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Avatar: The Last Airbender is owned by Michael Dante DiMartino/Nickelodeon

Fallout: New Vegas is owned by Bethesda

Katara stared at the others through barely open lids, everyone but her sleeping. Everyone was on edge from having to ration every drop of water or crumb of food, and Aang… After losing Appa he was snapping at everyone. She quietly sighed through her nose, she just had to keep everyone together until they got out of the desert. Then they'd be alright. They had to be.

Her eyes slowly shut…

Clink

Her eyes opened and she saw something run off into the darkness, glowing red eyes staring at her before disappearing. She tried to stand but she kicked something and she looked down to see… a bag? She looked around, but when she saw nothing she picked up the bag, opening it, and almost crying with joy. There were bottles of water inside, along with… were those giant bug legs? There was some sort of berries, too, and a-

She saw a flicker of movement in the corner of her eye and she whirled around, seeing… nothing. Did some desert spirit help them?

…The heat was getting to her.

He watched the children from afar, happily tearing into the food he left them. Thankfully, the dark-skinned girl had enough sense in her to get them all to keep rationing their water. She was definitely the leader. It wasn't the blind girl or the strung out kid. Definitely not baldy, he was-

He froze when he saw them heading towards a camouflaged Sand Maw. Seriously, he was exposing himself to them already!? He loaded armor piercing rounds into the All-American and fired at the rocky spines sticking out of the sand. They bit deep, and the massive lizard roared as he reared up out of the sand. He hammered into its neck, and its blood drenched the sand before it dove under and burrowed off into the distance. He tried to duck back down but the kids already spotted him, and he sighed as he picked up his casings.

Oh good, they were coming over. Great. They were all a bit wary, but the dark skinned girl found the nerves to come up to him and ask him… something. He didn't know the local language, but it was definitely a question. He tilted his head and she questioned him again, and when he didn't respond she started speaking to the others. It lasted a few moments before she brought up the bag he'd left them and pointed at it then him, and he nodded before bringing out one of his bottles and some of the berries he'd added to the pack. She smiled and bowed a little to him, saying something but he waved her off and pointed to the distance before starting to walk.

They got the hint to follow him, and besides dealing with the strung out kid things were pretty quiet. He almost laughed at their faces when they reached the small oasis he called home. He moved to his shelter as they started to look around or drink from the water. He could lead them back to the ice town, but they'd be on their own from there…

There was a loud splash as the druggie fell into the water, and the dark skinned girl was pulling him out as the blind girl was flopped back onto the ground with a massive smile. Bald boy was… just kind of standing there…

…where did he see that arrow on his head before…

Katara sighed as Sokka coughed up water, and she looked over at the… person, who had helped them. They were dressed in a way she'd never seen before, but they seemed to want to help them.

"Aang, watch after Sokka." She walked up to the person's lean-to, "Um, hi?"

The person nodded to her, and that gave her a bit of courage to continue, "I know you can't speak, or maybe you don't understand, but I wanted to say thank you again. My name's Katara," She put a hand to her chest, "Ka-tar-a." She pointed to him, "What's your name?"

"…Courier Six."

She didn't know what he said, but he tapped his chest twice and she was certain it was his name. His voice had this weird quality to it, and he spoke slower than she did, "Well, Courier Six, I wanted to thank you again. Can you please lead us… um," She tried to convey what she wanted with gestures, "lead us, out of, the desert?"

He tilted his head, and for a moment she was worried he didn't understand before he nodded and she sighed in relief. He raised the arm with the bulky gauntlet on it, fiddling with it for a moment before he sat on a rock, waving her off towards the water. She smiled and took the hint, filling up their waterskins, and taking a deep drink for herself as the others did the same, "Okay, it looks like he can lead us out of here."

"Finally! No more sand, back to solid ground!" Toph exclaimed.

"Did he see Appa at all?" Aang looked to her, and she felt her break a little at the glimmer of hope in his eye.

"I'm not sure, it seems like he can barely understand us as it is…" She snapped her fingers,
"Wait, I have an idea!" She waterbended up some water, floating over to their rescuer who jolted at the sudden ball of water in front of them. She spent a moment trying to shape the water to convey a message: first making Appa, then a vague human shape, but… he didn't seem to react. She sighed, returning the water to its source, "I'm sorry, Aang, I'm just not sure-"

"What. The hell…" The man said before shaking his head, and when he didn't say anything else Katara decided by the spirits she was grateful to have finally found a place for everyone to rest. It was clear that having a moment to get off their feet was just a massive morale boost. They spent a good few hours eating, drinking, or (again, thanking the spirits) washing themselves with cloths given by Courier Six until the man ushered them to follow him. She wasn't sure where they were heading, exactly, but it wasn't exactly easy to ask and… well, did they really have a better idea of where to go? It was about a day or so before they had managed to find a buried sand sailor which made everything all that much easier.

Maybe things were finally looking up for them.

These kids were going to get him killed.

The 12.7mm submachine gun barked out another burst, and another vulture wasp fell to the ground. Oh no, don't listen to the guy who lives in the desert, let's all go explore and play around in the big magnetic center of the desert. Not like there's a damn vulture wasp nest, no, he was trying to get them all to leave because he was throwing a tea party!

