Chapter Ten: Empires and Enemies

"Aang! Can you bend the air around us and reduce the amount of drag? And you! New guy!" "Name's Zalik Jen." "Whatever! Just turn this knob here on this device and talk into it. Ask for a girl named Katara, got it? Keep turning it if you don't get a response." Sokka ordered as he tossed the communicator to their new friend, who caught it and did what was asked. "Hey! Twinkle Toes!" Toph began, holding onto a strap that hung down from the roof of the chopper, "How'd you know where we were?" "Zalik told me. He saw you and Sokka, overheard the basics of what you were saying and came and got me. I… I didn't think that the Cadians would ever destroy a whole country like that…" Aang was obviously overwhelmed by the whole situation, so it was probably a good thing Sokka had sort of taken charge… "Katara? (The god emperor be praised!) …nope. click Katara? (…) …nope. click Katara? (Victory is ours!) …nope. click Do I really have to keep doing this?" "Yes!" was the unanimous reply Zalik got from the other three on board. "Katara! (Jeez, this is a freakin' pain.)"

After wretching, she stumbled back to the far side of the room, knocking over some strange device that Amicus had on his person, and sat there clutching her legs, bawling her eyes out. She had killed Amicus, no worse she had used his blood, removing it forcefully from his body and leaving only a dry husk behind… it was the most inhumane thing she could conceive, and she had done it. She wasn't sure how much time had passed, but she was only brought back into reality from her hysterics by a chorus of voices shouting "yes" from the strange device she had knocked over before. She stared for a moment, fearing her mind lost and that she was hearing things, and the device spoke again, this time an unfamiliar voice, very low and callous sounding, shouted out her name then whispered something about a pain. She waited a second, then said aloud, "Who's there?" The voice came back, asking, "Hey, you're a girl right? …well, either that or a very effeminate guy… you named Katara by any chance?" "…That is my name…" she said cautiously, unsure what to make of the talking box which she now held in her hands. The voice came back, but she sensed it wasn't talking to her as it said, "Hey! I found her! Whadda ya know, it actually worked." "Katara!" then her brother's voice, followed by Toph's and Aang's chimed in over the strange box. "Katara, I need to know, are there any others with you?" "…No." She solemnly answered after a quick glance over at Amicus and the other Cadians' bodies. She heard Sokka say something which would have resulted in Gran-Gran washing out his mouth with seal blubber soap had she still been alive and then he continued, "Well, can you tell me where you are?" "um, I'm in a watch tower. I guess in the Fire Nation's capital city. It's near the shore, in the lower part of the city, near where the invasion was scheduled to land." "Okay, okay, I can work with that… I need you to get to the top of that tower, understood? And keep the communicator with you, okay?" "Um, alright." And off she went, to try and figure out a way up to the top of the tower while carrying the strange box which she assumed to be the communicator Sokka was talking about.

"Alright! Um, now… Zarik? Zalicks? Zuric?... new guy, see if you can find the command channel, where the guys givin' orders are talkin'. And when you find it, we all gotta be really quiet, so they won't know we're listenin' in." Zalik, as yes, that was his name and not any of Sokka's other mispronunciations, did as he was instructed and finally, after much trial and error, found the command line. "Preparations are complete, sir. It appears we are short one Valkyrie, however, the 'Nids must have taken it out or we have deserters, sir. " "Any further communications from our scouts?" "No, sir. Nothing further." "May the Emperor grant them mercy then, they served honorably. Launch the attack, and beware the hive." "Yes, sir." With that, the communications stopped, and after Sokka switched the thing off, having been handed the device by Zalik who had no idea how to shut the thing off, Aang asked, "But can't we just tell them that we contacted Katara and that they should postpone the attack?" "Kid, you sure are sweet, but that's the same kinda ignorance that got the rest o' yer people killed about a hundred years ago." Zalik responded before Toph or Sokka could think up a good way to explain that that wasn't an option. "But I'm sure Brother Ovidius would listen to us! He's a good person!" "Yeah, an' so am I, but considerin' the way these bugs infest places, I wouldn't wanna take chances either!" Zalik shot back, not because he was against the Avatar, but rather because he knew war and not some nice peaceful teachings. Sokka slowly spoke in agreement with Zalik and Toph had to admit that she didn't think the Cadians would really listen to a twelve year old monk during war time, after all they didn't exactly understand the whole concept of the Avatar like the rest of the Four Nations did. After they passed over the Fire Nation's border and they saw the barren wasteland that was left there, Aang settled in his mind that there probably wasn't even anyone other than Katara left, which made him very sad.

