Chapter 17
The four members of the bridge crew climbed into the tubular escape pod with their hands still raised as Lectro stood behind them with a blaster.
"Again, sorry we had to do this but thank you for cooperating."
After the door slid close he launched the pod from the wall terminal, holstering his blaster relieved that he didn't have to use it and returned to the bridge.
"Bridge crew has disembarked." He said taking the copilot seat.
"I still think we should have just shot them." Skeeve commented as he accessed the nav-computer.
"That's a little excessive, don't you think?"
"I just don't want any more surprises."
Lectro decided to change the subject to more pressing matters, "I hope the others are doing okay."
"I'm sure they're fine. If they weren't we wouldn't have the ship."
"Still, it wouldn't hurt to check on them." Lectro accessed the camera feed in and around the engineering room seeing what was left of the thugs and strike team in a firefight with Sev and Cetro.
Sev continued to fire at the troopers as Cetro joined him.
The tactically equipped strike team members began tossing smoke grenades down the hall and into the engine room masking their presence.
"Close the door!" Cetro ordered.
Sev did so and made sure to smash the panel to lock it in place.
Now locked in the engine room Cetro contacted the bridge, "Engine room is secure, for now. How are things on your end?"
"Skeeve and I have successfully taken the bridge and sent the crew up here on their way." Lectro responded.
"Good, any trouble?"
"No it was fairly easy once Azula drew Slater and his men away."
"She's not with you? Where she at?"
"I'm going over the security footage now and… found her! She's back in the cargo bay with Slater, and by the looks of it she's got her bending back."
"Good, she'll make short work of him while we take care of the stragglers on board." As he said that, sparks began to shoot out from one of the exits on the upper platform, "Said stragglers are now trying to torch their way in now."
Lectro looked over the control console of the ship, "Is there anything we can do from here?"
"Maybe you can seal them in where they're at and cut off oxygen." Cetro suggested.
"Sorry to cut in but we've got a problem." Skeeve said.
"What is it?" Lectro asked, looking at the main viewing screen and seeing Gold Sun gunships appearing behind them. The very same ships accompanying Slater.
"Oh no…. No no no no!" Lectro began to panic.
"What's going on up there doc?"
"The other ships just showed up!"
"They must have traced our jump signature. I'll focus power on the shields and engines. You two focus on getting us out of their sights."
"How do we do that? We're in open space?"
"I don't know, figure something out!" Cetro shouted before logging off the coms.
Skeeve scoffed, "Figure it out he says! He's not the one flying this thing!"
One of the screens flashed at the copilot's station, "They're trying to contact us? What do we do?"
"Watch the master at work." Skeeve said with a confident smirk as he patched them in.
"Star Runner! What is going on with your ship?" The gruff voice of one of the ships said.
"Star Runner?" Lectro asked.
"Guess that's us." Skeeve put on a headset, "This is Star Runner speaking, we just had a little bit of engine trouble on our end, we're taking care of it."
"If it was engine trouble then why did the extraction team get ejected?"
"Bad motor on the cargo door. Gonna get that checked out when we land." He lied effortlessly.
"I want to speak to Slater."
"The boss man is busy right now. He's stringing up the engineers as we speak and made it very clear he didn't want to be disturbed." The self satisfied grin never left Skeeve's face, it was almost too easy for him when it came to lying to these people.
"We picked up an escape pod that held the entire engineering team on it before you jumped and they've said that the Star Runner was hijacked."
Skeeve lost his grin. He didn't think Cetro would send them out an escape pod.
Some more chatter came in with the voice returning with an uproar, "We just got a signal from a second escape pod saying they're the bridge crew. Who am I speaking with?"
Skeeve remained silent trying to think of a reasonable response as the gun ships began targeting them. When he couldn't find one he cut the transmission and boosted the yacht away as fast as the engines would allow with the enemy ships boosting after them.
"Master at work, huh?" Lectro said sarcastically as plasma bolts started coming their way.
"Shut up and help us find a way out of here!"
Lectro looked through the ship's systems, "Don't we have torpedoes or something we can use against them?"
"This is a pleasure boat! All we've got are point defense turrets! What's the nearest planet?"
Lectro looked through the systems again, "Birchanne, putting in coordinates."
The Star Runner shifted its direction and boosted towards a green gas giant.
Azula and Slater had taken on fighting stances across from one another. Azula maintained a traditional firebending stance while Slater stood with his electric fists raised guarding his face, elbows tucked and feet spread at shoulder length. He bounced off each foot as if he was ready to jump in any direction once the first strike was made.
She kept her eyes on his fists knowing they were the most lethal part of him but was sure to shift her focus on his feet to be sure she can react accordingly for whenever he chooses to strike.
"So, how we planning on do'n this? You first? Me first? Or do we want to throw hands at the same time and see who gets the first lick in?"
"By all means go right ahead. After everything we've put you through I might as well be nice and give you the first strike."
"Oh well that is mighty kind of ya, if I do say so myse-"
Azula thrusted her fingers forward sending a blast towards his head. Slater quickly ducked dodging into the attack and closed the distance with a lunge and a crackling fist being thrown at her side.
Unconsciously Azula swatted the punch away only to feel the shock as soon as she made contact.
His quick attacks had thrown her off balance and put her on the defensive. All his jabs were fast like cannon balls being fired with one always guarding his face, he left no room for her to retaliate and was forced to dodge each potential blow making her hair stand on end.
After ducking out the way of a sweeping elbow she rolled out of his range quickly shooting off some fireballs at him.
He jumped out of the way and hid behind a stack of crates, "You sly dog you! Caught me mid sentence! Thought ya had a little more honor than that." He laughed as he removed one of his gold chains.
Azula approached the crate fingers ready to fire, "I didn't quite take you for the honorable type." she jumped around the corner sending a burst where he should have been only to find the space empty.
To her surprise a gold chain wrapped around her firing wrist as Slater jumped out from behind the opposing stack and sent a surge of electricity into her.
"If you ask me, honor is overrated. Honor is what gets you a plasma bolt in the back on the streets." He sent another rush of electricity through her body, "You don't seem like someone who cares for honor either, after all you went for the cheap shot."
She screamed at the pain as it caused her body to tense up until she sent her foot into his side pushing herself away, snapping the chain and falling to her side.
Before he could attack again she sent an upward kick generating a wave of fire that he narrowly avoided in a stumbled backstep that gave her just enough time to roll back on her feet and go on the offensive.
From what she could tell his electric ability was only deadly if he was capable of touching her. She didn't know if he was capable of shooting it out like she could but considered it a possibility, for now she just needed to keep him at a distance. She sent waves of orange fire towards him in quick succession with him barely managing to dodge them with one of his pant legs catching fire from the tail end of a blaze.
The assault was too much for him as he dove behind another crate quickly patting out his burning leg as he tried to figure out how to counter her attacks. Knowing she had the upper hand in this situation he ran behind another stack of crates as she appeared, sending a jetstream down the row with the flames brushing against the lock of the largest crate melting it off and sending its contents of machine components and weapons spilling out blocking the path.
This fight was starting to become too one sided for Slater's liking. He needed an edge against her, something to get past her flames and he got his answer when he saw a fire extinguisher hanging on the wall.
Undeterred by the mess of metal Azula charged ahead using her firebending to leap over the wreckage and having a clear view of Slater.
"So much for impressing me Slater!" She mocked as she sent another cone of fire to engulf the man, however as the fire was about to swallow him he turned quickly and the flames were met with a chilling cloud of smoke that smothered them before they could make contact.
"Bet ya didn't see that coming, did ya?" He laughed at her shock as he held the extinguisher in his hands before swinging it at her like a club.
She dodged the blow backing up as he invaded her space, swiping at her with an electric hand.
She sent a jab to his face in hopes of momentarily disorientating him only for her fist to collide with the hard metal extinguisher that he used to block her attack.
Reeling from punching the extinguisher she failed to notice Slater placing his hand against her stomach and sending a shock through her system and followed with an attempt to plant the base end of the extinguisher into her head.
