Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Two years since the hundred year war came to an end. Two years since she was at the top of the world. Two years since she was set to be the next fire lord. Two years since she was betrayed by both those she would call her friends and her mind. Two years since it was all stolen from her by her brother, the man she hated most in life and his group, the Avatar and his friends. Azula, former princess of the fire nation, is now on the run as her last attempt to destabilize her brother's rule had failed and now she is being pursued by the Avatar through the western Earth Kingdom.

She sat at the edge of a campfire, her legs tucked into her chest, in the middle of the great divide under a tapestry of stars. Traveling alone while being pursued had not been kind to the teenage girl as her once porcelain skin had been scuffed with dirt and faint scratches, her long ebony hair that was once held up tight in a proud topknot now hung half freely past her shoulders and half done up in a disheveled topknot unbecoming of someone of her status, her clothes where tattered and dirty peasant rags that she had to steal after abandoning the royal robes she had months earlier when she was still in the Fire Nation capital that was covered in a tattered cloak that now serves as a makeshift blanket. Her narrow eyes that always had a spark of cunning and life in them now stare blankly at the fire in defeat, dark bags from lack of proper sleep hung below them.

Four months of running, four months of looking over her shoulder and wondering how much time she had left before her pursuers catch up with her. Frustration grew as she stared into the orange flame. Seeing that golden crown hair piece adorning Zuko's head infuriated her to no end. It belonged to her. Her father Fire Lord Ozai, no Phoenix King Ozai, gave his blessing that she rule the Fire Nation. A position that she has strived towards her entire life that she trained to perfection was snuffed from her by her traitor brother and his peasant friends. Even though she told her brother that it wasn't her destiny to become Fire Lord, a lie of course, she tried to steer Zuko to rule the nation how it should be, through unquestionable fear and strength. She had hoped that teaming up with the New Ozai Society, posing as the Kemurikage and abducting fire nation children she'd get him to rule as he should. But no, the Avatar and his posse of fools thwarted her plans.

The New Ozai society fell apart almost as quickly as they formed, its most prominent members arrested and the rest scattered or submitting like the weak dogs they are. Azula would not end up like them, trapped in a cell again or cowing down to a weak ruler. No. She would flee her homeland for now, stay low and gather her strength to strike once again. She just has to find a safe place to hide in for awhile, however that is easier said than done. Just two days ago the Avatar and his two water tribe peasants had found her amongst a harbor town, almost as if they were waiting for her, and she barely managed to escape. Thankfully the blind earthbender wasn't with them which made her uncanny ability to sense her through the earth something she didn't need to concern herself with, at least for now. Who knows when she will join the hunt for her.

Her mind had barely healed since she was free of the mental asylum Zuko had trapped her in since her defeat on the day of the comet. At the corner of her vision she could see her.

That woman.

She sat just outside of Azula's reach; kneeling in a regal manner with her arms hidden in her silk sleeves, staring at her with the same solemn expression she seemed to always carry in all of her memories. Ursa, former wife to Fire Lord Ozai and her mother. The mother she despises even more than everyone who had a hand in her downfall.

"You look tired Azula." the specter says in an equally solemn voice.

Azula ignores her. She knows that this is her mind playing tricks on her again. Making her think that she ever cared for her when Azula knew that Zuko was her favorite just like she was her fathers favorite. Azula corrects her posture, sitting up straight, shoulders back, chin held up high with her legs crossed as she focuses on her breathing exercises and staring into the flame. Inhaling through the nose and exhaling through the mouth. The flames retract and puff out with each breath.

She hopes that focusing her mind on this will make the apparition go away.

"You can't keep going on like this. You're hungry and exhausted." The apparition said, causing her to falter a bit in her exercise, "If you do not get proper rest you will collapse."

Azula took deeper, more labored breaths as her brow furrows. Rage begins to form in her as the campfire begins to burn more intensely.

"Please Azula, you've been soldiering through this for two days." Ursa pleaded but her concern only added more fuel to her daughter's fire as her calming breaths were now slowly becoming quick hyperventilating gasps as she fought for control over her composer.

Through gritted teeth Azula answered back in a hushed tone, "Stop pretending to care."

The fire flashes cyan each time it rises with every exhale.

The apparition's expression does not change, "Azula, I have always cared for-"

"SHUT UP!" Azula shouts, cutting her off as the campfire explodes into a column of blue flame and disappearing.

She now sits there gasping labored breaths in the darkness of the canyon night illuminated only by the light of the full moon. She struggles to regain her composure again after her outburst and glances to her side seeing that her mother disappeared with the fire finally leaving her alone. She glanced at her fire seeing nothing but embers left as her outburst caused her to burn through what little firewood she managed to find. She shot up cursing to herself as she grabbed her hair in frustration. She knows she should be better than this but ever since her first defeat on the day of the comet she has become a shadow of her original self.

Not wanting to waste any more energy she returned to the hard rocky ground and laid back looking up into the countless stars that hang overhead. There were so many of them, millions of tiny white dots spread throughout the sky as if every paper lantern that had ever been made ascended to the heavens. She never paid too much attention to the night sky before as she was far too busy with more important matters on the earth, but now that she has nothing left she finds that staring at them when the night is clear helps calm her nerves, at least just a little bit. She begins to wonder how high the sky truly goes, if it was possible to touch the stars that hang above her.

She dismisses these thoughts as soon as they appear. She has no time to wonder about such nonsense. The Avatar and his group are still chasing her, she is in Earth Kingdom territory where she is probably even more wanted than in the Fire Nation and she has no plan of action. She is certain that if she is caught the Avatar will take her bending away just as he did with her father and she couldn't let that happen. Her bending, her blue flames, where all she had left. They were who she was and without them she was nothing.

As she continued staring into the night sky she saw a bright shooting star soaring through the sky.

She wonders aloud, "What was it that Ty Lee always said? Make a wish when you see a shooting star and it will come true?" She scoffs at such a notion but decides to follow through on it, after all she can only gain from it if it was true and she had nothing else to lose if it didn't.

"Take me away from this place." She says in a dry humorless laugh. She didn't know if this is something she truly wanted after months of living on the lamb or if this is just a passing thought.

She continued to keep her eyes on the star as it continued its run across the sky but then began to notice that it was getting bigger. She quickly sat up looking at the star as it began to get closer and closer until she realized it was not a shooting star at all but some kind of metal structure trailed by fire. It was so large that it could possibly rival the Drill she had overseen during her first attempt to breach Ba Sing Se's walls.

Within moments the structure soared over her covered in flames accompanied by an unearthly roar that was so loud she instinctively covered her ears hoping that it didn't cause her to go deaf. As it passed by it continued its trek until whatever it was crashed a mile or two away. The impact shook the earth around her causing what little wild life around her to stir in a panic and flee the area.

She could not believe what she had just witnessed. Could it have been some new experimental airship? No it couldn't have. She and her father knew all of the Fire Nations airship experiments and future models. Any that Zuko or that water tribe peasant could have thought of couldn't have been made yet, especially one of that size.

She should flee the scene as there were too many unknowns in whatever this was to investigate it. However she couldn't just forget about this and her curiosity was beginning to outway her better judgment. Azula decided she needed to see what this was and began making her way in the direction of the crash sight, fire and smoke now beginning to choke the night sky. Hopefully this goal of hers will keep her focused enough to not worry about any more visions.

It took some time for her to reach the structure on foot carrying what little belonging she had in a simple satchel, but when she arrived she came to a cliff side and below her she saw a massive metal structure like that of one of the many Fire Nation naval ships she had sailed on but on a much larger scale with a long rectangular body, arrow headed nose, a wide rear with large funnels that seemed to spew fire and what looked to be some kind of structure near the rear like a ships helm of some sort. Its starboard rear was engulfed in flames as if it had taken damage in some kind of battle as holes, scratches and dents littered the hull of the boxy structure. She could feel the heat rising from the crash site, even from her vantage point

Azula couldn't begin to imagine how long it took to create such a vessel. It took years for her nation to construct the drill alone but this vessel was almost the same length as it and double the width. As she continued to admire this miracle of engineering she heard an all too familiar roar overhead. Her head snapped in the direction of the nose and she saw the Avatar's bison flying straight towards her direction. Azula immediately ducks down, trying to hide from the bison. She is not sure what to do now. Should she try to run away? Or stay put and hope that the Avatar or anyone in the bison's saddle spots her. Azula is torn between her feelings of self preservation and overwhelming curiosity.

Before she could do anything the bison landed several feet away from her and blocked any exit from the cliffside. The Avatar dismounted from the beast's head landing in front of her, his staff at the ready and his two companions leaping off and taking fighting stances.

"Azula!" Avatar Aang said, pointing his staff at her. His lemur pet gliding down and wrapping itself around his shoulders, "What is this? Did you have something to do with this?"

Azula doesn't answer right away. She glances at the vessel and back to him studying the situation while remaining calm and collected before giving an answer back with as much confidence and arrogance she could muster, "You give me too much credit avatar. But unfortunately I am just as perplexed as you are when it comes to this thing."

It was the non-bending water tribe peasant who decided to answer her question with as much sarcasm as he could muster, "Well, given the Fire Nation's knack for making gigantic death machines, I think it's a pretty safe bet to assume you had something to do with it."

Azula gave no outward reaction to his accusation remaining nonchalant, however irritation grew within her but didn't allow herself to be baited by his comment, "Well I don't care whether you believe me or not. What matters is that I am telling you the truth."

"Right, and even if you're telling the truth you'd probably use this weird ship as some kind of weapon against us. Wouldn't you?" It was the water bender's turn to speak with a glare as equally as dangerous as hers.

Azula's voice hardens slightly, her demeanor losing some of its calmness, "Are you seriously going to focus more on me than whatever this ship from the sky is?"

"Enough! She's telling the truth guys. Fighting about it isn't going to solve whatever this whole thing is. Nobody is around for miles so we're probably the only ones who know about this so we need to stop fighting." Aang interrupted, hoping to keep things from escalating further.

Azula rolls her eyes upon hearing Aang's call for a truce but agrees to comply, at least for now, "Finally seeing sense now are we?" She couldn't help but let some sense of superiority leak into her tone.

Before any more words could be exchanged the massive vessel let out a deafening sound like that of a fog horn before beginning to stir. Appa panicked at the noise and almost flew away as the ground rumbled all around them. The cliffside Azula stood on shook violently as the vessel began to ascend until the stone beneath her crumbled away sending her plummeting onto the structure where she managed to slow her descent with her firebending.

The ship continued to rise higher into the sky despite its rear section still being encompassed by flames. She struggled to regain her balance as she looked around frantically trying to ascertain how the ship was moving, all she knew was that now she was on top of it and her first assumption was that it was going to return to the sky. Not wanting to join it she decided that her curiosity was filled and she needed to get off of it as soon as possible. She ran to the edge of the vessel and saw that it had already risen high enough where she wouldn't be able to jump onto any rock outcroppings.

As she looked around for anything that could help her in this situation she heard the bison's roar just barely over the sound of the exhaust being produced by the ship's massive engines. The bison rose up into the air near her and she knew that her best likelihood of getting out of here was through her worst enemies. It sickened her but she would rather suffer a bruised ego over whatever fate lay in store for her if she remained on the ship. Without missing a beat she began running towards the direction of the bison and in doing so she saw the Avatar leap off it and unfurrow his glider and descended down to her in order to grab her easier.

As soon as Aang had jumped from Appa a bright blue shimmering light appeared from the rear of the titanic ship began to cover the surface of its structure and before Aang could land in front of her it passed between them with the Avatar landing on top of it as if he was standing on solid ground. Aang stomped and struck the barrier of light trying to pierce it to get to her but every attempt from air bending, fire bending and even striking it with his staff failed.

What was going on? How is this happening? Her salvation was just right in front of her and now it seems to have been snuffed out. Tired of not being in control she shot an azure flame up at the barrier just beneath the Avatar not really caring if she burned him or not but just like him her flames were stopped by this barrier. She shot more flames around them but each time the invisible barrier would appear to block her flames from escaping. She decided she had enough of this trick and took on a signature stance, one her enemies knew all too well, as she began to focus her chi to generate lightning. The Avatar took note of this and leapt away not wanting to be caught up in the blast.

As she began to generate the energy necessary to create the blast the ship shifted, turning upward and let out a sharp gasp as she was thrown off balance before she could even generate a spark and she found herself sliding along the smooth metal plating as it ascended further into the starry night. She continued sliding, unable to find anything to grab ahold of until she noticed a large hole to her right coming up. Quickly she shifted her position to where she slid straight into the hole of the ship and fell into a long metal corridor hard on her side.

As she stood back up and began to rub her shoulder, she looked around seeing that the hallway was long and tube-like but didn't get to observe further as she started to see a large circular door beginning to close. Without properly thinking she ran towards it and dived through the opening before it could shut completely and closed off entry to this area.

Now with a moment to finally properly think and strategize Azula stood there trying to get her bearings as now she is inside the very ship she was trying to escape from with the tube shaped halls bathed in an ominous red light as a strange ear piercing siren sounded off rhythmically to the turbulent swaying of the ship.

*****

Outside the vessel Aang and his friends rode on Appa with Aang trying desperately to make the sky Bison fly faster and higher but this metal monstrosity moved too fast for them to keep up with. Azula may be one of his worst enemies but he couldn't leave her behind on this colossal ship that came out of nowhere. He promised Zuko that he would bring his sister home and he made a promise to their mother Ursa.

The ship climbed higher and higher piercing the sky with little effort and Appa could not fly fast enough to catch it and he was reaching the limit of how far up the bison was capable of flying. In a matter of minutes Aang, Katara and Sokka couldn't help but watch as the titanic ship continued to fly faster and faster into the stars until it became a gleaming speck of light too far for them to reach.

He knew then and there that he had just lost Azula, possibly forever.

Chapter Text

Azula now holding on to her sore shoulder now traversing slowly and steadily down the corridor bracing herself with one arm against the wall as turbulence shifted her. Now she had a better chance to study her surroundings and saw that the circular hallway was a dull gray with very high ceilings almost as if it was meant for people much larger than herself to travel through, the walls here padded yet had exposed wiring and piping running along their lengths, the dim red light made things darker than they where. White lights flashed on and off as a loud shrill alarm screeched through the air causing Azula to wince every time it came on, the floors and walls had strange symbols written in bold yellow and what looked like arrows pointing towards other hallways and circular doors that seemed to be locked.

She continued to ask herself what this place was and who constructed it while attempting to ascertain the function of some of the machinery displayed in the halls. Her train of thought was interrupted when she heard heavy footsteps approaching from one of the branching hallways before her and coming fast. Azula quickly backed away and hid behind another corridor as whoever they were ran past in a hurry. She only caught a quick glance at the two people who ran by but from what she saw they could barely be called that. One was almost three heads taller than any human should be with his bodily proportions being exaggerated to a point where it was almost comical while the other was much shorter but had a second pair of arms beneath his first pair.

They quickly disappeared down the corridor and away from Azula's sight. She grabbed her head and wondered if what she saw was correct and tried to make sense of it. She has had hallucinations of people before but nothing like this, they were far too strange and vivid to be an illusion. She needed a place to hide because there are bound to be more of them running around and with this alarm going off they were clearly in a state of emergency. Azula didn't get very far as she heard voices ahead of her then the sound of doors opening behind her. She was trapped.

She looked around her for anything that could hide her and saw a large panel against one of the walls with a wide door. She quickly ran to it grabbing ahold of the handle and pulled it open revealing some kind of chute. Luckily it was large enough to fit someone of her size, just barely.

