Thank you Rosezelene Ersa and silly60 for reviewing!

In answer to your question, silly60 (and anyone else who may be wondering), I plan to go on with the story for all 3 seasons, then another story focusing on the comics and how Eira is going to react after the war. If I get that far I might continue onto a Legend of Korra story but I haven't exactly planned that far.

Wow, a chapter out in a week. An actually reasonable time. This is the first in a while.

I hope you enjoy reading this chapter and please review after you're done! :D

Chapter 12: The Drill

Eira flew down quickly. "Guys, I was right. The Fire Nation was planning something and it's happening right now!"

They all looked a bit suspicious. Eira couldn't really blame them thought. She'd been acting a bit too sure something was going on.

"What is it?" Katara asked.

"It's a giant drill they're going to use to get through the walls. It looks really strong and I doubt that the guards on the wall would be able to do anything to stop it." They all shared worried looked.

"We should check this out," Toph said. She slammed her foot into the ground and made a pushing motion, sending them up the side of the mountain with her airbending.

The reaction was immediate. Katara gasped and Sokka's eyes widened in shock. Aang was just staring at it in disbelief.

"H-How could this…" Suki didn't really know how to finish her sentence.

"We'll have to get to the outer wall quickly. We should take Ying, Tahn, Hua and Hope over there and the guards can take care of them," Sokka said. "Then we'll figure out how to stop that drill."

"How?" Toph asked. "I can only kind of see it from here but from what I see, it's fast and giant. And metal."

"We'll find a way," Sokka replied.

Suki nodded. They quickly moved the family back onto Appa, Eira feeling pretty guilty about having to move them so soon after their daughter was born but it was necessary.

Appa flew over the mountain and they reached the outer wall. As they flew over the drill, Ying looked at it despairingly, clutching her daughter.

"We made it to Ba Sing Se and we're still not safe," she cried. Tahn tried to reassure her but Eira could see he was just as scared.

Appa landed on the wall and they were quickly met with an earthbender guard.

"What are you people doing here? Civilians and large animals aren't allowed on the wall!" he yelled. Aang turned to him, a serious look on his face.

"I'm the Avatar, Take me to whoever is in charge," he demanded. The guard took in the scene and decided that Aang was telling the truth.

"Of course, Avatar. Follow me." As the guard turned to escort them, Eira glanced over the wall. The drill looked a lot bigger and dangerous in real life. She sighed. As always.

They were introduced to General Sung, one of the Generals that General Fong, the one who almost killed her, was talking about. He looked quite similar to Fong with a similar uniform but thankfully he was missing the skull decorations. Honestly, that should've been a sign from the beginning.

They were in a portion of the outer wall where a roof rose overhead, supported by tall arches. It was made of the same beige stones as the rest of the wall but cast a shadow which was nice and cool. The General sat behind a relatively expensive desk.

"It is an honour to welcome you to the Outer Wall, young Avatar, but you help is not needed," he greeted happily.

"Not needed?" Aang echoed in disbelief.

"Not needed," the General agreed calmly.

"I'm sorry but did you even see the giant drill outside?" Sokka exclaimed, gesturing outside.

"I have the situation under control. I assure you the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this wall," he explained confidently. "Many have tried to break through it, but none have succeeded."

"What about the Dragon of the West?" Toph asked. "He got in." General Sung looked slightly taken aback.

"Well…uh, technically, yes, but he was quickly expunged."

"I thought he chose the retreat," Eira commented. Iroh left because his son died in Ba Sing Se and he didn't want to continue fighting.

"Because we forced him out." The General collected himself. "Nevertheless, that is why the city is named Ba Sing Se. It's the "impenetrable city". They don't call it Na Sing Se." He laughed shortly at his own joke. No one else laughed. "That means "penetrable city"."

"Yeah, thanks for the tour, but we still got the drill problem," Toph said.

"Not for long," he emphasised. "I've sent an elite platoon of earthebenders called the Terra Team." Sokka looked intrigued.

"That's a good group name. Very catchy."

Eira laughed. "I'm sorry but five or something earthbenders won't be much against that thing. All they'll do is shoot rocks at it and that won't do anything." General Sung looked annoyed.

"They're the best earthbenders in the world. Only the best for the King's city. We will win."

o.O.o

"Wow, only a couple of minutes," Eira said sardonically.

"We're doomed!" He flailed his arms in panic as the earthebenders were escorted back to the outer wall after being completely wiped out.

Sokkka slapped Sung across the face. "Get a hold of yourself, man."

"Would you like the Avatar's help now?" Toph asked. General Sung stood meekly in front in Aang.

"Yes, please."

