I only own Zahira and Niang, please enjoy!
Lin and Niang emerged three hours later, exhausted but no worse for wear. Hiroshi was with them as well and wore the platinum cuffs that he had originally used on Lin. Relief coursed through the metalbender's body as she saw her mother holding a sleeping Korra in her arms.
"I'm taking Hiroshi to the holding cell in the basement. Toph, Katara, Azula, meet me in the dining room with Suyin, bumi, and Zahira. We have a lot of ground to cover."
As Lin moved past the group, Katara turned to Toph. "You have a holding cell in your basement? I thought that was an empty threat for when Lin and Suyin were misbehaving!"
Toph maniacally laughed at her friend's aghast tone. "Of COURSE I have a holding cell in my own house! Why do you think the girls always straightened out after I used that threat?"
Fifteen minutes later, the group assembled at Toph's kitchen table. Lin cradled a sleeping Korra, relieved that she had been found hiding in Suyin's closet not five minutes after she had gone underground. Though Korra's cousins had already gone to sleep in their bedrooms, Lin couldn't bring herself to put Korra in her own bed. Katara busied herself making tea while Tenzin and Suyin carefully spread out maps and models on the kitchen table. Bumi was already busy devising different strategies with Zahira and Azula.
"Alright, spill sister. What exactly did Hiroshi tell you that kept you underground for so long? You know that you're an earthbender, right?"
Lin rolled her eyes at her sister. "Yes Suyin, as Chief of the Metalbending Police Force I am in fact aware that I can bend earth. The reason why Niang and I stayed down there for so long is that Hiroshi gave us some very useful information regarding the people who attacked Air Temple Island in addition to those missing benders."
"Plus, he had us both tied up in platinum chains," Niang replied.
"Yeah, that too."
"Hmmm, tied up in platinum chains, those would be useful for later," Bumi murmured to Zahira, who flirtatiously swatted him on the arm. Everyone assembled either groaned loudly or rolled their eyes. Though Korra didn't stir from her slumber, Lin held her hand over her daughter's exposed ear to dampen the noise.
"So anyways," Toph said, completely unaffected by what happened, "What exactly did Hiroshi tell you?"
"He told me that he wasn't involved in the attack on Korra's village in the Southern Water Tribe. That was the handiwork of Xin Li, Niang's godmother. Apparently she's gone off the deep end and has been trying to use her newly gained paramilitary skills and ideology to take down people she believes have caused her pain, which she believes are twofold: Hiroshi, and benders. That is why she destroyed Zahira's fleet looking for Hiroshi, and why she took it upon herself and a handpicked squadron to try and take down the Avatar's compound. According to Hiroshi, it's her ships and crew that are steering the hostile ships, and that's not even the half of it. Apparently in three days, more bugmen are coming to the city to provide ground support for the ships."
The group assembled sat in stunned silence. If they were coming in three days time, Lin and Korra would need to be moved quickly; with Lin's due date looming so closely, the idea of securing them might be all but impossible to act on.
"Wait, so was she the person who also kidnapped those missing benders?" Asked Tenzin.
"That's what I thought too originally. But from what it sounds like, there is someone in the bugman camp posing as a soldier but in reality freeing his bending friends. The four benders confronted Hiroshi and thought he took down the Avatar—I think he said only one of them is a nonbender though."
"Only one? Did you catch a name?" Suyin asked.
"I did. His name was Zaheer apparently."
Toph ran her fingers through her hair as Azula put her head in her hands.
"Shit," Azula mumbled. "Shit shit shit."
"Language, Azula," Katara said while gesturing to a sleeping Korra.
"Oh shut up Sugar Queen, if she hasn't woken up at this point she isn't going to be waking up until morning," Toph snapped.
"Mom, what's going on? Do you know him?" Lin questioned, her arms tightening protectively over Korra.
"Unfortunately I do. He's a master martial artist who has always been a little too interested in Air Nomad culture. About 10 years back he stole a very rare and valuable collection of Air Nomad scrolls from Republic City University. Aang was furious of course, and tried going after him, but was overpowered. His martial arts skills are unlike anything I've ever felt, even including benders. Zaheer got away until about 7 years ago, where Azula herself was barely able to take down Zaheer because of the element of surprise."
