I don't own Avatar The Last Airbender
Chapter 24
"Come abord! Ship sails in five minutes!"
The men called as passengers went into the ship. Only this wasn't any regular ship, oh no, this was one of the newly constructed airships by the up and rising "Loban" industries. It was one of the few civilian airships in the world, there were no more than a hundred so far.
Those airships were part of a program to connect the many islands of the fire nation. Many people were rightfully skeptical at first but grew more secured after they heard about the numerous tales about their contribution to the army, chief among them about how the prince used an even less secured version of the airships to end piracy in the southern fire sea and the recent hunt of the hundred.
The airship line was going once an hour between the closest islands to the capital and comparing to ships, the airship could fly at least three times as fast. Adding to the view and the straight line of flight, it quickly became a hit.
Another interesting side effect of the airship, or rather a result quickly capitalized by the prince, was the school airships. The fast form of transportation allowed faraway villages to gain access to the major settlements.
This caused the parents to send their children to school, who for logistical reasons couldn't before. This was made much easier by the new line of airships whose entire purpose was to get the children to school and back.
Of course, every airship on that line of work was marked by yellow color and had an image of the very prince who made the entire thing possible.
Some money was gained on the side as all kinds of working places paid for their representation on the sides of the airship.
The airship stations, new constructions designed specifically to port the new machines, were filled with merchandise as well since they quickly became some of the most visited places in their respective settlement.
Much of the merchandise was made from the new materials designed by the Loban company, this "plastic". The most common trinkets were small figurines of the various figures of the culture of the fire nation, be they folklore, political or military leaders, or even some special sites and places.
They were dirt cheap, and figurines of the same kind looked so much alike that it was almost impossible to see a difference. This made them spread far and wide across the fire nation and even the colonies.
One of the most common figurines was that of the fire prince. Actually, whenever you looked at the street, you could see his face if you looked hard enough. Toys, posters, you name it.
And that pissed Azula off.
She was on her way from the academy for noble girls and tried those airships to have a look at the work of her brother, that's how she ended up on board one of those airships.
And her two henc-friends, her two friends were with her.
"Oh! Look Azula, you can see the academy from here! It looks so small~"
Ty Lee is of noble blood and went with her to the academy. She had a very… cheerful attitude that made many people like her, combined with her looks she had no trouble socializing. Azula took interest in her for another reason, however.
In addition to her noble status, Ty Lee was also a professional chi-blocker. Meaning, she was extremely good acrobatic and fighter. She could nullify bending for a time with a few well-placed strikes, which was the main reason Azula kept her close and under her thumb.
"Yes Ty Lee, things do tend to look smaller when they are far."
The ever-grumpy Mai answered her acrobatic friend.
Mai was the extreme opposite of Ty Lee. When Ty Lee was cheerful Mai was moody, when Ty Lee was social Mai was a loner, when Ty Lee was an open book Mai was in control of her emotions. Part of Azula had Mai close only to balance Ty Lee's personality.
The real reason she keeps Mai close, however, is her quick mastery of new things. Mai was a miracle worker with knives, shives and everything that required skill and elegance rather than strength.
"Come on Mai, aren't you at least a bit excited? I mean look at us, we're flying for Agni's sake. People couldn't do it ever since the air benders went boop."
"It's not like we do anything besides sit and look, if we were actually driving the thing then maybe."
Mai retorted.
Ty Lee pouted and looked out of the window.
"Hey, Azula, isn't that Zuko's face again?"
Ty Lee pointed at a nearby passing airship. Indeed, it was another school airship and her brother's face was painted at the side of said airship. He was drawn like some kind of a hero on the way to his next adventure and nor like the failure she knew he was. Even the scar was made look like some kind of trophy of hard-fought battles and not a punishment for Zuko's cowardness.
"Yes, I noticed…"
Azula said in an annoyed tone.
With his face basically plastered everywhere, it was impossible for her to bring her brother back to the sidelines again. And if that wasn't enough, his positive reputation made him somehow desirable to the other girls at the academy.
Some of the more suicidal ones even went to her asking to put a good word to Zuko for them. Needless to say, they soon learned the error of their ways.
