Chapter 06
My'Rell sat at the captain's chair as the bridge officers went about their tasks. Kazima in full view in all of its glory. She can't wait to dock and get off the SeCore. The week-long detour from the pirate clearing job had thrown everything off. Her prized ship was damaged, its crew dwindled and the encounter with the Death's Head was less than favorable, although some good came out of it such as there brand new fabricator, the discovery of a new habitable planet, the termination of her biggest rival and her new subordinate, the former princess Azula.
However Azula was a wild card in all of this. The ego on her was plain for all to see and it came through with how she carried herself, she may have to be more assertive with her in the future. She had no doubt Azula was planning something as My'Rell could tell a schemer from a mile away, years working under the empire helped her see that. She'll just have to keep a close eye on her for now.
That didn't matter, now she and her crew were home and were in need of some rest.
"Send word to the station commander of our arrival and have preparations for docking made." She ordered her communications officer who complied.
Commander Shaul stretched his arms from his station by the captain's side letting out a pained grunt showing his age, "It feels as though we've been gone for years."
"You're telling me. I might actually take you up on that scheduled vacation."
Shaul let out a jovial chuckle, "We both know you won't take it, though."
"Of course I won't. This whole place would fall apart without me." She joked.
Shaul put on an expression of mock offense, "Captain, do you not have faith in my ability to take command?"
"Of course I do, commander. I have all the faith in the universe that you can keep the Crimson Storm together… for a week."
The two friends shared a laugh at the captain's jab but it was soon interrupted by the communications officer, "Message has been sent. Station commander Suldon is preparing the main hangar for docking and repairs."
"Good. Helmsman, take us home."
The thrusters of the SeCore burned brightly as the ship was propelled towards the asteroid ring of the planet.
"This is a size four wrench! I need a size three wrench!" Cetro shouted at Azula who gritted her teeth as she tried her best not to burn the four armed alien alive.
"They look identical! How am I supposed to tell the difference?" She shouted back.
"Look closely, you five foot tall waste of oxygen!" He held up the wrench to her face, "This is a size four wrench," His lower arm dug into the tool box she held pulling out another wrench, "and this is a size three wrench."
Azula looked at the two tools seeing no difference between them other than they both had a different symbol etched into them.
"Please explain because I don't see a difference!"
He rolled his four eyes and spoke in a patronizingly slow manner, "The size four wrench has a bigger head meant for size four bolts and the size three wrench has a smaller head for size three bolts."
She looked at both heads of each wrench, finding the size difference to be very miniscule, "The difference is so small! How am I supposed to tell?"
"Then memorize the numbers on them you idiot!" He points to the curved symbol etched in them.
"I cannot read that! And how dare you call me an idiot when you so clearly are terrible at explaining anything!"
Their argument continued for quite some time as they stood in one of the hangars where Cetro was called to repair a broken down lift with Azula brought to hold his tool box with him attempting to give her a hands-on lesson on repairing mechanics, however it quickly devolved into a shouting match.
Their back and forth was stopped when a helmet collided with the wall near them, its visor shattering.
"Shut up!"
They turned to see Angara standing at the rear opening of the Shakarr, "I can't sleep with you two screaming!"
"I don't know who you think you are throwing helmets around like that!" Cetro shouted back and kicked the helmet back towards her.
"I'm the one who's about to take those wrenches and shove them down both of your throats if you two don't shut your damn mouths!"
Azula only rolled her eyes at the two arguing. She was already tired of hearing the engineer's angry rants and now she has no more mental energy to spare for Angara coming into the mix. She didn't even bother to give the tattooed bounty hunter a retort and instead watched the view of the red and blue planet come closer from outside the shielded hangar bay door.
"New Girl!" Cetro shouted, taking her out of her trance, "Pick up the tools! We're done here."
It seemed their argument ended while she was admiring the view. Reluctantly she complied, already annoyed with receiving orders instead of issuing them out herself.
"Is that all we have to do for today?" She asked, "It feels like I've been working nonstop."
