Chapter 8: The Squire

This one was by far, in opinion, the most complicated of all my chapters yet. I feel as the start is a bit wonky but it evens out very well after the first few paragraphs.

Also, Happy Birthday to me :D. Hehe, this is like a little birthday present for myself and to whomever read this :).

Disclaimer: I don't own Fallout or Avatar: The Last Airbender

XXX

Ten minutes before its time for his shift to be over and he couldn't wait. He had been standing here for six hours since two in the morning! He's tired, hungry and annoyed and he wasn't the only one. He turned his head towards his fellow Knight member on guard duty. He still didn't understand why they had to guard the thick steel and pressurized door leading to the, ever growing in popularity or infamy, tribals dubbed the Witch and the Idiot. There's no way they would be able to break out of there with or without water.

"Hey, Deadshot, you awake?" he asked. The sniper's head twitched before answering.

"Yes," the marksmen said in a slightly groggy voice.

"You were asleep weren't you?" He insisted.

"No," Deadshot denied admittedly, his voice returning to its normal tone.

"Lier," He called out with amusement.

"Shut up, Coyote." Deadshot groaned as he stretched his body with a yawn releasing the stiffness it had gotten while sleeping. Coyote shook his head before checking the time again in his Tesla APA helmet; it's now eight minutes before a change in shifts.

"We'll be changing shifts in a few minutes."

"Then why the hell did you wake me up," Deadshot groaned out, staring menacingly to Coyote.

"Hey, don't give me that look, the General or the LC might come by at our shift change for a report and I'd rather not get in trouble because you were nodding off." Deadshot straightened up as Coyotes words had a string of truth in them, as its not the first time the officers had check on someone personally and it wouldn't be the first time they had caught someone sleeping on their shift. The last person that got caught sleeping on the job was put on bathroom cleaning duty for an entire month, Deadshot shuddered at the thought.

"Plus its payback for kicking me off my bed this morning, asshole." Coyote said silently, silent enough for Deadshot to not hear him.

They stayed silent for rest of their shift, impatiently watching the corridors for any signs of their replacements. As the clock hit 0800 hours two soldiers in APA's walked down the left corridor. It was Jackal and Santa Teresa, ST for short. As they got in speaking distance Coyote rose his hand in greeting.

"Hey, Jackal, ST, how you two been?"

"Annoyed, you should have seen Armory-B, that place is a mad house. There's been so many broken, damaged equipment or requests for armor and weapons that all the engineers look like they're going to die on the spot." ST said, her voice specced with a spanish accent, as she put her left hand on her hip.

"I'm not surprised, we're still recovering from the fact that we moved from D.C. A lot of officers are trying to make sure that we're secure, the General and LC included." Deadshot remarked as he holstered his sniper onto his back. "Now, if you need me, I'll be in bed or at the shooting range, see ya." He waved his hand in a backward wave as he quickly walked through the semi-dark corridors to their barracks. The other three soldiers watched him walk off in confusion.

"What's with him?" ST asked.

"He might be a little cranky cause I woke his ass up while sleeping on duty." Coyote said with an unseen mischievous smile.

"Nah, that's not it, losing sleeping never bothers him, its something else." She said raising her hand to her helmet, over the spot where her chin should be, in thought.

"It's because he missed." Coyote's and ST's head snapped to Jackal in surprise, mouths agape under their helmets.

"He missed!?" They both said in unison. Jackal nodded in affirmative causing them grow wide eyed as well.

"When?" ST asked.

"In Medical Bay-AC, it was during the little skirmish against that female tribal that can control water."

"How she dodge his shot?" She continued, curious on what sort of magic allowed her to dodge a bullet fired by the man that earned a 100% accuracy on every marksmen test in Enclave military history.

"She didn't, I fired a blast from my shotgun seconds before Dead fired his. My shot wounded her shoulder causing her to fall to the floor which made Dead miss his mark," Jackal corrected.

"So it was your fault then?" Coyote added which made Jackal nod. " You think Dead would figure it out soon, be a little at you?"

"He probably already has, he also probably just figures that he shouldn't put the blame on me and just concentrate on perfecting his aim, again." Coyote and ST nodded at Jackals words, they agreed on that assumption.

"Ok, well even though it'll be fun to keep talking about this, I'm hungry and tired so I'll see you two later." Coyote quickly said before walking off with a wave. The two new guards waved back to him as they began to take their positions. It took only five minutes before they started to talk,again.