With so little time to speculate its use she crawled in allowing gravity to take her down this dark corridor where she plummeted hitting various twists and turns making her let out involuntary cries with her wrapping her arms around her body to brace for more impacts until it finally emptied out in a large open area. She landed hard once more but this time on something softer. The first thing she noticed was the putrid smell around her that was so vile she came close to gagging. She pushed her cloak out of her face and saw that she was surrounded by mounds of trash.

Not where she would have liked to be but at least she was out of danger. Once she gathers her senses after covering her mouth and nose with her cloak she calms herself down and noticed an elevated catwalk at the opposite end of the rather large room and began to wade her way through the mounds of garbage as if it were a thick marsh that threatened to swallow her up while taking caution to not step on anything potentially dangerous along with coating her legs in questionable substances and its rotting stench clinging to her. She had to use her cloak to filter out the stench when she breathed. She couldn't help but think of how rotten her luck has become as of late; once she was feared and people would prostrate themselves at her presence, now she's wading through knee deep piles of trash on a strange ship from the sky.

"Truly I was born lucky." She said bitterly before tripping face first into a torn bag of trash. She takes a moment to recover from the unexpected impact and brushes what looked like some sort of discarded fruit peel from her hair trying to maintain her composure and dignity.

She finally reached the catwalk wanting nothing more than to escape this disgusting garbage heap, but it was far out of reach for her to jump to it but this was not an issue for her as she took on a firebending stance, as best she could in this unstable terrain, and gathered enough strength to propel her high enough to land on it. She produced a torrent of blue flames from her hands shooting her high enough to grab ahold of the catwalks edge and pull herself up.

She felt strange, she knew she had put enough energy in that blast to send her flying higher than she should have been and land on the catwalk on her feet however she had just barely managed to generate enough lift to grab hold of the railing. Not only that she felt her inner fire slowly die down, almost like it did on the day of black sun when she was without her bending.

She hated to admit it but perhaps the illusion of her mother was right and she was reaching the limit of how much exhaustion her body could tolerate and the putrid smell of this room was not helping. She needed to find some way off of this ship fast. From what little she saw of the crew they didn't seem human in the slightest, that alone made things dangerous for her.

She followed the length of the cat walk to what looked like a metal door. As she reached to open it the door split open on its own revealing another corridor, the sudden movement made her jump back and take an offensive stance but no one was there. The door slid closed.

She approached the door again, this time slowly and like before it slid open. Azula thought that this was strange, normally doors don't open and close by themselves, but given her location and being surrounded by possible monsters, doors opening and closing by themselves seemed to be the least strange thing around here.

She quickly walked through it and jogged down the corridor that was still bathed in red light and sirens going off. Now turbulence rocked her side to side a little and she could feel the direction shifting in the vessel. Azula begins to feel it may be too late to escape this ship now.

As she continued down the corridor she exited an intersection of hallways but pulled herself back once she noticed several figures standing in the hall to her left. Wanting a clearer understanding of who or what is on this ship she peeks over the corridor and her eyes widened when she saw them.

She counted three of them, one large one with his back turned to her and two smaller creatures before it. The larger one stood maybe a foot taller than her on long digitigrade legs that ended in clawed digits, it had four long and equally skinny arms growing out of a narrow torso. She couldn't see its head as long white hair surrounded where the head should be and dressed in ragged clothing that seemed to indicate it was some kind of engineer. The other two were short creatures that if Azula didn't know better would have thought they were children but their skin was unnaturally pale with striped patterns and their heads were oddly shaped like hammers with eyes set way too far apart on stalks.

The larger one towered over the smaller two exuding a menacing aura as it shouted strange words and snarls at them in a language Azula could not make sense of and from its erratic body language and how it moved its many arms quickly along with how the smaller creatures winced and recoiled with almost every word she could tell it was a superior scolding it's subordinates. The larger creature shouted a command at one and shoved a rectangular device in its hands causing it to run down the opposite end of the hall while the larger one hissed another command at the second one pointing down another hall where it began running towards its supposed station.

The larger creature grumbled to itself before turning towards Azula's direction revealing a narrow serpent-like head covered in white scales and four small narrow eyes. The thick white hair she thought was some kind of scarf was actually hair growing out of its neck and shoulders. It began marching towards her unaware Azula was there and focused on whatever task it set its mind too.

Azula debated whether or not she could take this creature on in a fight as she had faced more threatening enemies before but a run in with this creature now would spell disaster for Azula especially seeing it display an aggressive commanding nature towards that pair of other creatures. She had too little information on what she would be facing and instead opted to retreat back the way she came.

In her observation she failed to notice a door slide open behind her. She only took a few steps back before bumping into something that wasn't there earlier, hard enough that she almost fell backwards. When she looked at it she saw the backside of a towering figure standing before her that resembled a giant insect standing hunched over on two legs, long arms dangling from its torso. It turned around and cocked its round head down at her, seeming to only notice her when she walked into it.

She was locked in place staring at this inhuman creature, transfixed on its large compound eyes that gave no indication of its motive, antenna flicking back and forth as mandibles around what she could only assume is its mouth twitched creating a steady clicking noise. It stood as still as she did, only staring at her, occasionally twitching its head in a different position in a moment that felt like hours.

For a moment she thought about speaking to it as if it were a person however words seemed to escape Azula at the moment, instead she slowly began taking a few steps backwards away from it making sure to not create any sudden moves that would startle it but completely forgot of the four armed creature that walked past behind her with it turning to her in surprise and shouting out a series or words she could not understand. The multi armed creatures' sudden outburst caught Azula by surprise and in an instant the larger bug man lunged at her, pincer-like hands outstretched.

Azula darted back quickly and fired a bolt of fire on instinct at the bug man's torso hoping to incinerate the creature however the blast of fire was nowhere near big enough to do the damage she was hoping and instead collided with the creature's carapace scorching it lightly but managed to ward it back.

The multi armed one came at her from behind grappling her and attempting to subdue her. She tried to wrestle herself free from its grasp but its four arms clung tightly to her and it had superior strength. The bug man quickly brushed off the damage she had done and stood back up to its full height and made an attempt to grab her legs. With both feet Azula kicked forward sending yet another weakened blast at the creature, her fire having lost its signature blue coloration now. The Bug man hissed and backed away in pain. The blast had knocked back the multi armed one throwing him off balance and just as it steadied itself Azula let out another blast with her feet catching it off balance again and sending them both falling backwards. With the fall making it loosen its grip she rolled out of its grasp however two of its four arms still clung onto her cloak and attempted to yank her back down as it tried to stand. Azula peeled the cloak off and threw it over its head, disorienting it further and delivered a kick to the side of its head for good measure.

The bug man attempted to rush her once more but as soon as she took another fighting stance it froze knowing another blast of fire would come if it continued further. The multi armed one began to stir, pulling the tattered cloak off its head.

One of the creature's arms reached for its side and pulled out a device that almost looked like a hand held cannon and pointed it at her. Its muzzle flashed with a bright red blast that zipped past her head and fired two more blasts, one she was able to dodge out of the way while the other grazed her shoulder burning through her skin sending a burning sensation shooting up her arm. Now registering this device as a weapon Azula took on a defensive stance and threw a quick jab sending a bolt of fire from her fingertips that collided with the multi armed creature's hand causing it to screech out in pain and drop the weapon.

She then sprinted off away from the two creatures as fast as she could. There went her plan to go unnoticed and not engage whatever they were. She just had to run now and hope for the best. What still bothered her was that her firebending seemed to just keep getting weaker. Every blast she produced was meant to be an inferno but they kept coming out as just small sparks that only a child novice would be able to produce, and the worst part was she could feel her inner fire growing colder and colder with each passing moment.

The sound of the two creatures giving chase could be heard behind her. She didn't look back, she could only focus on getting out of there and away from them but with each corridor she ran down or turned the creatures kept pace. Behind her the multi limbed creature had recovered its weapon as blasts of crimson fire flew past her with several coming close to striking her.

In her escape she came across a large door at the end of the aisle that slid open as soon as she was close enough. She didn't think of where it could lead and just went through it.

Once through she found herself dodging out of the way of large components of machinery and almost running into several more of those smaller creatures that jumped out of the way as she rushed past. She saw an open corridor and ran to it out of the confined space but as she entered it a vehicle of some sort almost collided with her. The shock of the sudden appearance of it made her stumble and fall to her side as it stopped inches away from her. The occupant of the vehicle, a large green reptilian man poked his head out of the window and started shouting a string of more words she could not understand while shaking a clawed fist in annoyance. Azula was even more confused now at the site of this new creature and a small vehicle.

Just how many creatures were in this ship?

She would soon find the answer to her question when she looked around, finding that she was in a massive open space where dozens of strange vehicles were parked in various places along with various forms of machinery and surrounding them all where more strange creatures of all shapes and sizes surrounded her dressed in strange baggy uniforms. Each one was unique and equally stranger than the next, some stood taller or shorter than any human could possibly achieve in height, some had multiple limbs, others multiple eyes, some were human in shape but on closer inspection had proportions or features that were far from human, those that didn't have a human shape had strange abstract appearances or resembled strange surreal versions of animals Azula knew. The worst thing was now they were all staring at her, some in confusion others didn't pay too much attention while the rest saw her as she saw them, completely alien.

This was all starting to become too much for her now, she knew absolutely nothing of what anything in this place was and nothing to plan around, nothing she could control and she began to panic.

The multi armed creature pushed past a few of the other creatures shouting and pointing at her. Several of the other creatures around her quickly moved to capture her.

"GET AWAY!" she shouted, throwing an arch of flames at the closest group causing all of them to jump back in surprise.

She leapt back up to her feet taking on the fiercest stance she knew and sent another blast of orange flames at the feet of a few causing one to stumble back and fall all the while shouting at them to keep their distance frantically turning around making sure none of them snuck up on her.

As her eyes darted around keeping track of all the creatures she failed to notice a silver dart strike her shoulder and send an electric charge running throughout her body causing it to involuntary shake and convulse making her scream before falling on her back, her body becoming numb and twitching involuntarily. As she lay there paralyzed and forced to stair to her right she saw a pair of armored boots walk up to her. Her eyes trailed up seeing that the person was very humanoid in shape and proportion and covered head to toe in dark faceted armor plating with a helmet that was a metallic red.

The figure crouched down as if they were sizing up prey caught in a trap, a weapon like that of the multi armed creatures was in their hand. Their head cocked to the side a bit with the dark reflective visor of its expressionless helmet staring directly into her wide golden eyes. The figure stood back up deciding it was satisfied with its observation before raising a booted foot and quickly hammering it down on Azula. She was knocked unconscious instantly.

When she awoke Azula had a splitting headache and was lying on the floor of a dimly lit small room. She slowly sat up wincing at the pain in her head and the soreness of the bruise on the side of her head, her body was stiff still feeling the effects of the shock that numbed her body. She remembered everything she saw; the colossal ship that came from the sky and the vast array of creatures she ran into. It must have been some hunger induced dream. It had to be, every thought she had of the matter pointed to it, but then she looked at her wrists realizing her movement with them was limited and saw they were bound by metal cuffs. She looked at the room around her and saw a bed sticking out of one of the walls and some kind of strange sink on the back wall. The entrance was covered in a series of jagged and oddly shaped bars that crisscrossed and bent at odd angles. She was all too familiar with prison cells to know that this was one.

She stood up and cautiously approached the entrance to the cell and on closer inspection she saw a blue light emanating between her and the bars that gave everything beyond it a blue tinge. She reached out with a foot and gently tapped at the entrance, finding there was indeed a barrier of some kind that flashed whenever she made contact with it, just like the barrier that separated her and the Avatar.

Her captures must have deemed this necessary to keep her from firebending against the bars. It didn't stop her from trying though, not out of a need to escape but to test the limits of it and like before it completely negated her weak flames.

She shot her fists forward again trying to summon a torrent of blue flames but yet again they came out as a weak sputter of orange sparks. She didn't understand why her firebending was so weak. Ever since she set foot on this vessel her bending was losing its intensity and she felt a coldness within herself as her inner fire struggled to stay burning.

Whatever this place was it was sapping her of her strength and leaving her at the mercy of the monsters on board. She needed to come up with a plan, that's what she had been lacking before and because of that she ended up here.

She paced about in the cell going over everything she knows so far; she's stuck on an unknown ship from an unknown location crawling with inhuman creatures, they all had been in a state of emergency when she entered, perhaps she could use that to her advantage, and this vessel was most likely returning to wherever it is it came from. They didn't kill her at least so perhaps they are merciful, or they may want to torture her for information. Then again what information would be useful to them if she can't even understand what they are saying and it would be wise to assume the same for them. She could try to plead with them, lie and make them think she is some poor unfortunate soul that just got lost, but then she runs into the same dilemma of the language barrier.

She sighed in frustration taking a seat on the cold hard bed. She had far little information to work with so the best she could do now was to simply wait for them to come to her. She did not have to wait long as the sound of a metal door sliding open echoed down the hall followed by several sets of footsteps. Azula sat up straight, shoulders back and chin up attempting to look as dignified as possible, she may be at their mercy but she wouldn't allow herself to appear weak to them.

The footsteps stopped at her cell door where a woman who wore a scuffed up uniform in what looked like a casual manner stood erect, eyeing her with a blank discernable expression and flanked by two others. What surprised Azula is that unlike the various other occupants of this vessel she looked remarkably human accept for her tangerine skin, black eyes with luminous cyan irises, and short curled horns that grew out of the sides of her head, one of which had a broken tip, above her pointed ears that poke out of her long ebony hair.

Beside her stood the armored person with the red helmet that had incapacitated her with a clawed hand resting on their holstered weapon and the other appeared to be a tall lanky lizard man covered in yellow scales and dressed in a more casual attire.

The lizard man eyed her with what Azula could only describe as a fascinated expression as his attention shifted from her to a strange rectangular device he held. Just like the other creatures he spoke to the human looking woman in a language Azula couldn't understand.

The woman said something in the same language with the armored one keeping silent, taking a more rigid stance as if expecting an attack. The lizard man reached for what Azula assumed to be the lock to the door on the wall out of view and the luminous barrier disappeared. The lizard man tossed a small device through the bars before turning the barrier back on.

Azula looked at the device at her feet with curiosity. It is small enough to be held with just her fingertips. The lizard man motioned for her to pick it up and pointed to the side of his head revealing a similar device resting in what looked like an ear hole, and he motioned her to place it in her own ear.

Reluctantly she obliges not really understanding but decided that the device didn't seem to pose any threat.

Once the device was firmly in her ear the lizard man spoke again however the strange words he spoke with before were replaced with words she could understand.

"Can you understand me?" He asked slowly.

Azula's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting to suddenly start understanding them so soon. She wiped the shock from her face, returning it to her usual stoic expression before answering in an authoritative tone.

"Yes."

"Good. Good." The lizard man responded in a jovial manner as he began typing away at the device in hand, "I was afraid the probes we sent a couple days ago didn't gather enough data from your culture to synthesize a translatable language for you to understand. But clearly that isn't the case."

Azula furrowed her brow in confusion as she did not understand half of what he had said, "W-what? I don't understand. What is this place and who or rather what are you?"

The lizard man leans over to the woman who, "Should we really be doing this Captain? Might I remind you contact with primitive civilisations is extremely prohibited under Pendaren imperial law, registered or unregistered."

The woman turned to him but kept her luminous eyes on her prisoner as she spoke in a firm yet smooth tone, "You forget doctor, we're far from Pendaren jurisdiction, and it's just one local. The rest of her kind probably won't even believe any word she says about us."

