Chapter 11
Azula shot waves of azure flames around her creating a blazing cyclone for a complex fire bending display within the training dojo of the fire nation royal palace. Ozai, the current fire lord, watched on from his seat at the far end of the dojo with a servant providing him tea with her instructors Lo and Li sitting by his side. It was rare that her father would spare time to sit and observe her training, meaning he was curious to see how much she has improved since the last time he saw her.
It had been a year since Zuko's banishment and all eyes were on her to become the fire nation's future. She needed to be perfect, needed to surpass the incredibly high standards her father expected of her. Zuko was no longer around to soak up her father's ire and she would be damned if she took on that role.
She summersaulted through the air bringing down a flaming dropkick that completed the kata in a dazzling display of strength and agility.
The sound of a slow clap echoed throughout the dojo as Ozai raised from his seat, his mouth curved in a subtle smile of pride.
"Excellent Azula. Just excellent." He praised, "A remarkable display of the crane Phoenix form."
"An incredibly advanced form." the croaky voice of Lo said.
"One that many fail to master." Li followed.
"Mastered in only three attempts by the princess." Both croans said in unison.
She knelt to him accepting his praise, "Thank you father. It wasn't as difficult as I imagined it being."
"Spoken like a true prodigy." His words were filled with pride.
Her smirk grew wider at his praise and he returned to his seat.
"Now, show me the roaring fire ferret form."
Her smile quickly dropped. The roaring fire ferret was a less advanced form than the crane Phoenix but still quite advanced that focused on low leg sweeps and ended on a triple flaming wheel kick, the latter part of the technique being something she struggled to perform no matter how many times she attempted it.
"Such a low level form, father. I wouldn't think you'd be interested in seeing that." she hoped to redirect his interest into a different form.
"Yes, low level for you but still quite advanced, yet I've never seen you perform it. Surely you wouldn't have trouble doing so?" He said with a raised brow expecting to see it.
Her twin masters remained silent, having no words knowing just how difficult it was for Azula to perform.
Azula swallowed hard, "Of course not father." She rose up from her knees knowing full well that she had to perform it. No one tells the fire lord no.
She took the stance and began the kata throwing quick low kicks sending waves of flames like quick strikes from a prowling fire ferret. She sent several blasts upward from a low stance followed with a leg sweep all the while Ozai watched keeping an analytical eye on each and every movement.
She performed another sweeping kick finishing the main portion of the technique and now must perform the dreaded triple fire wheel as the roar of the fire ferret. She ran to build up momentum before leaping and flipping through the air as fire trailed behind her feet turning her into a smoldering wheel and sent a fireball towards the farthest wall and now must stick the landing.
She planted her feet on the floor hoping that she could finally catch herself, however the momentum of the attack sent her tumbling on her stomach.
Ozai's expression tightened and the room went silent, the only sound being Azula's heavy breathing as she recovered.
Azula quickly pulled herself up trying to save what little dignity she still had left but didn't face her father. She didn't want to see the scorn in his eyes, she could already feel it boring into her back.
"What was that?" Ozai's contemptuous voice cut through the air like a sharpened knife.
Azula bit her lip as she searched desperately for an appropriate response.
"Come here Azula." He commanded in a biting tone.
She quickly marched to his feet standing straight and looking him in the eye like he would expect from her.
"The roaring fire ferret is an advanced form for most but trivial for benders of our caliber and especially for a prodigy like you." He stepped down from his raised platform standing over the princess like a tiger dillo overlooking a cowering badger piglet, "Explain yourself."
Azula calmed herself mentally and spoke with confidence to not appear weak, "The spinning fire kick at the end of the technique… I build too much momentum and am unable to stop myself when landing. The rest of the form was executed perfectly, though. I almost had it-."
He held up a hand to silence her, "Almost? Did my grandfather secure our rise to power because he almost didn't defeat the air nomads?" He walked away and began to remove the long flowing outer layer of his robes, tossing them to the servant, "Did we become the greatest nation on earth because we almost didn't rise above the lesser nations."
He took the starting stance of the roaring fire ferret and performed the technique perfectly from all the low angled attacks to the flaming triple flip kick with an intensity that dwarfed Azula's before turning to her proclaiming, "Almost isn't good enough! You either can do it or not. There is no almost. Failure is failure no matter how small the error, or how well performed everything else is. I expect many things from you Azula but failure is not one of them. Remember, Zuko is not here anymore. His failure can no longer stain our family, be certain that you do not take his place."
He marched back to his platform taking his robes back, "Again."
Azula took his words to heart and began the kata again, and again, and again until she finally got it right.
Azula practiced her fire bending forms in one of the empty storage rooms on the Crimson Storm's station. She threw punches and kicks in quick succession sending out plumes of orange flames through the air. She threw low angled blasts in the roaring fire ferret form and performed the triple fire wheel attack and landed perfectly on her feet perfectly, all the while going over the details of her plan now that she's alone.
For the past two days she's worked alongside the members of the storm learning the various ins and outs of working on the station, being taught personally by the grouchy head engineer Cetro who expected perfection out of her after every lesson and berating her with just about any insult that came to mind if she failed. It was a great annoyance however she could appreciate someone who wouldn't accept subpar work, Cetro will be very useful when she manages to take the storm.
It was too early for her to say the same for anyone else in the group. Lectro is her best bet at an ally as his fascination with her bending will blind him to her planning but he is just a scientist so what he could offer her is limited. Sev and Gax were powerful tools that could be used against her enemies however they were loyal to My'Rell and might not react well to a hostile takeover from her. Angara was an obstacle that needed to be dealt with at some point but My'Rell was possibly the greatest obstacle.
She flipped through the air sending a flurry of fire around her before landing in a low stance.
Unlike the rest, My'Rell was no fool, the captain was just as cunning as she was. She played nice but there was an air of ruthlessness behind those kind black and cyan eyes. She saw it shortly after returning to the station from Kazima.
Azula stood alone in My'Rell's office with the captain behind her desk staring down at her with cold indifference, "So… you know Angara's true identity."
Azula kept a stoic persona, "It wasn't hard to figure out."
My'Rell ignored that comment, "I'm sure Angara explained to you just how important it is that you keep that to yourself."
"Vaguely, however, I can guess the importance of this secret. Even if Angara doesn't seem like she'd be much of a threat to an empire."
"She isn't but her oldest brother Culvan is one the most wanted men in the empire therefore she's guilty by association."
Azula furrowed her brow in confusion, "I thought the empire crushed him?"