"Say, Jackal, you know where everyone else is?" Jackal looked up to the ceiling in thought.

"Well, ignoring Coyote and Deadshot, Death is dealing with political issues right now, Panther is helping the medical staff with their stuff, Whisper and Valkyrie are on a recon mission-"

"Hope those two aren't fucking out there." ST interrupted getting a nod from Jackal.

"Agreed, next would be Delta, I hear he's helping out in the mainframe and other tech stuff around the base. Peacekeeper is probably hitting on another girl and the last time I saw Vivid he was in our barracks rereading some of his comics, they're going to relieve us of our shift by the way." Jackal said, getting a confirmative nod from ST.

"Unicorn is with Castle Squadron on a perimeter check and Roma is helping the doctors with pregnancies and the infants, checking for any new disease that might harm them. Since, you know, we're in a whole new world now."

The idea of being in a different world still unsettled them but as long as they can take it on with not only the rest of Knight Squadron but the entire Enclave at their backs they knew they wouldn't have to worry about to much.

"Damn, so some of us are out of base, I was hoping for a family dinner soon." ST said with apparent sadness in her voice.

"We might have one, Whisper and Valkyrie should be coming back tomorrow and Unicorn's patrol will probably end tomorrow as well."

"Ya, but, it's tomorrow, I want to have it now." She whined out, her helmet covering her pout but Jackal, despite not seeing her eyes or face, could tell that it was about much more than simply wanting to have a family dinner.

"Why?" Jackal asked, holding a skeptical undertone in his voice.

"..." ST did not respond, she merely shifted from side to side in contemplation.

"ST?" Jackal said again, this time with worry.

"...It's Jose, I'm worried about him." ST said finally with her arms crossed over her chest.

"What? Why? He seems fine to me." Jackal said in confusion.

ST turned her head sharply to Jackal, staring at him with menace and terse anger; Jackal flinched despite him not being able to see her stare.

"I know your lieing Jackal, if there is anyone on this base that can tell how Jose's feeling better than I can would be you, Coyote and the General. So, tell me, what is wrong with Jose." She actually shifted her body to him, in a threatening manner, to prove her point. Jackal looked down, contemplating, as a secret between brothers is a sacred thing but looking at ST he knew she would find out one way or another, its just how persistent she was to get what she wants.

" He's….feeling a lot of stress right now. He's getting hammered by the other officers on his defence for these tribals and the evidence of them being naturally evolving humans is giving some leeway but its not enough. So far he's got most of the medical field with him, not surprising cause of Elizabeth, plus it was there tests that proved their non existent radioactive mutations in the first place so they can't go against science. Along with them are a couple officers and one of the three civilian representatives, though those are mostly out of favors and debts they owe to Jose for all he's done." Jackal finished with a sigh.

"Jesus" her voice filled with surprise and was near breathless," I didn't know it was that bad, I heard he had some political stuff to deal with but I never thought it was this big." Jackal nodded solemnly, also worried for his close friend as a trial such as this, with such a controversial matter, could cause the Deathknight to either lose his status and career or to be executed for fraternization with mutants but he knew that Jose had a secret weapon, a tool powerful enough to get all of the higher ups under his thumb.

XXX

The room was a large chamber, large enough to have a second level filled with observers, watching the trial take the first floor dozens of chairs were divided into three sections in the shape of a nearly finished square. The top part was filled with the Military Tribunal holding five judges and a dozen military staffed juries behind them. On the left held the three House of Representatives, representatives standing for the 100 or so civilians, one delegate per 30 people, along with their own dozen of civilian juries behind them. Lasltly, on the right side held the Medical Chiefs, four in total, along with a dozen doctorate holding juries behind them. President Eden, of course, was not in the chamber but was watching though camera's and was speaking through the speakers around the room. On the bottom end of the metaphorical square stood two stands, this is where the defendants and prosecutors stood. This is also where Jose, Deathknight, stood to present his case. He wore his military dress uniform that was colored in Enclave green and gray, carrying several medals and ribbons over his heart. He had combed his hair back and shaved down his beard to a neat goatee showing more scars, hidden by his formerly thick beard.

"Ladies and Gentlemen of the House, Military Tribunal, Medical Chiefs and . I present to you something I discovered during my brief time outside of Raven Rock, a resource we are all very familiar with." Jose announced as he placed a Southern Water Tribe urn on a table located in the center of the room. He calmly placed plastics gloves on his hands before removing the urn's top and reach into it, to grab whatever was inside.