"Alright, then." They walked further down the wall to get a better view of the drill. "The question is, how are we going to stop that thing?" Everyone looked at Eira and Sokka.

"Why are you looking at me?" Eira asked. "Sokka's the one who comes up with the ideas."

"You both come up with ideas, and you were the ones talking about stopping the drill quickly," Katara said.

"That's a lot of pressure," Sokka complained.

"But Sokka is also the complaining guy."

"Can't I just stick with that?"

"We should try and heal those earthbender's first," Eira said. "They've probably been chi blocked if they came back without bending."

Katara's eyes widened. "Chi blocked?! Does that mean-"

"Yeah… I think it's Ty Lee, Mai and Azula." At the thought of Azula, her chest felt like it was burning. It was almost like a bingo with how she baited both Zuko and Azula into burning her. Let's hope that doesn't happen with the Fire Lord or… well, try not thinking about how quickly she would die.

They all walked down to the small entrance where all of the Terra Team were weakly sitting. It was pretty pathetic in Eira's opinion. Weren't they supposed to be some of the greatest earthbenders in the Earth Kingdom. Probably hyperbole.

At the sight of them, Katara waterbent the water from her waterskin and kneelt by one of them. The water glowed and she spread the water around his arms.

"What's wrong with them?" General Sung asked, his eyes wide with fear. "They don't look injured."

Katara sighed as she stopped healing. "Eira was right. His chi is blocked." She looked at the earthbender with apprehension. "Who did this to you?"

"Two girls ambused us. One of the hit me with a bunch of quick jabs and suddenly I couldn't earthbend anymore and I could barely move. Then she cartwheeled away."

"I was right." Where did Ty Lee learn chi blocking anyway? That isn't really something you would have to learn for a circus act.

Suki looked confused. "Who is Ty Lee?"

"She's friends with the Fire Lord's daughter, Azula and another girl called Mai. They all want to capture Aang. Ty Lee in particular is dangerous as she knows the pressure points of a person and immobilises you with chi blocking," Eira explained. "It can also stop bending."

"Wait, wait, wait!" Sokka said excitedly, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I have an idea! We're going to chi block the drill. Figuratively." Toph's eyes widened in realisation.

"By hitting its pressure points!"

"We can take it down from the inside," Aang said.

"Okay, but we should have a way to slow it down as well," Eira said. "Toph, you can't see in metal so you can stay out and try to slow it down."

"Got it."

They all ran out of the outer wall and into one of the abandoned trenches the Terra Team made. They crouched down to avoid being seen. Dust spiralled around in the wind and stung Eira's eyes.

"Once I whip up some cover you're not going to be able to see. So, stay close to me," Toph instructed. They all huddled closer and once Toph was sure we were all there, she stepped out of the trench and with a powerful slam of her foot, she sent a mass of dust into the air creating a cloud. "Run!"

They all ran forwards, Eira covering her eyes with her arms and trying her best not to get the entire cloud of dust into her eyes. She hoped Azula weren't too suspicious about the cloud heading straight towards her drill.

She tried to get a look but was met with a face full of dry dust. She spat it out. She was going to need a drink after this.

"Gah!"

"Sorry, couldn't see." Eira just ran into Suki. Everyone had stopped as Toph was standing in front of a hole she'd just made in the ground.

"Everyone into the hole!" Everyone ran over to jump in but Eira's feet stayed stuck to the ground. "Come on, Fairy Feet!" Toph ordered.

"Can't I just glide over instead?" Eira said pleadingly.

"We don't have enough time, just get in, Eira!" Sokka pointed rashly at the hole.

"I-I can't," Eira admitted pitifully. "I can't do it." It was pathetic. She knew it. She…she just couldn't. She could barely breathe just thinking about it.

"Why not?" Toph demanded.

"Well, sorry if I've been BURIED ALIVE and almost trapped in a labyrinth!" she screamed, getting a bit hysterical.

"Eira, I'm sorry about this," Sokka began.

"About wh-AHHH!" Sokka pushed her in and she fell to the ground with a large thud. She rolled down a bit and the others jumped in behind her.

"Sokka! I'M GOING TO KILL YOU!" She saw nothing but black, she couldn't breathe. Why underground again? Why? Why? Why? Why?!

"Shh…" In the darkness Eira felt an arm reach out to her. "It's me, Katara. Try and calm down." Eira heard the sound of water and the tunnel Toph made was filled with a soft blue glow. Eira blinked slowly, trying to focus of the soft light of the healing water.

She took a deep breath. "Thanks… Katara."

Eira didn't look around. She didn't want to see the tons of earth above them waiting to collapse. She just walked along with Katara trying to keep her eyes on the water. She didn't look at Sokka or she would've probably attacked him him.