The engineer sneered, "Fine! Yes! We're done! Since all you seem to do is complain! We're back home now anyway so I don't need you anymore. So get lost!"
"Glady." She shoved his toolbox into his chest and walked off before she could hear another remark from him.
She found her way back into the mess hall taking her seat by the window watching as the ship approached the ring. The sight was remarkable but she was already getting used to it. She could feel her inner flame growing as they approached the ring. It puzzled her how the strength of her bending fluctuates in space. Could it be her distance to the sun or something else? She didn't know and it was slowly driving her up a wall. She can't afford any possible setbacks for her plan.
Her introspection was interrupted when someone sat before her with a tray of food. It was the captain. She seemed to have gotten a break from her command duties to pay her a visit.
"Heard you had some complications with your powers while we were in transit." she said before taking a bite from an orange fruit resembling an apple, "Everything alright now?"
She was far from fine regarding this but lied anyway, "I'm fine. It seems there is much about my own bending that I don't know about outside earth."
"That won't be a problem will it?"
Azula met the captain's gaze expecting an honest answer. Truthfully she wasn't entirely sure what to say, "I don't know. I'll go to Lectro's lab later so he can do more tests and we can figure this out."
She turned back to the window watching as the SeCore entering the ring, colossal asteroids drift past that made the already massive ship look like a pebble in comparison.
"Please do. Lectro keeps pestering me to get you in the lab again." she said jokingly as she looked out the window with her, "I bet you've never seen an asteroid ring before. It's one of the many sights you'll see out in the galaxy. Beautiful isn't it?"
It was beautiful in some strange way watching the giant rocks fly past with the red and blue planet in the background.
"Why are we in this ring? I thought the planet would be your base of operations."
My'Rell answered after taking a sip of her drink, "Our homebase is within Kazima's ring, it used to belong to a small-time syndicate that was extorting the local Kazimen government until they paid us to clear them out and even let us keep the hideout."
Azula looked to her in confusion, "A small criminal organization was able to have a stranglehold on an entire world? How is that possible?"
"Kazima is a large planet but it's only a recently settled frontier world with no indigenous sentient life and only three major cities. It doesn't take much to hold a planet like that hostage."
Power dynamics were much different out here than she had thought but that could work to her favor.
"You want to see it don't you?" My'Rell asked, gazing at the big red continent that covers the northern hemisphere.
"I will admit that the idea of stepping onto a brand new world is exciting."
"Good, I'm heading to the surface once the SeCore is docked and settled in. If you want you can tag along."
"Going to give me a grand tour of the planet as well?"
"No, I'm going to collect the payment for the pirate job we were on."
"What of the fabricator?"
"It wasn't mentioned in our contract with the employer therefore it's staying with us." The captain explained as she ate her meal.
"I can't imagine your employer will be happy about you keeping something as valuable as that for yourself."
"The job was to get rid of pirates not to retrieve anything of note. They'll find out eventually but they won't do anything about it, after all when all else fails they come to us and it'll benefit everyone if we keep it."
She didn't know enough about the relationship between the storm and the local government so she decided to change the subject, "Once we've settled down and I learn everything I need to know, what will be my place within the Crimson Storm? I imagine it will be some combat role."
My'Rell finished her drink and wiped her face with a napkin, "I'm thinking something small like bounty hunting. We'll pair you up with a seasoned bounty hunter and go from there."
Azula supposed this was an appropriate start to her career as a mercenary however she remembered the name of one particular seasoned bounty hunter, "It isn't Angara I hope."
My'Rell let out a chuckle, "Angara is one of our best, however you two don't seem to get along too well so you'll probably have to settle for second best."
"Second best?" Azula sneered at the thought of this, "I am a princess. I don't do second best."
"Were a princess." My'Rell reminded, the sharp look of her father present in the captain's black and cyan eyes.
Azula bit back a response, she had to remember that she was still at the bottom of the totem pole, "Is there no one else better than Angara or just as good?"
My'Rell finished her meal, "I can think about two who are at the same level but they are currently indisposed. Hopefully they'll be back by the time you are up to speed."