The observers and participants were equally confused and curious on what the LC had brung. Then, as they watched carefully, their eyes grew wide, mouths slack jawed, and gasps echoed across the entire room as the LC pulled his hand of the urn revealing it covered by a sticky, black, liquidity substance.

"OIL!?" Nearly the entire room erupted in a scream. The LC could only smirk as he played his last and strongest political card. It took some time to get it from the wooden boot Katara and Sokka found him with. The snow storm had covered it completely but thankfully their echo location sonar was able to find it and bring the urn back to base. He hoped that this would convince the judges that keeping the tribals alive would prove more beneficial than just killing them but even with evidence staring at them people will always have doubts.

" Lieutenant Colonel. Navarro, do not play games with us, do you really expect us believe that those barbaric creatures have a secret revoir of oil in this god forsaken ice scape?" One of the House of Representatives had said with clear scepticism in his voice and a narrowed eyed glared pointed towards the LC.

" It's not the issue if you believe it or not, its the truth. I had watched these tribals use this oil to try and keep me from dieing from frostbite when they first found me." The representative scoffed, having a similar reaction to many of in the room. It would seem that many didn't want to believe, or even think, that these people had access to oil.

"Now hold on Representative Martin, the Lieutenant Colonel has always been a man of high integrity and honor, he would not lie about something this important." One of the military judges said, getting nods of agreement from the rest of the tribunal and the juries behind him. "I, for one, think that this might be the reason why he's been fighting so hard to keep them alive, is that correct, Deathknight?" He continued with an appraising look to his eyes.

"Yes, indeed it is, sir," Jose said with a nod. " We all know that with the loss of nearly all of our oil reverses we are in a dangerous need for a supply of it. If we can gain access to this oil we can easily solve that problem, however, the only way we can get this oil is by keeping these tribals alive, as they know the location of it." He finished and was about to speak again before remembering something. He turned around and grabbed a folder of files that was next to the urn of oil.

"Also, here are the test results proving that this is indeed oil," Jose said as he gave them to the closest judge so it can be passed down among them. The chamber was silent, as the judges skimmed through the results, until the results was held by Rep. Martin.

"Now, I find it hard to believe that we can not find the oil ourselves, as we have designed nearly a dozen different sensors for the specific purpose of finding oil! What! Do they just not exist anymore!?" argued in a loud roar.

"No, sir, they have not disappeared, the censors, however, will have difficulty detecting oil because of the shifting ice caps, the over abundance of liquid confusing the machines, and lack of solid earth and, as you had pointed out earlier, our current residence is a " god forsaken ice scape." The LC respond calmly with a stern tone getting a narrowed glare by the House Representative.

The debate continued for nearly three hours. Most of the medical staff, while still concerned about acquiring the oil, were fighting for the rights to hold the tribals for experimentation. They were, unsurprisingly, interested in Katara's ability to control water and wanted to discover what else she can do, if her powers can be taught, or if it was hereditary. The last comment got a very large response with screams of "Purity is above power" or " we won't defile our future generations with her deformity".

The Military Tribunal were mostly concerned about the oil, of course, but there were some questions on possibly using other tribals who had the power to control water for military purposes. The LC had brought up the idea of auxiliaries, like the Great Roman Republic/Empire had used during their time. A system where a foreign people would join the military and after a time of service they would gain citizenship and he commented on the possibility of annexing the local Southern Water Tribe into their fold. His suggestion caused an uproar but it calmed down after LC's quick inquiring on how positive it would be if they had cannon fodder troops, free labor for materials and food, and to have definitive control over regions.

However, the most vocal against anything tribal related would be the House of Representatives, though DeathKnight had one of them on his side the man was usually silenced by the other two. They are ,by far, the easiest to understand but the hardest to come to terms with. They request the execution of the two tribals currently in a cell and the destruction of their home and a dozen or so things. Luckily, everyone one else has plans for the siblings, alive, so the chances of either of their requests happening are very low. However, before the debate could continue on for a few more hours a voice boomed through the room.

"Delegates, please calm yourselves, I would like to ask the Lieutenant Colonel a few questions and afterwards I will announce my executive decision; on how we will deal with our guests." President Eden's charismatic voice echoed out of the speakers silencing the room completely.