After narrowly escaping the blow she attempted more firebending but Slater managed to counter it by blasting and covering her in the chilling substance. It distracted her long enough for Slater to deliver a swift kick to her side sending her into a stack.
With the upper hand now going to Slater, Azula backed away. The advantage of being able to attack from afar had now been rendered useless so long as he kept the bright red cylinder in one hand and now knowing it makes a good blunt weapon discouraged her from wanting to risk close quarters combat. He had a counter for just about everything she could throw at him, if her flames had their signature blue coloration and higher temperatures perhaps she could overwhelm him but she would have to wait to arrive on a planet for that and wasn't willing to wait that long in order to finish this fight. Her best strategy now would be to try and take him by surprise.
"What's wrong Azula? Get'n cold feet? Get it?" He laughed then spritzed the air with the extinguisher to make his point.
Her expression soured at the bad pun as she bolted into the rows of crates.
"Oh come on now! The joke wasn't that bad."
The Star Runner flew through space as plasma bolts zoomed past them as they raced towards the green planet, several of which collided with their shields.
Each collision caused the ship to shake with Skeeve doing everything he could to avoid them.
"Don't they know that their boss is still on board?" Lectro asked.
"They're targeting our wings and engines! They're trying to cripple us so they can board!" Skeeve explained as he maneuvered them out the way of another oncoming blast, "You got the turrets online?"
Lectro fiddled with his panel activating them.
On the outside of the ship three turrets; one at the top behind the bridge, another at the base and one at the nose, swiveled towards their attackers and began firing a barrage of yellow plasma that bounced off their shields.
"Better than nothing I guess." Lectro said before contacting Cetro, "Guy's, how are you in engineering?
Cetro kept a close eye on the console making sure everything was running smoothly, "Engine wise everything is good. My biggest concern is the rest of the crew still on board. They've been pretty quiet since we locked them out. Keep the doors to the bridge locked until we can do something about-"
One of the doors to the upper level was blown from its hinges as the troopers began pouring in and began firing.
"Alert! Alert! I am under siege." B3 announced as a stray plasma bolt grazed his metal plating with the robot disconnecting from the console and taking cover with Cetro and Sev following suit.
"Update, the problem got in!" Cetro said dodging a plasma bolt coming for his head, "Do whatever you can to avoid us getting shot down while we take care of this, and while you're at it tell Abzul to hurry up with Slater and get here now!"
"I don't know, she looks a little busy at the moment." Lectro responded as another blast hit the ship.
"He's just one guy and she can shoot fire. He can't be that hard?"
Azula hid behind a stack of crates as she nursed the electric wound on her stomach as Slater's footsteps echoed with the ship shuddering from another blast.
"Oh Azula… Where are you?" Slater called out, "You still here? I'd be disappointed if that's all you had to show me." He jumped out with the hose of the extinguisher ready to fire only to find nothing there, "So, how'd you do that fire trick of yers? Cybernetics, bio-tech, magic? Or maybe yer a lab experiment that got loose." He peaked over the corner of another row, "Maybe not, ya got too much confidence in ya. Plus you fight too well to have been raised in a lab."
She quietly followed his voice and summoned a fire dagger, "You think you know me? I guarantee you Slater, you couldn't be any more wrong."
He spun towards the direction of the voice and slowly crept towards it, "I may not know you, per say, but I think I've got a good idea of what I'm deal'n with. I'm a pretty good judge of character."
She scoffed, "Well you're not the only people person here. I've gotten a good look at you and I think I can surmise who you are adequately."
Slater readied the extinguisher as he got closer to where he believed she was, "That right? Care to share what you've figured out?"
"Of course." She called out from behind him catching him by surprise before disappearing behind another crate stack, "You're a nobody who had nothing, came from nothing and will probably die with nothing. Right now you might have power and prestige but you flaunt it around like a child trying desperately to show the world that you matter, but no amount of money or charisma can hide that you're actually just a small insecure man."
Slater took in every malicious word she threw and to Azula's surprise he just laughed.
It took him a while to regain his composure which led to him being wide open for an attack. She could strike now and end this once and for all but she didn't, she was confused by his reaction. She was sure she had hit him in every point that would make him drown in his insecurities or boil over in blind rage yet his laughter echoed throughout the room and she needed to know why.
He finally calmed down, wiping away a tear, "Damn girl, you didn't pull any punches! Went straight for the throat with that one, but yeah you've got some of it right; I was born in the gutter, raised in the gutter but I damn well ain't gon die in it, and yeah I like flaunt'n ma stuff. Why have wealth if ya don't show it off? I know what I am and I ain't afraid to let the world know."
He looked down one of the rows seeing the crate that had been broken earlier noticing a piece of chrome metal lying on the ground and after squinting he could see the warped image of Azula positioning herself behind the stack opposite to it ready to jump out. He bent down and grabbed a smoke grenade that had rolled out, keeping his thumb on the activation button.
"Now that you've psychoanalyzed me I think it's bout time I do the same."
Azula snorted, "This ought to be rich. Do pray tell, Slater. Who do you think I am?" She brought the orange fire blade up ready to strike.
"That tenacity and posh attitude, no doubt about it. Yer someone who comes from money, born with an umbrella over yer head to block the harsh rain of the universe, but something happened. The umbrella got dropped and yer soaked in the reality that you ain't at the top of the universe, slumming around with bottom of the barrel mercs like the Crimson Storm just to survive. I may have come from nothing but that built character and I was able to claw ma way outta it. But you, you started from the top and fell hard, and it's difficult to get back up when you've fallen so far."
Azula listened to his monologue amused at first but it soon turned to irritation as she realized just how well her opponent was able to read her. She thought she could gain control of the situation with her words but, like Angara, Slater was an anomaly she couldn't dig her claws into.
"But you definitely ain't no defenseless little girl. I saw whatcha did to ma men in the sewers, you've got some martial talent in ya. Talent wasted on the Crimson Storm." He armed the smoke grenade and rolled it down the row.
"So you want me to abandon the storm in favor of the Golden Sun? Thanks but I'm not interested in becoming your underling."
"Well, that's a shame then."
She failed to notice the smoke grenade stop at her side and in an instant dispensed the area around her in clouds of smoke forcing her out of hiding as she covered her mouth coughing out trying to escape the choking smoke.
Before she realized it Slater was on top of her and caught her in the chin with a back handed swipe that sent her to the floor.
Before he could strike again she kicked her legs out sending arcs of fire in every direction, too many for Slater to counter with his extinguisher and forced him back. She rushed him before he could recover, resummoning a fire dagger and swiped at his face managing to land a burn across his cheek.
She ducked under a retaliatory swing getting behind him and dragging the fire dagger across his back before sending a flaming chop to his side.
He blasted her with the extinguisher, blinding her long enough to hobble back. Once the smoke cleared Azula had disappeared again.
He had the extinguisher at the ready as his eyes darted around waiting for her to appear again. He heard movement from above and found Azula had climbed atop one of the stacks and brought down a fist sending a torrent of fire down on him. Slater barely managed to roll out of the way in time with the shoulder of his shirt catching fire.
She remained at her vantage point firing another torrent at him with Slater quickly bringing up the extinguisher and firing a counter blast but blinded himself to anything else beyond.
Azula had enough of this extinguisher and calculated on how to get rid of it. She carefully targeted the bright red cylindrical body and sent a small focused fire bolt burning a hole that sent an explosive smokescreen everywhere.
Now without a counter Azula leapt down sending a fiery dropkick to dissipate the cloud. Slater threw the damaged canister as she ducked out of the way and sent a series of punches and kicks interspersed with flames. Slater managed to dodge most of the fire but couldn't deflect many of the blows she sent.
As she was about to send another fire infused blow to his stomach he caught the fist. She tried to counter with a fiery sweep with her other hand only for this one to be caught by the wrist. Now with both arms disabled he sent an even stronger surge of electricity through her arms, one so strong she couldn't hold in her cries of pain as he forced her down to her knees.
"One fatal flaw folks like you got is that yer overconfident! Ya don't think that someone like me could take ya down until it's too late." He lectured her, his hands crackling brighter burning her wrists until they suddenly stopped and the burning pain of electric volts running through her nerves was replaced with a faint tingling sensation.