As they looked out the window Azula saw an asteroid unlike the rest. The asteroid in question was the size of the Fire Nation capital covered in artificial structures dotting its surface with industrial towers extending out from various points like towers connecting to smaller asteroids acting as bridges with further structures built into those.
"Well we're here. Welcome to our home base."
A set of massive doors attached to the main structure opened as the SeCore began descending towards it, its opening was large enough to hold the cruiser with space to spare. The engines powered down as large legs extended from its ventral side gracefully touching down on the metal surface with the doors closing above it. Small docking collars extended out from the walls and connected to the ship.
The weary crew begin their exit into the base with My'Rell leaving the ship under Commander Shaul's care as she goes to meet the station commander, Azula following in toe. Meeting them at the corridor was Commander Suldon, Azula was expecting yet another Pendaren but instead the commander was a bizarre triclops octopus creature within a pill shaped fish tank with a pair of mechanical arms and legs attached to it, the creatures six tentacles manipulating what look to be controls at the base of its tank.
The fish tank approached the captain with stiff mechanical motions, its mechanical arms outstretched in a friendly gesture and spoke in a charismatic digital voice, "Captain! I'm glad you're finally back. We were getting worried when we didn't hear back from you for a while."
My'Rell gave him a friendly smile placing a hand on his shoulder, "It's good to be back. It's been one hectic week."
"I heard. Got to discover a new planet and took out the Death's Head, finally got those bastards out of our hair."
"Yes, but at great cost." Her smile faded.
The cephalopod's three eyes softened as well, "Yeah, another reason why we can sleep easier knowing Duritax is part of a floating wreck."
"Not only that but they were hired to take us out."
"By who?"
"Don't know. We've asked just about everyone of the Death's Head crew members we took in and the most consistent thing we've heard is that Duritax and his inner circle are the ones who would know and they're all dead now," she then gestured to Azula at her side, "thanks to our brand new recruit here."
The creature within the tank shifted to look at her with Azula again masking bewilderment at yet another strange creature with an aloof disposition.
"This is private Azula, former princess of the planet we discovered."
She couldn't help but grimace at the constant reminder of her rank that My'Rell insisted on.
The creature within the tank let out a string of bubbles as the suit spoke for it, "Oh, we're recruiting royalty now?" He then bowed the top of his tank to her in some respectable fashion, Azula couldn't tell if it was in mockery or genuine respect as his body movements were too unnaturally stiff, "It's my honor to welcome you to our humble station."
"Thank you commander. I look forward to serving here." She gave the creature a cordial smile as she put her hands together and bowed her head in typical Fire Nation custom.
"She'll be starting off as a bounty hunter, so I'd like to get in contact with either Bavicks or Serrin at some point to discuss an apprenticeship." My'Rell said.
"Oh…" Suldon's robotic voice had a hint of worry.
She raised a brow, "What's wrong?"
Suldon gestured that he and the captain speak in private with My'Rell excusing herself as the station commander led her to the corner of the long room.
Azula accepted this and made her way to exit the area, however she hid behind the corner of a corridor to listen in on the captain and commander's private conversation.
"About Bavicks… he quit."
My'Rell was visibly upset with this news and with a tempered voice that restrained the fury she was feeling she asked, "What do you mean he quit?"
"He said that he was tired of having to go after big shot bounties constantly just to keep us afloat and complained that we take too big of a cut."
My'Rell pinched the bridge of her nose feeling a headache coming, "What about Serrin? Is he still with us?"
"He is but he's going after some big shot syndicate leader that went into hiding. Says he won't be back for at least a month or two."
My'Rell let out a cursed sigh at that information.
"You could always pair her up with Angara."
"Absolutely not."
"Why not? Angara is better than Bavicks and just as good as Serrin if not better." Suldon crossed his mechanical arms.
"Angara doesn't like her."
"Angara doesn't like anybody."
"This is different, Suldon. Those two come close to murdering each other every time they speak."
"Wait, that little thing has the stones to talk back to Angara like that and walk away with all her teeth intact? Damn, she must really be something."