Being fed up with their private conversation about her, Azula decides to speak up, "I would appreciate it if you didn't speak of me as if I am not here!"

She caught their attention with the lizard man quickly taking an apologetic posture, "Sorry! My bad. We don't really have a protocol for this sort of thing. We're not exactly from your world, you see."

Azula narrowed her eyes, "You are spirits then?"

The lizard man was quick to dispel this, "No. We're not spirits either."

The red helmeted warrior let out a distorted chuckle as they crossed their arms, "The primitive thinks we're gods."

The armored one seemed to be amused with this idea much to Azula's growing annoyance, especially with how they keep using the word "primitive" to describe her.

She ignored the armored one's comment in favor of focusing on more important information.

"If you are not spirits then just what are you?"

The lizard man practically jumped to answer her before any other comments could be made, "Well, we're just people. Like you…or not really like you but similar."

Azula let out an exasperated laugh at that statement, "Similar? How so? You are a walking talking lizard," she said to him, keeping a hard gaze.

"That's rude." The lizard man mumbled.

"You look down right demonic," Azula spat to the woman who only raised a brow at her.

"And you…" she turned to the armored warrior and paused, their black visor staring at her, "Well, I don't know what you look like but I'd imagine it's nothing too flattering."

The warrior let out what sounded like an animal-like snarl.

"There is nothing similar between us or any of the monsters you have on this ship! If you are truly just people, then where is it you come from if not the Earth?" She finished, lacing her voice in contempt.

The woman stepped forward closer to the cell bars, using her height advantage to tower over her and commanding posture to let Azula know who was truly in charge, "What do you know of space travel?"

Azula did not answer as she didn't know much but stubbornly wouldn't admit to it.

The captain took her silence as an answer, "Earth, is that the name of your world?" Again she didn't answer but was curious as to where this was leading towards, "What if I told you that your earth is but a tiny grain of sand in the infinite desert of space? That there are billions of earth's out there each one different to one another, many housing trillions of different types of people. This ship that we stand on has been to many of them and has hundreds of people from each one of those worlds on board."

Azula listened intently towards this information. It sounded ridiculous, all her life she was told there were only two worlds. The physical world she presides in and the spirit world, however these supposed people standing before her proved otherwise, "Say I believe you. Why do my people not know of this?"

"Space is a very big place. Not everyone gets to meet each other. Some are able to leave their worlds and meet others while some spend their entire existence without knowing. Yours simply aren't at the level where they can join us."

Azula kept a stoic mask however cracks of confusion, amazement and other emotions formed.

"Not at the level to join us." She repeated in her head. Now she suppose she knows what they meant by primitive.

She noticed she was slipping again and shook the shock off in an effort to maintain control. She cannot lose control again, especially in front of these "people."

"Who exactly is us?" She asked the captain, referring to them specifically.

"I suppose now may be a good time to introduce ourselves. My name is My'Rell, I am the captain of the SeCore…'' The captain gestured to ship around them, "and leader of the Crimson Storm."

"Crimson Storm?" Azula repeated, "Is that some sort of organization?"

"Why yes actually, however the details of which are not important now. Just know that we mean you no harm."

Azula was skeptical of that last part despite how relatively unharmed she is.

"Now that I've answered your questions, perhaps you are willing to answer some of ours. First, do you have a name or should we make one up for you?"

The princess kept her gaze on them for a moment thinking up one of the various aliases she had to use in order to get around but realized these people don't know who she is so why should she hide? It would be nice to be able to go about using her own name without worrying about the attention it would bring, "Azula."

"Alright Azula, now how did you get on my ship?"

Azula doesn't answer immediately as she thought how best to answer this question, opting to tell the truth rather than lie but only giving what was necessary, "There's a lot of holes on your vessel. I just happened to fall into one."

"Is that so?" The captain didn't seem too satisfied with this answer but didn't probe further, "Third question." She motioned for the lizard man to enter the conversation.

"Hi, I'm Doctor Lectro and I would like to know…" he turned his device's screen towards her displaying an image of her firebending in the large open room filled with creatures from an elevated angle, "How did you do this?" Azula sits up from the bed looking at the unfamiliar device and the image of her swinging an arch of flames at her crew. She mentally scoffed at the stream of weak orange flames she produced, they should have been a large blast of brilliant blue. She made no indication of this to her captors.

"You mean my firebending?"

"Firebending?" Lectro repeated with a raised brow hoping she would go into further elaboration.

"Yes, firebending." Azula took some pleasure in dragging out this explanation, hoping to provoke some kind of reaction, "I generate fire using my Chi."

She then provided a demonstration holding out one of her hands and through some painstaking effort was able to summon a small flame in the palm of her hand.

The doctor's eyes widened and the corners of his mouth raised upward in delight, "Fascinating!" He lowered to look directly into the flame as if it was the first time he saw one.

My'Rell maintained an indifferent expression however she too was fascinated by this display. The armored warriors barely reacted.

"This chi, is it some sort of term for an energy source the body produces or is it a religious philosophy surrounding it? I wonder if perhaps there are some sort of glands in your hands that produce some sort of combustible substance." Lectro continued inquisitively, almost too quickly for Azula to follow.

Deciding she's had enough of being bombarded with questions she closed her hand snuffing out the flame.

"Is bending the elements not common to the worlds you come from?"

Lectro gave her a strange look, "Elements? As in more than one? Not just fire?"

That answers that question at least.

"Yes. Four to be exact. Fire, air, water and earth. The people of my world can manipulate all the elements to our whim." She said in a smug manner while crossing her legs as she sat on the bed in a dignified manner.

The armored warrior crossed their arms skeptically, "What a load of crap."

Azula's smug demeanor lessened at this person's crass comment, "Why are we wasting our time listening to some primitive little girl act tough. We should just throw her out the airlock and call it a day. Focus on who's attacking us."

"Little girl?" Azula repeated with irritation.

"Angara." My'Rell said calmly but was laced in a warning tone. A silent reprimand to the scarlet headed soldier.

The one known as Angara scoffs as they lean up against the opposite wall.

My'Rell sighed tiredly as she turned and made her way down the hallway, "I need to return to the bridge. Learn as much as you can and report back. We'll return her down to the planet's surface as soon as you're done. Angara remain here and make sure the good doctor doesn't try to get an up close view of our guests' little light show."

The sound of a door closing punctuated the finality of her orders.

Azula got a little more comfortable knowing she would be here for a while, "So…you all are aliens from different worlds and such. So what is it that you are doing on mine?"

"Well you see, the funny thing is we never really intended to come to your planet or star system in the first place. We were attacked out of the blue by someone and made an emergency jump through quantum space and arrived here entirely by accident about a week ago. To be honest we had no idea there were even habitable planets in this system."

Azula dismissed the various large words he used but latched on to the detail of an attack and her mind raced as to what could attack a ship of this size and cause it to crash, "You were being attacked? By what?"

"Pirates most likely. Just came out of nowhere, but we managed to chase them off before we lost control of one of the engines and…well you know the rest."

Pirates in space, that was something Azula didn't think she'd ever hear but now she knows that other factions seem to prowl the night sky and this ship, for as large as it is, was capable of falling victim to pirates. She shudders to think what lowly pirates might have had.

"Now about those bending abilities?" Lectro changed the subject with an expression Azula could only describe as a child being given a new toy.

*****

It was a lengthy walk from the detention center to the bridge but when My'Rell arrived The doors to the bridge slide open as the captain enters a wide open room with large windows lining the walls displaying the cold void of space beyond it and overlooking the rest of the ship from high above the rear end, along with being lined with various monitors, screens that are seated with various personnel occupying their stations. The center of the room housed a large table with a holographic display floating with its space and officers of various species went scrambling back and forth assessing various aspects of the ship.

The second attack happened several days after they arrived in the system, just as My'Rell was going to give the order to send a scout team to the planet's surface below, after all it wasn't every day she and her crew discover a new habitable planet. Might as well see if it had anything of worth, and something of worth it did have. Its people seem capable of "bending" the elements to their will, something never seen before by other life forms. Perhaps she could use people with abilities like that, the Crimson Storm is always looking for new recruits.

"Damage report!" She ordered her second in command as she marched to the holotable.

Her second, commander Shaul, an older bald man the same species as her with purple skin, typed on some keys to the table, summoning a holographic display of the ship, "We suffered moderate damage to our port side engine from torpedoes and were taken offline temporarily. Our shield generator took some damage and has been coming in and off line as well. The crash on the planet's surface didn't help us either as we now have holes all over the hull with the main reactor taking minor damage."

My'Rell took in all the information while maintaining a level head. The damage isn't anything she hasn't seen before, it wasn't even the worst she's experienced. She studied the display noting the left engine flashing bright red along with other portions of the ship, "Positive ID on our attackers?"

He hands her a tablet he had tucked under his arm that displayed a U-shaped fighter. The same ones that attacked them. What caught her attention was the red geometric symbol of a screaming skull with four eye sockets that popped out against the green armored plating of their vessels, one she recognized, "Death's head." She stated with displeasure as she continued to observe the details. Death's head was one of the many mercenary groups the Crimson Storm had to deal with.

"Yes." Her second agreed, "It would seem they have had enough of us stealing their clientele."

"These are just fighters. They wouldn't chase us all the way out here on their own." My'Rell tossed the tablet aside and changed the holographic display of the ship to a map of the solar system.

"Meaning there is a carrier not far behind." Shaul caught on.

"I don't suppose we have an idea of where it is?"

"No ma'am."

"How'd they track us here? Last I checked this system is uncharted."

"Our theory so far is that they followed the signal left behind by our jump point."

"Any sign of Death's head since the attack?"

"No ma'am. Our scanners have been searching for them since we broke atmosphere."

My'Rell massaging the bridge of her nose as if a headache had finally cleared up allowing her to relax a little, "Good. The last thing we need is to be taken by surprise again."

"Indeed." Commander Shaul agreed, "On another matter, some members of the crew have been asking questions about the stowaway incident in hanger three."

"Really now? What have they been asking?"

"Mostly about if her shooting fire from her hands is accurate. Those that saw it are even wondering if you'll recruit her."

"I don't think so." My'Rell answered firmly as she made her way to the captain's chair on a lowered platform near the front of the deck, "As fascinated with Azula's abilities as I may be, she's just a child. We'll get the basics of what this ability of hers is, send her home and based on what Lectro reports about it I may consider scouting for new recruits here."

"Azula?"

"The stowaways name, Shaul."

"Ah, I see. Regardless of what you decide I will support you, however some on the crew already seem to be wary of the stowaways ability. Namely Cetro. He has been sending his objections of the matter from the infirmary." The commander pressed a button on the captain's console playing a loud agitated message from the head engineer that caused the captain to wince at its intensity and was almost incomprehensible,"He's quite agitated about his hand being burned."

My'Rell closed the message resting her head in her hand as she sat back, feeling drained already, "When is Cetro not agitated?"

Shaul couldn't help but agree with that statement.

"Tell Cetro not to worry. If we want to recruit a walking talking flamethrower it'll be one I decide on for myself." She began massaging her temples, "I swear I need a break from all of this when we get back to base."

"I'll be sure to schedule a vacation for you." Shaul said as he went back to his station.

For the past seven years since the Crimson Storm's inception it has been close call after close call with the constant attacks from pirates, rivalries with other mercenary groups or potential clients being snuffed out by the overall constant power struggles of the galaxy. The Crimson Storm has always held on by the tips of their fingers with every day being a struggle for survival. Perhaps she can rest her tired eyes for just a moment and regain a little bit of strength.

The sound of sirens cuts through the air stopping everything. My'Rells eyes shooting open with it.

"Enemy ship detected!" A bridge officer announces.

"Incoming torpedoes!" Another officer shouts.

The captain let out a tired sigh, "Never a dull moment." She said under her breath, "Battle station!"

Chapter Text

Azula rolled her eyes as she sat in her cell listening as Dr. Lectro repeated everything she explained to him in order to understand it, "So…this chi substance flows through the body and you are capable of using this energy to just summon fire without a fuel source?"

"Chi is the fuel." She corrected in annoyance.

"Right." He taps this information away on his hand held device, "And some people are born with this ability and others are not. Correct?"

"Correct."

"And you are only capable of generating fire?"

Azula nodded leaving lightning out of her explanation. She would need an ace up her sleeve should something go wrong.

"And you can only bend one of the four elements. No one can manipulate more than one?"

"Correct." She said quickly leaving no room for doubt on the matter. The last thing she needs is for them to know about the Avatar. It may spark their interest enough to want to seek him out. She still didn't know what the Crimson Storm was or who they held their allegiance for.

Lectro finished tapping away at his tablet, "Absolutely fascinating stuff! What I'd give to run some tests."

Angara's head shot up from where she leaned up against the wall, "Not happening. She stays in the cell, captain's orders."

"Oh come on, you can't expect me to collect all this data and just not run some tests! I gotta find out the science behind this!"

"Then include it in your report. The captain will find you another one to take to the lab. One with a little less attitude."

Azula cocked her head towards Angara, a look of annoyance plastered across her features, "Excuse me?"

Angara replied with indifference, "You're excused, princess."

Her eyes widened a bit. How did they know she was royalty? Did she let something slip in their exchange or is this just another crass comment from this rude individual. She remained silent not acknowledging the comment however Angara noticed the subtle reaction.

"So you are a princess? Figured you were some kind of royalty, given how you carry yourself. Although, I would've expected a princess to dress the part." Angara said with a chuckle while gesturing to Azula's disheveled appearance.

"So why are you dressed like some street urchin? You run away from home because you didn't like who daddy wanted you to marry?"

Azula shot up from her seat, anger flowing through her. They were right, she is a princess and she will not be disrespected by some thug too cowardly to show their face, "I'd watch my tone if I were you." Her voice dripped with malice.

Angara stopped leaning against the wall and approached the cell bars, "Or what?"

Lectro, now sensing the tension between them, decided to step in between them.

"Angara." he said in a measured tone trying to muster as much authority as the captain, "Remember what we said about playing nice with others."

Azula's mouth curled up after hearing this, perhaps she can provoke a reaction out of them and have some fun while in this cell. They seemed too fascinated with her bending to allow Angara to do anything to her.

"Perhaps you should listen to him. After all, you'll probably get in trouble with your captain if you try to go any further with this. Or even worse become embarrassed once I show you some manners on how to properly speak to royalty."

Lectro turned to her shaking his head indicating for her to not escalate the situation further.

A distorted metallic mocking laugh came from Angara, "That's funny, princess. Talking like that to the person who put your ass in this cell to begin with."

"I will admit that, yes, you did take me down. But that was only because I was momentarily overwhelmed by the realization that aliens exist. Given a fair fight I'd have no doubt that I'd make short work of you."

Angara pushed Lectro out of the way as she approached the cell, "Is that right? Then let's get you out of this cell and see if you can put your money where your mouth is!"

"Uh…but what about her staying put?" Lectro asked.

"Shut it Doc." she ordered without ever taking their gaze away from the Princess.

Before their verbal battle could continue the lights dimmed red and the ear piercing alarm returned catching everyone's attention.

"Well…your lucky day. Duty calls." Angara turned away and marched down the corridor, "Doc stay with the prisoner while I go see what's going on."

"But she's not a prisoner!" Lectro shouted as the door slid close behind them. He turned to Azula and gave a sheepish smile, "You're not a prisoner."

"If I'm not a prisoner then let me out of here!" Azula banged on the luminous barrier with her cuffs.

"This is probably the safest place on the ship for you. Don't worry we'll be fine, the captain will take care of this and nothing bad will happen." They were both rocked side to side by an explosion.