"They crushed his rebellion but he is still at large. Nobody has seen him in years, but their uncle Turan is a paranoid man and the empire doesn't like loose ends."
My'Rell stood up from her desk and approached Azula towering over the shorter girl looking down on her while maintaining a cold blank expression, "I'm going to be frank. The Crimson Storm and Kazima do not have the resources to fight against the empire or Turan. You will not speak of Angara's true heritage to anyone outside of those who already know; no if, ands, or buts about it. That information will stay in your head and never leave your lips until the day you die. Is that understood?"
A clear and direct order that left no room question. The domineering look in her eyes reminded her too much of her father.
"Understood, captain."
She kicked an arch of fire towards a wall imagining taking out two earthbenders. Azula wasn't sure if My'Rell was catching on to her plan or if it was just an intimidation display but she'll need to be more careful moving forward.
She shot several more blasts at her imaginary opponents and continued her training until an alarm from her communicator went off letting her know it was time to go see Lectro in his lab again.
She sighed in annoyance, she was hoping she'd be able to return her flames to their blue coloration but to no avail. She was also annoyed that she was forced to go to his lab every morning before shift.
Far above her in the rafters of the space the serpentine form of the engineer Copelo coiled around a pipe looking down at her. The pincers at the end of his tail brought up a communicator, "She's finished with her training and is off to Lectro's."
The voice of commander Shaul came through, "Good, stay out of sight and make sure she gets there."
"Understood commander."
He watched as Azula gathered herself and left, with him uncoiling himself from the pipe and scurried into an air vent.
Lectro stared at his computer monitor hand over his chin in deep contemplation as he went over the data while in his lab on the SeCore.
Azula sat not too far away on a deactivated B3 connected to his charging station observing one of the holographic screens that displayed an x-ray of her skeleton. She noticed how Lectro was being uncharacteristically silent and looked over his shoulder at the screen, unable to make sense of the symbols and images she saw.
"You're awfully quiet."
Lectro remained quiet for a while longer before answering, "I don't get it."
"Get what?"
"Your firebending, I don't get how it works." he scrolled through the files again.
She rolled her eyes, "What's not to get? I explained to you how it works several times already."
"Yeah I know, the whole chi energy thing but that's just a spiritual way of looking at things." He closed the documents and went to one of the larger screens displaying all the scans he's collected of her and swiped through them, "But I'm a man of science and science requires facts and logic. Spiritual explanations only give a crude outline to how something works or nothing at all."
She raised a brow at his declaration, it was somewhat of a culture shock to hear someone have no belief in spirits, "You have no faith in spirits or the spirit world then?"
"Not really, it all sounds like make believe to me."
"Would you believe me if I said that I saw a spirit once?"
He gave her a somewhat intrigued look.
"She called herself the Mother of Faces, she took the form of a woman made of trees with several faces on her head, no eyes and dozens of faces floating around her."
Lectro gave her a chuckle, "Okay, either somebody fooled you with a holographic projection, you met a really weird looking alien or you experienced some kind of hallucination because what you described sounds absolutely ridiculous."
For once Azula didn't lie when talking about herself outside her achievements, she simply rolled her eyes and moved on, "Then what does your science say about my bending?"
Lectro's amusement disappeared as his look of dumbfoundment returned while he went to a holographic projector, "Difficult to say right now, there's still so much to learn." he pulled up a holographic recording of her firebending, "At first I thought that maybe you had some kind of organ in your limbs that produced a combustible chemical substance but after several scans of your arms and legs I found nothing. Then I thought that maybe you sweat nitroglycerin but after collecting sweat samples I can confirm there is no such thing. Honestly every bit of your anatomy shows clear signs that you should not be able to generate any kind of fire, yet you somehow do!" He said disappointingly.
"What about me controlling the blasts of energy from blasters?" She asked.
"Oh that?" He switched over to another set of notes, "I've got a theory for that actually. You see, fire is plasma, and our weapons fire superheated plasma. Essentially you are manipulating a different type of fire. It's actually very fascinating, to my knowledge there is no other species in the known galaxy that can do that. If only I could figure out how it works!"
She didn't think much of how the science of her bending worked and didn't quite care to learn, only focusing on whatever new abilities she could manipulate.
"There's gotta be something I'm missing, something I'm not seeing. I'll have to expand my research." Lectro said taking one last look at his notes, "Solar energy does seem to be a key factor in your fire bending." He turned to her, "You said your firebending is still pretty weak since you left Kazima's surface, correct?"
She remembered the Mystic's words on the matter, "Yes, I believe it has something to do with leaving a planet."
"That's a far-fetched theory, however I don't have enough data to prove otherwise." He changed the subject again as he fished around a drawer, "Anyway I need more DNA samples."
"Hasn't Dr. Bevel given you enough of my blood?"
"Not blood this time." He pulled out two small cups and handed them to her, "I'm gonna need you to fill these up."
She gave him a strange look, "With what?"
"Urine and stool samples."
Her face twisted in a mix of surprise and disgust, "What?! No! That is disgusting!"
"Hey, nobody said science was a clean business."
"I am not giving you these… bodily fluids!" She almost felt too embarrassed to even say them.
"Listen, I don't like dealing with this sort of stuff either but if we're going to learn about how your bending works, we need to cover all bases. Even the less than flattering ones."
Azula gave him a flat expression before shoving the cups back into his hands, "I'm leaving."
She marched towards the door as Lectro pleaded, "Hey wait! At least take one of them with you!"
The door slid shut as she disappeared into the corridor.
"Well… that went about as well as I had anticipated. What do you think, B3?"
The robot remained silent as he sat deactivated.
Lectro pulled out his communicator and called Commander Shaul, "Commander. Azula just left for her shift."
"That's earlier than expected."
"Yeah, she didn't like the idea of presenting a… certain type of sample so she left."
"Has there been any progress on her bending ability?"
"Unfortunately not."
"Very well. Keep to your work then."
"Commander." He stopped him before he could hang up, "It feels a little wrong for me to be keeping tabs on her like this. Why does the captain want me keeping an eye on her? She's just a kid after all."
"That kid shot a hole into the bridge of a starship, doctor, and is now walking freely in our station. She has access to devastating power and the captain wants to make sure she doesn't cause trouble. Remember she's also a primitive and they tend to be overly curious."
Lectro saw the logic to his argument but couldn't help that it was for some other reason.
The commander hung up shortly after leaving him alone to try and solve the puzzle that was firebending. He took another glance at his notes and saw one of his scribbles reading as, "solar energy required for bending" then he remembered Azula's explanation of the importance of the sun. An idea came to him, the galaxy is full of different types of stars. How would they affect her bending?