"She is, and I was hoping to pair her up with one of our best but it looks like she'll have to settle for one of our lower level hunters."
Azula's eyebrows scrunched in annoyance from hearing this, she is a prodigy she will settle for nothing less than the best but her only option is someone she can't stand.
Everything about Angara made her angry, she always seems to have a retort for each one of Azula's comments, openly challenges her and looks down on her, however she is considered the best for a reason. She was after all just as deadly as Azula was in a fight despite not being a bender, so much so that she could become a major roadblock in the future. She held her own quite well during the battle in the cargo hold and many of the other crewmen seemed to be afraid of her. The two of them were very different however they shared just as many similarities and being able to learn from someone just like her would be ideal. It pains her to admit it but perhaps it's time to play nice with that woman, after all it would be better to have her as an ally then a potentially deadly enemy.
She turned back to eavesdropping only to find that they have concluded their business with both of them going their separate ways. With them gone she had no reason to stay so she decided now would be a good time to wander and familiarize herself with the base.
Skeeve wandered about in the hangar once it was pressurized looking up at the mighty SeCore, its hull battle worn and sporting the scars of battles in the far past with the emblem of the Crimson Storm painted proudly on its side, a bright red swirling cyclone with a haunting demonic face incorporated within it. He had seen Pendaren battleships before but from a distance but the SeCore was not one he'd ever seen in operation as it was the last of an obsolete model, before the empire's aggressive expansion when it was created with the cooperation of other species. Now the empire relies solely on itself, retiring anything of the old regime and advancing with only Pendaren interests in mind. Others like it were either retired and placed in museums or broken down into scrap metal.
Skeeve admired the ship but didn't much care for its fate. All he knows is he will find a way to scrap it himself if it means getting the money he wants. He stopped marveling at the ship and went back to his original goal, find the fabricator, and he did not need to wait long to find it as two cargo loaders, compact crab shaped vehicles held up by four wheeled legs with two grasping arms, carried the large machine down one of the hanger ramps slowly as to not cause any damage.
Skeeve approached one of the hangar bay workers as he logged in information on a tablet, "Hey, where are they taking that thing?"
The worker acknowledged him looking at the fabricator, "The captain ordered that the Fabricator be moved in a storage room. Why?"
"Just curious. We went through hell getting that thing and I just wanted to know it was safe." He lied as easily as he breathed.
The worker went back to his work leaving Skeeve to himself. He thought of taking a tour of the station, find the best possible exit routes just in case things go wrong, but a buzzing vibration within his pocket stopped him. It was the client.
He looked around for a covert spot to answer the call and ran behind a large fuel tanker pulling out Duratix's communicator, "Hey, picked one hell of a time to call." He said in an annoyed hushed tone.
"Where are you now?" The distorted voice asked, ignoring him.
"Currently in the main hangar of the Storm's base, somewhere in Kazima's ring."
"And the fabricator?"
"Being moved to a storage room."
"What do the station's defenses look like?" The voice asked impatiently.
Skeeve looked over his shoulders again before answering, "Listen! We just docked, I haven't even had a chance to find the nearest bathroom. If this is gonna work out I need time."
The voice growled, "How much time?"
"A week at least, any sooner than that and they'll catch on."
"Fine, you have one week. Be ready to coordinate with the rest of the Death's Head to extract the fabricator."
Skeeve scrunched his brow in confusion, "But Duritax is dead? Without him there's no one to hold the group together."
"No one except his son." The voice stated.
Skeeve's eyes widened as he remembered Duritax's ruthless and blood thirsty only child, "Courtix?! That guy's a psychopath! There's no way he can lead the Death's Head. Sure he's a good meat head soldier that can smash his way through anything but he's no business man like his dad."
"He can lead them long enough to get this job done. Whatever happens to him and the group after is irrelevant. I'm sure you won't care either as you'll be so rich you will never have to work for a group like the Death's Head ever again, if you get me my fabricator."
Skeeve remembered his end goal. It would be nice to never have to pick up a blaster for work again, "I'm not splitting the payment with Courtix and the rest of the Death's Head, am I?"