Even her fire bending lessons, her safe heaven from the outside world, were ruined as her mentors praised her brother for his innovative fire bending. She was now in a race against the clock to master lighting bending so she would be the youngest lightning bender in history and surpass her improved brother in something.
Never mind, she already has a plan in motion. She needed to figure out how her brother got this rich sack of fat Loban on his side, and how the businessman became from a relatively successful one to the richest in the span of months.
For that, she managed to secure a meeting with Loban. She will interrogate him and convince him about who is the better sibling to be with. Once she has him under her thumb, it will be her face that is everywhere for all to see.
But she needed to play her cards right, one move could make or break the entire operation. And as much as she hates to admit it, Loban simply became too rich and powerful to simply be ordered around.
In any case she will get a much-needed information, wither the talk will go well or not.
"Say Mai, how it's going for your father in his auditions?"
Ty Lee asked their stoic friend.
Agni, with Zuko all over the place, she forgot about Omashu.
After news reached about the insanely quick conquest of the last and most fortified stronghold of the western side of the earth kingdom, and you can be sure that caused a commotion, there was a competition about who's to govern the new colony.
Mai's father was one of the main competitors and had a solid chance to win. This means that Mai will be forced to move to the colonies and away from Azula, a loss of a valuable asset.
A part of Azula was sad for some other unknown reason, but because she didn't understand it, she ignored it.
"He's doing fine. Most likely to win."
Mai said in the same monotonous tone as if she was talking about dried paint on the wall and not the possible governance of the greatest city in the western side of the continent.
Ty Lee visibly pouted.
"But it means that you'll be far away! It wouldn't be the three of us anymore…"
Mai gave no visible reaction.
"Five minutes to land!"
The voice of the pilot, (or co-pilot?), told them.
Good grief, it couldn't come soon enough. She didn't know how longer she could take it!
"The prince is calling for you, he's waiting in his room."
One of the soldiers told Katara as she and Sokka finished eating dinner. With little choice, she followed the soldier towards Zuko's chamber.
Sokka tailed them as well, not wanting to leave her on her own. If the soldier had any problems with that, he said nothing.
When they reached the door, the soldier knocked three times.
"Miss Katara and company."
"Let them in."
They heard Zuko's voice calling from the inside.
The soldier opened for them the door and the two water tribe teens went inside.
They saw the prince sitting at a table and a generous dinner with a medium sized bowl of water next to him. When he saw them, he addressed the soldier.
"Thank you Lang, you are relieved from your duty. Please close the door on your way out."
"My lord."
The soldier named Lang saluted Zuko and closed the door.
There was silence before Zuko spoke again.
"Please, have a sit. Are you hungry?"
"Arr… we're fine, thanks."
Sokka said As Zuko shrugged his shoulders.
"Suite yourself."
"So why are we here?"
Katara finally said.
"For your water bending lessons."
That confused her.
"But I didn't agree to help you."
"True."
Zuko said calmly.
"It's more to show you that I can indeed teach you, as well as a test to know what I'm going to work with."
He pointed then at the bowl of water.
"You said that you feel the connection but cant materialize it, right? Do you feel something from this bowl?"
Katara closed her eyes and constrained.
"I... I feel the water, but every time I try to reach for it, it's just… not moving with me."
"I see…"
Zuko nodded deep in thinking.
"Did you try to push and pull?"
He said after a minute.
"Push… and pull?"
She was confused, a glance to her right proved that Sokka was confused as well.
"I see."
Zuko said.
"Sit, we'll talk about some theory before practice."
The two sat and Zuko started his lecture.
"What do you know about the origin of water bending?"
He asked and Katara answered.
"The moon gave and taught the first water benders how to bend."
"Actually it's some lion turtle, but yes. The first water benders were taught how to bend by the moon, and how it manipulated the ocean to make the tides."
"The moon is pulling and pushing the ocean. This move, this pull and push, is the base of all water bending. Look."
Zuko then moved to the bowl and raised one side of it, just a hair width, and put it back as it was before.
"Feel the water, feel how they are pushing and pulling to return to their original state."
She looked, she sensed, she felt how the water was in constant dance of push and pull, push and pull, forward and backward, forward and backward.
"Mimic their movement."