"Thank you, now, , over the course of this three day trial you have spoken freely on your what you believe should be done about our guests, however, most of those opinions are twisted into a way to gain favor from the delegates in this trial. Now, from what I've heard, the running theme of your opinions primarily focus on keeping the tribals alive. If that is true, then what do you, personally, wish to be done if they were to be kept alive."

All eyes were on the Deathknight as he rubbed his chin thought. A minute or two later he stood straight and looked at the camera hanging on the far back wall. He opened his mouth and spoke his thoughts.

XXX

"Katara, you insufferable idiot, that punch probably sentenced you and your brother to death!" The dark skinned young women thought in contempt. Regretting the punch she gave to the only person who could have been able to help them survive this fiasco… "The bastard deserved it though" she thought stubbornly before signing, the hairy asshole blaming her for them getting imprisoned really ticked her off. Yet, she can agree that she did, sort of, make the situation worse but that only happened because the guy didn't bother telling her his plan. That makes it marginally his fault for all this as well.

Well, it doesn't matter now, she hasn't seen that guy or anyone else except for the soldiers bringing in their food for three days, Sokka and Katara haven't even left their room for the same amount of time! She's going to get cabin fever for sure, sooner or later. But she had to admit that the food isn't half bad but it is very different. Her favorite is, probably, the potato salad and Sokka's favorite, is of course, the Salisbury Steak. After the first day she was confused on why they weren't given table scraps or moldy bread, or at least something that would show that they were prisoners. It turns out that the bastard, she should probably stop calling him that but she forgot his name, when you hate a person you sometimes don't bother to listen to them, had used his authority to get them some proper food. Not only that but he also managed give them a bed, pillows,warm blankets and a room with a toilet and a shower! She had never really knew what a shower was and how wonderful it feels on your skin, until now. They had somehow managed to find a way to heat the water as it exits the shower head and it just feel sooo wonderful.

Despite all his kindness and generosity Katara knew their protector is either really worried about them, wants something from them, or is trying to make up for all his lies. She is hoping for that he's worried but, sadly, its probably that he wants something from them. As long as its nothing too important she doesn't mind giving it to him. Her brother, however, might have other plans.

He's calmed down quite a bit compared to how he acted earlier but he's still pretty pissed off. He's tries to goad information out of the soldiers who brings their food but they usually ignore him and speak to Katara instead. Which just makes Sokka even more angry but, thankfully, the waterbender is able to calm him down, most of the time. He's really been stressing her out with his antics and he's supposed to be the big brother, the role model! Sigh, this is what happens when there aren't any of his own role models around to teach him how he should act. Thank the spirits she had Gran Gran.

Oh spirits, she had completely forgotten about Gran Gran! She must worried sick! Or worse maybe she is sick! Oh no, this just got bad, she really, really needs to leave now!

"Katara, you ok, you don't look so good." Sokka asked as he munched on a piece bread he had kept from breakfast. Katara looked at Sokka with a horrified eyes.

"Sokka, it's Gran Gran! How do you think she holding up? She must be so worried, spirits, we have to get out of here!" Sokka gave her a blank stare as she rose from her bed and began to pace back and forth from the door to the back wall.

"Really? That's what makes you want to get out of here? Gran Gran? Not freedom, the outside world, or even home?" Katara stopped at her bed and threw her pillow at Sokka's face for his rude question, her eyes filled with anger.

"Shut up, Sokka, I was fine to wait it out until now. When our lunch comes in I'll ask the man that brings it if he know's anything about us leaving." She said before she continued her pacing but she was stopped again by a loud knock on the door. They both quickly looked at the door before positioning themselves at the side of their beds, their backs straight, and staring at each other. A position they were told to be in when the Enclave would enter the room or else they would be punished. Which was a swift beating of a couple punches by the guards if Sokka's first and only insubordinate action was anything to go by.

After five seconds the door slide open revealing ST and Jackal. ST entered first, her weapon holstered on her back, then Jackal walked in, his shotgun firmly locked in his hands. Katara has still not gotten used to how frightening and fascinating the enclave looked wearing their armor.

Gray, green and black were their armies colors and they showed it masterfully in their armor. Jackal's armor was as she remembered sleek, smooth and conforming to his body but also heavy and durable. Green lines of light lined his armor as gray and black pieces of metal covered most of his body. The most interesting piece of his APA was his glowing neon T-shaped green visor. It did not allow you to see his face adding to its intimidating effect.