Skeeve snuck his way into the communications component room. He made sure to close the door after entering the small cramped room. Finances weren't his only expertise as he was crafty with hacking, after all most of his financial work was done through hacking and transferring funds to his or his employer's accounts.
After popping open one of its panels he hooked up his own personal device to hack into it and prevent the station's coms from detecting any signals coming from Duritax's communicator. He couldn't risk the Crimson Storm picking up any of his calls with his mysterious client.
He also made sure to connect the stations signal with his personal communicator as a way to listen in on any outgoing calls, information is key and if he can listen in on My'Rell or anyone else then it could benefit him in the future.
It took some time but he was able to discreetly get into the network and leave before anyone was the wiser. He found an elevator and took it down to the asteroid's old mining tunnels and followed their path before coming to a sealed door guarded by two robots.
Skeeve knew this room well as it was the storage room that now housed the fabricator. His ticket to living the life of luxury and riches he's always desired. The only problem was that every entrance to this storage space had two armed robots standing guard, refusing to let anyone in unless they had special authorization from the captain.
Skeeve knew these models, B7 security bots. Like B3 service bots they had cylindrical bodies held up by four legs but stood much taller and were chunkier with twin blasters on each side of their heads. The Death's Head utilized this model a lot to guard various sectors of their base.
So far he's scouted out this location several times finding there were three entrances. If he had any idea of the rooms layout then maybe he could find a way in, he'll probably need to find some sort of schematic.
His personal communicator went off with Cetro's gravelly voice coming on, "Skiv!"
He jumped behind one of the cave walls as one of the robots turned its crimson eye in his direction, "It's pronounced Skeeve."
"Whatever, get to the main hangar, I've got new assignments!"
Cetro hung up before a response could be made. Skeeve cursed to himself.
He's only been here for three days and he has found Cetro to be the most irritating man he's ever met. He barks orders and yells constantly, quick to insult people, quick to change his mind when ordering people around, can never remember his name and expects perfection, and Skeeve has found himself on the receiving end of his wrath multiple times for very minor things.
Although it was nowhere near as bad as how he treats Azula. Skeeve couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl, she can't help that she's some primitive who's never seen such tech.
After exiting the ship Azula entered the main hangar where the SeCore sat with a few other vehicles scattered about.
She couldn't believe what Lectro had asked of her. She never felt so disgusted in her whole life. She just hopes it isn't something he presses her for in the future.
She came to the office area where she knew the engineers came to get their assignments for the day and found a few other members of engineering there waiting.
Cetro looked up at her from his tablet and in a sarcastic tone said, "Well, look who decided to be on time today."
She gave him a scornful look, "I left the lab early so I could get a jumpstart on the day."
"Well ain't we all blessed then, Abzul."
"Azula."
"Ain't that what I said?" He ignored her and looked over all the faces in the group with his four eyes narrowing, "Hang on we're missing someone. Where's Skiv?"
As if on cue Skeeve appeared by Azula's side, out of breath from running, "Sorry I'm late! I was still using the bathroom when you called." He hoped that lie would be enough to cover for him.
Cetro glared at him and rolled his eyes. He went back to his data pad and began going over today's agenda, "Alright you gaggle of idiots, listen up! Today is gonna be a busy day." He turned to a former Death's Head member who was a seven foot tall insect woman, "Grease,"
"Gris." She corrected in annoyance.
"Whatever. You're gonna be here in the main hangar helping the SeCore repair team weld on some new armor. Skiv,"
"Skeeve." He repeated.
"Oh my god, I don't care! Go to life support and grab all the empty oxygen tanks and bring them to hangar bay seven and exchange them for full ones, then hook them up and mop the floors in life support." He turned to Azula, "Abzul, you're with me collecting what the fabricator made."
She sighed heavily, "I just told you what my name was!"
"DID I ASK?!"
As per usual Cetro's attitude perturbed Azula, but he wasn't as bad as Angara since his wrath seems to spread to just about everyone who happens to be in his line of sight.
Cetro went over assigning tasks to all of the other engineers, often getting the names wrong for the Death's Head members.
"Dismissed!" He waved them all off. They all left for their assigned duties with Azula standing there waiting for Cetro, "Wait here for a moment, I need my ID card." He shuffled back to a workbench.
She rolled her eyes as she was forced to wait on him.
Copelo slithered up from behind her. Even though he was ordered to watch her there was no rule that stated he couldn't converse with her, plus he had a question on his mind.
"Hey firespitter!" He called out from below using Sev's nickname.
She was still not used to seeing such a small creature speaking to her, "Uh… yes. What do you want?"
"I heard that you and Red Cap got into a fight down on the planet. Is it true?"
She couldn't help but smirk, "Of course, and I won."
The smaller alien laughed, "You beat Red Cap Angara? Yeah right, nobody beats Angara."
"You don't believe me?"
"I can't believe you." Copelo slithered up onto a crate, "Angara is one of the scariest, tough as nails, people around here. Nobody can just beat her up."
She snorted at that statement, crossing her arms in a lofty manner, "I will admit it wasn't easy and she is indeed as tough as you say but at the end of the day I defeated her in a battle that was supposed to be to the death. Until we were rudely interrupted."
"No way." Another alien who overheard their conversation said, "Angara's a beast. There's no way she'd lose to some teenager."
Azula gave him a self assured smile, "Ask her about the burn on her hip and see how she reacts."
Skeeve had yet to fully vacate the area when he heard this. He only knew Angara from her reputation as the infamous bounty hunter known as Red Cap and from what he had heard she was a ruthless maniac. What little he saw of her here reflected that. To hear Azula, some primitive from a backwater planet, was able to beat her was unbelievable. Surely she must have been lying.
He approached her, "That's a bit of a tall order. Wouldn't you say?"
"Tall indeed but I filled it without a problem."
"Oh Really?" Cetro returned with whatever it was he searched for, "I've known that Ke'Kuvon for years and I can tell you she don't lose."
"Until she met me" she said with the cockiest smile Cetro has ever seen.
"If you really beat her, then how'd you do it?" Skeeve asked.
Other aliens who heard the commotion came to hear her story. This was a good opportunity to boast about her strength and win over some supporters.
She gave an abridged version of her last fight with Angara, completely leaving out their first duel and exaggerating some details. They all listened intently, some believed every word while others had their doubts.
"Then I hit her with a blast of lightning and down she went, although that shield soaked up just about all of the damage. But I won all the same." She said triumphantly.