As soon as she saw light, Eira leapt out of the ground. The other scrambled out and as soon as Eira saw Sokka, he quickly ran behind Suki.

Eira didn't do anything. "When this thing has stopped, I will drop you from Appa mid-air."

She looked around. The drill seemed to move a lot slower when they were up close. It still gained a lot of ground.

"There!" Aang pointed at the bar hanging from the opening. He and Eira jumped up into it and Aang hoisted Sokka, Eira and Suki in.

Eira looked out at Toph. "Now, Toph, do all you can to try and slow it down."

"On it," Toph ran off.

"Good luck!" Sokka called. They closed the opening and looked around. The inside looked like it was something from a steampunk thing. Lots of pipes, gears and valves. Steam filled the air so Eira felt her hair frizzing and the surfaces were all steel. It must've been really expensive to make. Eira smiled. Too bad they were going to destroy it.

"We'll need a map or something," Eira said. "Something that will show us the layers of this drill. There are structural pillars holding them all together and if we break them, we break the machine."

"Where could we get something like that?" Suki asked. Sokka seemed to understand and he struck a steam valve with his machete, breaking it.

"What are you doing? Someone's going to hear us!" Aang shouted anxiously.

"That's the point," Eira explained. Sokka nodded.

"A machine this big needs engineers to run it, then if something breaks…"

"They come to fix it!" Katara finished, smiling. The area was filled with mist, perfect for hiding in and for waterbenders to use against someone.

The only had to wait a few minutes for someone to show up. That was a sign the drill was well managed and/or highly populated, not very good for trying to break it, but hey.

The engineer wore a strange mask which was kind of creepy and something Eira couldn't really imagine designing for constant use. He turned to the broken valve and Katara popped up behind him.

"Hi," she said. The engineer jumped and turned but Katara froze the mist around him, completely encasing him in ice. Eira ran up to him and took the schematics out of his hand. It wasn't frozen unlike the rest of the man so it was easy to read and take.

"Yep, this'll work. Thanks," Eira said, running off away from the man, the others following her. As soon as they were out of sight, Eira unfolded the schematics and studied them quickly. "The drill has only two layers so that's helpful," she explained, pointing to the inner and outer shell of the drill. "The things keeping the two together are through that corridor there. Katara and Aang, you can cut through them with waterbending and then the whole thing with collapse."

Everyone nodded in agreement and quickly ran into the area Eira noted on the map. It was a lot bigger in person. The gap between the inner and outer shell was massive and the steel beams were as wide as she was.

"How are they going to cut through that?" Suki asked. "It would take too much time."

"Yes, I thought of that," Eira said. "We shouldn't need to cut all the way through. If we cut just over halfway and do that for all of them, the pressure should break them all."

"This thing is so heavy, the braces will just break despite not being cut all of the way through," Sokka said enthusiastically. "That's genius!"

"It would work even better if we cut at the bottom or top," Eira added. They all looked up at the top several metres above them.

"Bottom," Katara and Aang agreed in unison.

"Great," Sokka said. "Eira can manage and Suki and I can keep guard or lookout."

"In retrospect, we probably didn't all need to come," Suki admitted.

Eira shook her head. "No, it's good we all came."

"Why?"

"Well, this is the drill of Azula, Mai and Ty Lee. We need a bigger fighting force if we run into them." When we run into them, Eira corrected in her mind.

Katara and Aang shot each other worried looks but positioned themselves at opposite sides of the steel beam.

They shot the water in and out of the beam at the bottom. It wore away the metal terrifyingly quickly and it made Eira realise how deadly it would be if it was aimed at a person. She shuddered. With burning people, burying them alive, suffocating them and that, bending was a really scary thing.

They wore it down, and down, and down until it reached about three quarters of the way through.

"Guys, that should be enough!" Eira quickly interjected. The two waterbenders stopped and bent over, gasping in exhaustion.

"And that was only three quarters of the way through," Aang breathed. "I'm not sure how many more we can do."

"You can do it!" Sokka said reassuringly. "We'll take this thing down." Katara shot him a frustrated look. She was too tired for his enthusiasm.

"Onto the next one," Eira called.

Aang and Katara were about halfway through the next brace when a loud sound of metal creaking echoed around the room. They all looked up and Sokka had an optimistic smile on his face.

"Was that us?"

Eira looked grimly upward. No, they should've gained more time than that. "They've reached the wall."

As if to answer Eira's grim statement, a crackling followed by a man's voice rang out. "Congratulations, crew. The drill has made contact with the wall of Ba Sing Se. Start the countdown to victory!"