"Courtix is only interested in avenging his father and agreed to a lower payment. The majority will go to you along with your bonus."
That's all he needed to hear, "I'll get you everything you need to know in a week."
"Good. Once it's done you'll coordinate with Courtix for the attack and extraction."
"Wait what?" His eyes widened in horror at the thought of interacting with that brute, "Why me?"
"You two are high ranking members of the Death's Head, shouldn't it be obvious that you two coordinate with each other?"
Skeeve remembered the lie he had fed them and also that he had only ever interacted with Courtix once and he threatened to skin him alive with his machete, "R-Right! That's exactly right. We are both on good terms with each other and will definitely get this job done."
"Be sure you do. I will contact you within a week. Have all the necessary information by then." He hung up before Skeeve could respond.
"Welp, better get a lay of the land then." He began to wonder about the base.
Azula had spent the majority of the day wondering about the facility getting a better understanding of her surroundings. The SeCore may have been a maze to her however the home base was an even denser labyrinth of corridors and tunnels that led to various places such as crew quarters, smaller hangars, warehouses, component rooms, generators and many other rooms that the SeCore had but on a much larger scale. It reminded her somewhat of the bunker beneath the fire nation capital with its tunnels of bare rock only without the magma. Occasionally she would find a path that would take her to one of the artificial structures on the asteroid's surface overlooking its barren crater filled landscape. She was unable to access various areas due to her low rank such as the command tower that overlooked the main hangar.
Just like the SeCore it was fascinating and a sturdy sign of strength, one that she would be proud to own however she found herself lost in its tunnels. She soon found herself walking in circles passing corridors she swore she had already seen and her pride did not allow her to ask for directions. She grew frustrated with not finding a place that looked familiar to her and rushed to find something as she does not wish to miss out on leaving to visit the planet's surface.
As she Storm's down yet another corridor she rounded a corner and bumped into someone hard enough to knock them over while she was only staggered.
In no mood to deal with this situation she growled and lashed out, "Watch where you are going!"
The person she ran into apologized as they stood back up. At first Azula thought they were a human girl however on closer inspection she wasn't. Her skin was pink like cotton candy with plum purple striping and a glossy shine, her eyes were large and blue, what Azula thought was hair was actually long dorsal fins that draped down past her shoulders and dressed in loose flowing robes that left her arms and midsection exposed. She almost looked like she was one of the depictions of Airbender nuns she had seen in old history books.
"I'm sorry, I should be more mindful of my surroundings." She spoke in a peppy optimistic voice with an accent Azula didn't recognize, "Are you lost? I haven't seen you here before."
She might as well ask for directions now, "Yes to both of your inquiries. I have no idea where I am and I'll be traveling to the planet soon so I don't wish to miss that."
"I see, I'm returning to my brother with this trinket he asked for." She held out a mechanical tool she was holding, "He is getting ready to go to the planet's surface as well, I can lead you to the area you need to be."
"Very well. Lead the way."
The stranger continued down the corridor with Azula in tow.
"My name is Chani by the way." She turned back to say with a warm smile on her face.
"Azula." She responded with disinterest.
"Azula?" She repeated, "Oh! My brother was telling me about you. He says you have strange fire powers. Is that true?"
She figured news about her would spread so she decided to revel in it just a little, might as well control the narrative.
"Oh yes. That's all true. Did he also tell you that I destroyed the bridge to the enemy ship and effectively killed the leader of the Death's Head?" Her voice was filled with self admiration at her feats and producing a small orange flame to show off.
Her already wide eyes grew wider in awe, "That is amazing he also told me it was like a storm had shot lightning. Although I can't help but feel sad for the loss of life."
Azula's brow furrowed as she extinguished the flame, "What does it matter? If I hadn't, no one on the SeCore would be alive."
"That is true. I understand that in order to save lives some must be taken, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."
"You do know that this is a mercenary organization, do you, and what that entails?" Azula asked, wondering if this person was in the right place.