Cetro still had his doubts, "Well, it's your word over Angara's. How do we know you're telling the truth?"
Azula pulled out her communicator, "Why don't we ask her?"
Angara sat in My'Rell's office with her feet kicked up on a table. The captain sat behind her desk with commander Shaul by her side.
With a firm look directed towards Angara My'Rell said in a calm yet stern tone, "Absolutely not."
"Captain, I know this sounds stupid-"
"Stupid doesn't begin to cover it, Angara. You do know what you're asking for, right?"
Angara scowled, "Yeah, and I hate it, but I have to do this!"
My'Rell pinched the bridge of her nose trying to calm the headache that was beginning to form, "Taking Azula on as your protégé is a terrible idea. You two have been at each other's throats since the moment you met, and that whole mess on Kazima the both of you caused only further confirms my grievances."
Angara slammed her hands on the captain's desk, "My'Rell! She knows who I am! If I can't kill her then the least I can do is make sure she doesn't go shooting her mouth off!"
"I'm aware of the circumstances, trust me. Kowari has been calling almost nonstop about this and I already have Shaul keeping tabs on her." she turned to her second, "Where is she now?"
"Lectro has informed me that she left his lab early and is in the main hangar. Cetro will be keeping an eye on her until further notice."
She turned back to Angara, "See. She won't be able to go anywhere in this station without us knowing about it."
"I understand that captain but I can't just leave this to other people. It's my secret, nobody else should have to deal with it."
Shaul rose from his seat to meet her, "Your secret doesn't just affect you and your people, Angara. The Crimson Storm will be in just as much trouble with the empire if this gets out. We will not allow what she knows to jeopardize our whole operation."
"Then add me to the list of tab keepers. You're gonna have to put her in the field eventually and nobody else is going to be able to keep up with her but me. Not only that but she's crafty, she can talk her way and manipulate anyone else you send but not me and if she does something to compromise us I'll put her down." she turned back to the captain, "You can't seriously trust her to keep quiet, can you? What if she's planning something with that info?"
My'Rell's steely gaze faltered as she contemplated her words.
"Do you believe she's planning something, captain?" Shaul asked with a raised brow.
My'Rell looked uncertain, "I'd be a fool if I said that I trust her. I've worked with people like her in the empire. Young, lofty upstarts obsessed with glory and making a name for themselves. Those types often invite trouble."
The captain remained silent for some time until she made her decision, "One job. If you two can do one job together without letting your ego's get in the way then maybe I'll consider it."
Angara's posture relaxed at this although she wasn't overjoyed, "That sounds fair."
"I'll be overseeing this job personally, I'd like to see how our little firestarter operates in the field. Give me some time to find a job that I think she'll be able to handle."
"I can work with that." Angara's pocket then began to buzz and she pulled out the communicator and groaned at who was calling her, "What timing." She answered the device, "What do you want, pup?"
Azula's voice came through loud and clear with a smugness to it, "Hello Angara, I was just calling because I was curious about our duel."
Angara rolled her eyes remembering the outcome of it, "What about?"
"Well it was a duel to the death and we were rudely interrupted before it could conclude but even though we weren't able to follow through, would you consider it my win?"
Angara furrowed her brow in annoyance. She has no idea why she would suddenly ask this, perhaps her primitive mind didn't know how to process it so she lamented her bruised ego and admitted her defeat in the simplest way possible.
"Yes! You beat me fair and square! I was in a position that meant I couldn't fight back anymore, therefore you won! Ya happy!"
"Oh, very happy." She responded back in a velvety smooth voice, "See I told you all I won."
Angara's head jumped up at that last statement, "Wait? What do you mean by that?"
Little did she know Azula held out the device while it was on speaker with the various members of the engineering team crowded around her all with expressions of shock and disbelief.
"No way!" one of the engineers shouted, "You actually did it?!"
Angara's face twisted from annoyance to horror when she heard that unfamiliar voice with chatter from the others coming through, "Who's with you?!"
Azula's voice came back with very noticeable amusement, "Oh, nobody important, just several members of the engineering teams."
Angara's eyes widened knowing the engineers loved to gossip.
One of the engineer's voices came through as he shouted, "HEY EVERYONE! THIS GIRL, AZULA, BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF RED CAP ANGARA!"
Angara couldn't help but shout back catching the captain and commander's attention, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TELL THEM?!"
"Oh nothing special. Just about our duel the other day. Thanks for clearing that up by the way, the others didn't believe me."
Angara's blood began to boil and she could feel the veins throbbing in her head, "PUP! When I find you, I swear to all voices in the outer world, I will-"
"Sorry, gotta go. Bye!" Azula swiftly hung up before she could get another word in, leaving Angara standing there barely able to contain her rage with her yellow green skin on her face turning almost as red as her hair.
"Uh… Angara?" My'Rell said softly, "Is everything alright?"
Angara seethed as her breath became unsteady, "I AM GOING TO SKIN HER ALIVE!"
After Azula's humiliation of Angara everyone was dismissed. Azula worked alongside Cetro doing various tasks around the station from using her bending to weld holes in armored assault vehicles to using her meager upper body strength to help carry heavy objects, her pride wouldn't allow her to ask for help.
Now she found herself in the vehicle bay pulling open the panel of a crab lift with Cetro at her side instructing her.
"Remember, when pulling the battery out of a crab lift make sure the vehicle is shut off or you risk shooting sparks into your face." Cetro instructed with both sets of arms crossed beneath him, "Unplug the cable from the battery."
Azula yanked hard at the cable pulling it free.
"Now pull out the battery." She grabbed hold of the handles and with all her strength pulled the blocky battery the size of a small crate out of the vehicle letting it land on a cart at her side, "Easy! These things aren't cheap you know!"
She groaned in indignation as she pushed the cart while following him to the charging stations where several batteries from other vehicles sat. Azula unplugs another battery from its station on the floor and struggles to lift it up onto the cart.
"Remember, lift with your legs not your back, ya idiot!" He slapped her shoulder.
She wanted to say something back but she held her tongue as she did what he scolded her for. An imperfection in her attempt to adapt to her situation, one her father would scold her for as well, only Cetro's words cut nowhere near as deep.
She plugged up the other battery and pushed the cart back to the vehicle where Cetro helped her slide it into place and watched her plug it back in.
"Good, now we just need to get you to move faster than my grandmother on life support." the four armed alien praised.
They moved onto their next task which involved her pushing a large empty hover bin behind Cetro as they went to fetch whatever parts the fabricator finished creating.