The once swollen blue stripes that housed his electric energy were now thin and withered like a sponge with all of its water squeezed out and with it Slater's orange eyes widened as he realized he burned through all of his energy.
Azula took notice and hit him with a leg sweep and pulled herself out of his grasp. The pain in her arms was great but she ignored it as she shot blaze after blaze at the man. He no longer had any power at his disposal so now she was going to revel in making him fear for his life, he thought he knew her but now she's going to show him how much he doesn't know and make him regret wanting to fight her.
"It seems I'm not the only one who's over confident!"
Within the engineering room Cetro's face was being pressed against the main control console as he wrestled for control with one of the troopers.
Sev continued his own battle with several troopers in a firefight as he hid behind machinery, his injuries and missing left foot keeping him from being more mobile.
Cetro managed to keep the troopers pistol away from him as they continued to fight but Cetro was losing the strength to keep it away. B3 shot out of his hiding place ramming his body against the trooper sending him flying back.
The trooper attempted to fire on B3 only for the robot to swipe the weapon out of his hands, grabbing the man and flinging him towards the upper level.
Cetro looked at the robot in surprise, "Damn robot, that's a pretty good self defense protocol."
"My designation is B3." The robot said calmly.
The other Gold Suns members noticed this and focused their attention on B3. Sev took advantage shooting through the floor of the upper level then grabbed the trooper B3 knocked over and threw him at the last member at the opposite end of the catwalk with both of them flying back and hitting the controls of the gravity core.
Slater ran down the row and ducked behind a column of crates as fire rushed. He quickly peeled the outer layer of his burning shirt off once he realized there was no putting it out and tossed them at his pursuer once she found him.
He tried getting away from Azula but with the loss of his electric energy emboldened the young firebender into pursuing him like a feral animal.
She was completely different now than she was at the start of their battle. Before she was confident, calm and collected but now she was wild with an unrelenting aggression, her eyes wide with a manic excitement and a sadistic smile stretched over her face. The same expression he saw through the trooper's helmet.
"Come on Slater! I thought you like a good scuffle! Don't tell me without your electric hands you're nothing!" She taunted sending another blast over his head as he managed to escape the rows of cargo.
As he recovered he barely dodged a fiery foot lodging itself in the console controls on the wall that cracked and flickered. She followed up with a roundhouse kick that sent a wave of flames that cut through an exposed wire that shot sparks between them before going for a jumping strike.
Slater was able to catch her strike and throw her off him.
"You think I'm down for the count?" Slater grabbed the sparking wire, his face twisting in pain as electric currents traversed his body with the blue striped organs swelling.
He let go of the wire, his hand now covered in electric burns as electricity danced along his arms, "A little hiccup ain't gonna stop me."
As Azula and Slater charged to continue their battle the gravity shut off sending both careening into the air. Azula used her firebending to stabilize herself in air as Slater inverted himself and used the magnetic plates in his shoes to cling to the ceiling.
Azula shot herself towards him like a jet, taking advantage of the freedom zero gravity provided, shooting fireballs at him as he sprinted out of the way and pulling a ceiling panel free to use as a shield as she passed him by.
As she readjusted herself he flung the panel at her catching her off guard long enough to launch himself towards her, grabbing her by the leg and flinging her onto a large crate before pushing himself off the ceiling delivering an electric punch. She managed to jump out of the way as his fist dented the crate.
She shot blasts of fire to maneuver out of his grasp and flew around the room being sure to stay out of his range. He couldn't match her new found mobility and range with no strategy on how to counter it. He dived in between the rows as she swooped by coating the area in flames and when he made contact with the ground he saw one of the control panels on the wall for the cargo bays magnetic locks.
He lunged for the controls pulling himself towards it as Azula made bombing runs trying to strike him until he managed to successfully make it.
With the press of a few buttons the magnetic locks keeping the supplies rooted shut off with all of the crates now free floating everywhere hampering Azula's movements as they collided with one another, several of which bursting open spilling their contents out, cluttering the air. The worst part being that she lost track of Slater in the process.
She spun around boosting her way through the debris searching for him as her eyes darted around expecting an attack from any direction.
"You should just admit your defeat Slater. It's clear who the superior fighter is, so why don't we just end this before you run out of cheap tricks to save you"
"Can ya blame me?" his voice echoed out, "That fire business of yer's is one helluva show stopper. I ain't got the range you got, sure there are some Chundari that can fling electric currents out but I'm big enough a man to admit that I ain't got the skills to do that sort of thing."
She couldn't pinpoint where his voice was coming from as she glided past several storage units.
"Ya know, you've got it girl."
"What exactly?"
"It! That spark of something great, both figuratively and literally. Yer a damn good fighter and you've got a good head on yer shoulder's. I wouldn't be surprised if taking ma ship was all yer idea. Ma point is there's a place fer people as gifted as you in the syndicate."
Azula scoffs, "And what makes you think I'd be interested in being Eurette's puppet?"
"Think about it. You want power, prestige, wealth? The Gold Sun is where you gon find it. The Crimson Storm is tough as nails but you ain't gonna go anywhere with them, at most they'll make ya a starship captain in charge of some old rust bucket being held together by the dream that someday you'll go further beyond only to get blown to bits by a bigger badder feller; but with the Gold Sun you can find yourself amongst the finest the criminal underworld has to offer, rubbing shoulders with some powerful people. And if Euretta takes a liking to ya, we'll yer set for life. She can give ya yer own fleet, a planet or two and the finest luxuries the universe has to offer. So long as you stay on her good side."
"A tempting offer, but I'd like to hear this from her mouth. Empty promises from an underling mean very little compared to the one capable of providing them."
His laugh echoed throughout the room, "How do you think I got to where I am now today? Euretta plucked me out of the gutter and gave me the tools to be the crime lord I am today. I'm living proof of these promises. Dontcha want to spend the rest of yer life sipping the finest wines in a palace surrounded in opulence and the power to level anyone or anything that even looks at you funny, or are ya set being nothing but a gutter rat fight'n fer scraps?
Azula still searched for him as she absorbed his words. She would be lying if she said she wasn't enticed, far more so than Skeeve's sorry excuse for an offer. Under normal circumstances she would accept in a heartbeat if only to usurp his position and maybe take Eurette's but what kept her from taking it was one fact. Her ultimate goal is to return to Earth; however, the Crimson Storm are the only ones who know the coordinates to reach it. By accepting Slater's offer she would end up cutting off the only line she has to her home. She scolded herself for not getting the coordinates before leaving.
As she thought through this decision Slater's magnetic shoes locked on to a floating crate outside of Azula's field of view. He quickly rummaged through its opening and found a long chain. He sent an electrical current through the links finding it was made of a conductive material.
Before Azula could come to a conclusion the chain wrapped around her ankle pulling her out of her thoughts.
"Took too long to answer!" electricity shot up its length shocking her before he pulled her down swinging her into the railing of the second level and sending another shock.
With the chain now on her she found that she was at his mercy, he could continuously shock her from a distance and no amount of firebending was going to be able to make him stop.
She only knew one way to get out of this, use his own electricity against him. The electric burn on his hand was proof enough that he was not immune to lightning the same way a firebender is not immune to fire, the biggest danger with this plan was the possibility that he could deflect it and put a hole in the ship, but now she was desperate.
As lightning danced along the surface of the chain into her body she fought through the pain bringing two fingers to the current redirecting the energy from her leg to her stomach until it started to dance at her fingertips as she raised it above her head with it taking on a blue coloration as her own chi mixed with it.
Slater's eyes widened as he saw this, "Ya gotta be kidding me now."
She flung the blue blast back at him. He let go of the chain and instinctively threw his hands up to catch it. He had no idea if this action could stop this but it was too late for him to do anything else.
He caught the electric blast with his own electricity beginning to burn his hands. He shouted in pain and defiance as he forced the blast apart, throwing the bolts to his sides. One striking his hover car igniting it in a fiery explosion whose shockwave threw them back and sent every floating object colliding with each other.