*****

"Hull breach! Deck seven!" a bridge officer announced as an explosion rocked the ship from side to side.

"What happened to the shields?" My'Rell demanded as another explosion rocked the vessel.

"Offline! Again!" Commander Shaul answered, "The shield generator still hasn't been properly repaired!"

"Have we located that ship?"

"Enemy vessel located! Putting it on screen now!" a bridge officer sent an image to the main holographic screen of a large bulbous green vessel covered in cannons drifting between the planet and the moon miles away from the SeCore. A screaming red skull painted proudly on its port side.

My'Rell recognized this vessel anywhere. SkyBurner, the Death's Head mercenary group's prized flagship. The Crimson Storm has fought the Death's Head before in petty squabbles over clients and territory but it had never escalated into a full scale battle between capital ships.

The volley of explosions stopped as suddenly as they happened.

"They're hailing us, captain!" the helmsman announced.

"On screen. Let's see what these bastards want. Get that shield generator back online, start charging the Laz gun and have all weapons ready to fire!"

My'Rell readjusted herself making herself look as dignified as possible as the image of the SkyBurner was replaced by a video feed of a hunched over creature covered in slimy green skin, a long head with four red eyes, a chin covered in tendrils, dressed in a dark green uniform and seated in a captains chair of its own.

"Captain My'Rell." The creature croaked out, his gravelly voice dripping with contempt for the person he addressed.

"Captain Duratix. Is there a reason why you're firing on my ship? I know we've never gotten along but I hardly think this is any way to behave."

"The Death's Head is just giving payback for the lives lost on Pavalen-five."

My'Rell narrowed her eyes, "My condolences Duratix, but we were on a job that day and your client at the time was causing trouble for ours. I can't help if your men were caught in the crossfire. You know how mercenary work is."

The leader of the Death's Head sneered, his four nostrils flaring, "I am aware."

Commander Shaul approached the captain and discreetly informed her that weapons were back online, "So is that what this is? Revenge? And here I thought you were just a shrewd businessman who didn't let emotions get in the way."

Duratix let out a croaking laugh, "Oh but I am a businessman. The whole reason I am even speaking to you now is to conduct a trade."

"Trade?" My'Rell was slightly taken aback by this but decided to hear him out, only to stall for time for the shield generator to come back on, "What do you have in mind?"

Duratix leaned back, stroking his tendrils with a three clawed hand, "You have something that our current client wants, the fabricator. Give it to me and I will spare your ship."

My'Rell was shocked that he knew she was in possession of such a rare piece of equipment. They had only just recently acquired it after raiding a pirate hideout and taking it for the storm. Now she was wondering how the Death's Head got word of it.

"I don't know what you are talking about. You think I'd be working as a mercenary if I had one of those?"

"Don't play dumb with me My'Rell, we know you have it. We were scouting that pirate hideout for weeks to take that fabricator for our client."

That explains that then, My'Rell saw no reason to keep up the lie now, "Well Duratix, all I can say is that you should have gotten to it first. The Crimson Storm isn't going to surrender anything to you."

Duratix laughed at her defiance, "I was hoping you'd say that, after all I never had any intention of sparing your ship and crew. After all, the client is paying double for your head."

With the knowledge that Duratix so carelessly revealed in his hubris My'Rell went through a mental list of the various individuals and organizations that want her and her crew dead but decided that that was best left for a different time. Now she had to focus on the immediate threat.

"Reroute power to shields and fire all batteries!" She commanded.

*****

Azula sat on the bed in a meditative posture breathing in and out steadily trying to regain the strength of her inner flame, however it still felt just as weak now as it did before, but the constant rocking and sounds of explosions emanating from the walls made focusing difficult. Lectro paced about outside of her cell typing away at his tablet.

Azula didn't know if his device was capable of telling him what was going on or if he was just taping away to keep his mind occupied. Either way it was contributing to her annoyance.

"Can you stop pacing? It's distracting."

Lectro halted in his tracks, taken by surprise by her sudden comment, "What?! Oh sorry. I always do that when a battle happens. Not really a soldier so I would much rather be in the lab now but I'd rather not leave you alone here."

"How touching." The sarcasm in her voice was not lost on him.

Azula knew he wasn't staying because of some moral obligation, only to be sure his latest science experiment didn't get loose and wander off.

She could wonder about this later as another explosion rocked her cell, "I take it the pirates that made your ship crash are back."

Lectro grabbed hold of the wall to stabilize himself, "Looks like it, and it seems they have more firepower this time around."

"This ship will be able to withstand their assault, right?" Azula asked, wanting confirmation that she wasn't trapped on a sinking boat.

"Of course! She may be old but the SeCore is the toughest warship around. She's walked away from worse." He reassured her with confidence that was soon dashed away after a loud crash was heard that threw them both to the floor.

*****

"Direct hit on decks four and five!" A bridge officer called out.

"What happened to our shields?!" My'Rell demanded after recovering from the blow.

"Shields are offline again!" Commander Shaul informed her.

My'Rell cursed to herself, "Get engineering on the line and tell them to do whatever that have to to get that shield back on!" She turned to the helmsman as another explosion rocked the compartment, "Take us closer to the planet!"

As per her command the SeCore shifted downward as torpedoes flew past missing their mark or were shot down by point defense turrets while cannon blasts darted past or collided with the ship's hull. My'Rell knew she risked the ship crashing again but the planet's atmosphere and gravity would confuse the enemy torpedoes targeting systems, at least until they are recalibrated for atmosphere combat. Any advantage to minimize damage dealt by the enemy is welcomed.

After a few minutes of torpedo barrages missing their marks the SkyBurner ceased its assault. Still in its drifting position large doors on its side slid open where a dozen of U-shaped fighters flew out boosting towards the direction of the SeCore along with several larger tube shaped ships accompanying them.

"Enemy ship scattering fighters!" Another bridge officer announced. The screens flooded with red lights displaying hostile space craft. Several of the fighters getting close enough to land bombing runs on several of the SeCore's cannons.

"Get every fighter available off the ground and ready to intercept!"

With the shields down and their weapons being targeted there was little to stop Duratix's crew from boarding the SeCore. He wouldn't risk completely destroying the ship with their target still on board. There was no doubt in her mind that the fighters were probably escorting boarding craft.

Within moments the SeCore's own fighters were deployed from the hangars along its length. Ships boosted towards each other firing plasma beams and missiles at one another from vast distances colliding into each other turning the space between the ship's into one of explosions and debris before dog fights began to ensue with both sides taking casualties. The Death's Head fighters outnumbered the Crimson Storm however their ship's were cheaper and easier to destroy while the Crimson Storm's fighters were more robust and heavily armed but the cheaper fighters proved to be overwhelming as one by one they were destroyed.

*****

The sharp nose of the tube ships pierced the SeCore and burrowing themselves firmly into the hull. One of which bored straight through the wall of one of the many cells of the detention center, the sudden impact throwing both Dr. Lectro and Azula to the floor.

Dr. Lectro fumbled back to his feet regaining some semblance of what just happened. He saw that at the far end of the corridor a large cone shaped structure poked out of one of the cells.

"Y-you know…maybe the detention center isn't the safest place for you."

"Oh really?" Azula deadpanned as she recovered from the fall.

Lectro dropped his tablet and began typing away at the panel on the wall that dropped the luminous barrier and retracted the angular bars. Azula dashed out of the cell, past Lectro's attempt to help her out, pausing when she saw the structure. She didn't bother questioning what it was, all she knew was that it wasn't conducive to her survival.

With a loud hiss the structure began to open like a mechanical flower. Lectro grabbed her shoulder, upholstered a plasma pistol from his side and began pulling her down towards the exit. She would normally not allow anyone to touch her however this was a special situation and she began running with him to the door as humanoid shapes exited the craft clad in dark green armor and began firing at them both.

Azula instinctively ducked out of the way, sending an arc of flames towards them with a sweeping kick. Her weaker orange fire barely reached them but caught them off guard enough for them to escape where Lectro locked the door behind them.

"Who were they?" Azula demanded.

"By the look of their uniforms I'd say Death's Head." Lectro didn't go any further and instead motioned her to follow down the corridor away from the enemy craft.

Having nowhere left to go Azula followed him as they jogged down the corridor past other alien crew members scrambling to react to being boarded. As they were traversing the ship she could feel her inner flame returning to her, the strength of her fire growing with each passing moment. Her confidence grew with it.

"Where exactly are we going?"

"My lab. We can hunker down in there for a while while the rest of the crew deals with the intruders."

"Can you at least get these cuffs off?" she held up her cuffed hands for emphasis.

"I would…but I don't have the keys to them."

"Oh well that's just great." she growled out, the sarcasm was not lost on Lectro.

She continued following him weathering through the hard turbulence, falling multiple times into the padding on the walls but managed to keep up with the lizard man.

"We're getting close! My lab is coming up on this next turn."

As they got closer to a two way intersection two crew members came down only to be gunned down by bolts of red energy coming down the opposite end causing both Lectro and Azula to pause. Several Death's Head soldiers appeared from the corridor and began firing at the two. They both retreated behind the corridor with Lectro firing back at them.

"Okay…the lab might not be an option anymore."

"What now?"

The scientist thought to himself for a moment as they were going down another hallway, "I'll take you to one of the escape pods and try and shoot you back to the planet."

An explosion stopped them with wires being knocked loose from the walls and pipes spewing out steam blocking their path. On the opposite end of the hall they heard more blaster fire coming their way.

At the end of the hall they witnessed two Death's Head soldiers retreating while firing at an unknown assailant, one was struck in the chest and went down while the body of a third one flew into the last soldier throwing them against the corner of the corridor.

Azula prepared herself for whatever it was that could have taken them out but found that she could only take a defensive stance with her hands still bound, Lectro pointing his weapon down the hall as well shaking in anticipation clearly not wanting to deal with this situation.

What emerged from the corridor was a nine foot tall creature clad in gunmetal gray and silver metal plating that was integrated into his body making him look more like a machine than a man, or the closest thing to a man that exists on this ship. His face was somewhat human-like except for the metal plates that seemed to be welded on to his grayish purple skin and lack of a visible nose. The most striking feature being the curved red metal mohawk going down the center of his head.

On his shoulder sat a short squat toad like creature dressed in a jumpsuit with webbed hands and feet, a wide head with large bulging green eyes, faded blue moist skin, a series of spiked fins running down its head that was blue in coloration, and a wide grin filled with fang like teeth, one of which was made of gold.

Azula kept her gaze hard as these new individuals turned to them, the larger one holding a much larger weapon than the others with the smaller creature holding a smaller yet still large gun. The metal individual's gaze was equally as hard due to what looked like goggle frames welded around his eyes. She didn't know who he was aligned with and was ready to fight back if necessary.

She was ready to make the first strike until Lectro lowered his weapon and proudly exclaimed, "Sev! Gax! Thank whatever divine force that exists that we ran into you two!"

The metal giants' hard edged brow softened as he greeted the lizard man in a jovial manner, "Lectro! Glad to see you're still kicking!"

"I'm not surprised you are! What with that armored plating of yours and whatever firepower Gax is packing."

The smaller creature known as Gax snickered in a way Azula could only describe as unhinged with an expression to match.

Sev approached, his thunderous footsteps echoing down the hall, and with each passing step Azula witnessed just how large this being was compared to her with his mohawk almost touching the ceiling of the corridors.

"Who's this?" He asked in a rather crude manner pointing a long metal claw towards the princess.

"This is Azula, a princess from the planet below." Lectro introduced quickly.

"The girl that was shooting fire from her hands down in hanger three?"

"The very same." Azula answered, easing out of a defensive stance.

A wide grin plastered his face with a chuckle, "Sweet."

"Azula, this is Sevran and Gax, our weapons specialists."

"You can call me Sev."

"GUMBA WAYA CHUTA!" Gax said in a loud shrill voice.

"What?" Azula asked in confusion at the creature's choice of words.

Lectro leaned in pointing to the device in both of their ears, "The translators don't really pick up whatever language he speaks very well."

Sev marched past them, "So, you enjoying your first day on the job, your highness?"

"Excuse me?" Azula followed him rather than Lectro, mostly for Sevran's more imposing size, confused as to what he meant by his question.

Lectro jogged to keep up with them, "Actually she's not a member of the crew. The Captain wanted her to be returned to the planet's surface."

"Really?" He sounded shocked as a squad of enemies appeared from a corner but were immediately mowed down by Sev's large rapid fire weapon, "Thought she'd be interested in having someone who could shoot fireballs as a mercenary."

Gax said something in his strange language that seemed like he agreed with him as he fired down another hall hitting several intruders.

"I'm not some commodity." Azula interrupted them.

"See, she doesn't even want to join." Lectro added, "What we should do is find an escape pod and jettison her back home."

A door opened just as Sev walked past with a Death's Head soldier almost as large as him leaping out attempting to strike him in the head with the butt of his weapon; however Sev caught the weapon with his free hand while Gax fired his weapon at the interloper's face.

"We might want to deal with this problem first. Any escape pods we send out now are gonna get shot down."

"GESH!" Gax agreed.

Not wanting to let these beings dictate her fate, Azula decided to speak up, "I for one would prefer an escape plan that doesn't involve me dying horribly, but first can any of you get me out of these cuffs? I can be of greater help to all of us with my hands unbound." She emphasized by holding up her cuffed wrists.

"Gotcha covered." Sev grabbed hold of her wrists, his large metal hands completely wrapping around her arms, and with a quick yank snapped the cord between the cuffs.

It should come to no surprise to Azula that someone of his size and build was strong enough to do this but she didn't dwell on it long as she savored being free despite the cuffs still being around her wrists.

"Let's see what those powers of yours can do princess." He then handed her the plasma weapon the previous attacker held before jogging down the corridor.

"I don't know how to use this!" She shouted following him with Lectro in toe.

Whether or not he heard her or ignored her was unclear to Azula as the sounds of blaster fire echoed down various corridors drowning out their voices.

"The SeCore just got hit by dozens of boarding ships. Most of the crew got caught up in firefights and cut off from various parts of the ship. I heard from the cargo bay that they're all converging on the storage rooms in the ship's interior." Sev informed them as another enemy appeared from behind a blast door that caused him to instinctively punch with his free hand, his superior strength sending the enemy ragdolling back several feet.

Azula was slightly taken aback by the violent display of strength.

"And what exactly is it that you are carrying?" She asked as she fumbled around with the plasma weapon in her hands trying to figure out how it works in a way that made Lectro uneasy enough to run behind her as to not be on the receiving end of an accidental discharge.

"To put it simply, really valuable cargo." Lectro answered.

Sev fired his weapon on a group of Death's Head members already engaged in a firefight, taking them out without them realizing they were there.

"Angara's already there holding them off but she's pinned down so I was on my way to back her up. We'll take the stairway there and…"

As they reached the corridor that led to the stairway they were met with a large group of the enemy already stationed there, using their plasma weapons to melt through the blast doors. All of their visored eyes trained on the four of them before firing on them. Thankfully they came from an intersection and were capable of taking cover.

Sev and Gax fired blindly from one side of the hall as plasma bolts kept them from peeking over while Lectro fired sparingly. Azula tried to follow his lead and was able to peek over from his side. After observing how these weapons were used she attempted to fire the plasma weapon but was not prepared for the recoil to knock her back and miss her mark entirely.

Growing frustrated with it she tossed it aside and with two fingers shot a bolt of blue fire directly at one of their faces. Not enough to do any damage but enough to disorient him while Sev or Gax took the killing shot. The feeling of her inner fire returning filling her with strength and an eagerness to fight, she did not understand why her firebending felt so weak to begin with or why it was suddenly returning but she couldn't complain.