The second soldier, ST, Katara had rarely seen him but she knew he, as Katara did not know ST was a female, was a part of Knight Squadron, the group of soldiers under their protectors command. His armor was bulky and thick, looked as if he could hardly move but that didn't really matter as his armor sparked with green lightning from small poles located on his large thick shoulders. A small wave of electricity flowing down his metal frame in a protective aura. The powers these people had control over without even being able to control the elements was very impressive and spoke much about their intelligence and creativity.

" The LC wants to see you both, he's waiting for you in General. Autumn's office, so follow us and we'll get you there safe and sound." Jackal said, his deep voice slightly changed by his helmet speakers. Katara and Sokka looked at each other for a moment and shrugged. It's not like they have a choice in the matter. The two Enclave soldiers shifted their bodies letting the siblings walk out of their room/cell.

As Katara and Sokka walked out of the room, with the two soldiers not far behind them, they noticed the green lighting barely illuminating the hallways. It was hard to see in the dark but hopefully the soldiers would know their home enough to lead them through without trouble. Jackal took point while ST took the rear keeping the siblings in the middle.

The Enclave helmets had night vision so it allowed them to see their surroundings. While the siblings were left in the dark causing them to sometimes fumble and nearly trip on themselves. For the first half of the walk they did not speak, merely focused on getting to their destination. It was until Sokka finally tripped on the way up a flight of stairs did one of the soliders speak.

"Now I know you can't see well in the dark but I can't shake the feeling the you are naturally clumsy already," ST spoke jokingly, her voice also altered by the speakers in her helmet but the siblings could still easily make out the feminine tone. Sokka and Katara looked at ST with wide eyes as they stood still on the stairs. ST looked between the siblings a few times in confusion.

"What? Was it something I said? Did someone put a picture on my helmet again?" She asked with annoyance getting a shaking of heads from the siblings.

"No, it's just that, I didn't think that you were, you know, a girl." Katara said in surprise. ST laughed at Katara's response and shock.

" Heh, my armor makes me look like a guy right? Ya, the Tesla model tends to make us all look like guys. The Commando and Ghost models are the only types that allows us to really show our curves." The women said putting her right hand on her hip. Getting a nod from Katara and Sokka.

"If you guys want to talk then talk while walking,we don't want to keep them waiting for too long." Jackal said as he continued to walk up the stairs along with ST ushering the siblings up. However, thanks to ST's comment the ice between them was broken and the siblings had some confidence in asking questions.

"Umm, Miss, can I ask what your name is?" Katara asked to ST. The Enclave women did not respond right away instead she decided to ask Jackal if she should respond or not, in a silent conversation between their internal radios. After twenty seconds of silence, along with Katara thinking that she had caused a problem, ST answered.

"Well, my code name is Santa Teresa, ST for short. Not sure I'm allowed to tell you my real name, though." She said getting a nod and a small smile from Katara. It would seem her question wasn't too much of problem after all.

"I don't mind, so ST, how many other women are in your group, you know Knight Squad." She asked getting ST to turn her head slightly.

"Why do you want know?" ST asked curiously.

"Oh, well, women aren't normally allowed to be soldiers in our society, I was wondering how many other women were soldiers in your army." ST nodded, thinking that was a good reason for the question.

"Well, if I remember the statistics Delta rambles on about, correctly, I'd say that about 35% of women are in the military, 10% are in the medical field, and 15% are in the engineering area. The rest are in charge of raising and teaching the next generations, or are in politics." ST finished but she noticed a slightly confused look on Katara's face. ST thought for a moment before noticing the issue.

"You don't know what a percentage is, do you?" ST asked, though it was more of statement in her mind. None of the less Katara answered by way of nodding, along with her brother. It wasn't that surprising to ST, they were tribals who lived in the South pole after all, they had no idea of advanced mathematics or maybe even mathematics in general.

"Sigh, well, with that mind, I guess I can say little over half of all women are a part of the military or in important positions while the other half teach and raise their children." She said getting a surprised look from the siblings.

"Half of all women! That's-That's awesome!," she said with a large smile and inspiration in her eyes. " there's no way that'll happen back home, even if the men were still here, are society is too traditional for that," Katara finished, her expression changing to a pout and a light glare.

"And for good reason, women are to physically weak, compared to men, to be a part of war, or to even fight in general, they are best suited to take care of the children and to cook for the men." Sokka said with his arms crossed getting a groan from Katara and unseen scrutinizing looks from Jackal and ST.