Th group desperately fought off the swarm of monstrosities as they retreated back down the magnetic plateau to the sand sailor, and when they finally reached it the universe decided to throw them another curveball. Massive gouts of sand drove off the beasts, and he mentally groaned as he saw sand raiders approaching. He levelled his weapon at them, but he held off from firing as the majority appeared friendly in his V.A.T.S. display. One of the raiders, an older man, stepped forward to say something to the kids, and while there were raised voices they seemed to be civil enough… until a younger sand raider stepped forward, shouting at them. The old man calmed the younger boy down, and then the blind girl said something.

That was the point all hell broke loose.

There was shouting and plenty of it before blind girl pointed to the young man and said something accusatory, bald kid stepping forward to swing his staff and send… there's was no way he could see that wind smashing the sand boat of the raiders, right?

…He'd seen the raiders control sand, of course he did.

Wasn't expecting the glowing though.

He sprinted away as a ball of air started surrounding the kid, everyone but Katara doing the same. He was starting to line up a shot on the kid before Katara stepped into the ball, walking towards Aang, and he was about to rush in to save her before she grabbed baldy's hand. The two stared at each other for a long moment before he seemed to calm down, and slowly he floated down as the air ball dissipated, Katara pulling him into a hug. Finally, the boy was reduced to crying n Katara's arms.

Yeah, these kids were gonna get him killed.

In short order baldy was calmed, the raiders guiding them all onto their boats, and then off towards somewhere. They seemed to be cowed enough not to try anything, the old man glaring at the younger man that seemed to be the catalyst for all this. They rode on in silence until the older man tried to awkwardly break it, "I'm surprised you are traveling with the Ghost."

The Gaang looked up to the old man, Sokka breaking the silence, "The what?"

Sha-Mo pointed to Courier Six, "The Ghost. We call him such because at first we thought he some sort of desert spirit. There are countless stories of it simply watching people from afar, silently, with horrible glowing red eyes…"

"Well," Katara spoke up, "he gave us water and food after we… lost our supplies." She glared at a certain young sandbender before continuing. "Are you sure he's a spirit?"

"What else could he be? He comes and goes like desert winds, sometimes helping, sometimes…" The man looked away as he trailed off.

"…Sometimes what?" The kids all looked worriedly at each other.

"…There is a place in the desert, where it was said Fire Nation soldiers had gotten lost. We tried to warn them that the place they were wandering was a place important to the Ghost, having seen glimpses of him nearby, but they didn't heed our warning. We found them much later, or what was left of them, lashed to long wooden poles. Each one was… it was horrible." He shuddered. "I don't know what they did to anger the Ghost, if it was simply trespassing or something else, but the message was clear: never invoke its wrath."

The kids all looked worriedly to each other, then to the strange man they were travelling with, Toph having a look of contemplation on her face before Katara spoke up, "But he's done good too, right?"

Sha-Mo nodded after a moment, "Food and water appearing before lost travelers, even medicine has been left for us. I didn't mean to say the Ghost was evil, but it's like the desert itself: it can be calm, and provide a bounty if need be, but in the same turn it can come upon you like a great sandstorm."

Katara was glad she asked, as some tension seemed to leave the others, and they settled in for the ride ahead. It was mercifully short, the group eventually having to travel on foot until they reached some falls with a long river flowing through it. It was almost picturesque, and Katara smiled.

Yeah, everything would be fine.

YEP, DEFINITELY GONNA GET HIM KILLED.

Six frantically popped out the spent shell, loading another round into his grenade rifle as Katara and Aang distracted the massive monster that had attacked them. For whatever goddamn reason, they apparently decided not to take the boats from the hidden dock a group of refugees had shown them. Oh no, apparently they just had to go through a place that had GIANT GOD DAMN SEA SNAKES!

Thankfully, the giant snake fled after a few more moments of abuse, and they continued on. After the pregnant woman gave birth they finally, finally got out of that damn path, the girl with the make-up sharing a kiss with Sokka (hurray for learning names), and soon they were heading off towards a massive stone wall… reminded him of New Vegas. Then again it would have been hilarious watching the Legion try and get through it, artillery or no. Aang took off, flying up the wall for a moment before returning, looking serious, and he got them all to follow him towards the wall where Toph… caused a rock to lift them all up towards the top of the wall. He was never going to get used to how they… moved… stuff…

He pulled out his binoculars and stared at the long, train-like machine heading for the wall. It really was one thing after the other with these kids. He put a hand to his face as the others seemed to spot the machine and when they reached the top of the wall, crowded around to try and make out details. He offered his binoculars to Sokka, who eagerly took them. They started talking and he understood 'Fire Nation' but that was about it. The new mother seemed to almost collapse at the news, her husband and… whoever that other girl was were supporting her. They were interrupted by what he assumed were soldiers.

Somehow, they had more ridiculous armor than the Legion.