Suki looked around with wide eyes. "They've reached the wall already? We don't have enough time!"

"Yes, we do," Eira said. "Come on, we can take this thing down before it gets anywhere. The wall is pretty thick."

They moved from brace to brace, Aang and Katara making swift work of it. Needing to only cut three quarters of the way in, they worked a lot quicker than Eira remembered. They had managed to get to all of them in time, even cutting a bit more on a few, just in case.

Eira looked around nervously. The engineer would probably be discovered soon or maybe he was already found.

"Okay, guys," Eira quickly said, paranoia getting the better of her. "We should get going now."

Aang looked up at the top of the drill. "I don't think this pressure's enough," he said. "We need more."

Sokka's eyes lit up like he had an idea. "Then we should get up on top of this thing. Aang, you can use your airbending and the wall to hit it-"

"-and deliver the final blow." Katara was smiling. Eira, however, felt embarrassed. She had forgotten that the pressure wasn't just what they needed. She knew Aang and Azula fought on top of the drill but she didn't remember why. She felt so stupid.

"Then let's go, Team Avatar!" Sokka said, grinning.

"Found your team name?" Suki said, smiling.

"Yeah, I think it- DUCK!" He pushed Suki down to avoid a jet of blue fire and Eira's eyes widened. She really hated her lack of the concept of time in this universe!

Azula, Mai and Ty Lee stood on one of the horizontal steel beams, Azula smiling maliciously. Eira could see why as she sent several more blasts of fire.

"Wow, Azula, you were right! It is the Avatar!" Ty Lee commented happily as she noticed them.

"Well, done, you get a gold star!" Eira yelled sarcastically. "Run!" She quickly tugged Sokka and Suki, who were standing next to her, into a corridor and they started running away as well.

The group ran wildly through the drill, the identical nature of it all making Eira feel dizzy and lost. The steel, pipes and valves were so generic that she couldn't remember where to go.

They quickly came to an intersection.

"Aang and I'll go up to the top, you guys go that way. They'll split up. Azula will follow us, the other two will follow you," Eira quickly commanded.

"Wait," Katara said, throwing Aang her water skin. "You'll need this more than me." Aang nodded and the two airbenders started to run again. They both used that airbending trick of cutting down air resistance so they were both running a lot faster than usual. It was one of the few airbending things Eira felt like she could actually do.

They ran past several engineers and workers but they didn't seem to notice them.

"Eira, which way to the top, again?" Aang asked.

"I don't know, " Eira admitted. "Just follow this corridor and we should see it." Eira was thankfully correct. They saw a sign pointing to a ladder going up. Eira turned the hatch and they both climbed up.

The fresh air felt colder compared to the heat and humidity of inside the drill. It blew Eira's pale hair around her face as she scanned the drill. She brushed the hair out of her eyes and Aang walked across the drill, a lot more confidently than Eira. The steel curve of the drill wasn't the most stable platform to walk on and it was terrifying.

"Aang! Wait up!" Eira called, hobbling after him.

"I think this is a good spot!" Aang called back, not giving any indication to having heard her.

"Aang!" Eira shouted. He looked up and leaped out of the way of a massive boulder that nearly crushed him. More and more flew down. The two airbenders jumped out of the way.

"General Sung! Stop throwing boulders down here!" Eira shouted at the top of her lungs. They evidently didn't here as another line of rocks were sent flying down at them. Aang and Eira jumped back to avoid them.

"Stop!" Eira shook her head in disbelief. Throwing boulders wasn't going to help in any sense.

Eira looked worriedly at the way. The drill was sending dust into the air as it bore through the rock. I hope that wall is thick enough, Eira thought. Maybe I could get up there. Eira looked up at the wall. She got vertigo just looking at the height. Nope, that wasn't going to happen.

Aang bent the water out of the water skin a slashed at the steel hull. He was cutting an "x" into the metal.

Eira stood, back to Aang, looking at the opening they came up from and readied her staff. Her hands weren't very steady and Eira was sure it wasn't because she was standing on a moving giant drill. No matter what, she knew that she wasn't very talented or a good fighter. She just relied on moving out of the way at the right time and flailing her arms in hope that airbending would work.

Azula was a different story and the idea of actually facing her was actually terrifying. She didn't particularly want to be sent flying unconscious there of all places. That would probably end in her dying.

Aang was still cutting into the metal behind her, audibly tired. Momo was chittering as he climbed around his shoulder.

"What I'd give to be a metalbender," he gasped.

Eira smiled. "Ask Toph," she muttered.

"What was that?"

"Nothing important," Eira quickly dismissed. Momo suddenly shrieks and, thankfully, Eira and Aang took that to move. A blue dash streaked past Eira and she turned quickly to see Azula running towards them.