Their assailants soon caught on to this and began to focus their assault on her. In an attempt to defend herself she bent a wall of fire to deflect the plasma blasts but as she rotated her hands swaying the existing flames into a fiery spiral the bolts already in air swayed and curved at her movements missing her and being redirected into the floor or wall. Lectro, Sev and Gax looked at her in surprise at this display with even the Death's Head soldiers halted in their onslaught flabbergasted.

They snapped out of their shock and went back to firing at her but now armed with the knowledge that she could manipulate their projectiles she dived out of cover and swayed her arms to manipulate the bolts flying towards her.

She could feel the bolts coming at her like fireballs from another bender but moved too fast for her to stop fully and instead was forced to redirect every bolt away from her. Sev jumped out of cover following behind her with Gax jumping off him and following with his own assault form the floor as she haphazardly redirected the bolts away periodically firing and taking out several more until there were only four left.

Azula bent the remaining beams managing to catch them but couldn't stop their momentum and like a waterbender swayed her arms in a clockwise fluid motion, the beams arcing in air like water as she redirected them back and took out the remaining enemies. She didn't mean to follow a water bending form however the movements flowed more naturally when bending them.

"How the hell did you do that?" Sev asked, walking past her stepping over the bodies to get to the door.

"I…I don't know." She said honestly not fully understanding what she did.

"That was incredible!" Lectro said with glee as he hopped over the fallen soldiers, "I've never seen plasma being manipulated like that without the use of some form of technology! I wonder what it could possibly be?"

With a hiss the thick blast doors slid open allowing them access to the stairwell after Sev punched in the necessary code, "How about we talk about this later?"

"You do have a plan of attack, I presume, right?" Azula questioned the large cybernetic man as he led the way, Gax climbing back onto his shoulder.

"Yeah. Get in. Shoot all the bad guys. Maybe celebrate with a glass of squig later."

"That is a terrible plan."

"Worked for us in the past."

"But you're covered in hard armored plating while we're not." Lectro pointed out.

"Take a note out of Gax's book and stay behind me, then." Sev opened another set of blast doors on the floor of their destination, "Besides, we've got someone who can direct the flow of plasma fire away from us."

Azula looked at him incredulously, "I just learned I could do this minutes ago! I don't know the limits of its capabilities yet and you just want to throw me to the wolfbats."

"WOOF BAKS?" Gax questioned looking at her in confusion.

"You'll never know unless you practice." Sev gave her a cocky grin flashing his chrome colored teeth.

The princess only shook her head at the level of recklessness he displayed, "This is going to get us all killed."

After finding a small blast door with the almost deafening sound of blaster fire coming from behind it. Sev took a defensive position near the door with Azula and Lectro behind him. He opens the door and just before he could rush in the body of a smoking Death's Head soldier flew out colliding with the opposite wall.

Ignoring the sudden body being flung at them Sev charged into a large open room filled with crates and other supplies, littering the floor where dozens of bodies from both the crew of the SeCore and of the intruders, scorch marks lining the walls and crates.

In the center of the bloodshed there was Angara displaying a dance of carnage and fury while surrounded by Death's Head soldiers. She moved like a feral animal clad in armor dodging and weaving out of the way of blaster fire or deflecting them with a luminous circular shield appearing from her left gauntlet while returning fire from a single pistol, closing the distance between her and her opponent taking them down with a swift strike to their abdomen or head with her shield.

As Angara grabbed a hold of another enemy using them as a shield, once she retracted her luminous one, from another opponent's blaster fire. Sev charged in using his size advantage to barrel straight into several other enemies, sending them flying before offering supporting fire at Angara's side. Gax firing at the opponents behind Sev.

"Took you long enough!" she said, tossing her shield aside and ducking out of another blast.

"Got held up on the way here!" he responded with a grin as a bolt bounced off his chest plate, "Also I brought some help."

Just as Angara was about to ask what he meant by that, a blast of blue flames collided with an enemy knocking them to the ground. Azula leapt in throwing waves of fire and jabs towards her opponents forcing them to remain behind cover.

"What's she doing here?" Angara asked fiercely, dashing to grab a plasma rifle from a fallen opponent and firing at several enemies on the upper level.

Azula used her new-found ability of redirecting plasma fire to fling enemy blasts away then firing back with her own, "Lending you my strength, you clearly need it."

Angara only responded with another animalistic snarl.

Azula shot a blast at an opponent behind Angara, nearly striking her red helmet.

Angara growled at her as she summoned her shield again, soaking up plasma fire while closing the distance between her and her opponent, backhanding the weapon out of his hand then firing at him until her weapon overheated.

Angara moved to find cover as one of the enemies fired at her from above with a stray shot colliding with her helmet sending her reeling back.

Azula took cover behind some crates and found that she was pinned down, too many plasma blasts coming her way giving her no window to try and manipulate them. Now would probably be a good time to try and bend lightning, she just needs enough time to generate it.

Just as she began to make the necessary hand motions one of the enemy soldiers appeared by her side, his weapons sights trained on her. There was no time for her to react, no time to stop her motion and firebend.

Before he could squeeze the trigger a bright red helmet was thrown at his head making him miss his shot. Angara tackled him to the ground before he could recover and impaled him with a blade protruding from her gauntlet.

She turned to face Azula. Her face was very human like except for her yellowish green skin, long blood red hair tied back in a braid with various tribal beads woven into it, narrow catlike eyes surrounded by black sharp edged tribal tattoos, thin slits for nostrils with short spiked horns growing around her head poking through her scarlet hair like a crown of thorns.

"What're you looking at?" She sneered, retracting the blade.

Azula let her surprise at her appearance waiver and instead gave her a smirk, "I was right. You aren't that flattering underneath that mask."

Angara hissed at her, flashing her fangs, "Just stay out of my way, princess." Two more enemies appeared with their weapons ready.

Angara shot up to her feet and a cone shaped weapon unfolded from her right shoulder firing a series of long needles from pores along its surface that pierced their armor killing them instantly. Small thrusters along the backside of Angara's suit propelled her past Azula kneeing another intruder in the head, throwing him back as she took his weapon taking out several others.

Not wanting to be outdone by Angara's display of martial prowess Azula rolled out of the way of several other blasts spinning in a fiery blaze throwing several opponents back then used her firebending to propel herself onto the second level landing next to her latest victim. She kicked his weapon out of his hands before roasting him with a constant funnel of fire causing him to panic and fall over the railing crashing into a pile of crates.

The soldier behind him lunged at her with a combat knife roaring out in fury. Azula managed to dodge a few swipes before grabbing hold of his arm and sending an open palm to his chin then sending him over her shoulder and breaking his arm with a sickening crunch.

A blast came her way from the third soldier stationed there that she was able to deflect with a simple hand motion. He fired several more times only for each bolt to be redirected someplace else. The soldiers backed away slowly trembling, his weapon shaking within his grasp as she approached. A smirk forming on her lips as she savored his fear with his muffled hyperventilation ringing like music to her ears.

"W-what are you?!" the soldier trembled.

Her grin grew tremendously, "Isn't it obvious? I'm the one who is going to-"

She was interrupted as a grappling hook from below pierced his leg and pulled him beneath the railing where he collided with two others beneath. The grappling hook retracted back into Angara's gauntlet before she turned to another opponent.

Azula gritted her teeth in discontent at her prey being stolen by the scarlet headed warrior before leaping off and taking out another soldier with a downward sweeping fire blast just as Angara turned to face him.

They both locked eyes with one another as their personal competition began to escalate with them begrudgingly fighting alongside each other as they tried to outdo each other with each strike of fire and gadget until they became a furious storm of destruction.

Sev stood not too far away as an armored tower of destruction, plasma bolts striking his armored body doing little damage to him as Gax stood on his shoulders covering Sev's blind spots until they managed to clear the room of all enemies.

Once the room was cleared Azula was able to drop her guard and catch her breath. From the corner of her eye she caught movement, spinning around and taking on a fighting stance again she was ready to send a fireball straight into the surviving Death's Head soldier until a plasma bolt rushed past her striking her opponent in the chest.

Behind her Angara stood with a blaster in hand, smoke still flowing from its barrel.

"I had that one." she said in annoyance.

"Then why'd I get him?" Angara asked with a cocky smile as she holstered the weapon.

"Is it over?" Lectro called out from his hiding spot behind a crate, peaking out slowly.

"For now." Angara turned her sights towards a large crate in the back of the room where a few of the surviving crew mates were, some injured but were still in fighting shape.

"How's the fabricator?"

Lectro was already by the side of a large metal crate that took up a good portion of the back wall. He observed the status of its contents through a built-in panel sighing in relief, "The fabricator is in good condition."

"Is that what this is all about?" Azula asked, unimpressed by the large crate, "What is so special about this 'fabricator' device we've had to vigorously defend?"

Angara scoffed, "Course a primitive wouldn't understand."

"What was that?" Azula asked in a warning tone.

"The fabricator is a piece of hyper advanced technology that is capable of converting raw resources into usable materials or converting it into different elements of matter. It's actually how we intend to fix the ship." Lectro explained, hoping it would prevent another argument from forming between the two, "Technology like this isn't easy to come by so of course we're probably going to get attacked by anyone who knows we've got it."

"And of course the Death's Head is the first to come knocking." Sev responded as he lightly brought down a metal fist on a recovering enemy's head knocking him back out.

Satisfied with Lectro's analysis Angara grabbed a hold of a plasma rifle from one of her fallen enemies, "Some of them split off for engineering. We need to get there before…" She was never able to finish her sentence as the ship shook violently with the lights shutting off before the emergency lights came back on.

"What was that?" the Fire nation princess asked.

"The reactor going offline." Sev answered grimly.

"And that is…" she egged on not understanding what that meant.

"Very bad. We're dead in the water."

*****

My'Rell braced herself in the captain's chair as all electronics within the bridge flickered on and off, "Status report!"

Various bridge staff attempted to regain control of their monitors.

"Nothing is responding!" the helmsman said moving the ship's controls in vain.

Commander Shaul pulled himself up from where he fell from the turbulence as he attempted to use the holo table, "Somebody shut down the reactor. We're running on auxiliary power!"

My'Rell immediately grabbed her personal communicator, "Cetro! What's going on down there?"

The sound of blaster fire came through along with other sounds of a struggle before a gruff scratchy voice answered, "Engineering got compromised! We were able to take them out but some of them got through to the reactor controls."

"Can you get the reactor back online?"

"Yeah, but it'll take a while."

My'Rell gazed out the panoramic window seeing Skyburner approaching the SeCore inverting its axis as it loomed over head, "Get it done now!"

*****

Azula sat on one of the many crates as she used her fire bending to torch the cuffs off of her wrists. It was mainly something to keep her mind occupied while her companions discussed their situation.

Angara paced about trying to get ahold of the captain with her communicator while Sev and Gax took watch at one of the doors for any more intruders. Lectro stood with Angara hoping to speak to the captain as well.

One cuff fell off. Now she just needed the other off.

Clearly there was no plan in place and instead they were forced to react. They had no control of the situation and that irritated her to no end. She'd offer her skills in tactics but there were too many factors that were unknown to her on how these "people" fight.

Angara got through with Lectro running to her side. They discussed something in private far from her range of hearing as she finally got the other cuff off.

Now with nothing else to keep her busy she crept up to the two just as they seemed to be finished with their conversation.

"Well? What is the plan?" She demanded earning her a scowl from Angara.

Angara relayed the information to Azula letting her know the gravity of the situation that if the SkyBurner manages to dock they will be overwhelmed, "I've got an idea though." She added.

"I got the captain's blessing too, but it's a risky one."

"Well don't keep us waiting." She said sarcastically and crossed her arms.

"The plan is we go outside, hunker down and defend the dorsal docking collar from entry. If they couldn't get it open now they're gonna try and use the panel outside to activate it. While they dock they're gonna have to turn off their shields leaving their bridge defenseless and that's when we'll hit it."

"That is an incredibly risky plan." Lectro added in.

"Well doc, if you've got a better one I'd like to hear it." She snarled at him.

"What we need to do is get the reactor back online. I can help with that, so I'm going down to engineering to take care of that."

"Fine. While you do that I'll gather up what forces I can for the defense."

"Great plan. So where do I need to be?" Azula asks.

Angara gave her a hard look, "You're staying here princess. You'll just get in the way."

Now she was angry. How could this lowly thug say such a thing after witnessing just how formidable she was?

"Get in the way? If it wasn't for my assistance you would have been overwhelmed and your precious cargo would have been lost!"

Angara snarled in frustration stomping up to her face, "I'll admit that you managed to help out there but zero-g combat is completely different. You'd be fumbling around like a child learning to walk."

"I'll adapt like I did here." Azula stood her ground, refusing to be intimidated into submission.

It was here that Lectro decided to chime in, "She's right Azula. Zero gravity combat is unlike anything your people have experienced. Plus, your fire bending ability will be useless out there."

"I'll manage." She responded, never breaking eye contact with her challenger.

The two female warriors stared each other down, each refusing to yield to the other until another rumble across the ship interrupted them.

The thunderous footsteps of Sev could be heard approaching from behind Azula, "As fun as it is watching you two have your little pissing contest, we should probably get started on that plan of yours soon before the whole Death's Head army shows up."

Angara finally broke eye contact, "Fine, you want to die in space? Then grab a blaster princess, because we're gonna be in for the fight of our lives."

Gax gave a wide grin and laughed in approval of the plan.

"Very well then. I'll see you outside." Azula shot back.

Angara says nothing and instead pushes past her, being sure to purposely bump into the princess's shoulder hard enough to stagger her. The message was loud and clear to Azula that Angara clearly did not like her or having her authority questioned.

Before she could dwell on this further Lectro approached with a look of apprehension across his long snout, "Azula, don't go out there. The cold vacuum of space is an inhospitable environment for anyone on a good day. You don't have any experience in such a place let alone the ability to fight in it!"

She is not concerned in the slightest as she has braved greater odds before and disregards his warning. She would not be sidelined into leaving her fate in the hands of others, "Don't you have somewhere to be, doctor?"

She turns to follow the others out leaving the scientist to deal with his anxious feelings towards this. Before long Azula found herself in an armory with the other members of the crew, all gearing up with various forms of weaponry and armor.

Angara shoved a pair of boots into her chest, "You're gonna want to put these on princess. They'll keep you from floating away."

Azula begrudgingly took the strange dark colored boots, mentally questioning what she meant by that but pushed those thoughts aside in favor of her tactical mindset, "You said you were going to take out their bridge. How do you plan to do so?"

The armored warrior pulled out a large cylindrical shaped heavy weapon almost as tall as her from a weapons locker, "One hit from this rocket launcher should be enough to do the job. Once the bridge is out and their leader dead they'll be scrambling and that'll give us enough time to react. You think you can keep up or stay out of our way long enough for us to get the job done?"

Angara seemed to push all the right buttons to set off Azula's contempt, "If I didn't know any better I'd say you were concerned for me."

Angara let out a rude chuckle before leaving with the weapon, "Yeah right."

Sev came from behind her holding a metal vest to her that looked puny in his possession, "Don't mind her, she's like that with everyone. Also you're gonna want to wear this."

"What is it?" She studied its strange texture and device attached to its back.

"Your space suit."

She gave the giant metal man a look of confusion.

"Put it on and I'll show you how it works."

She did so along with putting on the boots Angara gave her and found that it didn't cover much, only her upper torso and the circular device on its back weighed her down. The boots were also a size too big for her.