Katara didn't even notice that Zuko said something, her body followed the instructions on its own. It's as if she was being governed by some instinct.
"Good, feed the flow with your movements . Think that you're pushing and pulling the water to keep the symphony."
Her hands followed automatically with the movements. Push and pull, push and pull, she was moving with the same rhyme as the water. She felt the connection getting stronger, she felt how the water was moving with her.
"Now apply more power to the push and pull, give the water more energy."
She did as he said, she fed her movements more power. She felt the water moving with more force until…
In a splash, the water broke free from their container, like a tidal wave going above a tide breaker.
The sudden change broke her out of her trance.
"I- what?"
She asked in confusion.
"Congratulations."
Zuko said.
"You just water bended the water out of the bowl completely on purpose."
"I did? Yes, I did!"
She couldn't believe it, she actually water bended! Her lifelong dream (as short as her life was) was achieved in minutes.
"Do you remember what you felt when you did your water bending?"
"I… yes, yes, I do."
"Good, now use the same feeling to bring the water back to the bowl. Try redirecting the push a little upward."
She did as he told. It took some time, but after a few tries the water was all inside the bowl.
"I did it!"
She shouted in excitement as Zuko clapped his hands. Even Sokka had a look of pride in his eyes.
Zuko sat at the table.
"I don't know about you, but I think that this is a cause for celebration. Dig in."
Zuko said as he casually took off the helmet.
The water siblings didn't raise any objection this time and ate to their heart's content. It was only after a few bits that Katara noticed that Zuko took off his helmet and couldn't help but let out a small shocked yelp.
Her brother looked at her in concern and followed her gaze, he held a shocked expression as well. To his credit, he didn't yelp.
When she thought of what face the prince of the fire nation would have (not that she thought of that often, just something that rose once or twice when she was bored), she imagined a few possibilities.
He could have a handsome face, one to seduce his victims and hide his ugly personality. Another option was that he was ugly beyond belief, a pig-like face to show exactly what's hiding inside.
She didn't expect the two guesses to be somewhat right. Zuko was indeed not bad to look at from one side (not that she'll ever admit it even to the mirror), but the other side of his face was deformed by a horrible scar that looked suspiciously like a burn.
He was a mix of her expectations, like he had been since he showed up here.
Zuko looked at them in confusion until his hand reached his face, by chance touching his scar.
"Oh…"
He said as he pulled back his helmet over his head.
"I'm sorry you had to see that."
There was an awkward silence afterwards.
"You can ask, you know."
Zuko finally said. He somehow managed to eat with his mask on, the food pieces just small enough to enter the obscured slit in his helmet.
"We don't want to bring any…"
Her brother started saying, but Zuko waved him off.
"It's fine, I got used to it."
"So how…"
She started asking, not sure how to continue.
"How did I get my scar?"
She nodded.
"It was a lesson, a reminder for my behavior."
"What? Why? What could you possibly have done to deserve this?"
Katara asked.
"I spoke out of turn in a war meeting and challenged some general to an Agni Kai."
"Okay… and is this really something that horrible?"
Katara was confused, she didn't understand how this was a reason to burn someone alive. But she also wasn't from the fire nation, they really are monsters after all.
"I disrespected the fire lord in front of the generals. And then before the entire court at the Agni Kai."
"Bark!"
Katara and Sokka jumped at the sudden noise.
"My prince, my we come in?"
A girl's voice was heard through the door.
"Sure, come in."
Zuko called.
As the door opened a black shape quickly sprinted towards the fire prince. Zuko rose from his sit to catch it, only to fall as said shape knocked him to the ground.
To Katara's confusion, instead of being afraid or enraged, Zuko only chuckled.
"Ok, ok, I missed you too."
When the figure stopped moving at the speed of an arrow, Katara finally got a good look at it.
The animal had pitch black fur with a wiggling fluffy tail. It had blood-rad eyes that seemed to glow a little and she couldn't help but notice the sharp teeth and claws.
It had the head of a dog, the body of a dog and the tail… of a dog? She had never seen an animal like that before, then again, all she knew was this little forgotten corner of the world so that's not saying much.
"Is this… a dog?"
Sokka asked the question she had in mind.
"A hellhound actually, his name is Xing."