"Well this is one fine and dandy predicament." Cetro said as he floated around aimlessly in engineering unable to move anywhere.
"At least we were able to take out the last of them." Sev stated, also stuck floating.
Cetro flailed his limbs as if he was swimming trying to move through the air to no avail, "You just had to throw the last guy into the gravity core didn't you?"
"How was I supposed to know that was where the gravity core was?"
"Don't you have a grappling hook or something built into you that can fling me to the controls?"
"My grappling hook is in one of my other left arms."
"Well that's just great."
"May I be of assistance?" B3 called out, clinging to the railing of the second level with the fingers of one of his legs.
"Turn the gravity back on."
B3 scuttled towards the controls and reactivated the device.
Everything within the cargo bay dropped, colliding with the floor hard as crates fell open, splattering the floor with their contents and smashing anything else.
Azula found herself plummeting to the ground, landing on her back and quickly rolling away before a large crate could crush her.
The cargo bay was a mess as almost every inch of the floor was covered in crushed supplies and dented crates with the smell of smoke filling the room as Slater's smoldering hover car was crushed by a large storage unit.
She looked around seeing no sign of Slater. She hoped he was crushed by the falling debris as she carefully unwrapped the chain from her ankle, her flesh feeling tender from the scorching pain of being continuously shocked that would undoubtedly leave a scar.
Her worst fear was confirmed. Slater, and by extension the entire Chundari race, was capable of redirecting her lightning. As far as she knew the only one who could do so was Zuko and her Uncle but she never got the chance to witness this and therefore have no way of countering it.
She heard movement from her right, quickly turning to see Slater stumble out from behind several crates in a daze as blood trickled from his head, several of his head scales chipped and damaged with both of his hands severely burned.
He finally regained some semblance of what was happening and took notice of her, "Well… Ain't you just full of surprises."
She said nothing as she took on another fighting stance.
Slater held up a smoking hand as he pulled himself up, "Nah… I'm done. Ship's yer's. I know when I'm beat, and I know I ain't gonna be able to take another one of those." He took one look at Azula, noticing her stance was off, most likely from the pain of the chain, and that she was out of breath, "And from the looks of it yer done too."
"I can… keep going all day." She responded with false confidence as she could feel herself coming off balance, "So now that I've defeated you, what then? We take you as a prisoner and ransom you back to Euretta?"
He let out a tired laugh that was followed by a coughing fit, "Nah… I'm gonna go to the shuttle bay or nearest escape pod and be on ma way."
"You really think I'm just going to let you waltz out of here after everything you've put me through?"
"Uh… yeah. Unless ya think you can stop me while keeping yerself from falling over."
She couldn't really argue with him on that front, she was exhausted.
"Ma offer still stands Azula. You can come with me and be on yer way to greatness."
She eased out of her stance, "It is a very tempting offer, but I have my reasons for staying in the Storm."
He looked disappointed.
"But…" she said, catching his attention, "If I were to change my mind, how would I be able to contact you?"
A smile split his narrow face
He reached into his pocket pulling out a black and gold card and presented it to her, "Ma card. I'll be expecting a call, Azula."
She took the card studying the golden alien text printed across its black surface.
Slater turned and walked away towards the exit, "Hope ya survive long enough to make that call."
The ship rocked as it was struck again.
"You're not going to call off your ships?"
"Ha! Nope. Can't make things too easy for ya. See ya around kid." Said as the doors closed behind him.
"Almost to the planet." Skeeve announced as the green gas giant came into view, "You really think we can lose them in here?"
"Positive, gas giants are notorious for being difficult to fly in." Lectro said.
On the dorsal side of the ship just before the bridge a pair of doors slid open as a small shuttle craft ascended from the opening and flew off.
Lectro followed the ship with his eyes as he looked out the window, "I was unaware this ship had a shuttle bay." He contacted engineering, "Hey did any of you guys take a shuttle out of here?"
"Maybe it was the last of the crew." Cetro's voice came through, "Anyway, we took care of the engineering problem and are back at full speed. Where's Abzul?"
"Don't know let me see if I can-"
The door to the bridge slid open with Azula walking in tired and beaten.
"Never mind she's here." He told Cetro before going to her, "Azula! You're all right! What happened to Slater?"
She took a seat in the captain's chair, "He got away. Said something about taking a shuttle."
"That was him?" Skeeve said, "That probably explains why they're starting to lock on their big guns."
"How are we going to lose them?" She asked.
"By flying right into this planet." Skeeve responded as a wall of sea foam green clouds was quickly coming into view, "Hang onto something, this is gonna be a bumpy ride!"
The Star Runner pierced the atmosphere with the turbulence being the first thing they noticed as it violently shook the vessel. Azula could feel the full strength of her bending return, boosting her out of her post battle exhaustion.
Visibility outside was minimal due to the thick clouds with the occasional lightning blast illuminating the way.
Slater's shuttle was caught by one of the pursuing ships' tractor beams and guided to an airlock. Once inside he took command of the ship as he sauntered into the bridge taking the captain's seat for himself as the ship's medic attempted to treat his injuries.
"Alright boys, update me on the situation."
The ship's captain spoke, "They just entered the atmosphere of a class-M gas giant. This one in particular has been designated a no fly zone due to unstable weather conditions. Should we pull back?"
"Nope. We'll stay out here but the rest go after them and make sure they're dead."
The other ships heard the order and boosted into the atmosphere.
The ship continued to rock hard with the shields that were normally invisible could be seen flashing until it dispersed into particles.
"Shields are down, navigation is on the fritz and our weapon systems are fluttering in and out." Lectro announced as his screen was filled with flashing red lights and alarms, "The ions in the atmosphere are wreaking havoc on all of our systems."
"If we stay here too long the storm is gonna rip the ship apart." Skeeve said as he fought for control.
"Have we lost them yet?" Azula asked as she held onto the seat for life.
"No, they're right behind us and gaining."
A bolt of lightning struck they're ship destroying their nose turret.
"We need to get out of the upper atmosphere fast."
Their ship sored through the thick storm shuddering as the winds beat against it, tearing panels from its surface and scratching the hull. The gold sun ships followed, finding it was just as difficult to fly as their shields popped. The heavier ships managed to fly through the atmosphere with minimal damage but many of the smaller fighters fell prey to the harsh winds and lightning strikes.
The Star Runner pierced through the upper atmosphere into a hollow of calmer sage colored clouds that swirled into vortex's that blackened the further they extended with strange ghostly calls reverberated. Visibility was still low but at least they were able to see the rest of the ship.
The Gold Sun ships emerged from the storm and immediately began firing. Plasma bolts struck the hull punching holes along its surface. Torpedoes fired spiraled out of control, missing their mark entirely and detonating.
Azula went to the window watching the malfunctioning explosions as the ship rocked from another shot, "What's wrong with them? Why can't they hit us?"
"The same ions in the atmosphere messing with our equipment must be doing the same with them. If they want to hit us then they'll have to get close." Lectro explained, "Unfortunately it's wreaking havoc on our own targeting systems so our turrets need to be operated manually."
"Dibs on the ventricle turret!" Sev's voice came over the coms.
"Where's the closest turret then?" She demanded as she went to the door.
"Dorsal turret is outside in the hall on the right."
She left running to a glass tube where a chair sat in wait. After fumbling with the controls the seat ascended into the spherical turret. She grasped the controls and after test firing it to familiarize herself she felt she was ready for combat and focused on the holographic reticles that tracked the other vessels behind them.
Sev fired at their pursuers, managing to destroy two fighters and deal damage to one of the larger ships. Azula wasn't as fortunate. The fighters zoomed past them every shot missing its mark as their yellow beams scorched the dorsal side.
Skeeve directed the Star Runner into a dive to avoid another attack run. Azula managed to blast one of the fighters out of the sky as Skeeve pulled up into a massive cloud for cover.
She swiveled her turret around looking for another target only for the targets to fizzle and blur, "I can't see anything! Sev, do you see them?"
"Nope. Clouds are too thick."
"Lectro!" Azula barked into the coms, "Navigation is murky, I can't find any-"
One of the larger ships rammed them from the side with its turret swiveling and to target their bridge. Azula moved and fired before they could, destroying the turret along with scorching holes along its surface forcing it to retreat.