"Isn't a suit supposed to cover the entire body?" She asked while testing her movements.

"Press the button on your chest."

Azula did as instructed and when doing so her exposed arms, head and lower torso were engulfed in the same luminous barrier that was around the ship and her prison cell, only this time cloaking her body like a second layer of skin.

"What you're wearing is an emergency shield vest. Not the best space suit to have in a firefight but better than nothing. It uses shield tech to generate a barrier around the wearer to protect them from the vacuum of space. Has enough power to last three hours but try not to take too much plasma fire on your shielded bits, that'll cut that time shorter. Also that circular pack on your back is your oxygen supply so don't get hit there either or you'll suffocate." Sev explained as he put a mask over his face that attached to the metal plates of his head.

Yet again Azula couldn't help but be amazed by the technology she had witnessed but couldn't focus on it as Sev gave her a plasma pistol to use.

She turned the shield suit off, "I told you, my bending should be enough."

Sev's voice came with a metallic echo, "Normally fire powers would be great but we're going out into space. Fire needs oxygen to burn and guess what space doesn't have a lot of."

Reluctantly she took the weapon and after getting a quick lesson from Sev on how to properly use it she along with various other members of the SeCore's crew ventured to the top deck piling into a hanger. The various crew members around her dressed in form fitting space suits to whatever species they belonged to or wore emergency shield vests like her. All armed to the teeth and many holding thick rectangular blast shields meant for deflecting plasma fire. She stayed close to Sev as his larger frame would make for a great shield from danger and Gax clinging to his back added extra support.

Angara stood at the front of the group now dawning a new black helmet that displayed her face, "Listen up! SkyBurner is just right above us. They're probably already sending out more strike teams to secure the docking collar. We're going to hit them with everything we've got! Take out as many Death's Head as you can and make sure they can't secure that collar. Once the collar is secured we'll focus on taking out the bridge. When their head is cut off, that'll give engineering enough time to get the SeCore up and running again and blow that hunk of crap to pieces!"

The crew showed enthusiasm to her words with many cheering in approval of her plan.

"Remember! We're the Crimson Storm! We don't go down easy and anyone who crosses us faces a hurricane of fury!"

The crew shouted and screamed with passion, all hyped to go into battle and defend their ship. Azula only sat back and watched, she wasn't a part of this crew and wasn't even here by choice so she felt no reason to take part in their cheers. She only wanted to get this over with.

"Suits on!" Angara ordered, with everyone present pressurizing their suits or activating their shield vests, "Depressurize and open the doors!"

The artificial atmosphere in the hangar disappeared with the heavy blast doors slowly sliding open revealing the length of the SeCore's massive frame floating in the inky blackness of space, illuminated only by the rays of the sun.

A new feeling came to Azula, pure weightlessness that almost carried her off, her half done up hair and loose fitting clothes swaying as if she were underwater. The only thing keeping her from floating away were the magnetic boots given to her.

All occupants in the hangar charged out into open space taking defensive positions around the hangar. Azula followed them out trying her best to stay grounded but the lack of gravity almost carried her away with each step causing her to fumble over a few times. She now understood what Lectro's warnings meant but now was no time to think of this, she had to adapt just like she always has. She is a prodigy after all, it will come to her eventually.

Sev managed to scoop her up in his free arm, "Just hang on to me."

She begrudgingly grabbed hold of a metal component on his back, drifting off of him like a cape. She felt ridiculous but couldn't do much about it and instead focused on her surroundings. Two massive cannons were in position outside the hangar where a vast majority of their forces began taking positions around establishing plasma turrets on or under them.

She could see explosions out in the distance as fighters continued their dog fights in the space around them.

She looked past these sights and caught a glimpse of something she'd never thought she'd ever see. Her home, the Fire Nation resting in the middle of the sea like all the maps displayed it only this time it was no map. From far above her world the series of islands looked so small and insignificant compared to the massive continent that is the earth kingdom, so much so that she was beginning to wonder if the Fire Nation's cartographers may have over-bloated the country's size.

She continued to marvel at such a sight until she caught a glimpse of something else. SkyBurner looming overhead with an oppressive force slowly drifting closer, its dorsal side facing them.

Sev reached a position beneath one of the cannons allowing her to attach herself to the hull.

As SkyBurner drifted closer she could see dozens of enemy soldiers descending from the ship, all armed with many of them carrying blast shields to defend against an assault while being propelled by small thrusters on their suits.

As soon as they were in sight Angara gave the order to fire. The area around them was soon engulfed in blasts of plasma that ranged in hues of reds and yellow.

The Crimson Storm members were in a better defensive position taking pot shots at their more exposed enemies whose only defense were large hand held blast shields that soaked up incoming fire and a good offense.

The Storm's defensive positions were soon compromised when several members of the enemy's strike force brandished their own rocket launchers and began firing. Explosions flushed out those taking cover where they became easy prey for the invading force to pick off.

Azula took cover behind Sev as several bolts rained down, one of which struck her in the head with the shield of her suit absorbing it but now flashing red. She recovered quickly firing her weapon at the assailants just as she was shown but the chaos of the battle mixed with the explosions threw off her aim. Sev and Gax fired from their position managing to take out a few but most shots bounced off their blast shields.

One armed with a rocket launcher appeared from behind a shielded soldier and fired.

Sev seeing that rocket blast coming their way grabbed hold of a nearby blast shield covering himself, Gax and Azula from the resulting explosion.

Azula tried to fight back but this style of combat and this environment was beyond what she was capable of and it had dawned on her just how much she overestimated herself. Every attempt to fire bend was in vain as no spark would form, movement was difficult with no gravity to stabilize her, the blaster she was given was too foreign to her and she could barely hit anything.

She had no control of anything. Another explosion appeared near her and the blast wave threw her back again, this time her magnetic boots didn't catch onto anything and she began to float freely in the air, away from the safety of cover and unable to properly stabilize or stop herself, where she became an easy target.

Just as she was getting too far away she felt something grab hold of her arm and when looking to face it she saw Gax's webbed hands around her arm, his feet grappling Sev's extended arm as the metal giant pulled them both behind cover. She made sure to firmly plant her feet on the hull.

Sev stood above her like a towering shield, "Listen! This is clearly out of your league so hang back and only shoot if you have too." He fired at the looming foes as Gax climbed back on him.

Not wanting to be ordered around she shot back defensively, "I won't just sit by and do nothing!"

"I can't fight and look after you at the same time!" His sudden commanding tone was enough to silence her.

He followed up with a softer voice, "Just hang back and let us take care of everything."

With that her two companions refocused on the battle at hand while she sat up against the cannon. She had become what she had always feared. A useless burden.

Many of the enemy landed several yards away from the cannons with those using blast shields gathering together to form a wall. Behind the forces that landed a Death's Head member who pulled off a panel where they began plugging their own equipment. The shielded soldiers began to form a perimeter around him.

Angara could see this from her elevated position on one of the cannons.

"All units! They're trying to hack into the docking collar. Focus fire on the shield wall!" She ordered through her helmet's built-in communicator.

As if on cue all forces did as they were ordered. Many of the plasma bolts bounced off their shields but the frequency of the impacts and burns left behind began to warp and wear down their durability.

The forces that stayed floating began to fire a rocket barrage at them once more, taking out several large groups.

From behind cover Sev saw the wall of shields growing and an idea formed in his head, "Gax. I think it's time we test out one of our new toys."

The smaller creature paused in his assault as he gave Sev a wide mischievous grin as he cackled in approval. Sev holstered his weapon to his back as his right shoulder extended from its socket, he bent his arm back where his forearm hooked into his metal bicep as the gears that made up his elbow joint detached moving out of the way as his upper arm opened revealing a cylindrical device that began spinning rapidly as a barrel extended from where his elbow was.

Azula watched in amazement as his arm continued to distort itself into what looked like a cannon. Sev planted his metal feet firmly on as the cylinder in his arm spun faster, generating a fierce red glow. Once fully charged a beam of pure red light was fired, the beam cutting clean through the blast shields and anyone behind them as if they were butter and managed to clear a path revealing the enemy hacker.

Various vents on his arm opened as heat shot out while the cannon folded back up returning to its use as an arm.

Azula couldn't help but be stunned in awe of such a powerful weapon and was thankful Sev was her ally and not her enemy.

The remaining invaders refocused their efforts on protecting the hacker and focused fire on Sev's position.

Angara, seeing the opening Sev made, attached her rocket launch to her back and leapt into the air using her thrusters to propel her into one of the enemy who was too distracted to notice.

She collided into the man grabbing ahold of his mask and ripping the visor open, letting out his oxygen supply and kicking him away after taking his blast shield.

After kicking off from the enemy another floating close by began firing at her, however Angara used her newly acquired shield to block the blasts as she closed the gap between them slamming the shield into him sending him spiraling and unloading a few shots in him before he could stabilize himself.

She sped to another floating in a defensive position above the shield wall who held a rocket launcher prepared to fire at her allies. With the corner of her shield she bashed the side of their helmet shattering the visor and making them miss their target.

She fired at another floating soldier then flung her shield at another and now positioned above the hacker she grabbed her rocket launcher and fired.

As the hacker was finishing his work the rocket came down faster than he could react, only noticing it when detonating just a few feet away engulfing him and those around in a fiery explosion. The Shockwave knocked the rest back.

Angara floated there for a few moments hoping that she managed to stop them in time, however the large door that made up the section of the ship began to open as a towering pillar-like structure extended from the SeCore.

She was too late. They had succeeded in their task. SkyBurner extended its own docking collar as it drifted closer.

Angara propelled herself away as the enemy began firing at her, returning to the shelter the cannons provided. She knew what she had to do now, she had to fulfill her object and take out the bridge before it docked.

As she returned to her position to reload her rocket she found that her supply had been destroyed along with various parts of the cannon.

There were too many casualties and injured to continue this plan with only a handful still capable of fighting. She cursed herself knowing that she had to give the order to retreat.

As she gave the order she managed to find a spare rocket drifting by and reloaded. She may have given the order to retreat but she will make sure that the job gets done.

As Sev continued to fire several blasts of plasma struck his armored plating, one bolt managing to penetrate his side. Dark purple blood begins to trickle out.

He grabbed hold of Gax at the side, tossing him onto his back while retreating and grabbing the princess as well, pulling her under his arm as he ran.

"What are you doing?" She shouted in fury.

"Ain't it obvious? We're retreating!"

"So much for this grand plan."

"Hey if you've got any ideas now would be a good time to share them?"

While struggling to break free of Sev's grasp she looked back up to the invading ship, what seemed like the rear housed a tower-like structure overlooking the ship and positioned right above the SeCore's bridge. She knew what she must do.

"I have one." She pushed out of his grasp kicking off of him towards the top of the cannon.

"Where you going!? Hey!" Sev shouted into her translator's communicator.

Gax watched as she drifted off grabbing onto the bars of a built in ladder, "GASH KATA KA EAN!"

"Yeah, you're right. She's dead." Sev agreed. As interested as he was of the fire princess he risked enough for her and didn't know her long enough to run after her and prevent what ever suicidal plan she had, "Real shame too. Those fire powers were pretty cool."

Azula climbed up the ladder to one of the upper levels of the cannon. The rest of the Crimson Storm retreated into the hanger as Death's Head forces overwhelmed them. Sev's display of such a destructive weapon reminded her that she had her own deadly weapon within her arsenal but she wasn't sure if lightning would work in space like her fire bending but that didn't matter anymore. If she failed or it didn't work, death awaited her and she would rather go out fighting.

She took her pose and focused. Drawing her finger tips in a familiar arcing motion focusing on splitting her chi and generating a spark of lightning.

Angara drifted trying to find a better position to target the bridge. As she waited for the rocket to lock on, a flash of blue light caught her attention where she saw lightning being generated.

Sev and Gax re-entered the hangar as blaster fire dashed past them. Gax caught his companions' attention and pointed to the lightning being generated.

On the bridge of the SeCore My'Rell barked orders to engineering who still struggled to get the reactor back online. She continued to coordinate with her forces on a counterattack until one of the bridge officers called out to her pointing outside the window. My'Rell and several other officers approached gasping in astonishment at the sight of lighting being generated by a single person.

*****

Duritax sat in his captain's chair watching in satisfaction as his forces overwhelmed his longtime rival. He mused at what he would do to My'Rell, gun her down like some common street trash or stick her in an airlock and slowly pull the oxygen out and watch her suffocate. Maybe he'll gun down her entire crew and make her watch then do one of those. He couldn't help but smile at the image.

"Captain!" one of his bridge officers called out.

Annoyed at this interruption he barked out, "What is it?"

"I'm picking up a strange reading from one of the turrets."

"On screen." he commanded in a disinterested tone.

The main screen displayed the image of Azula surrounded by currents of electricity.

Duritax leaned forward in bewilderment and confusion, his four old eyes straining to grasp what he was seeing, "Is that a person?"

Before anyone could react the image, Azula thrusted her fingers towards them sending a blast of cold blue lightning crashing into the walls sending and explosion of fire, metal and glass over everyone within the bridge before the sudden decompression sucked everyone out into the cold void of space with one of the helmsman colliding with the ships controls kick starting the engines and propelling SkyBurner forward just before the docking collars could connect. The docking collar colliding and crumbling against the body of the SeCore.

*****

Azula looked on with triumph as SkyBurner flew off out of control, the fire in her burning hotter than ever, finally showing that she was not worthless even out here, until it was replaced with a new feeling, a dreadful freezing coldness that penetrates her body. It was a terrible feeling like being stuck in a blizzard without clothes. She tried to gasp from this sudden chill but found that no air would enter her lungs. Panicked, she grasps her neck as she desperately tries to breathe and finds that the radiant barrier cloaking her body had fizzled out with her shield vest completely fried from the lightning blast and leaving her exposed to the vacuum.

Behind her a Death's Head soldier drifts closer with his weapon trained on her ready to fire but before he could squeeze the trigger a rocket collides with him saving her from certain death. Angara tossed the rocket launcher aside as she sped towards a falling Azula, her magnetic boots shorted out from her lightning, and she drifted. Choking, her vision began to blur as she descended and gazed upon the sight of the fire nation miles below her.

"Was this it?" She thought. Was this how Azula, princess of the fire nation, met her end? Fighting in a battle between two factions she knew nothing about just as she had learned that there is so much more beyond the sky of her world.

As she fell a figure appeared before her, halting her descent. Azula looked at the figure seeing her mother holding on to her with the same solemn expression she had always had. She tried to say something to her, anything, but slipped into unconsciousness.

Angara, now holding her, propelled them both towards the hangar managing to fly between the doors just in time to close behind them.

*****

My'Rell couldn't believe what she had seen. How could someone just generate that kind of power within themselves? There was no doubt in her mind now, Azula could be a very useful asset to the Crimson Storm.

The lights to the bridge cut back on with all monitors and holograms returning to life.

"The reactor is back online! We have full power!" Commander Shaul informed her.

She marched back to the captain's chair, "Status of the Laz gun?"

"Fully charged, captain." Another officer informed her.

"Target their reactor and fire on my mark."

As SkyBurner drifted further and further away, panels on the dorsal side of the SeCore's nose opened with a cannon ascending from it, two prongs at its front generating green energy as it positioned itself for a clear line of fire.

"Reactor targeted!"

"Fire!"

A beam of green light erupted from between the prongs colliding with the rear section of SkyBurner, melting through its armored plating before the entire ship erupted in a massive explosion, the brightness of it forcing members of the bridge crew to shield their eyes.