They entered a service elevator that led to the fabricator. The elevator came through the roof of the storage room where the fabricator sat in the middle surrounded by cables that connected it to two generators and several engineers that were stationed here to insure it was fabricating smoothly. It required so much energy to function properly and the heat the generators gave off made the room quite warm.
She could see multiple arms within the compartment working tirelessly to generate various mechanical components, still amazed at what she saw.
She followed Cetro to one end of the room where various completed components sat where they both loaded them onto the cart.
Cetro grabbed one end of a bunch of steel rods tied together "Remember, lift with-"
"Lift with my legs! I know!" She said irritably as she grabbed the other end and lifted it into the bin.
"So, you really did beat up Angara." He said suddenly as he grabbed one end of a tire.
Azula grabbed the other end, "You don't approve?"
"Quite the opposite actually. I think it's about time someone knocked ol Red Cap on her rear. Just didn't think it'd be you." They tossed the tire in the bin before grabbing some fabricated wire.
That was possibly the nicest thing she's ever heard him say. It surprised her that he would even say something like that to her, although she didn't show it.
"Someone had too. I couldn't stand her attitude."
Cetro let out a chuckle, "Trust me, I know. My'Rell's been letting that girl's attitude run wild for too long. She thinks she's unstoppable just because everyone else here is scared of her, but I guess that can't be helped when your bite is just as bad as your bark." He tossed the wire in the bin.
Azula grinned as she picked up an empty fabricated oxygen tank, "I guess my bite is even greater."
"Careful kid, you're sticking your hand in the mouth of a SeCore."
She made a strange face in reaction to his words, "Is that some kind of saying around here?"
Cetro waved it off, "It's some Pendaren saying about hubris or something. Anyway, Angara isn't gonna forget about that stunt you pulled with the communicator. She's probably on her way here right now to rip your limbs off, and unlike me, I don't think yours can grow back."
"I've beaten her once, I can do it again."
He snorted, "There you go again sticking your hand back in the SeCore's mouth. Better yank it out before it bites down." His communicator buzzed with him answering and after speaking on the line for a few minutes then turned to her, "Alright kid, we've got something urgent to take care of. One of the mines outside isn't responding to signals from the command tower, so we gotta go out there to fix it."
Her eyes widened, "Outside? As in space?"
"Your deduction skills amaze me, kid." Cetro's voice was laced with sarcasm.
"I've only been out into space once and I almost died, so excuse me for being less than enthusiastic at the idea of going back out there. Especially since I haven't had any formal training yet."
"Then consider this your first day of space training, kid." he pulled up his communicator again calling someone else, "Skiv! Get your ass to hangar three and be ready to go out into space."
Before she knew it Azula found herself suited up in a form fitting red and black space suit with a yellow visor. It took her far too long to figure out how to put it on properly as it had too many zippers and buckles to keep track of but it was definitely better and more comfortable than the emergency shield suit and offered her a lot of flexibility in her movements, something she favored greatly in her attire.
However she felt a great apprehension about going outside. The only part of her bending she knew would work in this environment was lightning but it fried her suit the last time she used it so who is to say it won't do the same to this one. She could still feel it, the bone chilling feeling of space penetrating her body and her lungs struggling to pull in air that was absent.
It didn't matter now. She was already sitting in a repair pod next to Skeeve dressed in the same suit who sat there looking just as uneasy as the vessel sored through the asteroids.
"You know, I don't really like going out in open space very much. Zero-g isn't my favorite place to be and it makes me nauseous." He shared with her in an attempt to ease his own tensions.
Azula didn't care how he felt but the sudden turbulence made her jump to grab a safety handle and hold it tightly, "I guess that makes two of us."
The pod approached a large spherical object the size of a small house. The two long arms of the repair pod unfolded from its side and grappled the mine holding it in place.
With the mine secured Cetro left the pilot and co-pilot's side putting his helmet on, "Alright you two get ready to go outside." He then approached Azula, "Let me look over your suit and make sure you put it on right."
He pulled at several latches on the suit and readjusted some parts that were improperly secured.
"You did a crap job at putting this thing on. But better than most on their first time." He commented while readjusting a latch.
Not necessarily what she was expecting to hear but took the rare compliment from Cetro.
"Any tips you would like to share before we disembark?"
He put her helmet on her head, "Remember kid, in space there ain't no such thing as up, down or sideways so keep yourself oriented with the suits built in thrusters."
"How exactly do I do that?" She asked, testing her movements after his readjustments."
"All space helmets have built in tech that monitors your brain in order to predict your movements. Just focus on where you want to go and the suit thrusters will do the rest." He then pulled a cord from the wall of the airlock and hooked it to her belt, "So you don't float away."
The rear of the vessel opened and the three disembarked into the void. Cetro and Skeeve were the first to leave the vessel floating about with ease, their suits making micro adjustments to their directions allowing them to glide like fish swimming up river. Azula however struggled to use the suit's thrusters to orient herself accordingly.
She tried to focus on going straight and following behind them only to give too much thrust making her roll far forward and spiral out of control. The confusion it caused made her frantically try and stop herself which only activated more of the suits propulsion and further disorienting her until the cord stopped her from drifting further, so much so that Cetro had to drag her to the mine via cable.
"Does this ever get easier?" She asked after securing her magnetic boots to the mine.
"Sure it does. It's like riding a hovercycle, once you learn you never forget." Cetro stated.
"What's a hovercycle?"
Cetro only gave her a flat look while Skeeve couldn't help but laugh at that, "Just shut up and observe."
Skeeve approached trying his best not to look up into open space, "What am I supposed to do while I'm out here?"
Cetro unhooked a button from his belt where the tip extended with bristles sprouting from the top, "Clean the gunk out of the thrusters."
Skeeve's false smile faltered as he grabbed the brush, "More cleaning… great."
"Well if this is too much for you I could always slap a hazmat suit on ya and make you clean the inside of the reactor. Fair warning, they're the cheap kind."
Skeeve's flattering smile returned, "Cleaning thrusters isn't too bad!"
Cetro took a sonic screwdriver and undid a few bolts on the mine's surface pulling away a panel and uncovering a small computer screen and the inner workings of the mine.
Azula couldn't make sense of the complex machinery she was looking at, "So… what exactly is the problem?"
"Don't know, gotta run a full system scan. It's most likely just outdated software. These things are ancient so their computers are a little slow when it comes to updating, if they ever do update. So we might just have to upload the latest program manually. If it ain't that it could be an issue with the coding on this particular one."