One of the other ships came from above, plasma bolts soaring past. Her targeting was still off but fired, her bolts tearing through the connection between one of the side engines from the main body sending it spiraling out of control. The severed engine collided with a fighter following close behind.
"Look at you firespitter! A natural sharp shooter!" Sev said.
She smirked as she watched the enemy vessel plummet in the distance, "Naturally."
They exited the cloud and were bombarded by a wave of something solid and blue. Azula swiveled her turret to face this believing it to be the enemy only to be met with a giant school of strange flying blue fish like creatures the size of her head soaring around them and shimmering in what little light that pierced through the outer layer of storm clouds.
Around the ship billions of these creatures moved in synchronization in colossal schools reacting to anything that approaches them.
"There are creatures that actually live in places like this?" She asked aloud somewhat transfixed by the awe inspiring display of these creatures.
"You'd be surprised where you could find life in the universe." Lectro added.
Their nature watching session was interrupted as another plasma blast bolted past them.
Skeeve accelerated towards another cloud in hopes of losing them. As Azula fired at their enemies a strange call echoed, drawing her attention away where she noticed a massive silhouette behind a wall of clouds that moved slowly with whistles and ghostly groans following. The swarm of sky fish that moved within the clouds changed direction away from the silhouette as if they were running away from something.
"Lectro, what else is hiding in these clouds?" She asked as another howl rippled through the air.
"To be honest I have no idea but the navigation came back online and found something massive up ahead!" Lectro notified them with panic.
"Did they bring a warship with them?" Sev asked as he continued firing.
"Whatever it is, it's up ahead."
Azula spun the turret to face this new threat and when she saw the large shadow beyond the emerald clouds she prepared to fire. What she didn't expect was the massive three pronged maw of an impossibly large whale like creature to pierce the veil, the membrane between its jaws acting like a net catching the swarms of sky fish that was followed by a low rumbling groan.
It was the largest creature she had ever seen with gray leathery skin, a series of large flipper-like appendages going down the length of its long body.
Azula stared in shock and awe that such a beast could exist that it was almost overwhelming.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!" Skeeve screamed as the maw got closer and began to close.
"GET US OUT! GET US OUT! GET US OUT OF HERE!" Lectro screamed just as panicked as him.
Skeeve pulled the Star Runner up as far as he could with the ship boosting towards the edge of its mouth escaping just as it gulped down the entire school with one of the gunships being unfortunate enough to be caught by it.
Skeeve struggled to keep control of the ship as its port side scraped against the beast's stoney skin pulling away in time to fly past its gargantuan eyeball whose plus shaped pupil followed them.
The ship managed to stabilize itself where they saw more whale creatures gliding through the air feeding on the schools of sky fish with their moans echoing in a ghostly symphony. Many of which come dangerously close to colliding with their vessel or swallowing them whole. In their attempt to escape they had found themselves in the middle of a mass feeding ground.
"What do I do? Where do we go?" Skeeve asked in a panic as his eyes darted about trying to take in all that was going on.
"I don't know, there's so many of them."
Sev's voice came through, "Whatever you guys do, do it now! Sun's are right behind us!"
Plasma bolts flew past them with one striking the engine forcing them to boost into the feeding frenzy.
The swarms parted ways for the ships as they came through with the stolen vessel dodging a whale as it dove out of the clouds, one of the larger Gold Sun ships crashing into its body.
The ship skimmed across the surface of another cloud with the fighters staying in hot pursuit with Skeeve zigzagging from side to side dodging their blasts until their ship was pelted by another swarm being chased by a whale surfacing from the clouds forcing them to ascend to dodge it. The whale caught its prey and in the process swallowed the fighters before disappearing beneath the clouds.
Azula could barely keep the turret locked onto the target due to Skeeve's erratic flying but she couldn't blame him due to the sheer number of these creatures and their unpredictable movements. Trying to avoid them was growing too difficult.
"Somebody please get those fighters off our backs!" Skeeve hollard in the coms.
"Your poor excuse for flying is making that difficult!" She responded, missing another one of her shots.
"Maybe if we cling to one of these creatures we'll be a little safer?" Lectro said as the ship was pelted by another wave of fleeing sky fish.
The last of the heavier ships gave chase with Skeeve directing the ship to follow along the length of another whale from behind. The Gold Sun ships kept pace, firing at them and using torpedoes at close range hoping to land a shot.
The shockwave of their blasts rocking the ship pushed it to scrape against the whale's body.
Sev saw the surface of the whales body getting dangerously close as another shockwave forced it closer and retracted himself back into the ship just before the turret was crushed.
"Damn it, Skeeve! You almost crushed me!"
"Do you know how hard it is to fly in this place!?" He barked back.
"Azula! Sev's turret is out, looks like you are our last line of defense!"
"Oh well that's just great!" She said as another plasma bolt struck them.
Skeeve directed the ship to fly between the multiple flapping fins of the beast dodging the explosions of the torpedoes but in the process clipped against the fin taking out a portion of the starboard wing.
One of the Sun ships dove after them but hit the fin knocking it off course and crashing into the main body.
He pulled the ship up to another whale clinging to its body as he followed its length and pushing through another swarm of sky fish. The swarm collided with one of the pursuing ships obscuring its view as it was pushed away from its course colliding with another.
Only two ships remain from the Gold Sun. The stolen star yacht was battered and close to falling apart.
Cetro's voice came on the coms, "Hey! Whatever you guys are doing, it's time to stop! The ship's structural integrity is at risk, any more abuse and we're done for!"
"Guess that means it's time for us to pull out." Skeeve said.
"I'm gonna try and find us a safe route through the upper atmosphere." Lectro said as he began working at the navigation station.
Skeeve pulled the ship upward and shot towards the storm clouds dodging the swarms of sky fish and their filter feeding predators. The ship flying in-between the closing gap of two whales about to graze each other.
The ship accelerated as Cetro directed the power to its engines, managing to slip through the gap unscathed with one of the gunships managing to follow behind while the last one was crushed.
The Star yacht sored past the remaining whales and pierced the veil of the storm cutting off visibility once more as the storm rocked the ship while they dodged lightning strikes.
As Azula continued to fire at the ship she could hear the creaking and bending of metal and saw cracks forming around her turret pod.
"Azula! Get back in the ship! Structural integrity is reaching its limit!" Lectro shouted.
The cracks got larger and began to spread. Azula quickly scrambled to the console slamming on the exit key with the seat lowering as the canopy bursted and the emergency door closed above her just as she felt the overwhelming power of the decompression. If she had waited any longer she would have been sucked out into the storm.
The yacht flew through the storm barely managing to hold together.
The gunship had the same trouble with lightning striking the vessel sparking a fire. As the Sun ship boosted after them one of its engines gave out with the winds bending and pulling the wings off it before being swept away.
The yacht shot through the upper atmosphere and into open space now free from the storm and its pursuers.
Slater watched as his ship appeared from the planet alone in rougher shape than when it had entered flying away.
"Well look at you. Girl must've been born lucky to get outta that." He said to himself.
"They are out of targeting range. Get closer and begin charging the laz gun!" The captain ordered.
"Belay that order. Take us back to Ginza." Slater said, waving him off.
"But sir, they're severely damaged, we could wipe them out right now."
"Son, If there's anything I've learned about our Crimson friends is that everytime ya think you've got them figured out they surprise ya with something unexpected. We'ev wasted enough time and resources tryna catch em." He watched as the vessel regained its shields and made an extra dimensional jump.
"Sir, we're getting a transmission from Ginza." One of the bridge officers informed him.
"I'll take it in the ready room." He left the bridge and took the captain's ready room for himself where he found his second, Slick, making the call with a black eye and bandaged head.
"We lost the Crimson Storm members sir. They got past us somehow."
"Trust me Slick, I figured that out when they hijacked ma ship." He responded nonchalantly as he leaned back in the chair.
"That probably explains why I couldn't contact your ship directly." He mumbled to himself, "What of the mission to find the ship thieves?"