Said the girl who entered the room, and Katara couldn't help but give her all the attention.
The girl was… beautiful, to say the least. She had the tan of someone who spends a healthy amount of time under the sun, but not too much. Long raven haired that had a flower in the front, and deep hazel eyes.
Her dress was also interesting. In was a green and rad dress with accents of sand brown. It hugged her figure very well and Katara suddenly felt very self conscious for some reason.
The girl elegantly stepped her way in their direction.
"I'm very sorry about Xing, my prince. He just missed you very much."
Katara noticed from her corner of the eye that Sokka had his eyes glued at the new girl and his mouth hand a little open, spit coming from it. She stabbed her elbow in his ribs to snap him out of it.
"No problems. Who's a good boy? You are, yes you are~"
Katara had a hard time to imagine that this was the prince of evil. The scene of a boy and his pet was just too serene.
"Oh, before I forget. Jasmine, Sokka and Katara of the water tribe. Soka, Katara, Jasmine, our local herbalist and medic."
The three greeted each other, even if it was clear that Sokka was trying to pull moves.
"Well then, better prepare for tomorrow, we leave at dawn after all. Have a good night."
Zuko said as Jasmine said a goodbye.
And like that, she and Sokka left the prince's room once more.
"Where did he even get that thing?"
Sokka asked no one in particular.
"From what I understand, the prince saved little Xing when it was still a little cub, Xing became his loyal pet ever since."
The girl, Jasmine, explained.
"From what I gathered, they had to deal with some swamp monster as well."
"That what Mi-Dved said!"
Sokka added his two bits.
"Yes, he was there as well."
Jasmine agreed.
As they began to walk, Sokka flirted without a stop with Jasmine. It made Katara uncomfortable, but as the only male after puberty in the entire south pole Sokka had very little interactions with girls his age, so she supposed she could turn a blind eye this one time.
Jasmine also took it rather well. It was clear to Katara that the other girl had experience with unwanted attention.
Oh well, since Jasmine has been working for Zuko for some time, maybe she knows a few things about him.
"Say, Jasmine…"
"Yes?"
"Do you know by any chance what happened to Zuko? I mean how he…"
Katara didn't know how to breach the subject without bringing up the scar.
"You mean how he got half of his face burnt off?"
Katara nodded.
"Don't know the exact details, only thing I know is that it happened a little over n year ago. He went to a war meeting vocally disagreed to some general who wanted to sacrifice fresh meat and went to a fire dule named Agni Kai."
"Then his father took the general's place and burnt Zuko across the face. Then cast him out on a fool's errand to never return."
"Wait, his dad did this?!"
Katara couldn't believe what she was hearing. The most her father did was yell at her when she walked out alone after dark. To think that a father could do something like that to his own son…
The fire lord really was the biggest monster of all, she couldn't help but feel pity for Zuko.
A look to her side showed that her brother didn't take it so well himself.
If anything, their walk became much more quiet.
Zuko was outside with the rest of the men, they traveled the south pole for days. They already have shown signs of tiredness and that they really should find shelter soon.
'How much?'
"Another hour of walk, no more."
'It's better be. We'll all be dead otherwise.'
Zuko retorted.
He used his fire bending to keep temperature bearable around him, the other fire benders tried the same with varying success. It wasn't long before their chi would run out though, and when that happens the cold will take them all.
'Are you sure that this workshop is worth it?'
"Absolutely. It contains all kinds of prototypes of the overlords before you. Imagine Wan Shi Tong's library, but a bit smaller and much more practical."
Sai said.
'Any surprises I should be aware about? Security systems that may kill us all?'
"Any security system had long since run out of power. You should be aware of the frost centipedes however, they love the relative warmth of the workshop. After all those years they have most likely made a nest there."
'And how much of a threat they are?'
Zuko imagined worms the size of Xing at most, not pleasant at all when swarmed, but manageable all the same with enough fire power.
"The small ones, yes, they are as you imagine. The older ones can reach the size of a komodo-rhino with enough food. They also don't stop growing, so the really old ones can rival a dragon in size."
Sai showed images of the creatures as it spoke. Needless to say, Zuko was more than a little concerned.