Azula sighed, "I didn't understand a single word of what you just said."
Cetro groaned, "Okay, did anyone go over with you what computers and software are?"
"Isn't that what you are for?"
The four armed alien made a strangling motion with his hands, "I can't be the one teaching you everything!" He took a few deep breaths before continuing in a calm yet restrained tone, "Just watch what I do and we'll try and go over that later."
With that said Azula did as she was told and watched him work all the while he grumbled to himself, often throwing out the word, "primitive" in a derogatory manner.
She wasn't trying to incur his anger with her ignorance but she'd be lying if she said she didn't derive any pleasure from making him get all worked up.
Cetro continued his work on the mine's computer while Azula observed. He explained what he was doing in technical detail on the software however most of it went over her head.
Azula couldn't help but daze off and look out towards the stars hidden behind the many asteroids and washed by a green nebula that almost looked like a splatter of paint on a vast canvas of black. She was told that each star was a sun with planets orbiting it and couldn't help but wonder which star was her home. What she didn't expect from this serene view was just how silent it was out here, the only noises being the sound of her own breathing and the voices of her comrades on the radio.
She thought of her bending and in an attempt to use it she tried to conjure a flame in her hand only for none to appear, just like before. Another reason to be nervous about being in open space. She may even have to rely on those cheap bending knockoff weapons known as blasters.
"ABZUL!" Cetro's voice shook her out of her trance, "Pay attention! I didn't drag you out here to stargaze!"
"I'm trying to pay attention but this computer nonsense is too complicated for me."
"That's why I'm giving you a light introduction. It only gets more complicated from here on out."
She only rolled her eyes and went back to trying to pay attention but decided to ask more about the mine.
"Mines are a good defense from outside forces but from what I know you have to collide with them to be effective, yet space is so massive that there are literal miles between these rocks. It seems a ship could just slip through easily. Kind of defeats the purpose of having mines don't you think?"
Cetro only gave a condescending laugh, "Of course your primitive mind would think that, Abzul." he then patted her helmet like she was an ignorant child, "The beauty of technology means that you don't have to come to these mines to blow them up, instead they come to you."
She narrowed her eyes at him, "There's a less condescending way of explaining that."
"Yeah but I like my way better."
Skeeve rolled his eyes, he couldn't help but think that it would have been obvious for her to figure out.
"So what keeps them from exploding when we fly by?"
"That's because every ship we own broadcasts a code every time we enter the ring that lets the mines know we're friendly."
Skeeve's duel sets of ears perked up when hearing this, stopping him from cleaning and he listened more intently.
"Without that code you're as good as dead flying out here, every mine that detects ya would blow you away before you get anywhere close to the station." Cetro continued then went back to work.
They continued having their back and forth all the while Skeeve continued his duties and thought up a plan.
In his three days on the Crimson Storm homebase he had only scoped out the base level defenses of the area, cannons and turrets mostly with a few anti spacecraft artillery that could be dealt with by Courtix's forces but the thing Skeeve struggled with the most was finding a way for him to get past the mine field but thankfully Azula's ignorance to such defenses gave him the answer he needed.
He needed to know that code if Courtix was ever going to get remotely close to the station but the problem now is where will he find it.
It would most likely be in the base's server room which from what he saw were locked behind thick blast doors and monitored heavily. He could always try sneaking into the command tower and accessing the information there; however it was staffed at all hours and only authorized personnel were allowed.
Both options were equally risky so he'll have to thoroughly think out which was the better option. For now he'll continue his task and keep his ears open for any more useful information.
Angara now stood in Sev and Gax's workshop with her damaged armor lying on a table and all three of them huddled around the destroyed energy shield that was forever stuck in its open configuration, "So… be honest with me. Can it be fixed?"
Sev studied its chard center and the retractable frame, "The only way this thing is getting fixed is if whatever God you believe in comes down from the heavens to do it himself."
Gax muttered something similar.
"How'd you manage to break it like this? Aren't these things supposed to be indestructible?"
Angara made a noise of disgust, "It's the pup's fault. She hit me with that lightning thing she used on SkyBurner."
"Wait, you tanked her big electrical attack at point blank and lived? The same attack that put a hole in the bridge of a capital ship?"
"Yeah. Arm is still a little numb from it." She said nonchalantly while flexing it, "So what you're saying is I've got to buy a whole new energy shield?"
"Yup."
"Great, as if this one wasn't expensive enough already."
"TAKUNI KE SHARI?" Gax asked as he fiddled with the shield.
"No, they're not gonna give me a discount back at the camp." She answered, beginning to pace about their workshop.
She didn't understand Gax's language but she's been around him long enough to get the gist of what his words meant through body language and the fact that he likes to gesture with his hands when speaking.
"The camp's armorer has a bit of a vendetta against me after this little accident I caused in his forge a couple years ago, and says the only piece of armor he'll work on for free is my helmet. You guys think you can fix up the rest of it?"
Gax observed her armor, "MARI SHARA KAVIRA!"
"Says it'll take a few days but it's doable."
"Good, in the meantime I'm gonna wait for the pup to come back from outside and tear her a new one!" she cracked her knuckles as if to emphasize her point.
"Still mad about the fight?"
"No, I'm mad that she started spreading rumors about the fight saying she mopped the floor with me when it was an even match! She's got the whole engineering team talking about it and making me look like some pushover!" she complained leaving out how Azula fooled her into revealing this herself.
Sev took a seat at a stool, "But you still lost the fight and that's what most people really care about."
"She didn't even tell them about our first fight! The one I won!" Angara paced harder around the room, so much so Sev was beginning to think she was going to wear down his floor, "That girl! I hate her, I hate her with every fiber of my being!"
"That's not a lot of fibers then, shorty." Sev joked.
She snapped her head in his direction, shooting him with a fowl glare.
Sev's light joking mood ceased, "Don't you think that maybe you're just a little jealous of her?"
Angara gave him a shrill mocking laugh, "Jealous? Of what? Being some primitive with fancy superpowers!"
"Jealous as in, you were the most scary badass merc here and then this new younger badass comes along and isn't scared of you, openly challenges you, is the talk of the station and, oh yeah, can confirm that she's taken you on and won without severe injury." He turned on the radio hoping the sound of his favorite thrasher music will drown out the tension brewing in the air, "Also being a princess kinda adds to the gossip."
Angara had to remember that neither of her two friends knew her true identity.
She disregarded that not wanting to think of her heritage, "Sev, you make it sound like I'm some old geezer afraid of being replaced. I'm only twenty one."
