is some left in there."
"Okay so how do we get in?" Aang asked resting his LMG on the table.
"The wall is made out of stone; it's very hard to break through. We are going to tape our remaining grenades against the wall and set them all off together." Hakoda planned, he opened a draw and took out a roll of tape. Everyone passed him their grenades and he taped them into a small bunch before taping it against the stone wall. "Stand back." He ordered as he pulled several of the pins before running to cover himself.
Moments later the grenades exploded breaking apart the wall in chunks of stone, as all the dust cleared it revealed the wall of an old bunker. A small chunk, just large enough for Aang to climb through was destroyed as well. "Go have a look in there." Hakoda said passing Aang the torch, "There should be enough explosives in there to take out this whole lab."
Aang looked around the dark room. There were cracks all through the walls from when the lab was attacked. There were a few rifles around the room, and what looked like a dead body that had been there since long before Aang was born. On the opposite side of the room was a military crate that had "explosives" written on the side. Aang walked over to it and began pulling out 1kg bags of plastic explosive and fuses.
Once Aang had returned from the bunker Sokka helped him cover the computers and the machinery with the explosive and used fuse wires to join them together. Zuko had already downloaded the formula for the chemical onto a USB drive and filled a cardboard box with a few glass vials of the purple liquid. When the room was ready Hakoda shoved a fuse into the plastic explosive and activated the ten minute fuse.
"We need to get out of here before that goes off. There is enough chemical explosives in there that when the explosion goes off this whole place is going to catch fire." Hakoda commanded as they ran through the maze like complex, they ran into a few guards here and there but they were quickly taken down by Hakoda and Zuko.
When they reached the ladder they climbed it quickly, the door was still open when they arrived, there was a guard standing at his top, facing the stairs. Zuko grabbed him and threw him back down the ladder. The door at the top of the stairs opened and Hakoda shot the two men who attempted to walk though. "Those shots would have alerted everyone in the building. We need to get out of here now."
They could hear the large factory doors opening behind them as they ran out of the small shed. They jumped over the fence and down an alleyway between two factories. They continued running as they heard the explosion below them, the concrete cracked and broke apart as they continued to run. Some parts sunk into the ground a few of the men chasing them fell into the chemical fires below them. They continued running all the way to the old docking station. There was a small boat floating in the water twenty feet below them.
"Is that what we are using to get away?" Hakoda questioned looking down at the small, barely floating boat. "It kind of sucks."
"Well, to be completely honest. We didn't plan an escape." Zuko said looking behind him, he could see a few flashlights coming through down the alley.
"There is an old car manufacture factory down that way." Hakoda pointed to a factory roughly one hundred feet from them. "There might be something that works down there."
"Let's go then." Zuko said as they took off running down the road again, his ACR bouncing off his back as he ran.
The old factory looked like it hadn't been in use since long before they were born. There were tables with torn sketches of vehicles that came out thirty years before. As they crept through the old facility they kept an eye out of key parts they would need to get one of the few cars that were parked on the other side of the factory, to work. Sokka stood by the broken wall they had walked through, prepared to stop anyone from following them in.
"This car here looks like it is almost operational. We just need some fuel and a battery." Hakoda called after studying one of the original Ford Mustang's built in the late 60's. The car looked like it was unfinished when the factory went out of business. The car hadn't been painted and the light from Aang's torch reflected off the steel.
"What happened here?" Aang asked looking under a bench for a battery.
"There was a fire, something chemical leaked up from below, mixed with the fumes from the oil and when a combustion engine started up, the whole place caught fire." Hakoda answered looking under the hood of another ancient car. "Nothing was really damaged because the fire went out almost instantly because of the chemicals, but it left a toxic gas in the air for twenty years. So they closed it down."
They kept looking, eventually finding a half full canister of fuel on the top shelf behind the cars and they cannibalized a battery from another car that had been left in the factory. They fitted the metal vehicle with the new battery and poured the little amount of fuel into the tank. "They could be right outside the garage door as soon as we open it. We need to be ready for a fight." Zuko warned as he climbed into the driver's seat, the key in the ignition. Aang got in beside him, Hakoda in the back, the boot door open ready for Sokka to climb into once he had opened the large roller door.
As the metal door ascended they were surprised to see the street in front of them completely empty. Sokka ran into the back of the car and closed the boot door. He opened up a gap into the back seat by pushing the seat out of the way.
Cautious of an ambush Zuko sped out of the factory and turned towards the city. There was an industrial street that went straight from the factory to the lower residential ring of Ba Sing Se. "This car is amazing." Zuko called to the group inside the vehicle. "Is anyone following us?"
Hakoda looked through the back window, it was hard to see through the dust that had gathered on the glass. "The roads are clear, looks like we got away with it." Hakoda called back to Zuko.
"Speaking of we. What are your plans once we get back into the city Hakoda?" Sokka asked. "Not to be rude, but we don't have the funds, or the knowledge of you to allow you to stay with us."
"I understand completely. I can't stay in the city any longer, Sozin has had spies tracking me since I tried to save you while you were attempting to hit the mall." He laughed lightly, looking at how far the three young men come with his help. "I'm going to go to Omashu once we get into the city. I'll try work with the military force there. Hopefully we could take back the city in a couple weeks."
"Sounds like a good plan. Do you need us to drive you to the airport?" Zuko asked as he turned onto a street, a single car driving in the opposite direction. The sun coming up behind them as they drove through the dense residential ring.
"No, leave me at the gate between the outer and middle rings, I have a military house built inside the wall. I need to get my stuff before I leave." Hakoda answered. "Keep your weapons hidden, if for some reason the police stop the car you will be arrested for possession."
When they reached the wall they parked right outside the gigantic metal gate, small groups of armed guards stood guard at the wall, and a single anti air gun sat on the top of the wall, the shadow of the large cannon covering their vehicle. Hakoda got out of the car, the others following him. He shook hands with the group. "Thank you for what you did today." Zuko stated as he shook the older man's hand.
After all the thanks had been done, and Hakoda had disappeared into the small apartment complex inside the wall, they continued driving towards the upper ring, the commercial and residential ring that the average citizen lived in. It was almost seven AM when Zuko parked the mustang in the underground car lot of Grey Water apartments. They carried the box of chemicals into the apartment building, careful to keep it out of sight of the people who were leaving for work in the early hours of the morning. Aang used the key Katara had given him to open the door and they all walked into the apartment, covered in dirt and smoke and very much exhausted.