The centipedes had a pale body, they had thick armor plates on their back and a mean looking maw with disproportionately large mandates. Zuko noticed that like the shirshu, those things had no eyes. Which he supposed was expected, as they lived underground.
Sai showed him various, all too real, pictures of the creatures and their variations. From the larvae that hatched in a corpse of an undefined prey, to a centipede strangling a penguin seal like a snake, to a massive creature that burst from the ground and swallowed one of the large carnivorous beasts of the south in one bite.
'Oh… So that's why you insisted on that many explosives.'
"Yes. There may also be a spirit guardian around here, but they shouldn't be too close. My donor's presence makes them nauseous. I would be extremely surprised if they aren't in a slumber, if they are at all here."
'So that was the reason for the salt then, it hurts spirits.'
"Yes , it should give us enough time for you to place me on a control panel and for the defense systems to reactivate."
Their conversation was cut to a halt after a while as Mi-Dved came and asked Zuko about their progress.
"How farther, boss? I don't think that I can take it much longer."
As expected, the desert dweller didn't do well in the south pole. Even with all the fur he had on, Mi-Dved was clearly freezing. A look at the center of the group told him that Jasmine wasn't faring any better.
Rubbed from her personal heat pillow, Xing preferred to be around Zuko in the front, Jasmine was dependent on the heat from the fire benders around her. She seems to be regretting a few of her life choices.
'I will make it up to the two of them later.'
"The workshop has more then enough toys for them to enjoy. Besides, you're all in luck, the entrance is near."
Sai then showed Zuko some point in the ice.
"Perfect timing, Mi-Dved. HULT!"
The men stopped.
"We reached the point, prepare the drill!"
Each man had some part of a drill to share the burden, they couldn't bring the mounts for this trip. After they combined all the parts of the drill and it was fully operational, the drill was above the point that Sai showed.
It was bent in 45 degrees and had a big rock that Mi-Dved used to push the drill down. In a little time, they were already meters deep and felt the cold slowly but surely going away.
Zuko used this opportunity to talk to the man.
"Alright, listen up! As you can probably feel, it gets warmer. After a while, we'll be deep enough to escape the cold of the pole completely."
Some of his men cheered, none more than Jasmine.
"As I told in the debrief before, we are after a workshop of the same civilization that created my helmet. In a few hours, we will be deep enough to enter one of the side tunnels. From there, the helmet will guide us to the treasure room."
"Be wary, though. From what I understand, there may be an insect infestation down there, and not the small kind of insects, to prepare your weapons once we rich the tunnel and be vigilant."
One of the soldiers raised his hand in question.
"Yes?"
"How big are the insects? And are they venomous?"
"Good question. I can't say for sure about the size but expected to see them eye to eye."
He said as the men (and Jasmine) grew more concerned.
"As for the venom, we brought enough antidotes with us. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't avoid being bitten at all costs. We have a finite number after all."
The work itself took a few hours, soon the tunnel itself became so deep that light didn't reach them. They used fire bending to keep some light, they had to be careful and use moderately to save as much oxygen as they could.
Finally, the drill hit air and crashed into the floor with a load sound.
"Well, so much for going unnoticed. Not that there was any real chance to begin with."
"Move out and prepare for battle."
Zuko said as he jumped through the hole.
He landed rather gracefully on the ground, it helped that Sai could see in the dark, and created a light for the others to follow.
One by one, the men quickly fell from the hole and joined formation. Jasmine was the last to join as she was the most vulnerable in the group.
"It's warm here."
She couldn't help but point it out.
"It's nearly completely sealed from the outside, so the cold from above stays out as well."
Zuko explained.
"With enough heat sources it's not impossible for warm springs to form and create a warm atmosphere. The heat is concerning, however."
"Why?"
Mi-Dved asked.
"Because the heat may come for different reasons."
His uncle said.
"When a room is humid, it's mostly because either the warming machinations are at work, or that there are many people in it. In any case we are not alone here."
"Now the only thing is to know if it's because there are still people here to keep the system working, or that the infestation reached critical mess. Does the helmet have any answers?"
"All facilities are offline. I also detect multiple heat signatures, the second option is more probable."
'But aren't bugs cold blooded?'