"Target successfully neutralized."

My'Rell let out a tired breath of relief, "Damage report?"

"Minimal compared to before, however I recommend we go over a full systems check for the shield generator." Commander Shaul reported, "It nearly cost us."

"Agreed, but first; recall all fighters, get anyone left who is fit enough to fight to round up what's left of the Death's Head and get me a full head count on how many people we have left. Shaul you have the bridge. " She turned to leave the bridge.

"Where are you going, captain?" He asked.

"I'm going to go see our stowaway."

*****

Azula awoke in a drowsy stupor; her head pounding, muscles stiff and a nauseous feeling churning in her stomach as she winced at the bright fluorescent lights overhead. The last thing she remembered was producing lightning and a sudden coldness but then she remembered something else, seeing her mother again. She shook her head in annoyance. Of course that wasn't real, just her mind playing tricks on her again.

She surveyed her surroundings, finding herself in a bed within a wide stark white room filled with glowing blue monitors. She tried to sit up but found that her limbs were bound to the bed. Instinctively she struggled against them to no avail, she was too physically exhausted to break free of them and she also felt the same dimness in her inner flame as before. This felt no different then when she was bound in a straight jacket back at the asylum except now if she escaped she would have nowhere else to go. She had no control of the situation again and in turn was causing her to panic.

"Hey! I demand you release me!" she called out hoping someone could hear her struggle.

The voice of an elderly woman came through however it spoke in the same unfamiliar language all of the creatures spoke with before. She used what little movement she could muster to look to her right seeing a large window overlooking her where an elderly women with blue skin, white hair tied back into a bun with a pair of long ridged horns growing backwards from the side of her head, she seemed to be one of the same type of people as My'Rell.

Azula glared daggers at the woman as she continued to struggle, "If you do not release me now, I swear to whatever spirits you believe in that I will-"

She was cut off when above her six mechanical tentacles slithered out from openings in the ceiling, each having a three clawed hand at the tip, reached down undoing the straps that held her in place.

Surprised by the sight and being suddenly set free she leapt out of the bed stumbling as she did in an attempt to get away from these metal tentacles and getting caught on several wires attached to her via sticky pads hooked up to machinery. Everything within this place just kept getting stranger and stranger.

She pulled the wires off of her skin and took on a fighting stance. She didn't know if the lightning blast did what she had intended or if she was on the same ship as before but she wouldn't take any chances.

One of the metal tentacles grabbed something on a table that was near the bed and slithered through the air to present it to her. It was the small translator device Lectro threw into her cell. She didn't realize that it was no longer in her ear. Still remaining in her fighting stance she quickly took it from the metal fingertips and quickly placed it in her ear.

The voice came back again, "Can you understand me now, child?"

"I do. Where am I now, and what have you done to me?"

The arms retracted back into the ceiling as the older woman began to talk, "You're in the medical bay of the SeCore, more specifically in a surgical room where you are being quarantined. Apologies for binding you, we weren't sure how you would react when waking."

She never eased out of her stance, "Quarantine? For what?"

"You are a member of an unregistered species who has had no contact with extraterrestrial life. Keeping you here is for your own protection until we can concoct a drug compatible with your biochemistry to counteract any foreign bacteria you may have come across while onboard."

"How long was I unconscious?"

"Fourteen hours. I would suggest you calm yourself and get some rest, child. Your body is still recovering."

"I believe I have rested enough." Azula eased out of her stance, leaning against the bed for support.

The sudden burst of energy took more out of her than she thought as dizziness rocked her mind. The doctor was about to repeat her last statement to her until the door to her room slid open and My'Rell entered. My'Rell looked through the window seeing Azula catching her breath, "I'll take things from here doctor."

The doctor nodded and exited the room.

"I wouldn't push myself too far if I were you." the captain said through the intercom.

Azula said nothing for a long while and took a seat on the bed, "I take it we won the battle?"

"We did. All thanks to you, princess."

She figured Angara or one of the other crew members would have told the captain of her title.

"If I knew we had royalty on board I would have tried to make your accommodations more comfortable."

There was a hint of playful sarcasm in her statement, one that Azula would have found amusing if she weren't so physically and mentally exhausted, "If you knew I was royalty you probably would have tried to ransom me back to my foolish brother."

The captain made a mental note of that statement and chose not to pursue that topic further, "I'd like to apologize for getting you mixed up in our little squabble. You should never have been involved in our affairs."

"Agreed." Azula said in the most conceited way she possibly could have, "But, minus being knocked unconscious twice and nearly suffocating to death, I cannot say it was all bad. I learned and experienced many things I would have never thought possible, and discovered a new type of bending."

My'Rell couldn't help but chuckle at the princess's self satisfaction, "You'll have one wild tale to tell when you get back home. That's for sure."

It was then that Azula was reminded of her situation back on the earth, where she was a fugitive on the run. All alone, no one to share this tale with but the apparition of the one person she hates most in the world.

"That is if you want to return home." My'Rell added, catching Azula's attention, "Your powers are unlike anything I've ever seen or heard of. Being able to shoot fire from your hands, manipulating plasma bolts in air and even that blast of electricity that took out a capital ship. The Crimson Storm could use someone with your talents."

Azula scoffed, "And you want me to join your little mercenary crew and use my firebending to ascend higher in whatever food chain you are in."

"To put it simply, yes." My'Rell said honestly, "You'd benefit from this greatly as well; you'd get to leave your primitive world and see what lies beyond the night sky, have access to resources you'd never would have back home, and you'd escape from whatever it is you're running from."

Azula's gaze hardened as their eyes met, "I am not running from anything."

"Then why is a princess dressed in rags and smells like garbage?" My'Rell gave Azula her own conceited grin.

Azula had to admit that she couldn't fight back against her correct assertion of her situation and again chose to remain silent.

"This is a once and a lifetime opportunity, Azula. Think about it."

Think about it she did and in her mind the gears began to turn sparking an idea in her that brought a smirk to her face, "What is there to think about? It's as you said. A once and a lifetime opportunity… and I would be beyond stupid to decline it."

My'Rell smiled in satisfaction at that answer and turned to exit the room, "Good. We'll go over the details later… private Azula."

The captain exited the room leaving Azula to contemplate her new title by herself.

The princess went back to her bed taking the doctor's advice and resting her body and as she did so she began to plan. The Crimson Storm had access to weapons, technology and resources unlike anything her world had. This single ship could possibly wipe out the whole Fire Nation without exerting too much energy, even the Avatar wouldn't be able to stop them. It would be ludicrous for her to not join. She will bide her time, learn all she can, adapt to whatever situation she finds herself in and once she has gained enough experience and knowledge she will take the Crimson Storm for herself, overthrowing My'Rell if she has too, and return home to retake the throne that Zuko wastes by using it to spread love when it should be used for fear, and why stop there when she could take the entire world. Her achievement would dwarf any her father or past Fire Lords had accomplished and usher in her own era. She just needed to play nice with these "people'' for now.

She leaned back in her bed relaxing as she smirked. After two long years her luck was finally turning around.

Chapter Text

Azula walks at her fathers side as a child of four years as they make their way to address Fire Lord Azulon while he holds a private meeting with prince Iroh. Ursa was in the gardens with Zuko as per usual and Ozai felt it was necessary to give Azula a jumpstart in the complexities of the fire nation royal court in hopes that she will grow from this experience and not be infected by the weakness of her mother and brother. When they entered the throne room Their meeting was a less formal affair as Azulon spoke with Iroh, his throne vacant and the overpowering flames extinguished with the room only being lit by torchlight.

"And you are certain this siege will be successful?" Azulon asked, stroking the end of his mustache.

"I am." Iroh stated, a wide smile on his face and jolly manor to him that conflicted with his father's more stiff demeanor, "The Earth Kingdom overestimates the strength of their walls and Ba Sing Se is no different."

Ozai, seeing this, felt the need to be a part of any plan involving the taking of the Earth Kingdom capital and pulled Azula along with him.

"Daddy, I want to go play in the garden with Zuzu." Azula complained as she struggled to keep up with him.

"Silence Azula." Ozai commanded, "Such foolishness is beneath you. If you want to grow up to be powerful you must take every opportunity you can to achieve it."

Azula pouted, puffing out her cheeks, "Okay daddy."

Prince Ozai abruptly enters into the conversation, "Father, Brother. I hope I am not interrupting anything important." he says in a silky smooth tone.

"Oh brother!" Iroh exclaimed, "Nothing too important. We were just about to have some tea as we discussed the war. Would you like to join?"

Ozai only gave his brother a scornful look, "Perhaps later. I heard something regarding Ba Sing Se. Surely you are not thinking of trying to bring the Earth Kingdom to its knees all on your own."
"Oh, you've heard." Iroh responds with a raised brow then notices his niece standing next to him, "Maybe this is a conversation best left in the absence of children?"

Ozai scoffs, "Nonsense, Azula is here because I feel it necessary to expose her to the workings of the court as early as possible so that she can gain an edge later on in life."

Iroh only gave his brother a skeptical look before turning to their father for his opinion.

"I see no issue with this Iroh, after all I allowed you and Ozai the same experience when you were children." Azulon said.

Iroh only sighed but went through with his outlines for the siege of Ba Sing Se and while the adults spoke Azula found herself growing bored very quickly. She was filled with too much energy that she wanted to expend running around the royal palace and getting into trouble with Zuko. As the conversation continued she began to wander aimlessly around the throne room not even bothering to listen to what was being said with her eyes resting on the throne. Father always spoke of it as the most important thing someone of her status could achieve and that it should always be sought after. Even at her young age it was ingrained deep into her how important the throne of the fire nation was, only the Fire Lord could sit within it looking down on their subjects and holding all the power in the Fire Nation and maybe even the world.

She wandered closer to it climbing the steps until she was at the coveted seat of the Fire Lord and promptly sat down on it kicking her little feet back and forth as she enjoyed her elevated view of the throne imagining herself bossing around all the servants as Fire Lord demanding that they serve her all the sweets the royal palace kitchen could make and declare that no child would abide by bedtimes. She giggles to herself at the thought of it.

"Azula! What do you think you are doing?!" her fathers voice cut through the air with a familiar fury pulling her out of her daydream.

"Get down from there this instant!" He demanded and she promptly obeyed running back up to him with her head hanging low fighting back tears from his sudden reprimand.

Her grandfather gives his youngest son a stern look, "It would seem your youngest needs more discipline, Ozai."

The younger prince only tightened his jaw in discontent, however Iroh only let out a belly laugh, "You are all too hard on the girl, she's only a child. I'm sure she would like nothing more than to play with her big brother rather than listen to us old men talk about boring adult things." His voice was filled with nothing but carefree passion and adoration at her exploration.

He approaches his niece kneeling down to her height, "Isn't that right? Wouldn't you rather do that, niece?" he patted her head.

At first she wanted to say the truth, that she did want to play with Zuko but a stern look from her father made her say otherwise.

"N-no. Playing is for fools that are beneath us… I don't want to play. I want to be Fire Lord." she stated, parroting Ozai's sentiments.

Iroh's wide jovial smile faltered slightly at that. Seeing a girl so young saying such things always made him feel a little sad, like part of her childhood was stolen from her.

"She shows great ambition. Wouldn't you agree father?" Ozai said proudly.

The Fire Lord only continued to stroke the end of his mustache, "Perhaps. We'll speak of the siege later, I have other duties to attend to."

With Ozai's need for being their no longer present he dismisses himself and calls for Azula to follow, but before she could go Iroh leaned closer to her and in a hushed tone and a soft smile said to her, "Don't worry niece, once I become Fire Lord I'll let you and your brother sit on the throne whenever I'm out doing more boring adult work."

"But my daddy wants to be Fire Lord." she said innocently.

Iroh frowned once more and gave his younger brother a dejected look, "I'm sure he does."

He patted her head again and made his leave just as Ozai impatiently called to her again. She runs to her fathers side and before they leave she takes one last look at the throne, the seat meant for the Fire Lord. The most powerful person in the world.

*****

In one of the hangar bays the captured Death's Head mercenaries sat on their knees with their hands cuffed, tactical gear seized and surrounded by armed crew members ready to fire if given the order.

My'Rell marched with slow deliberation, each step echoing through the empty hangar as she maintained an eerie impassive gaze causing many to avoid her line of sight.

She cleared the silence with a commanding tone, "SkyBurner, your esteemed flagship, is destroyed, whatever fighters you had are either debris in space or abandoned you here. You are all that's left of your crew." She halted before one and pulled the screaming skull patch on his spacesuit off with little effort holding it up for all to see, "Duritax is dead, and with him gone the Death's Head is sure to follow. But that doesn't have to be your fate."

Many of them raised their heads in confusion with soft murmurs beginning to form as she tossed the patch aside.

"I personally do not hold ill will towards you; you are all mercenaries, paid to do a job, you can't help that you all were dragged into a bad situation. But I think we can help each other. You see; during your attack many of my crew members were killed, people that are needed to run this ship properly. I could kill you all right now in retribution for all those lost, but this ship can't run when we barely have enough people to form a skeleton crew so why shed more blood when we can help each other instead?

Work for me and become part of my Crimson Storm. I can guarantee you employment, stable pay and most importantly a way back to galactic society. We are in uncharted space after all and your only other option is being tossed back out into space where you will die a slow agonizing death as you suffocate while going over every mistake you've made in your life that led you here."

All the remaining Death's Head members looked to each other as they decided what to do. For many the choice was obvious, others were loyal to their cause but their loyalty tested when their only other option was death. Some were too loyal and harbored nothing but hatred for the Crimson Storm and have made peace with themselves.

"If you choose to follow me, stand up and show me your resolve."

A vast majority of them rose to their feet without question, some with reluctance and only a few remained seated accepting their fate to face the void.

My'Rell gave her armed troops a nod signaling them to begin uncuffing them. She then turned to Commander Shaul and simply said, "Space the rest."

Shaul nodded in agreement where he and several others gathered those who wouldn't stand and prepared to send them on their way.

My'Rell took no pleasure in sending them to their deaths but if they would not help them then there was no use in keeping them around and wasting resources on them as prisoners. She would be lying to herself if she said she was fully comfortable recruiting from those who worked for the Death's Head but the SeCore barely had a skeleton crew now and needed to replace her forces quickly. It wasn't unheard of for a starship crew to recruit members of another crew after a battle, after all space was dangerous and a starship without the proper amount of people to maintain it was a death sentence.

"Captain My'Rell." An unfamiliar voice called to her. Its source being a tall scrawny blue skinned alien with a round rodent head, large eyes, a skinny tail and dressed in a Death's Head space uniform.

"I just want to express my gratitude to you for granting us mercy to serve on your ship." His words of gratitude may have seemed sincere but My'Rell could tell a brown nose suck up when she saw one, there was always at least one every time she absorbed another crew.

"Just be sure you do whatever duties you are assigned to and you'll be fine, Mr…"

"Skeeve, ma'am." He said with a smile that was a little too wide.

"Right." She was about to turn to leave but Skeeve continued.

"I was a part of the Death's Head's financial team. Perhaps I could provide some assistance in that department?"

My'Rell raised an eyebrow at him, "I was informed that everyone in this room were members of assault teams that we fished out of space or what remained of the boarding crew. What's a financial worker doing on an assault team?"

Skeeve gave a sheepish grin as he scratched the thin hair on the back of his head, "Well… funny story about that. I worked pretty closely with Duratix, we were very close friends you see, and we always spoke to each other in a very casual way so I thought it would be fine to tell a little joke at the captain's expense… and he didn't take it so well, so he put a gun in my hand and threw me out with the assault team as punishment, but thankfully that worked out in the end."