"And you're obsessing over what a sixteen year old is saying behind your back."
Angara opened her mouth to say something but closed it once she found the logic in his argument.
"Yeah… well… SHUT UP!"
"Maybe you should start acting your age." Sev teased.
"That's rich coming from the adult who still watches cartoons."
He argued back with a more defensive tone, "Animation is a medium that can be enjoyed by all ages."
Sev continued as he turned to one of his many prosthetic limbs that dangled from the ceiling and pulled one down to inspect it, "Maybe you're just jealous that the captain's taken an interest in her. Didn't she make herself the firespitter's legal guardian?"
"Only to keep an eye on her. The captain thinks she's planning something."
"Now you're just being paranoid." Sev said as he opened a compartment on the prosthetic.
"I'm serious! The captain even said so."
"What would she even be planning?"
Angara paused not truly knowing what to say, "I don't know. Maybe to take over the storm and make us all her slaves!"
Gax laughed loudly from the back.
"Now you really sound paranoid." He put down the metal limb, "But, the captain did say she didn't trust her, so…"
"See!" she shouted triumphantly.
"But at the same time I think that's your bruised ego talking."
"She's up to something, you'll see!" Angara said before making her way to the door, "Let me know when you guys are finished with my armor."
"You aren't going out looking for trouble, are ya?"
Angara didn't respond, she only slammed the door shut.
My'Rell cleaned the disassembled parts of one of her many blasters in her private quarters. She finally had some free time to herself from the chaos of her work life and the disassembling and cleaning of her weapon always acted as a detox to clear her mind, especially now that she got a chance to finally inspect her new blaster.
Her peace was suddenly shattered as knocking came from her door. She recognized that energetic rhythm, it was Lectro probably wanting to run some kind of experiment with Azula. Of course of all times he could ask, it was during her off hours.
She turned her attention back to scrubbing the blaster component. Maybe if she ignores him he'll go away.
The knocking came again with more intensity, "Captain, I know you're in there! Commander Shaul said you'd be here!"
"Did he also tell you that it was my free time?"
"He failed to mention that! Can I come in? It's very important, it involves my research on Azula!"
She rolled her eyes telling him to enter knowing he'll just keep bothering her if she doesn't hear him out, "What do you have on her?"
He took a seat in an empty chair across from her, "Very little, we're still in the beginning stages of this which is why I would like to test a theory."
She never looked up from cleaning her weapon, "And that theory is?"
"Well, as you know, her bending comes from the sun, without it she basically doesn't have it."
My'Rell grunted in acknowledgement.
"But, as you know, there are different types of sun's out there, so I was hoping-"
"To take her to other solar systems and see what happens?" She finished for him.
"Oh… well yes actually. If we can see if there are any effects it could give us some very useful data. Along with giving us a better understanding of how to utilize her." He made sure to add a tactical reason as those tend to sway the captain's judgment in his favor.
She stopped her cleaning to contemplate this, "That would be useful. Wouldn't want to send her to a red dwarf system only for it to make her explode."
"Precisely!" He said excitedly, "Plus imagine all the useful data we could find."
My'Rell put down the blaster part and finally looked up at him, "Alright Lectro you've convinced me. Give me the details by tomorrow and I'll give you the okay."
"Yes!" Lectro declared shooting out of his seat, "Thank you, captain! You won't regret this!"
"Be sure to find a ship that'll take you where you need to go, and I want a thorough report on everything you find."
"Of course no details will be exempt."
"Good, now get out." She said swiftly wanting no more talk of work.
After ushering the energetic scientist out of her quarters she finished cleaning her weapon and reassembled it, along with deciding to take her brand new weapon to the firing range.
Once she entered the range and waved hello to the armament officer, an old blue Pendaren man, she noticed the range was occupied by one person, Azula.
Curious she entered the range where she saw Azula fiddling with a small caliber plasma pistol. She pointed it at the humanoid holographic target pulling at the trigger but nothing came out, a clear look of frustration on her face as she slapped the side of the weapon.
"Come on! Why won't you work?" She shook the weapon again, so much so it made My'Rell somewhat uncomfortable and fearful that she'd end up hurting herself. Thankfully she's not looking down the barrel.
Azula began looking down the barrel.
My'Rell jumped to her side and quickly pulled the weapon away.
"Rule number one on using a blaster. Never do that!"
Azula gave her a look similar to a child knowing what they did was wrong, "I can't get it to work. There must be some kind of obstruction."
My'Rell looked over the weapon then flipped a switch, "The safety was on."
Azula only crossed her arms and looked away to try and hide the shame of overlooking something so simple.
"What are you doing here alone anyway?"
She spoke as if she was admitting defeat, "I've been thinking about how my bending can't be solely relied on given how it fluctuates out here, so if I am to be effective I need to familiarize myself with these blasters."
"You say that like it's a bad thing."
Azula snorted, "Because I have to downgrade myself to using a weapon that takes no skill to use."
My'Rell's serious demeanor faltered as she let out a genuine laugh at her statement, "No skill? That's hilarious."
"It's true, all you have to do is point and shoot. No skill, no talent."
"Isn't that what firebending is? Pointing with your fingers and shooting?"
"That's different." Azula said in annoyance.
"Riiiight." My'Rell turned to the holographic target and began aiming with the pistol, "Sure any idiot that grabs one of these can squeeze the trigger and burn a hole through your body at point blank range but it takes real skill to use one effectively." She looked down the sights and aimed for the direct center of the target, "Like nailing a target from several yards away, hitting one that's moving or how you react when something jumps out." She squeezed the trigger sending a bright red bolt dead center in the target's chest, "Not to mention; posture, breathing, weapon type, situational awareness and more. Blasters can be simple to use but difficult to master."
Azula didn't feel she needed to respond.
"If you wanted a lesson you could have just asked, so you don't accidentally burn a hole through your head." My'Rell scolded.
"I can manage by myself, captain." Azula said, reaching for the weapon.
My'Rell pulled away, "No one will think less of you for it."
"I will." She shot back.
My'Rell sighed, "You needed a master in order to firebend, right? Same principle. You can't learn anything if there is no one there to tell you how not to get burned."
Azula grumbled but relented, "Fine. Would you mind giving me a few lessons then, sifu My'Rell?"
My'Rell didn't give her a verbal answer and instead brought the pistol to her attention, "What you're looking at here is a basic plasma pistol. Fits comfortably in most species hands and is standard use in the Pendaren Empire and in most other places."