"Momo, get out of here!" Aang quickly said, shaking Momo off his shoulder and he flew off.

Eira quickly ducked another fire blast as Aang jumped up, doing the same. Azula kept up shooting at them and they both just managed to block them with airbending. Eira swiped her staff at her but she simply spiralled out of the way.

Aang struck her with a water whip, deterring her firebending and at the same time Eira airbent at her, trying to push her over. Azula lost her balance, causing her to go backwards but she flipped over and pelted them with more fire blasts, vaporising the water and almost hitting Eira square in the chest, only to be stopped at the last second by her staff.

She hit Aang with another fire blast and he was sent flying backwards into the wall. Eira was about to run over to him but she had to jump back due to more boulders being sent down by the earthbenders.

"Why don't they stop?" Eira hissed under her breath. Seriously, what good did they think it was going?

Eira ducked, narrowly avoiding a fire blast from Azula. Eira sent air at her feet but she was too fast. Azula sent more fire at her and Eira had to roll out of the way before jumping into a more stable position. She wobbled, waving her arm to steady herself.

Aang threw a boulder at Azula and from the other side of her Eira sent an air blast at her, pushing her towards it. It felt like a good plan before Azula skidded around the boulder and it struck Eira.

It hurt like heck but she didn't fall off the drill. She staggered, holding her stomach where she was hit, thankful that she managed to slow it somewhat. Still hurt, though. Hurt a lot

Eira looked weakly back at Azula and Aang and her eyes widened as she saw Azula holding an unconscious Aang up against the wall.

"Aang!" Azula turned, distracted and Eira went back to physical fighting like with Ty Lee. She lashed out with her staff and Azula parried with fire. Eira tried to hit her but Azula was really swift. Even physically, Azula was stupidly good.

Then a rock flew her across the drill and a torrent of slurry burst out of the wall, making the slippery steel even less stable to stand on.

Eira flailed even more as she tried not to slip and Aang was in a similar situation. Azula was sent off the drill and Eira hoped that was enough to stop her.

"Aang, you should probably stop the drill now," Eira said quickly.

"But I don't have a-" A boulder landed right next to him with a loud clang! "Oh, never mind." He split the rock into a stake shape and positioned it over the grooves he had made into the metal.

He sprinted up the wall with airbending and Eira watched in awe as when he reached the top, he came speeding back down at lightning speed, propelling himself down.

He struck the spot with such force Eira was sent flying off the drill. As she fell, she opened her glider and flew back up onto the drill. The hull creaked and moaned with the pressure. The hull moved up and down as the braces probably slipped and broke.

With more creaking and moans the hull jumped and collapsed and in a burst of steam, the drill stopped.

Eira looked over at Aang. They were both covered in slurry and looked exhausted. Eira's hair was probably in the worst condition it had ever been in her life. Eira cracked and smile and they both started laughing.

"You did it, Aang. Congrats."

"Yeah." He looked around at the broken, lifeless drill. "We should find the others now." They both flew off towards the wall and landed in the opening where Ying, Tahn, Hua and Hope were waiting along with Katara, Sokka, Suki and Toph who were also covered in slurry.

"I think we'll all need a wash or something," Eira deadpanned. They all laughed.

"Nah," Toph said, she stamped her foot and all of the dirt was sent flying off them onto the walls.

"Well, I just want to say, good work out there, Team Avatar!" Sokka said happily, grinning wildly. Katara rolled her eyes as she looked at her brother.

"Enough with the Team Avatar stuff," she said, unamused. "No matter how many times you try to use it, it's not going to catch on."

Eira laughed. "I don't know. It's pretty catchy."

"Then how about…" Sokka pulled out his boomerang. "the Boomeraang squad!" He looked around expectantly. "See, it's got "Aang" in it. Boomeraang."

Aang grinned. "I like that one."

"We can talk about it on the flight to Ba Sing Se," Katara said dismissively, beginning to walk away towards Appa. "We can drop off Ying and her family off at the port where the ferry should've landed."

"The Aang Gang?" Sokka said persistently.

"Sokka…"

"How about Gaang?" Eira suggested.

"Eira, don't encourage him."

Eira smiled cheekily. "What? I'm sure it would catch on."

WHOOOOH! Ba Sing Se next chapter! I've been planning this ever since I started writing this and I've been looking forward to this for so long. Maybe my excitement will make me update even faster :D

One thing that does make me update quicker is you're reviews. They really tell me that someone's encouraging this and I always appreciate every single one. Even if it's short I really love hearing what you thought.

See you next week! (hopefully)