"Went up in flames the moment they took over the ship with any and all info we caught being on said stolen ship."
"You seem less upset about this than I anticipated."
"Well, let's just say I took a liking to one of them and am expecting to hear from them in the future." He said with a smile as he observed the electric burns on one of his hands caused by Azula, "But right now we need to come up with what we're gonna say to the bosslady about this whole fiasco."
"Understood sir. I'll compile a detailed report on the matter explaining everything regarding the Crimson Storm's involvement and the fabricator."
"Hold it now. Do all that but leave the fabricator out."
"Sir?" Slick questioned.
"If we tell Euretta that we found out My'Rell's got a fabricator the first thing she's gonna ask is why we don't have it already, and you already know she's gonna be hella pissed after this blunder, don't wanna add more fuel to that fire."
Slick didn't look too convinced, "Sir, Euretta does not take too kindly to being lied to. Just look at what happened to Kanzo."
"Relax Slick, we ain't lying to her. We're just… holding on to some info until we can confirm that it's legit. We also don't want anyone else from the syndicate sticking their noses in this tryna curry favor with Euretta."
"If that's what you want, sir." Slick said before going offline.
The star yacht exited extra dimensional space with its crew of five now scrambling about its corridors. Skeeve dove into the ship's controls pulling out tracking hardware and software as quickly as he could, Cetro and B3 worked tirelessly to make necessary repairs to the ship, Sev and Lectro were in charge of disposing of the lifeless bodies of the Gold Sun thugs and Azula worked to suppress the fire still going on within the cargo bay.
Once finished with these tasks they reconvened within the bridge.
"Alright, all trackers are disabled, electronics are disconnected from the omni-net and repairs to make it back to base have been made. This ship is officially ours and we are safe." Cetro said sitting in the pilot's seat.
"Finally! I'm so tired of being shot at." Skeeve said.
"Says the guy who didn't get stabbed or is missing a foot." Sev said, presenting the torn metal ankle.
"I say you and Lectro got the better experience out of this whole thing." Azula followed up presenting the hand shaped burns on her wrists.
"We should probably go to the medical bay and take care of that." Lectro said.
"Go do that." Cetro ordered going to the controls, "I'm going to set a course for Kazima and send a message to headquarters so they don't shoot us down. While I'm doing that y'all get first pickings on anything you find."
Both Sev and Skeeve's faces lit up as they happily went to pillage Slater's personal belongings.
Azula found herself within the medical bay with many scrapes and bruises being treated easily, she lay on a medical bed as a metal ring ran along its length with the electric burn wounds healing leaving only faint scars.
The device used was known as a tissue restoration unit, an advanced piece of medical technology used to heal burns, lesions and internal injuries by emitting particles that overcharge the bodies cells quickening the healing process for wounds that would take days or weeks to heal into a matter of minutes. It was an extraordinary piece of equipment that was very hard to come by, yet Azula felt nothing from experiencing such a miracle as she had already grown desensitized to such things.
"You should be all healed up now. How are you feeling?"
She looked at her wrists seeing the hand shaped burns had almost completely vanished leaving only a faint trace barely visible to the eye and an itching sensation.
"Like I'm back to full strength, minus my bending." She said, noting that they were currently traveling in extra-dimensional space.
She felt a queasiness in her stomach as nausea overtook her forcing her to cover her mouth and hold her stomach.
"Oh, space sickness huh? It's rough because it usually shows up after taking a few trips instead of right away, but you'll get used to it eventually.
"Good thing I haven't eaten anything." She composed herself.
"That's good, we don't need you in any rougher shape. I didn't think he could do such damage to you given how skilled of a fighter you are." He responded then stuffed his face with some rations tossing the wrapper onto a pile of others.
"He knew I was the superior fighter so he relied on tools and tricks to measure up. Although he was better than I had expected. He deflected my lightning."
"Wait, you actually shot lightning inside the ship?!" He asked in surprise with a mouthful of food, "Why would you do that? The power you generate with that attack is strong enough to punch a hole through the ship!"
"I was in a position where that was my only option. Or would you rather I let him shock me to death?" She responded in annoyance.
"Okay, I get it. It was a situational thing but in the future please be a little more mindful so you don't cause an explosive decompression and kill yourself."
She sighed, "Very well. At least now I know for a fact lightning attacks aren't as useful against Chundari."
"That is very useful information!" He put the bit of food in his mouth before grabbing a pen and some random paper before speaking with his mouth full, "Chell me. Wash dere anyshing different abot yer benthing juring yer fight with Shlater?"
In annoyance she pulled the food out of his mouth, "First off, do you know how annoying it is when you speak with a full mouth? And second, why are you stuffing your face like a boar-q-pine?"
He swallowed his bite before answering, "This whole experience has been very stressful on me and when I'm stressed out I have a tendency to stress eat, okay." He snatched the food back.
"My bending was no different than before." She answered before making her way to the exit, "I'll be seeing what this ship has to offer."
"Okay, while you do that I'll be here analyzing what data B3 recorded from our experiments. Right B3?"
The robot in question appeared from a corner of the room, "Correct. I have successfully backed up all data regarding our experiments and am ready to-" the robot paused with an orange light flashing from his body, "Insufficient power. Shutting down all functions. Goodbye."
All lights on his body flickered off as his legs retracted, turning him into a cylinder.
"I guess your trash can is broken." Azula said not very surprised about what happened.
"He's not broken, he just needs to recharge is all. Just gotta pull out his universal charging cable and hook him up to an outlet." Lectro said as he opened a compartment and pulled out the universal charging cable only to find that the plug had been crudely severed and replaced with a bigger, clunkier and less universal one. He remembered how Cetro had to kitbash his robot in order to get the sewer doors to open and now felt an overwhelming sadness and frustration that the only thing to occupy his time didn't have the power to function.
"Why does the universe hate me?" He asked, grabbing another ration from his pile and began unwrapping it.
"I ask myself that question a lot lately and have yet to receive an answer." Azula said before leaving the medical bay.
With her wounds all healed, Azula went to explore the ship. The corridors were stark white and smooth with no hard edges in sight, lights came from recesses in the walls and floors rather than above with portions of the floor made up of a marble material with gold veining to signify the more luxurious parts of the star yacht such as the open bar just beneath the bridge that was large enough to host parties in, the atrium that seemed to be the nexus point for all levels of the ship, the various guest rooms that are available and the spa and small swimming pool on the level just beneath the shuttle bay.
This was indeed a pleasure boat first and foremost not equipped to handle the stresses of battle as indicated by several corridors being closed off due to hull breaches making her think of how much of a miracle it was that they were able to survive the chase with the ship still being able to function, perhaps some of her natural born luck was still with her.
In her wandering she found herself touring the spa area with its wood finish and low warm lighting giving off a relaxing atmosphere. It was smaller and more modest compared to what she was used to, but then again a ship probably needed a majority of the space to function properly.
As she walked the corridor of the spa she noticed a familiar pair of mechanical legs detached and laid up against the wall, her curiosity led her to peaking in the room next to them were she found Sev soaking in a large hot tub with a drink in hand and clothes haphazardly scattered on the floor.
"Hey firespitter, how's it going?" He greeted her.
"Please tell me you are wearing something under there." She looked away not really wanting to see a shirtless cyborg.
"Don't worry princess, I've still got my undies on. You come to enjoy the spa?"
She rolled her eyes, "Later, I'm just touring our new ship. It's quite the magnificent vessel, although it's a little too posh for my tastes."
"Better enjoy that posh while you still got it. Who knows what the captain will do with it once we get back home."
"I suppose you're right. My'Rell doesn't strike me as the type who would enjoy a ship like this."
"Nope. She's a military woman at heart, functionality over glam. She'll either scrap this thing or sell it." He then reached for a dial at the side of the tub turning up the bubbles and letting out a relaxed breath, "Or just park it somewhere and keep the spa for herself while it collects dust. Hoping for that option because this hot tub is awesome!"
"Should you really even be in that thing given that you were stabbed?"
He waved her off, "I'll be fine. Gotta waterproof patch on and I'll stop by the med bay and use that tissue restorer thing Lectro was talking about."