"They aren't bugs, but to answer your question they do emit heat. Every action in the body releases a small amount of energy, which transfers to heat. Meaning, as long as a creature moved in any way not to long ago, I can detect it with heat vision."
"The second one. Now keep your light always on and stay together, those things see in the dark much better than you and me. Formation Delta and go."
The men formed around him a triangular formation with Jasmine and Iroh in the middle. Mi-Dved was in the back, as his bigger frame and thicker armor made it a bit difficult to see behind him. It also gave him the best chance to counter any surprise attack from behind, or at least the best chance of survival.
Zuko led the group onward to the darkness. All around them, they could hear critter noises, like many small legs moving together. It was good that the men knew about the danger beforehand so they didn't panic as much as they could, not that the knowledge gave them any comfort.
Here and there they could spot for a fraction of e second the many legged tale of a centipede before it disappears into the darkness.
As they continued their tracks, they saw that the boneless creatures became larger and larger. If before the fragments they saw were belonged to a foot long centipede, now it could have been easily belonged to a man sized one.
"Watch out, they will become more daring from this point."
Sai warned him.
"Watch your steps. The bigger they are, the more aggressive they become."
Zuko warned his crew in turn.
Not a minute after that, Sai warned him of a fast-moving object. Without fail, Zuko blasted it and was rewarded with a blood chilling screech of the dying animal. It burnt corpse plain for all to see.
"Boldy hell…"
"Look at this thing…"
"And that's supposed to be one of the smaller ones?"
Obviously, his men didn't take to well the sight of the creature.
"Knock it off, all of you. Why are you crying over a dead bug? You didn't even lift a finger to kill it!"
Lieutenant Jee took command of his men.
"Now man up and move in formation! Angi knows we faced deadlier enemies than some mindless animal."
The men fell in line, and they moved once again.
As Sai said, the centipedes became only bigger and more aggressive. By now they killed a few dozens of those things but is seemed like there was no stop to the creatures. The men were on edge as well as while Zuko had the advantage of seeing the threat beforehand, the rest of the crew could only notice the danger when it came to the light of their fire balls and torches.
There were more than a few jump scares that would have ended with more than one dead body. Fortunately, Zuko warned in advance about an incoming enemy before it was too late. True, more then a few men had wounds here and there from the sharp legs and teeth, but a quick patch up and an antidote injection by Jasmine saved them from the worst of it.
They were now camping at a spot they found. Using the dead bodies of the centipedes as timber, the fire should go on and keep them warm and safe at night. They placed the fire in a circle around them to keep the centipedes away. At first, the men weren't sure if a fire can keep away an insect two times their height, but when seeing how scared one of the bigger was when it came close convinced them.
They decided to have turned at rest until everyone had their fill, it was hard to judge when it's day and when it's night when there is no sky above them. Besides, one upside from the constant assault of the critters was that the crew no had more then enough food to keep the belly fill, after a good cooking of course. Jasmine made sure to disinfect the mean and the fire did the rest.
So now it was Zuko's turn to watch together with Mi-Dved. The two of them kept the fires fed and talked to each other to pass the time.
"It's weird, you know? I never thought that I would ever be in a situation like that."
The earth bender said.
"What, being in the south pole hundreds of meters underground fighting for your life with a prince against overgrown insects and any other unknown horrors?"
Zuko said with humor.
"Yes, that."
Mi-Dved deadpanned.
"But seriously, all this darkness around as and yet, there is so much life here."
"I would have liked it if there was much less life her, thank you very much."
Zuko said as Mi-Dved snorted.
"True. But you will never see things like that anywhere else. When I was still a kid, I always dreamed about being an adventurer. To see the world and go on all kinds of adventures. Now though? It's like living a dream."
"Glad to hear because you will be forced to deal with all kinds of crazy things with me."
Mi-Dved snorted at that.
"Looking forward to it. So what's waiting for us there anyway? Treasure? Cool weapons?"
"Among other things, yes. This workshop was where the helmet was made, you know? Obviously, there are all kinds of interesting things here. But more importantly it has a special stone that can give us information about the avatar."