She climbed to the top of the tower after finding a series of what had probably been stairs but were now largish ledges of some sort or another. As soon as she got to the top and observed the surrounding area, covered in the bugs' pustulous filth, their horrid bodies, and the bodies of those who had been previously infected with the parasitic bugs all of which had stopped screaming their infernal death howls and died once the queen had died herself. The destruction was horrendous, and she could see the upper city quite clearly from her perch as well, it too was covered in the bodies of the bugs and also their mucuslike fortifications. She looked all around what had been the capital city of the most feared people in the world, and the only reply was a desolate wind sweeping through the city. It brought a tear to her eye, because even though they had been enemies, they still had not deserved this. How could something so cruel even exist? She was jerked away from her thoughts by the approach of something strange in the sky heading toward her and making a strange sort of humming noise. Looking closer, she could see Sokka inside the thing and then Aang hang halfway out of it. There was Toph inside too, as well as someone she didn't know who was more preoccupied with looking at the ruins of the Fire Nation. "Katara! Grab my hand!" Aang shouted out as they neared and she had to stand on the tips of her toes to actually reach his hand, almost slipping off the tall tower as she did. Aang used his airbending to help pull her inside and once she was, Toph slid the door of the strange vessel shut behind her. "Alright! Things are finally looking good for us! Now to head back to Ba Sing Se and avoid dying!" Sokka said with a smile as Toph and Aang explained to the now confused Katara why they were in such a rush to get out of the area. "No! We can't leave yet! We have to get Zuko!" "Katara, are you out of your mind!" Sokka questioned along with Zalik, who knew enough about the Fire Nation prince to also hate him. "I can't explain right now, but he's in the palace and before we leave, we have to get him. Do you want his blood on your hands, Sokka?" "You see that?" Sokka asked, pointing to a convoy of metal sky ships similar to the one they were in, "They're here to blast the Fire Nation to smitherines, just so you know." "Then we really don't have time to argue do we? Just get us close, Aang can airbend us down and then back up, okay?" "Fine."

He stumbled in, his loss of blood starting to blur his vision as he approached the throne where he could see his father sat. "So you have returned." Firelord Ozai said, hiding his surprise behind an evil smile. "Yeah, you didn't think I would, did you? Well, you should have known better, because I still have something I need to tell you." Zuko struggled out as he came to a stop before Ozai. "Oh, and what is that?" the smug look on Ozai's face had yet to fade and he was about to shoot lightning at Zuko because the solar eclipse had faded, but it did shift to a troubled look as Zuko raised his bolter and said, "I hate you." He fired his last round straight between Ozai's eyes, not even giving Ozai a chance to use his bending, then collapsed backward onto the floor, unconscious from blood loss.

It was several months after the event, everything was back to normal with the exception of the wastelands that had once been the Fire Nation and the Cadian headquarters still in Ba Sing Se. The Earth Kingdom had sustained the least amount of casualties, with the Fire Nation being the highest of course and the annihilation of the Southern Water tribe putting the Water Tribes in the direct middle as far as casualties went. There were several investigations conducted around the Fire Nation, looking for survivors, but as it was none had been found. It would seem as though something had happened at the Boiling Rock, a high security prison, but no one knew what exactly went on, as no witnesses could be found but not all the prisoners were accounted for. It was after that, at a gathering the Cadians had assembled, that they were asked if any among them would volunteer to serve their Emperor elsewhere in the cosmos. A hushed whispering fell over the crowd as they talked over the destruction that had been wrought on their home and the wish to never see something so horrid again, before a single figure stood and walked to the front of the room, up to the Cadians. His golden eyes hardened and steeled, the scar over his left eye still a reminder of what was once his, he spoke and chilled the bones of the Cadian cadet before him saying, "What am I fighting this time?"

Credits:

Writer: OrangeMonk3y

Disclaimer:

OrangeMonk3y does not own Warhammer 40k

or Avatar: The Last Airbender

Monster.

How should I feel?

Creatures lie here...

Looking through the windows.

The End.

Author's Final Note: So I guess that was slightly boring... oh well, I think I tied it up pretty well... considering... Thanks guys, for making this a great story and very fun, even with the, like, year break I had in there, you guys still stuck around and I'm grateful. I hope I live up to everyone's expectations, sorry if i didn't. Yes, as you may have guessed, I am gonna continue the storyline in another "book", so to speak. So, again, it's been great writing for you guys and please check out the next installment, which is entitled: Necrophantasia. Can you guess what they're fighting this time? Actually, I have quite a few enemies in the next one… See you next time! (Oh, if you had submitted or want to submit an OC for either Imperial Guard or Avatar world and you want me to use them in the next storyline… please leave me a comment, okay? Thanks!) ;)