"Very well, I'm trying to find Slater's private quarters and see what expensive things he has that would look best on me." She noticed Sev was wearing several of Slater's gold chains around his neck, "And I take it you've already pillaged his quarters."
"Oh yeah, his room is at the nose of the ship." He said after taking a sip of his drink, "You know that Slater guy has like a million of these chains. It's like he's got one for every day of the month."
"Noted, I'll be on my way." She turned to leave but before she was out the door Sev called out to her.
"Before you go. I gotta say, that hit and run we did back in the sewers was pretty fun. We should coordinate and come up with a better strategy for next time."
She remembered the chaos she and him created in that dark enclosed space, the fear she was able to inspire in her enemies reminded her of the good old days during the war when both enemy and ally would tremble at her martial prowess. She then remembered how she had been pinned down and was at the mercy of their enemy and how Sev came back for her, receiving an injury that could have been lethal just to save her who was still a stranger to him. She suppose she can let her pride go for one moment.
"Thank you, Sev… for… for coming back for me." She said making sure to keep her back to him so he couldn't find any weakness that may show.
It was difficult for her to say, almost having to force it out but it was probably best to acknowledge what he did for her.
Sev responded as informally as ever with a big dumb grin, "Don't worry about it, firespitter. Just remember, we don't leave our own behind."
She acknowledged this and left the cyborg to continue enjoying his soak.
After having to take several detours, due to ship damage, she finally managed to make it to Slater's private quarters.
The room was like Slater; flashy and bursting with self indulgence. Various expensive trinkets and personal belongings littered the room; a musical instrument of some kind with the signature of what Azula assumed was a famous musician hung over a desk, photographs of Slater in his youth littered the walls all displaying him in what seemed to be underground fighting arena with most of them displaying victories and bloody opponents lying at his feet with fighting memorabilia decorating other spaces surrounding a self portrait displaying him in expensive dress wear. The wall opposite to the entrance was a curved panoramic window of the space before the ship.
The floor was covered with clothing and cupboards showing that Sev and Skeeve paid little attention to making a mess, like dirty peasants going through a nobleman's home they broke into.
After glancing around she found Skeeve still rummaging through his stuff with him pulling out an expensive looking suit from the closet.
"Oh now that is a sleek looking suit. Bet the ladies back home would go crazy if they saw me in this." He said, trying on the suit that was obviously too big for him and posed in front of a mirror, "Oh yeah, nobody is resisting this."
"Still plundering I see." She said with Skeeve jumping and crying out in surprise.
"Wow! Hey princess! Uh… how long have you been there?"
"Long enough to see that pathetic display." She said bluntly entering the room and studying a photo of Slater posing alongside a famous fighter, "I hope you and Sev haven't stolen everything of worth here, especially since I was the one who defeated him."
"Take your pick, he's got so much crap here I can't stuff it all in my pockets." He said while stuffing the suit pocket with a golden watch and some units.
She went to his desk looking at a gold device, "What's this thing?"
"Looks like a personal computer. Let's see what's on it!"
She opened the device with a holographic image of Slater appearing, "This message goes out to ma beloved halfway across the galaxy. I know you miss yer man but in ma absence you can enjoy this recording I made fer ya." The image made a kissing motion as he undid his shirt and romantic music started to swell.
Azula slammed the device shut with a look of revulsion throwing it back on the desk, "Too much! I'm learning too much about him!" She backed away, wiping her hands on her pants and shuddering as if it was infected with some disease, "Dear Agni I feel sick."
"Well, least we know he's got a girlfriend." Skeeve said, rummaging through the drawers.
In an attempt to rid her mind of the image she just saw she looked around for something to loot.
She didn't like any of Slater's clothes especially since they were all too large for her, she didn't know enough about tech to gain the value of anything she found and thought his various gold chains to be too obnoxious for her to wear.
"I guess you were wrong in your prediction. Things seem to have worked out for us." She said, looking at another gold chain and tossing it aside.
"We just got lucky this time. Don't think we're out of the woods yet. Slater is gonna be coming for us, if not Euretta herself." Skeeve shuttered as he said her name.
"Especially since you blabbed to him about the fabricator. That was extremely foolish." She said holding up a silk orange shirt thinking about taking it until she saw the gaudy design printed on it and tossed it over her shoulder.
Skeeve groaned, "You still on that? I was just trying to make sure we survive."
"Or you were just saving your own skin."
"Like you wouldn't have done the same."
She rolled her eyes knowing that she actually would.
"Anyway nothing changes what I said before. My'Rell has enemies and now one of the biggest and baddest ones is probably going to be gunning for us now. If you're smart you better pawn off whatever you find and use that cash to jump ship before Euretta burns Kazima to ash."
Azula scoffs, "She can't be that powerful. She's a crime lord not an empress."
"Yeah you're right, she's not an empress. She's a devil." Skeeve went back to rummaging around, "You heard what happened to Kanzo, she'll grind anyone she doesn't like to dust and stick that dust in a jar to display on her mantle like some kind of psychopath or a-"
"Monster?" Azula finished feeling somewhat of a connection to the leader of the Gold Sun.
"Monster, devil, psychopath, they all fit Euretta."
She looked beneath the bed, finding two cases pulling them out. She opened one finding a black and gold blaster with a few attachments stored within. Her face lit up as she admired the weapon, making sure it was on the safe setting. It was a bit larger than the handguns she had used before with a rotating cylinder and vine like engravings along its gold plating.
"Ooh, fancy blaster." Skeeve complemented.
"Mine now." She tucked it behind her belt.
The second box was long and flat that was wrapped like a present. She pulled the tag off but couldn't read it and instead presented it to Skeeve, "Too my beloved, Happy birthday. Welp, guess she ain't getting this."
Azula pulled the box open revealing it to be a jewelry box filled with rare gems, gold and silver rings, circlets, and necklaces.
"He seems to have fine tastes when it comes to jewelry." Azula said as she admired the shiny materials.
"Very nice!" Skeeve said reaching for a ring only for Azula to slam it shut nearly clipping his finger tips.
"Hands to yourself, rat." She tucked the box under her arm as she walked off towards a door at the far wall.
The door led to a large open bathroom equipped with a large regal bathtub. She nearly dropped her new found loot at the sight of it, she hadn't had a decent hot bath since her downfall at the end of the war. The asylum didn't allow her the luxury of bathing herself and on the run she was forced to bathe in rivers like a peasant. One quick sniff made her realize she needed a bath badly.
"Skeeve, get out." she ordered while he pulled the signed instrument from the wall.
"Why? I'm still looting."
"I'm going to take a bath and I would rather you not be here."
"Okay but let me get this thing first." He struggled to pull the instrument from the wall.
She didn't wait for him and instead grabbed him by the back of his collar and tossed him out.
"Wait! That instrument could be worth a fortune!"
She shut the door in his face and locked it.
Now alone she went back to the bathroom and checked her appearance seeing that she wasn't as roughed up now as she was when she first fought Angara but the cut under her eye was still present despite being healed up with her strand of cut hair still lining up with it. She groaned at the constant reminder of her first battle with Angara. She shook her head as she shifted her mind to the bath and as she pulled the upper portion of her jumpsuit the card she received from Slater fell out of one of the pockets.
She picked the card back up remembering her exchange with the gangster and how he saw and appreciated her skill. The Gold Sun was definitely an organization she would thrive in given her cunning nature. She just needs the coordinates to get back to earth then maybe she could contact him and enact her plan, although she also needed to learn how to read the alien text as well.
"A better organization to take over than this second-rate Crimson Storm." The vision of Ozai said standing over her with his hands folded behind his back, "You've seen the power and resources at their disposal. The fools you ally yourself with pale in comparison."
"You're right, but if I abandon the storm now I risk not being able to get back home."
"A simple solution. Get the coordinates and go to the Gold Sun."
"It's not that simple." Azula shook her head and went back to the mirror, "The Crimson Storm are naive fools but that's what makes taking them over so much more easier. Based on everything I've heard Eurette has a tighter grip over her subjects."