"I do. It's hypocritical of me to preach peace and kindness while working for an organization that requires violence to function but that's why I chose to be a financial worker instead of a fighter, I'm mainly here to make sure my brother doesn't get himself killed." She said as they reached an elevator that took them upward.
Azula wanted to puke at that statement, for her siblings were only just another source of her ire. Zuko would never join an organization he opposed to look after her and her youngest sibling Kiyi was nothing but a replacement for her. They can both rot for all she cared.
Chani seemed to notice her inner turmoil as they stood beside each other, "Are you alright, your inner thalm is radiating waves of crimson."
This was enough to snap her out of thoughts in confusion, "My what?"
"Your inner thalm. It radiates such negative rays of crimson. I apologize if I said something to offend you."
"What does that even mean?"
Chani took on an apologetic yet bubble demeanor, "Oh, I'm sorry. That does sound confusing. In my culture someone's inner thalm is the energy of their spirit and judging by the colors they emit I can guess at someone's mood."
"So auras then?"
"Is that what your people call it?" Her features brightened in excitement, "I'm so glad that there are others who share in such a practice."
Azula gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes, "Great, another Ty Lee." She grumbled to herself under her breath.
The last thing she wants is a reminder of her former best friend who's betrayal is still fresh in her mind. Was this the universe playing some sick joke on her?
The elevator stopped at the level they needed to be on and Azula followed the amphibious girl ignoring her attempts at spiritual conversation until they reached what looked to be a renovated storage room filled with tools, computer monitors and the most unsettling thing being the mechanical limbs hanging from the walls with some type of loud rambunctious music playing in the background.
Within it they found Sev with his back turned to them sitting in a chair, his armored vest off and hanging nearby with his exposed back housing small bits of metal that ran along his spine, metal plates covering his shoulder blades and scar tissue surrounding them. Gax stood close by on his completely metal right shoulder working on one of the shoulder blades with a tool that emitted sparks when in use.
As amazing as Sev's augmentation where there were aspects of it that made Azula's stomach churn. There were just so many scars.
Chani knocked on the wall alerting them of their presence, "Brother! I have your tool!" She shouted over the loud music.
"Hey Chani! Azula. Come to witness the freakshow?" Sev greeted as jolly as ever.
Azula winced at the wrangled chorus of whatever it was they were listening to, "What is that infernal noise?"
"What? You don't like thrasher? It's the best music in the galaxy!" He lowered the volume.
The vile and crude lyrics said otherwise to Azula.
She walked up to Gax holding it out with the toad-like creature raising his goggles to acknowledge her with a wide grin, "CHAR KATNI!" He said happily while taking the tool.
Azula looked at Chani and Gax with a look of befuddlement, "Wait, this is your brother?" She pointed to Gax.
"Yes." She answered simply.
"Adopted then, right?"
"No, we're blood related."
This only added to her confusion and to Sev's amusement. The two individuals before her were apparently brother and sister however they looked nothing alike, sure they shared superficial details such as moist amphibious skin, webbed hands and feet, gills behind the jaws and dorsal fins that were styled in a way to look like hair but Chani's proportions where slimmer and more in line with her own compared to her supposed brother who's head was larger, more angular, had a prominent snout, eyes that rested at the top of his head, larger hands and feet and stood somewhat hunched over two feet under her.
"DOSHI KARA KA'INA!" Gax said to his sister while pointing to Azula.
"Oh I see." Chani said in an almost dumb manner that reminded Azula too much of Ty Lee, "It's been such a long time since I've had to explain this to someone that I nearly forgot."
Sev turned around in his swivel chair, "Hang on, I want to get comfortable when I see how she reacts to this." He put his metal feet up on a crate.
"I'm tired of being left in the dark, explain!" She demanded not liking being toyed with.
Chani stepped forward and began explaining, "You see, Azula, my brother and I's people have very extreme physical differences between men and women. Men typically take on a more rugged and exaggerated body plan that helps with climbing and physical challenges..." She gestured to Gax who in response licked one of his bulging eyes with his tongue like some grotesque gecko, "...and women are better adapted for more spiritual challenges and other matters that require the mind."