"Really"
"Yes, somewhere in the center of the workshop in one of the walls, stuck a stone that is an indicator to the nationality of the Avatar. It glows in different colors according to the bending arts the avatar masters. It somehow catches the energy from his spirit that he releases when bending and the stone shows the matching color brighter."
"It has a finite light to show all the time, so it distributes the light across the stones by the frequency of the kind of bending the avatar uses. This helps us determine the preferred style of the avatar and plan accordingly."
"And how the stones work?"
Mi-Dved asked in interest.
"Don't start."
Zuko sighed.
"The helmet tried to explain it when I asked, but all in did was a hole in my head."
"Did… did it talk to you? Like a person?"
Mi-Dved asked and Zuko swore in his mind.
"It's more like… like a well-trained slave that can talk but only when ordered to. It can answer my questions, even suggest solutions when not asked, but it's not a person, it has no soul."
"Hah…must be cool. Is it happy to be home again?"
'Sai?'
"I feel no emotion either way. I'm incapable of it, remember? This place, while bringing many memories, is in the end just a tool to further the end goal. Should an opportunity present itself, I would trade this place off without a second thought."
'Oh…'
"It says that it doesn't have feelings to begin with."
"Figures."
Mi-Dved said with a shrug.
"So what's the plan?"
"The helmet shows me the way to the control center, there it will tell us how to restart the security systems and end this infestation. Then the entire workshop will be ours to take."
"Sounds good to me."
Mi-Dved said as he watched the blackness that replaced the stars.
Once all the crew had their sleep, they continued with their track.
The fights grew harder and harder as the enemies grew bigger and bigger. Luckily, their opponents were dumb beasts that had no thoughts about something more complicated than "eat" "run" and "mate", or the crew would have been in serious trouble right now.
At last, after another hour or two of stumbling in the dark, they finally saw some light.
"Your highness, look!"
One of his men pointed at the light from the end of one of the corridors.
"Yes, we're close. After me."
The crew ran to the light and was greeted by something that left them speechless.
The corridor itself was big, big enough to be mistaken as something from the palace at home. It also had statues of warriors in armor on each side, problem was that each of them was twenty feet tall. They were made from same kind of black metal and looked as if they will go for patrol in any second.
'What are those?'
"Sential armors. They are part of the security system I was talking about."
If those things can indeed walk as guards, Zuko didn't doubt the effectiveness of those things. Only this corridor had dozens of them!
The other thing, that more warried Zuko, was the sheer number of giant centipedes. The walls were latterly crawling with them. There is no way that they get through it without using explosions.
"Our objective is on the other side, use the bombs to blast those things away. We must activate the security system, now."
The soldiers did as their prince told them and threw the bombs. Once the bombs exploded, the few centipedes that didn't die at the explosion that shook the ground ran away in fright. The statues didn't have even a scratch after the bombardment.
Zuko didn't wait for the others and ran, the rest followed him.
At the exit of the corridor, Zuko and the others saw what true infestation looked like. There were centipedes anywhere, crawling over each other because there was no land to crawl on. The average size of one of the creatures here was that of a Komodo rhino at the least.
"Agni have mercy…"
One of his men prayed.
"Blast them! Now!"
Zuko threw his explosions with the rest of the bombs. The animals quickly fled, fear filled their hearts from the load noise. Whoever ran toward their direction was very quickly taken care of by a bomb or a blast.
After a few minutes, there was no living centipede in the area, it was kind of anticlimactic really.
"That's it?"
Mi-Dved said.
"We should have done that from the start."
Zuko moved his head to the sides in denial.
"It worked out because we used all of our bombs her, but it isn't the only reason I held them back. Those animals see through vibrations, a big enough collateral earthquake will be seen as a challenge."
"For what?"
Mi-Dved asked confused.
Suddenly the ground shook, and it wasn't from their bombs.
From one of the corridors, emerged a colossal centipede. Almost as wide as the corridor itself (which was very wide). It rose up and was easily in the height of the swamp monster as in roared in challenge, the terrible sound echoing around the entire place.
"For that."
AN
And this is the end of chapter 25
hope you liked the chapter!
I noticed that somewhere in Saturday the story statistic just froze, does anyone knows what to do?
Anyway, be sure to write what you think about the chapter and the story. Don't be afraid to share what you think could and should happen.