"Oh ho, you have a bit a misogynist in ya. If we are so weak then how can I carry this armor as it weighs about fifty pounds." ST argued with an annoyed tone of voice. Sokka scoffed at her words.

"Ha, maybe it does weigh fifty pounds but how do we know that you're actually women under all that. You guys have made some amazing stuff so I wouldn't put it past you guys on making something that changes your voice to a women's and vise versa." Sokka said stubbornly, making ST and Jackal look at one another. He's not wrong on his account, they did have voice filters but she was most definitely not using one in this instance. Katara also looked at both them with very apologetic eyes before her eyes turned into a harsh glare towards Sokka.

"OWW!," Sokka yelped as he rubbed the back of his head as Katara reeled back to throw another punch to his shoulder resulting in another yelp of pain.

"Why'd you that for!?" Sokka said in shock.

"For being an asshole, Sokka I know you're not that much of an idiot or much if a dick. So, stop trying to piss these two off and please, for the love of the Moon spirit, suck up your pride and accept that you've been taken prisoner and there's nothing you can do about it!" Sokka grumbled a response that sounded like an "ok" which was satisfactory enough for Katara to move on but she was still angry. ST and Jackal looked at each other for moment before they started to laugh hysterically.

"Jesus, you two are a riot! Haha, especially you sea witch, I like that fire in ya, hehe." ST said between her laughs.

"They remind me of Delta and Roma, haha, god these two are like younger versions of them, buahaha. Even their fights are almost the same, haha." Jackal said between his laughs, as well.

The siblings had the decency to feel embarrassed in front of the two laughing Knights. It took several moments before the two were able to calm down.

"Ok, ok," he sniffed," let's keep moving." Jackal said with a clearing of throat but the amusement in his voice never left. They nodded as they followed Jackal through the empty hallways. Something that Katara had missed until now.

"Wait, where is everyone? It can't be just you guys in this place?" Katara asked getting a shaking of Jackal's and ST's heads.

"Nah, there's a lot more of us, its just that we had placed you in a section of the bunker that was yet to be used, to keep you safe you see And the way we are taking to the General's office is a path that is usually not taken by the rest of the Enclave, again, to keep you safe." Katara nodded at his words and understood on why they needed to have some protection. She remembered what was said in her interrogation, about how soldiers are ordered to kill mutants or tribals on sight.

XXX

It had maybe taken another fifteen minutes for the group to arrive to the office, luckily not running into any other member of the Enclave. Jackal banged on the door twice getting the occupants to welcome them in. As the doors opened Jackal saluted and then stood at the side of the door to allow the siblings to enter. As they did they first noticed the five soldiers inside, all their officer dress uniforms, there were two women, both on the left, and three men, one in the center and the other two on the right.

The women on the farthest left was tall, broad shouldered, and toned. She wore a grayish blue buttoned up vest with a silver-ish black "H" on the side of her arms, carrying numerous medals and ribbons over her heart, and grayish blue slacks over black, shiny, dress shoes. She also wore a standard issued grayish blue air force cap on her head, covering her caramel colored hair. Her skin was also carmelish colored, her face had no fat with a sharp stubby nose and a sharp chin. Her eyes were sharp, analytic, and light brown colored, showing intrigue and contempt. There was also a name attached on her vest, something that the siblings almost missed, that read Amani Cornagi in artistic cursive.

The second women next her, the women closest to the center, was smaller but, unlike the tall amazon, her curves were more noticeable but still had a very toned and trained body. She wore a green-ish gray vest with the same silver-ish black "H" on the side of her arms, there was also a number of medals and ribbons over heart, along with a green-ish grey slacks over a similar pair of shiny, dress shoes. Her skin was pale and her hair was black as night. Her eyes were a dark brown, her face was heart shaped with a soft nose. Despite her soft and attractive features she had an aura around her that screamed "dangerous" and "deadly", more so than the amazon of a woman next her. This woman's name, printed on her vest, is Sarah Bruja.

The man in the center was General Autumn wearing his own military dress uniform, green-ish gray vest with five stars along his shoulder and dozens of medals and ribbons over his heart. With green-ish gray slacks over shined, black,dress shoes. He had his patented look of having a cigar in his mouth and a trimmed goatee as he sat on his desk.

On his left stood LC. Navarro wearing his dress uniform, its colors and style the same as others only that it had had a silver-ish black clover on the side of his arms. At his feet was the urn filled with oil and under his arms was several folders.