He stared at the almost palm-tree like decoration on their heads as Aang said something and they were led off towards a man in ornate armor... They really liked the no-shoes thing, didn't they? The leader or whoever had a smug look about him as he got up from his desk, having them follow him to point out towards the drill, passing Aang a looking glass as he did the same. Six pulled out his binoculars to watch as a group of soldiers made, well, an attempt at stopping the machine. He saw them jab at the machine with spikes of rock, but they were easily destroyed before two figures came down and easily trounced the soldiers, sending them running. The commander's jaw dropped, Toph sounding really smug as he turned to Aang and hung his head, speaking quietly…

They quietly made their way through the internal structure of the drill, Sokka taking point with Aang, Katara, and then Six behind him.

"This place is a maze…" Aang glanced at the metal hall, "How do they find their way around this place without a map?"

"They don't. With a machine this big, they probably give every engineer a map. All we need to do is…" Sokka grinned and sliced off one of the valves on the nearby pipes, releasing steam into the hall, "lure them here!"

The other grinned as they hid, and soon enough an engineer rounded the corner. He was quickly frozen, the map snatched out of his hands as they ran off. Sokka quickly unfurled it, "Okay… from what I can tell the outer shell is supported by these beams, and we're close to the engine…"

"So, we go take down the engine?" Katara leaned over the map.

"No, it would be way too heavily defended and we'd have troops rushing us from other parts of the drill… unless…" Sokka looked up to Six, "Hey, do you have anymore of those exploding things?" Six stared blankly at Sokka, and Sokka started making gestures, slowly speaking. "You. Make. Big boom-boom. Here?" Sokka tapped the map, making an explosion sound. Aang and Katara stared at Sokka but Six somehow seemed to get it, looking over the map before tapping a few points, and making the explosion sound.

"I can't believe we're this lucky." Sokka smiled wide.

"I can't believe he understsood that." Katara spoke up, "Though, are we really sure we can make our way through all those soldiers?"

Sokka opened his mouth but Six tapped the map again, where they had come in, then pointed to the three, and pointing back to the kids, "I... think he wants us to get out while he does it?"

"What? There's no way he can get through all this alone." Aang stepped up, but Six started gesturing more insistently, and without a word. The three looked to each other before following after him. They tried to stop him but... they might as well have been scraps of paper to him. They eventually got in front of him, Aang holding his hands forwards, "Wait! It's dangerous to head off alone. I know you helped us but-"

He grabbed Aang's head and shoved him to the side, the boxy weapon of his being brought to bear. Sokka and Katara ducked out of the way as he fired... and they stared in shock as a squad of Fire Nation engineers were torn apart. The bodies barely hit the ground before Six continued on, leaving them in stunned silence.

"...I think he's got this." Sokka commented, quickly scrambling up, "We should go."

Katara nodded, standing up and moving towards Sokka, but she stopped as she saw Aang on the ground, "Aang?" The boy was frozen, staring at the bodies, and Katara looked to Sokka before moving up to the airbender, pulling him up, "Come on Aang, we have to go."

He looked to her, eyes still wide as he nodded, and they quickly made their escape from the machine...

Damn it, he should've been quieter about this.

He ducked behind the wall as a pillar of flame rushed towards him, peeking out once it passed and snapping off three shots. The troops hit the ground and he darted forward. They weren't too much of a threat thanks to the fact that he had the range advantage and they had a wind up for their fire attacks, but they were slowing him down something fierce. Still, he'd manage to rig up a decent part of this place's internals to blow. Just a bit more and he'd get the hell out of here. He found a pair of pipes and wedged a time bomb between them, setting it for five minutes.

If it didn't blow with the rest of the bombs, it'd at least be a nasty surprise for any troops still left in here. Part of him worried that he about to basically become a domestic terrorist, but... something told him a bunch of kids wouldn't be fighting like this if it wasn't for a good reason. Now. he just had to find an exit-

He stood there for a long, silent moment as he realized his only known way out was back through the rigged halls and more than likely a horde of soldiers chasing after him.

"...FUCK."

Two years. Two years of theorizing, debating, making schematics, testing on the small scale and gathering resources... for nothing. Azula glared at the smoldering remains of the drill, the center sections of the drill blasted outwards and a muddy slurry pouring out from now destroyed pipes. Distantly she could see four differently colored figures near the wide puddle of slurry, and she knew it was the Avatar and his little friends. However, she stared in confusion as a flaming figure approached them rapidly, practically tossing itself into the muck they were standing in. It rolled around for a bit until the fire was out, and Azula clenched her hand into a fist.

"It seems the Avatar has a new friend."

"And one willing to get their hands dirty." Mai gestured distantly to some remains of of Fire Nation troops tossed from the blast. Azula mulled over this as she led the others towards a back line of Fire Nation tanks. This... was a dangerous new factor. The Avatar's group was always known for trying for peace and never killing. If they had an ally willing to get their hands dirty, it would make eliminating the fools all that more difficult.

She was so deep in thought of how to deal with the newcomer she didn't see Ty Lee lean over and whisper to Mai, "Oooooh, she's got that 'I'm thinking of all the ways I could skin your monkey-dog' look again..."