Azula didn't know how to respond to this information and only gave them an expression contorted in various states of confusion at how such a thing could exist with Sev laughing at her expense, "So, men are dumb brutes while women are delicate geniuses?"
Gax gave a thumbs up and a crooked grin in affirmation.
"I mean… that's not entirely true. Gax is quite smart when it comes to mechanics and such." Chani quickly scrambled to say as to not make it sound as though she is talking down to her brother.
"But in essence they all look like… that. No offense Gax."
The shorter creature made a dismissive gesture completely unfazed by the comment.
"More or less, with some variation. This is a typical reaction to most people who are unfamiliar with our species, they often think my brother and I are of different races."
The universe truly is a strange place.
"Strangeness aside, which one of you is the oldest?"
Gax raised his hand, "GUSH KARI!"
"Stop lying to her! We're the same age." She lightly slapped his shoulder, "We came from the same clutch of eggs."
Her eyes widened, "Eggs? As in breaking out of a hard shell?"
"They didn't have a shell so it was quite easy for our little tadpole forms to wiggle out."
"Tadpole?" Her eyes widened further with Sev laughing harder.
Azula held a hand out for her to stop talking, "I think that's enough strangeness for one day. My only question now being why is it that you speak the common language yet Gax does not?"
"That's because Gax is just lazy. He learned to understand primary but he doesn't feel he needs to put in the leg work to speak it." She said with an accusatory tone with her hands on her hips in disapproval.
Gax only waved her statement off and mimicked her words with a mocking tone as he went back to work on Sev's mechanical arm. This was followed up with the two siblings bickering back and forth in the same untranslatable language.
She rolled her eyes at them but it brought a nostalgic smile to her lips of all the times she and Zuko would quarrel like that, she was always the instigator but Zuko always made it too easy that she couldn't help herself, "You've convinced me, only siblings could bicker like that."
Chani gave a warm smile, "Indeed. Do you have any siblings, Azula?"
Her smile quickly faded, "I have an older brother and-" She cut herself off before she could mention the half sibling she just found out she had a year ago, "Just a brother. No one else." She refused to acknowledge that replacement daughter her cowardly mother had with that worthless peasant shared her blood.
Chani took notice of this but did not press the matter.
Already tired of this conversation, Azula decided to change the subject, "Not to be rude but when are we going to the planet's surface?"
"As soon as the Captain's ready." Sev answered as Gax finished what he was doing on Sev's arm who flexed it, "Gax and I are tagging along to grab some stuff, it shouldn't be long. You can just hang here with us until then." he raised the volume to his thrasher music.
Indeed it didn't take long as after several minutes being with these individuals the Captain had contacted Sev and let him know she was ready to depart. Sev and Gax led Azula to a smaller hangar filled with shuttles. Chani didn't accompany them as she had several tasks of her own to take care of leaving Azula with the two. Once they arrived they found My'Rell by a long rectangular shuttle speaking to the pilot.
Once she had finished conversing with him Azula approached her eager to be on her way, "Are we set to depart, Captain?"
"Everything is set to go, just hop in and we'll be off."
"Excellent. I'm eager to see this Kazima and how much it differs from earth."
"A little warning before we depart, Kazima is a little larger than your world so the gravity will be a bit higher than what you're used to." My'Rell said as she entered the shuttle's open compartment and took a seat on the bench that went horizontal to the crafts center.
Azula took a seat near her, "I'll adapt. I always do."
Sev crouched his way in, his head practically scraping the compartment ceiling, and took a seat behind them, nearly taking up the whole bench with Gax by his side.
"Try not to light anything on fire while we're on the surface." Sev said over his shoulder.
"Yes, keep your fire bending to yourself. We don't know how the people will react to it and we don't need any more trouble." My'Rell added.
"As long as trouble doesn't come my way." Azula folded her arms.
The last passenger was Angara who sat in the far corner of the bench, her damaged red helmet in her lap.