"He thought he was so smooth talking his way into the forces as a martial arts instructor," Azula reminisced. "I knew there was something up though, especially since he always seemed to be around whenever I was entering or leaving my office. He claimed that 'everyone needed to learn martial arts,' but considering that I was Commander AND had been lightning-bending since I was 14, I knew that was just a ruse. So one day I set up a trap for him. I had a petty officer who looked similar to me exit my office. Lo and behold, Zaheer was trying to get his hands on my exercise log book."
Bumi drew a sharp breath. The logbooks contained detailed information about every single military exercise the Forces were set to undertake. Arrival time, port location, the names of those involved in the exercise, the exercise itself—the books were crucial in keeping the United Forces running smoothly. If even a single book was misplaced, an entire mission could go awry. And if it were to fall into the wrong hands…well, Bumi didn't even want to think about the type of damage that could occur.
"Were you able to defeat him?" Tenzin asked anxiously.
"I was, but only because I lightning bent him when he least expected it. The last I heard of him he was a convict in prison, but I guess he's escaped now."
Lin wasn't sure if it was denial or exhaustion that kept her from being terrified. Either way, Korra needed to be put upstairs in a more quiet room to sleep. "If you all will excuse me, Korra and I are headed off to bed. Airhead, you should come too, you're looking a little exhausted yourself. Will you all be okay down here?"
"Go to sleep," Suyin said, waving them off. "The others and I can take it from here."
Lin nodded gratefully. Tenzin moved quickly to take Korra into his arms and help Lin out of her chair. Once their footsteps faded, Suyin turned to face the group. "Just how screwed are we, exactly?"
Toph heaved a large sigh.
"Very, kid. Very screwed."
It was the dead of night and the group were no closer to coming up with a set battle plan. Zahira's fleet could take care of the hostile ships, but some of the ships in the fleet still needed serious repairs, not to mention restocking of ammo. Suyin's Metal Clan was on their way, but they were a small force; if Niang was right about the number of bugmen Hiroshi was bringing, they would be handily outnumbered. Bumi got out the sake, took a shot, and plopped down next Toph.
"Is it the time of night where we can start spitballing crazy ideas?" He asked a little too loudly.
"Pipe down Junior, we got kids sleeping," Toph said as she nursed her third alcoholic drink of the night.
"Sorry Toph."
"Bumi you might as well go for it," Suyin said, bags starting to take up residence under her eyes. "Nothing else we've talked about has worked."
Bumi excitedly rubbed his hands together. "Alright, hear me out. What is the one thing we have that they don't?"
"Our sanity?" Zahira cracked as she drank her beer.
"Yes, what else!"
"Me, the founder of metalbending?" Toph said quizzically.
"Yes, we're on the right track!" Bumi said emphatically. "And you, Toph, are friends with—"
"The rest of the still living friends of the Avatar, like Sokka and Suki?" Toph replied, even more confused than she had been before.
"You're forgetting Zuzu," Azula said, not looking up from her strategy notes.
"Absolutely! And do you know what Zuko has that no one else does?"
"The throne to the Fire Nation?" Zahira answered haltingly.
Bumi threw his hands up in frustration. "A DRAGON! HE HAS A FIREBREATHING DRAGON!"
Everyone paused to look at him.
"I think we should all start drinking water now," Katara said, starting to clear away the empty alcohol bottles that were collecting on Toph's kitchen table.
"Wait Katara," Suyin said, holding out her hand to stop the waterbender. "What if he has a point?"
Toph downed the rest of her drink in one gulp. "You better make this good kid."
"Think about it. They might have their weird anti-bending ideology, and those god-awful benders might be running around trying to get to Korra, but we have all of Avatar Aang's old friends," Suyin stated. "Friends who lived and fought through the Hundred Year War, no less. At this point, what haven't you all seen?"
"Nothing," Azula confirmed. "I don't think there's anything that we haven't seen at this point."
"I'm inclined to agree with Lightning Chick here," Toph said. "But how would we get involved?"
"Sokka and Azula are the strategists, they can adapt strategy on the ground as we need it. Toph can coordinate the Metal Clan's offensive tactics, Suki can run reconnaissance, and Katara can lead the water-based attacks. Zuko and his dragon can serve as surveillance in addition to providing any backup that's necessary. Hopefully by the time they attack, I along with Lin, Tenzin, and the kids will be safe from any intruders in Zaofu."
The other members of the group found themselves nodding along. Ironically enough this, of all the plans that they had discussed, made the most sense.
"Alright everyone, get some sleep," Toph said, standing up from the table. "I'll call the gang together first thing tomorrow morning. We might just actually nip this in the bud with minimal fanfare."