The man to the farthest right, and last soldier in the room, wore the same green-ish gray vest and slacks as most of the other officers, with medals and ribbons over his heart and a silver-ish black "H" on the side of his shoulders. His face was free from facial hair but was lightly touched by scars. He had light brown hair, white skin, and his eyes were a light brown filled with disgust, some bloodlust and crazed laughter complementing his small smile. It was a crooked smile filled with malice and a need for murder and it was all directed to Sokka and Katara. They visibly flinched away from the man preferring to move closer to the left. It was noticed by all in the room.

"Colwell, stop scaring the kids." The Deathknight demanded, the man named Colwell lightly, cackled in laughter before looking to the LC.

"Oh come on, Death, I'm just having a little fun. Live a little, my friend, like back in the good old days," he said with a twisted smile and a dark twinkle in his eyes. The Deathknight stared at his eyes for a few moments before looking back to the siblings.

" You two look healthy enough," Navarro commented.

"I guess, we have you to thank for that." Katara said begrudgingly. The Deathknight grunted in response before looking to the General. The man sighed, taking one final long puff out of his cigar, before crushing his cigar in the ash tray.

"First things first, introductions, you already know Jose and I but you don't know the rest," Autumn turned his head towards his right, to the women of their group. "The tall one is Amani Cornagi, she is the leader of Archangel Squadron the group of the most elite and skilled pilots we have." Cornagi bowed her head in greeting."Next to her is Sarah Bruja, leader of Vanguard Squadron a infantry group that specialize in defencive operations and many other specialities like getting information out of people, forcefully if need be." The Bruja grew a wicked smile before also bowing her head towards the siblings. The siblings couldn't but help to begin to understand why the women was here and they gulped in fear. The general turned his attention to the last member of their group.

"And this is Dylan Colwell, leader of the Devildogs Squadron a infantry group that specialize in all form of offensive tactics." Colwell showed his dark smile again to the siblings before it faded to a small smirk.

"With that out of the way, I believe you know what this is." Autumn said pointing towards the Southern Water Tribe urn holding the oil. Katara and Sokka looked at the urn in confusion for a moment before a look of recognition flew through them.

"Thats our urn filled with black water." Katara answered getting a nod from those in the room.

"Good, you remember," he said with a sigh of relief," now where did you find it?" he demanded. The siblings blinked at his question, they did not know why specifically they wanted the black water for but they understood that it was important to them.

"Why do you want to know?" Sokka asked with narrowed eyes, changing the mood in the air from passive to passive aggressive.

"Simple, its how, you young man, can go home." Sokka looked at Katara, asking for a form of permission from her eyes instead he got a nod.

"Our tribesmen found it about twenty-five years ago in a nearby mountain from our village. It took us a while to find a way to mine the stuff but when we did it's been really helpful in keeping us alive. It can be set on fire if you can make a spark so it can keep you warm and-and..umm." Sokka stopped mid sentence struggling to explain the liquids properties. His action got a wave of chuckles from the officers which caused the siblings to look confused.

"You don't have to sell the damn thing to us. We know what it is and we know how to actually use it, unlike you guys, no offence." The general said getting surprised looks from the siblings.

"We call it oil and we use for it a lot of things in our society. Which is why we wanted to know where you guys found this stuff. Now that we know, that concludes the first part of our meeting." he said with a smile.

"And what's the second part?" Katara asked with narrowed eyes, specifically looking at the Deathknight.

" Well, I leave that explanation to Jose." He said before taking a cigar, lighting it and putting it in his mouth in one swift movement. Katara's narrowed eyes become much more like a glare now.

"Why does everything come back to this fucking guy!?" Katara cursed in her LC cleared his throat before placing the folders that were under his arms onto the desk.

"Over the course of three days I have been trying to convince the leaders of our people to keep you alive. I've called on all my favors that people owed and used all my connections to get as much evidence I could to exonerate you two. It wasn't enough and I needed to cut a deal with a lot of strings attached to keep you alive."

"What sort of strings?" Sokka's voice had a hint anger but it was controlled. Surprising considering his lack of control of it, same as his sister, on several occasions over the course of their stay in Raven Rock.