She pointed to the switch just above the trigger, "All blasters have a switch like this that allows the weapons firing mode to be changed between three different settings. Safety, stun…" she switched the setting and fired a blue blast of electric energy, "... and lethal." She switched it back and fired another red beam.
"When you aren't using the blaster it should always be switched to safety, and just like how you would never hold a knife to someone's throat unless you intend on cutting it, never point this at anyone or anything unless you intend on shooting it." She handed it back to her, "I'm sure you were told never to play with fire, so don't treat this like a toy."
Azula took the weapon and mimicked her stance as best she could but with her legs spread further apart like many of her firebending forms.
My'Rell nudged her feet further together with her own, "Your stance is too wide. Keep it shoulder length, and straighten your knees a little." Azula made the necessary changes as My'Rell looks over her grip, "We gotta drill some trigger discipline into you, finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire." My'Rell then gently grabbed her hands and shifted the alignment, "Aim down the sights towards were you want to shoot." Azula took aim for the red chest of the target, "Lock your arms and wrists. It's going to have some kickback. Once you've got your mark, squeeze the trigger, don't pull."
She did as instructed and gently squeezed and fired. The bolt didn't hit her mark exactly like My'Rell's did but was in the general area. She was surprised by the power in the recoil, it was nothing like bending at all.
Fire always came out so smoothly while this weapon felt so rough and undisciplined, almost like lightning fighting to break free of her control. If she hadn't locked in her arms it probably would have flown out of her hands.
"Not perfect but very good for your first try. Go again and see if you can hit the center."
She took aim again and fired several more times, missing her target before managing to land her blasts in the general area of the target. She was confident at first but with each mark mist it faded with the recoil after each shot throwing her aim off. She kept firing hoping to at least land one until some flaps at the base of the barrel opened expelling heat with a loud hiss and the trigger locking up.
"Also watch out for overheating." My'Rell said while pulling out her blaster from its case, "Firing builds up heat in the battery and will automatically go into cool down mode. When that happens you'll have to wait a bit before firing again."
She prepped her larger bulkier weapon and took aim down the range, "When you're in a firefight getting stuck on cool down could be a death sentence as you'll be at the mercy of your enemy until your weapon is ready. If you don't want to be stuck waiting for your battery to cool off you can manually open the cooling flaps after firing a few blasts. Watch."
She fired up to three blasts at her target, nailing them in the center, then pulled back on the top her weapon expelling the heat quickly then repeated the process.
My'Rell's instructions were clear and lighthearted, she didn't demand perfection like her father and expected her to make mistakes. It felt surreal for Azula to receive praise just for trying and not being scolded for every little mistake, "Well… I guess you were right. There is more to it than I had thought."
"Of course I'm right. I didn't become a sharpshooter for nothing." She put her weapon down, "You really are a prodigy though. You took to it pretty well for your first time, almost able to hit it dead center."
She looked back at her target seeing the scorch marks on the wall through the hologram. She scowled at the sight of it, "Almost isn't good enough. Failure is failure no matter how small the error or how well everything else is performed."
My'Rell ceased her firing at the tone in her voice. She sounded as though she was scolding herself for not being perfect at it the first time around, as if she was expecting to be judged harshly even though she handled the blaster pretty well.
"Don't take it too seriously. For now almost is just fine." Azula gave her a strange look as My'Rell packed away her weapon.
Azula scoffed, "Such sound advice from my legal guardian. By the way, why did you make yourself my guardian?"
This was the first time it had been brought up since they had made her ID.
"What? Am I not worthy enough to play the role of royal caretaker for you?" My'Rell teased, "Because, it would have made things a lot simpler paperwork wise when making your ID, along with sidelining a bunch of legal stuff we would have had to go through. Besides, you need some type of oversight to keep you out of trouble."
"You're my boss, you already have oversight over me."
"Yeah, but now you won't be able to do certain things without my approval, like buy alcohol, smoke spice, watch R rated holovids, travel by yourself, etc."
"What's a holovid?" Azula asked, it was the first time she heard this term.
"The point is, if you want to do anything outside the storm you'll need my expressive permission, or I'll need to accompany you."
It was then that it clicked in Azula's head, My'Rell was using her status as legal guardian to keep a closer eye on her and limit her movements. There was no doubt in her mind that My'Rell suspect her plan especially now that she had Angara's secret. If Azula didn't suspect tabs were being kept on her she was more then sure now.
"So, am I to refer to you as my mother now?" Azula said sardonically.
My'Rell's brow scrunched up in a look of discomfort, "I'd rather you not."
"Why not? You're my caretaker now so you should have the appropriate title. Don't you think, mother?" She said with false sweetness and took joy in My'Rell's clear discomfort.
"You think you're funny, huh?"
"I think I'm hilarious actually."
My'Rell only shook her head at seeing her mischievous grin and decided to wipe it off by flicking her hard in the forehead.
"Alright you little shit. Since you want me to be your mommy so bad, how about I start by asking you this. Have you eaten yet?"
Azula rubbed her forehead grimacing at her, "No I haven't."
"Then let's head to the galley, I'm starving." My'Rell wrapped an arm around her pulling her along with her.
Azula struggled to get out of My'Rell's surprisingly strong grip, "Isn't it packed at this time? I'll wait till later."
"Nonsense, that's the best time to go. Get to socialize, have some down time with the crew, it'll be great!" My'Rell said with a smile completely ignoring Azula's attempts at escaping.
"No, really. I'd much rather-"
My'Rell pulled her into a headlock as she walked with her, "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't make sure my little baby was well fed?" she started to use a babying voice that only annoyed Azula further.
My'Rell was taking clear pleasure at her discomfort and Azula heavily regrets encouraging this joke, "Okay My'Rell this isn't funny anymore!"
"Aw, is my little pup throwing a temper tantrum?"
"Don't call me pup!"
Finally this chapter is done! It took way longer than it should have. I really wanted some down time for the characters before we go full throttle into the next adventure and try and show what a typical day on the station is like for Azula.
I'm no engineer so I have no idea how tech works or what the duties are for anyone on board a space station so please forgive what I feel are subpar descriptions of what they do, I'm mainly just going on my own experiences working in a grocery store warehouse and making some stuff up.
Got some good bonding time with Azula and My'Rell in this chapter that really contrasts Ozai's style of mentoring and, fun fact, that flashback with Ozai at the beginning was added in at the last second. That's a little trend I've noticed I do with those flashbacks. lol.
Thank you for reading and like always tell me what you think! Whether you liked it or not or to critique!