With everyone on board My'Rell gave the order to leave with the side compartment doors sliding close sealing shut. The twin engines rotated allowing the ship to hover before propelling it out of the hangar bay. The smaller ship soared through the asteroid ring, some turbulence rocking the cabin, and as they exited the ring Azula could feel her inner flame growing again as they inched closer towards the planet until they finally broke the atmosphere and began soaring through the clouds and she could feel her firebending strength return to her at full power like it had never left.
"We're finally here. Congratulations Azula, you're officially on a new world." My'Rell said to her with a chipper attitude.
Azula stared at the bare metal wall as turbulence shook them, "I was expecting more of a view, but I guess I can wait until we've landed."
"I'll take care of that." She turned to the pilot and copilot sitting in their upper platform, "Let's get these doors open."
With that said the doors that made up the sides of the ship retracted once they were at a safe altitude exposing them to a view of red forests that quickly gave way to an open savanna of rose colored grass beneath a vast sunset orange sky that gave the water of a nearby lake a purple hue. Thousands of large six limbed rhino-like beasts grazed about in the fields while flocks of four winged birds with rodent faces glided alongside the ship and resting above the sky Azula could see Kazima's ring shimmering gold like it was painted on by a divine brush in a single stroke.
It was like a dream world came to life, so familiar yet so different, she could imagine that this is what the spirit world looked like. It was so magnificent that she couldn't hide her awe with her eyes wide as dinner plates and her mouth hanging slightly open.
My'Rell couldn't help but smile at the wonder struck the former princess displayed, like a parent watching their child see the world for the first time.
"Quite the site, isn't it?"
"I-It's beautiful." Azula stuttered out, "It's more than that it's amazing! It's … It's …" she caught herself once she saw the smug smile on My'Rell's face then took on a more rigid posture and putting back the mask of indifference, "It's nothing special, I've seen better vista's outside my bedroom at the royal palace."
Angara snorted from her position, "Sure you have, princess."
Azula ignored the comment as she was too busy chastising herself for letting her guard down.
"Don't look away now, the city's coming up." The captain said.
Azula's attention was brought back to the view where she saw their shuttle was flying over a bridge with smaller vehicles following its length. She trailed it until she saw before them a city as large as Ba Sing Se's inner ring with towers of glass, steel and concrete each styled strangely with some having smooth organic shapes while others held a rigid and sturdy appearance with hard edges and angles with geometric shapes while others were completely abstract in their architecture. Streets filled with speeding vehicles darted back and forth between the buildings were lit by neon lights and holograms of screens and icons with other flying vehicles accompanying them in the sky. It was truly a sight far more beautiful than the natural environment Azula had seen before and one that put into perspective just how insignificant she and her Fire Nation was. She then noticed below them were a vast horde of rundown slums and ghettos that circled the fringes of the city separating the pristine metropolis with the wilds of the planet. Some things truly are universal.
The shuttle veered away from the central city towards an open area where dozens of other ships were docked or taking off with the shuttle gently touching down on a small landing pad. Azula was one of the first to step off after My'Rell and as soon as her foot touched down she felt the higher gravity the captain warned her of. It wasn't overwhelming and felt more like she was draped in her heavy royal robes that were thoroughly soaked in water, it almost tipped her off balance but she recovered before anyone could notice.
"It's good to be back on a planet. Being stuck on a spaceship and space stations really takes a toll on my muscles." My'Rell stretched out her arms breathing in Kazima's fresh air, "So, Azula. How does it feel to be on a new planet?"
Azula looked out into the sky at the shimmering ring, "Fascinating." she couldn't hide it in her voice but maintained her stoic expression.
Finally, Azula has set foot on a brand new world! This chapter was almost another action sequence however I felt there needed to be more breathing room between actions.
Also I wanted to announce that if any of you are interested in how I imagine the various OC's that appear here I drew out a rough sketch of a few of them and posted them on my Instagram and DeviantArt accounts. You'll find links in my Bio.
Fun facts: Suldon's appearance was inspired by an alien that made a brief appearance at the beginning of Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets. Chani and Gax's species extreme sexual dimorphism is inspired by angler fish.