"The sort that would only let one of you to leave and the other to stay. To be trained, educated, and assimilated into the Enclave. To act as both a soldier and a diplomat when we deal with civilizations outside of the South Pole, especially the Fire Nation. The nation you spoke to have been fighting a world war for the past one hundred years and has not seemed to be losing steam since day one. However, that wouldn't be the only thing that would happen. If this new recruit was cooperative and shows progress we would begin to assist your village with our technology and knowledge to give them an easier time surviving. However, again, that is if the recruit shows progress and shows some sort of loyalty to the Enclave." Navarro said not once removing his gaze from Katara. Not once wavering in his words or calm as if he was sending a message, and Katara received it and understood it as clear as ice.

"Alright, then let me stay, I'll join and be your recruit. So, let my sister go." Sokka begged towards the LC but the man did not bother to look or listen to the water tribe warrior. He simply continued to stare at Katara.

"Hello?" Sokka called out again, this time Navarro responded.

"The last string that needed to be strung for this deal to work is that new recruit needed to have the peculiar ability to control water." His answer gave Sokka a horrified look in his eyes that caused Colwell to chuckle.

"Oh no, no way! I am not letting you take my baby sister." Sokka retorted with anger. The officers in the room did not react, they understood his anger, his fear of losing a sibling. As long as he doesn't try to do something physical they would not step in.

"Sokka."

"You are going to take me! That's final! If they don't agree with it then they can speak to me about! There is no way-"

"Sokka!" Katara yelled stopping Sokka from his rant and catching his attention.

"What?" He growled out, his eyes not leaving the LC's.

"I'll stay."

"What!? Fuck no! You are not! What about Gran Gran, you said it yourself we need to leave as fast possi-Gahhh!" He squawked as he was hit on the back of the head by ST, knocking him out.

All eyes were on her as she looked at Katara.

"It's sometimes easier to do what needs to be done without family in the way." ST said, getting a grateful look from Katara.

She didn't want stay, that was obvious, she wanted to go home and be with people she was familiar with. In a familiar place, in a familiar situation but, sadly, right now that is not the case. She could fight, scream and do whatever she would usually do to get her way or to do what she believed was right but right now, in this moment, an entire world was against her and it was not her own. She'd probably be forced to do crazy things here, monstrous things, but as long as she can keep her home safe, her village, her people safe. Then she would take any sort of pain or do anything sort of wrong to keep them that way. For father was not only speaking to Sokka when he said to take care of the village, he was also speaking to her and right now she was going take to care of it.

She exhaled a deep sigh before turning around towards Jose. The LC was actually taken back by the look in her eyes. They burned with passion, with energy, with raw emotion. He had not seen something like that in a very, very long time.

"I'll do whatever you want, just make sure that my brother is sent home and that my people are safe." She said in a strong, independent voice." but there is one favor I would like to ask you." The LC rose his eyebrow in curiosity.

"Oh and what would that be?"

"Let me spend some time with everyone in the village, to explain everything to them. No more than a few days." She pleaded to the Deathknight.

"Hmmm, you'll have two, no more." He responded curtly

"That's fine, thank you." She finished with a small bow." but don't mistake this as if I trust you. I'll do whatever you ask of me for training and for that favor I owe you, but I don't really feel comfortable turning my back to you, to any of you really, no offence." She said with a stern look on her face. Her words creating many reactions among the officers, a raised eyebrow from Cornagi, a smirk from Bruja, a sharp chuckle from Autumn and a toothy smile from Colwell. Navarro's response was more vocal in nature.

"At least you have the ability to distrust at all because if it wasn't for me you'd have been dead from day one!" He snarled at her, his unusually sharp canines visible in his clenched teeth

Katara grunted before picking up her brother and walking out of the room without as so much as saying any sort of good bye. ST and Jackal saluted towards the officers before walking out the room to lead Katara back to her quarters. As they left and the doors slid closed Navarro straightened body, slouched and he released a loud and deep sigh.

"So, why didn't you tell them that this whole thing was all planned by you?" The general asked, Jose merely gave his old friend a look.

"You heard her, Augustus, she doesn't trust me and if she found out she would not have been as cooperative as she was." Autumn nodded, he could see that happening.

"Now, where do you keep that damn bottle of scotch or whatever you have here. I'm actually feeling up for a drink, for once."

XXX

All Members of Knight Squadron:

Deathknight

Jackal

Coyote

Wisper

Unicorn

Valkyrie

Delta

Santa Teresa

Panther

Peacekeeper

Vivid

Roma

Deadshot

Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter.

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