"That has never stopped you from obtaining what you want before." Ozai said in a velvety smooth voice, "You overthrew the earth king in a matter of weeks from the inside, yes the Suns are a more challenging organization but the rewards outway the risks."
Her father was right, the Gold Sun had so much more to offer her.
"The risk is far too great." Ursa's voice cut through like a blade from the corner of the room.
Azula rolled her eyes as she undid her hair, "Great, you're here too and why am I not surprised that you object."
"Taking the Crimson Storm is risky enough as is and now you are considering going after an even larger and more dangerous organization."
Ozai scrunched his nose at her, "She is more than capable of achieving this. She took over the Dai Lee, turned them against their own master. That is what she will do to Eurette."
"The Dai Lee didn't have blasters or gunships." Ursa argued back, "You heard what Skeeve and the others say. Euretta is just as clever as you are, maybe even more so. She will be onto you the moment you join and if she catches you she will show you no mercy."
"Don't let her fill your head with weakness." Ozai growled, "Your mother is trying to lead you astray just like your brother and uncle."
"I'm making sure that my daughter stays alive!" Ursa argued back against Ozai before turning her attention back to her, "You don't know enough about Euretta or the Gold Sun's as a whole."
"She will learn." Ozai scoffed, "This will be her greatest triumph and she will be able to take back everything that was stolen from us by Zuko!"
"What does that matter if it gets her killed?"
"She would have died in service to her fire lord and her nation!"
The two apparitions argued for control conjuring up old memories of when Azula would catch her parents arguing in her youth behind closed doors. The memories were painful and she couldn't handle their resurgence or the noise of the two voices in her head any longer, "SHUT UP! BOTH OF YOU!"
The visions of her parents went silent as she turned to them, speaking firmly, "I decide what will be best for me, not either of you!" She looked to her father, "You may have my fathers face but I know that you are not him so don't believe you have any sway over me!" the vision of Ozai only looked down on her with a scornful gaze before she turned to her mother, "And you! Everything you have ever said to me has been nothing but lies and misguidance! You know nothing about me so you are even further away from telling me what to do than him!" Ursa's demeanor grew more solemn as Azula's words cut her. She held the card up to them as if to make a point, "My plan hasn't changed. I will take the Crimson Storm for myself and maybe contact Slater in the Future in hopes for a collaboration in establishing the Fire Nation's rule in space after I've conquered the earth. If however this plan doesn't work out then the Gold Sun's will be my secondary option. Now that I have decided that I want both of you to shut up and let me enjoy my bath in peace!"
Both visions remained silent for a while with Ozai being the first to speak, "Very well. I still think you should forgo the Storm for the obviously superior power, but so long as our end goal of taking back the fire nation is achieved I don't care what path you take. Just be sure you don't forget what is at stake."
Ozai disappeared as quickly as he arrived, however Ursa remained.
"I still believe you should forsake this needless quest for power." She said, folding her arms into her sleeves.
Azula scoffed, walking past the vision and twisting the knob for the bathwater, "When have I cared what you think?"
"I think you do… a lot."
Azula ignored her, choosing to pretend that she wasn't there as she got ready for her long awaited bath. Eventually Ursa did disappear and she was finally able to relax.
Meanwhile Skeeve sat in the bridge and began poking through the files in the ship's database. Cetro had gone to take a nap in one of the guest quarters after contacting the base so he was free to go through as much data as he wanted.
He found the information on the ship that was supposedly luring Slater's ships into a trap with a distress call but couldn't make sense of the blurry image and moved on to other files. He found that the shipments in many of the lost ships were hand held laz guns similar to the one built in Sev's right arm capable of melting through armored plating easily along with several shipments of red sand. Weapons tech like that was very hard to come by and would make sense for the Gold Sun's to want it back.
He decided to go through the ship's surveillance footage watching the chaos they had caused after it came back online from Cetro's reboot, notably the battle between Azula and Slater.
Witnessing this fight he saw just how deadly Azula could be and how effective her fire bending was in a fight. He was very impressed yet also fearful as Azula could easily kill him, his mind began racing on how he could possibly deal with her if her wrath was ever set on him.
As he was going through the footage he saw the conclusion of their fight and how Slater seemed to have surrendered to her but what caught Skeeve's attention was the audio that it picked up.
"Ma offer still stands Azula. You can come with me and be on yer way to greatness."
Skeeves ears perked as he leaned forward in interest.
"It is a tempting offer, but I have my reasons for staying in the Storm. But… If I were to change my mind, how would I be able to contact you?"
Skeeve's eyes widened, It would seem Azula was beginning to make plans of her own. Plans that could conflict or benefit his own. He watched as Slater presented her with a business card and expressed his gratitude.
He made a copy of this video and sent it to his personal device then deleted the footage. He leaned back in the pilot's seat as he grinned in triumph. The gears of his mind turned to see how he could utilize Azula to his advantage now that he has excellent black mail to use against her.
Hours later My'Rell looked out the window of the base looking at the scratched up star yacht parked outside in one of her docks with bewilderment as the four who had brought it in stood by her side.
She pinched the bridge of her nose feeling a migraine come on, "How… where… did you all get a syndicate owned yacht and why is it parked in my space station?"
Lectro was the first to speak, "Well… you see captain, it's a bit of a long story-"
"Gold Sun's took over Ginza and found us. Had to steal a ship to escape." Cetro interrupted.
"Okay maybe not that long of a story."
My'Rell sighed, "So Euretta has Ginza now? Great. We'll need to find a new place to get supplies then." She turned to them changing the subject, "So, how did the trip go regarding private Azula's bending?"
"Well I'm glad you asked Captain! We were able to get some good data from the few places we were able to visit and found some surprising information." Lectro explained happily.
"I'll be happy to hear it then, but for right now, get rest. We'll discuss this later."
They nodded and did as ordered as the Captain approached Azula, "How are you private? Hope this trip wasn't too exciting for you."
"Oh it wasn't too exhilarating; all I did was fight a crime lord, fight his troops -without my bending mind you- narrowly died several times and then stole his ship. Did I mention that it was my idea to steal it?" She said with smug sarcasm.
My'Rell chuckled and patted her shoulder, "At least you still have your sense of humor. Go get some rest, private."
The Captain departed leaving her and Sev to admire the torn up ship floating outside.
"That thing looks like it's going to fall apart at any second." Sev said, looking at the various scratches covering its side.
"I'm surprised we managed to even get back here in one piece." Azula responded.
"No kidding."
"But still, I'm proud that my plan managed to get us a brand new luxurious ship." She said with an upturned nose and confident smile.
"That thing looks like shit." A familiar irritating voice came from her right, making her lose her smile entirely.
She looked to find Angara standing by her side looking out at the ship.
"Angara." Azula greeted with distaste present in her voice.
"Pup." The Ke'Kuvon princess responded nonchalantly, "So you nabbed this thing from the Gold Sun's, huh?"
"Yes we did. It was my plan to steal it right out from under the nose of the local crime lord. Wasn't that hard actually."
"Really?" Angara asked critically, looking at its damaged state, "So what? You stole a yacht from some rich drug dealer. You want a gold star? I stole a Pendaren patrol ship from an imperial storehouse a couple years back. Way harder to do than this."
Azula's eye twitched at this comment, "I see you've recovered from your self induced hangover. Must have been agonizing to deal with."
Angara's eye twitched, "Heard you blew chunks a few times on the trip. Guess space sickness decided to make you its bitch."
Azula and Angara only glared at each other.
"I'm gonna… go find Gax and get a replacement foot." Sev said already sensing the hostility building between them and didn't want to get caught in the crossfire.
We have finally gotten to the conclusion of the Ginza adventure. Finally. I wanted to get this out before the end of the month but it looks like I'll have to settle for a few minutes after.
Action takes forever for me to write now that I've finished this action packed adventure. I'll need to find a better way to streamline my process for writing action scenes.
It's a little cliché having Azula's visions of Ozai and Ursa act as a sort of angel and devil on her shoulder but I think this will lead to some interesting introspection, so like always let me know what you all think!
Next adventure will feature Angara and My'Rell so look forward to that!