My'Rell's expression remained impassive, giving no indication that she really cared in the matter, "Right… We already have a master of finance. All you really need to do right now is help repair the ship."

"But maybe I could-"

Her personal communicator beeps, taking all of her attention and giving her the excuse to leave this conversation, "I have to take this, we'll speak of this another time."

She left him dumbfounded as an officer came and gave Skeeve his assignment.

"Captain speaking." She answered.

"This is Doctor Bevel." the voice of the Crimson Storm's chief medical officer came through.

"Doctor. How is our patient doing?"

"Just fine, just anxious to leave her room. We've got a vaccine ready for her."

"Good, I'm on my way."

*****

Azula, despite protests from Dr. Bevel, paced around the room in an attempt to keep her mind active. She hated being trapped in yet another room again. This one reminded her of her time in the asylum due to its sterile appearance however it had a much more comfortable bed.

Her stay in the surgical room was anything but pleasant as she remained trapped in it for another twelve hours while Dr. Bevel worked to create a vaccine that will supposedly keep her from getting sick around the other crewmates. She would spend most of her time practicing her firebending forms and attempt to regain the strength of her blue flames but her firebending was still weak and she still could not understand why. They at least had the decency to allow herself to wash the smell of garbage off her through the use of a disinfectant room.

They had given her some new clothes at that time and now she wore a white shirt underneath a dark colored jumpsuit covered in too many pockets for her liking and a pair of boots that actually fit her. She stood before the window using her faint reflection as a mirror while she tied her hair up in a traditional fire nation topknot, just the way she always wore it during the war. She even managed to place her crown hair piece in. It was one of the few belongings from home that she kept. Even if she is now part of a crew of alien mercenaries she would always remember who and what she is.

The door slid open behind her and Dr. Bevel, the same elderly woman, came in with a case in hand.

"I have your vaccine ready. Once you have this you should be good to walk about the ship." She said preparing a needle gun and a vile of liquid.

"Let's get this over with, I grow tired of sitting in this cell." She said while making sure her crown was secure and signature bangs looked eloquent.

"Surgical room, not a cell." Dr. Bevel corrected, motioning her to come closer.

"It is a room that I cannot leave. There is very little difference to me."

The doctor tightened her lips to keep herself from biting back with her own sarcastic remark. In the short amount of time Dr. Bevel has shared with Azula she has found the younger girl to be rude, demanding and down right unpleasant to be around. She appreciated what Azula had done to save the ship but her appreciation can only go so far.

"Roll up your sleeve." The doctor asks in an annoyed manner with Azula complying.

"You know I did save this ship from destruction." She said in a velvety tone full of self assurance as she inspected her fingernails, "If I were you I'd show a little more resp-OW!"

The doctor jams the needle into her arm and expels its contents before she could finish. Dr. Bevel feels some satisfaction from this.

"And we're done. You are no longer confined to this cell." She bandaged up her arm and began putting away her materials.

Azula rubbed at the injection sight gritting her teeth in annoyance, "A warning would have been nice."

The older woman rolled her black and purple eyes at that. Bevel was too old to be dealing with the attitudes of teenagers, "The captain is on her way. Be sure to show her the proper respect that you have yet to show me. Just because you are royalty doesn't mean you'll get special treatment around here, private."

Azula almost shot back with a sneer but held her tongue after being addressed by her new rank.

She remembered her plan. She needed to keep her head down for now if it was going to work and making enemies with the ship's head doctor probably wouldn't be a good place to start.

"There won't be any side effects, I assume?"

"There shouldn't be, but if you are feeling any dizziness, shortness of breath or nausea come back immediately and I'll give you a look over."

It didn't take long for the captain to arrive in the room still dressed in her loose fitting brown pants, dark shirt and red vest. Despite her casual appearance she still commanded an air of authority.

"Private." She addressed her, "I trust the clothes fit well?"

"They will suffice." She said quickly, not wanting to waste any time with small talk, "Am I to assume that you will be giving me the grand tour of your ship?"

"Indeed. Think of it as the only bit of special treatment you'll receive." The captain turned to leave with Azula grabbing her small bag of belongings and following behind.

The two passed through a long sterile white room with beds lining the walls, almost all of which were filled by injured members of the crew.

"Quite the number of injuries." Azula commented as they exited the medical bay.

My'Rell's demeanor became more solemn, "Believe it or not they are the lucky ones. We lost a lot of good people in that battle and we're operating on low man power, but thankfully we just got a whole slew of new recruits."

"And where did you procure these new recruits?"

"Where else? The surviving Death's Head members."

"Using your enemy to serve you in your time of need. Smart, but will your crew be willing to work alongside those that caused all of this in the first place?"

They rounded a corner past a tall spider-like creature, "They'll have too if we want to get out of here. It shouldn't be too difficult, after all that's how I got most of my non-Pendaren crewmen."

Azula raised an eyebrow at that, "Pendaren? I've heard that word thrown around several times, what is it?"

"It's what I, Dr. Bevel and many members of our crew are. Our species are actually very similar, you know." They paused at a door that retracted at their presence, "It's actually how Dr. Bevel managed to create a vaccine for you so quickly. You seem to have similar biochemistry to us."

"Yes, it is quite… uncanny." She agreed as two other Pendaren's walked past, one with blue skin and the other red.

"Who knows, maybe we share a distant relative."

"I highly doubt that." She decided to shift the topic to something more relevant, "What exactly is the Crimson Storm? I've gathered that you are some sort of mercenary group but I have little else to go on."

They entered an elevator that proceeded downward, "The Crimson Storm is a paramilitary organization that does mercenary work such as private security, bounty hunting, assassinations, espionage, hacking, etc. We answer to no galactic nation and do business with all who can afford us."

"So the fabricator device has something to do with your work?"

"Oh that? No, we were hired to clear out a pirate den hiding in an asteroid belt and they happened to have that in their possession so we took it as a bonus. Little did we know the Death's Head were hired by some unknown party to take it."

"Will this unknown party attempt to make a move against us?"

"It's possible, which is why we're going to have to keep our eyes and ears open so we aren't taken by surprise again."

The elevator stopped allowing them to exit. As Azula followed the captain she processed this information. Someone else wants the fabricator as well, perhaps she could use this to her advantage in the future.

"Let's start the tour where we first found you. At the runway." My'Rell said, opening a blast door to a long runway that seemed to span the entire length of the ship.

The roof of this area was lined with fighters locked in clamping arms, catwalks running between them that led to the elevated platform they stood on. The ends of each side are capped off by a large set of vertical doors with small vehicles towing equipment from one place to the other.

My'Rell led the way down a small service elevator that took them to the main floor, "The SeCore is a heavy carrier class battleship therefore it has a sizable runway at the base of the ship that allows for the speedy deployment of fighters and other vessels. The SeCore has five hangers overall, four of which are connected to the runway and one on the top deck just beneath the bridge. That one's mainly used for shuttle craft and supply runs." She explained as they walked through the runway being sure to stay out of the way of the working deck crew.

They entered one of the connecting hangars, "This is hangar three, we usually keep larger ships and some shuttles here but we'll also use these spaces to make repairs to vehicles or store hazardous material."

Azula recognized this place, it was where Angara had knocked her unconscious, she made a mental note to get back at her for that.

The hangar was a lot emptier than it was during her first visit and only housed some large crates and fuel tanks but what caught Azula's attention was a black ship parked closer to the far corner.

The ship was a bit larger than the Avatar's bison and resembles a giant beetle due to its round bulbous shape. It looked out of place compared to the industrial design language of the SeCore, "Peculiar looking ship." She commented.

My'Rell took notice, "Oh the Shakarr? That's one of our scouting ships."

Azula approached the ship inspecting a white decal of a strange serpentine creature painted on its portside beneath what she assumed to be its cockpit.

"I'd be careful being around that ship, its owner can be… temperamental."

As if on cue the sound of metal crashing and shouting came from the rear. Azula peered in the direction of the disturbance and found the last person she wanted to see, Angara, now lacking her armor and dressed more casually in a dark tank top and loose fitting trousers with her blood red hair flowing freely down to her upper back, holding one of the smaller aliens she had seen before by the caller with one hand.

"What the hell do you think you're doing poking around my ship!"

The smaller alien trembled in her grasp trying to explain himself, "We're just scanning for damage! I swear!"

"The only one who scans the Shakarr is me!" she tossed the alien aside with him and his companion running off.

She felt some gratification knowing that she wasn't the only one to receive Angara's ire.

My'Rell could only sigh and shake her head in disappointment, "Angara, I thought we talked about letting out your temper on your coworkers."

Angara turned to them, "Captain." she acknowledged respectfully and scowled at Azula, "I prefer nobody touches my ship unless I ask them too."

"You do realize that we were boarded recently and your ship could have been sabotaged in the process?"

"That's why I'm going over it now. And I don't need help from anyone else!" She shouted that last part to a group of engineers hanging back inspecting another ship.

"So you're letting this one join?" She changed the subject, turning to Azula. Their amber eyes locking with unspoken animosity for one another.

"Yes. We're down a lot of people so we can't afford to be picky. Not only that but you've seen first hand what she can do."

"Yeah… I remember." She addressed Azula next, "So princess, how long were you going to keep that in your back pocket before you used it on us?"

"Only until you try to kill me." She responded nonchalantly with a smirk that only annoyed the green skinned woman further.

Azula turned her attention back to the Shakarr inspecting the open rear that seemed to be a storage room, "So, what is it that you do here, exactly? You seem to have a commanding presence with the other crew members yet you do not seem like an officer."

Angara let out an amused snort at hearing her being referred to as an officer, "Well you're right. I ain't no officer, I'm a bounty hunter. I only took command of the situation because somebody had too, and I'm familiar with Death's Head tactics."

"Yes, you did seem to have a commanding presence." Azula agreed, "It's a shame the plan didn't go so well and we had to retreat." She could help but let some condescension leak out when saying this. She wanted to rub in that Angara's plan was a failure and that it was she who saved the SeCore.

"You were fortunate to have me there when you did instead of leaving me behind." She dug the knife further maintaining her fake politeness.

Angara looked up from the panel she was inspecting directly at the princess with a scowl, "Weren't you fumbling about like an idiot once we got out there because you overestimated your ability to adapt to zero-g combat and you had to cling onto Sev like Gax?"

Azula's smile faltered a bit, "I will admit that combat on the outside of the ship wasn't something I was fully prepared for, but that doesn't change what I contributed." She swallowed her pride and admitted. It almost made her feel sick to do so, especially towards someone like Angara.

"I had a rocket ready to go. I would have done what you had in no time, just without the fancy light show." Angara dismissed and went back to her work, "Instead I had to use that rocket to save your ass. By the way, you're welcome."

This was news to her as she assumed someone else had brought her in. It almost baffled her as to why Angara would do such a thing as she's shown clear animosity towards her and continues to do so.

"I didn't realize you cared so much." Azula said in a silky tone however the self satisfaction was no longer present as the green woman's attitude drained all enjoyment from this conversation.

Angara was as stubborn as an earthbender but had all the fiery pride of a firebender that yielded to no one, not even the might of a princess.

"I don't. Probably should have left you out there. Only reason I didn't is because I knew the captain wouldn't want that."

The harsh comment and blatant disrespect was enough to snap something in her. Never has anyone shown this level of disrespect to her in her entire life, not even Zuko, and she will no longer tolerate it.

Azula was getting ready to respond but My'Rell cut in before anything could be said, "Alright kids. Why don't we agree that both of you contributed to the salvation of this ship. Azula displayed skills that caught our enemy by surprise and Angara led the charge and set the stage for our eventual victory."

There was a finality in the captain's tone like that of a parent breaking up an argument between children. It reminded Azula of the tone her mother would use when scolding her that only furthered her irritation.

My'Rell turned to the princess, "Now Azula, Angara did save you out there so I do believe a word of thanks is in order."

Azula turned to the older woman with an incredulous look at the suggestion she gave thanks to this rude person but the look in the Captain's black and cyan eyes suggested that this wasn't a request but a subtle order to remind her who was really in charge here.

Azula's contempt was replaced with a feeling of amusement. At first My'Rell seemed like her uncle; a gentle older soul that seemed to command with foolish notions of friendship and comradery but the look she gave was domineering like her fathers that wouldn't accept any failure to comply. Perhaps taking the Crimson Storm won't be as easy as she had thought. This didn't hinder her determination, if anything it only emboldened her, after all nothing worth doing was ever easy.

She will let go of her pride and kowtow to her demands, for now. She put on another fake smile of endearment to soften her expression, "You're right. My apologies, thank you for your assistance in saving my life… Angara."

Despite the kind demeanor she displayed she couldn't stop the bitterness that escaped her lips when saying her name.

Angara only scoffed, "Whatever. Don't expect me to do it again."

My'Rell rolled her eyes like a tired parent, "Just make sure you're done with your scan by the end of the cycle. We're sending the fallen before we leave."

Angara's irritable demeanor faded into a more tranquil yet somber one at the sound of that, "Right. I'll be there."

Azula didn't know what they meant by this and didn't get a chance to ask as My'Rell began to lead the way to continue their tour.

As Azula went to follow, Angara said one last thing to her, "Better keep that attitude of yours, princess. Lotta people here don't have the patience for royals."

Azula didn't bother to respond feeling that she had shown her enough kindness with her, thank you.

My'Rell gave Angara a side eyed glare that silenced any further attempt at badgering the princess and made her immediately turn back to her work.

"A little word of advice, Azula." My'Rell caught her attention as they approached another blast door, "Tread carefully when talking to Angara like that. She's a Ke'Kuvon and one thing they are known for is their tempers."

"Really?" She wasn't really interested, "What else are they known for?"

"Ripping people's throats open with their finger tips, roasting people alive on starship thrusters, raiding settlements for anything not nailed down and… oh yeah! They're slow and romantic music." Azula felt as though the captain made that last one up in some misguided attempt at humor, "Also, Angara is one of the most feared bounty hunters in this region of the galaxy so it would probably be best to stay on her good side."

"From what I've seen, she doesn't have a good side."

My'Rell let out another exasperated sigh, "Yup."

After going over several more aspects of the runway and hangers My'Rell brought her to several decks above into a long room with high ceilings and walls lined with torpedoes resting on conveyor belts, "Here is one of the many torpedo and artillery rooms that dot the SeCore. Within this room is enough firepower to level a small nation."

Now Azula was captivated, much of the power she sought was within this room. A marvel of science and destruction that not even the Fire Nation was capable of achieving, at least not yet.

Azula approached one of the belts along the wall watching as it pulled the torpedoes upward into a vent on the ceiling, "These conveyor belts pull them to where they are to be dispensed, correct?"

"Exactly, the launchers themselves are a deck above us right outside these walls. The crew here is in charge of pulling them out of the storage area, inspecting them and loading them up. The bridge is the only way to fire them." My'Rell explained as she moved out of the way of four individuals using their combined strength to carry a single torpedo.

"It's quite busy here, even though we are no longer in battle." She commented.

"That's because each and every torpedo is being inspected. The easiest way to destroy a ship from the inside is by sabotaging the armaments. If just one of these torpedoes was sabotaged with an explosive-"

"It'll set off a chain reaction." Azula finished catching on quickly.

"Exactly." My'Rell looked into the window of the opposite wall seeing most of the torpedoes being placed back in their storage rack, "They should be almost done by now, they've been inspecting since the battle ended."

"How many do you have?" Azula asked in genuine surprise given how long it has been since the battle ended.

"Several hundred."

While admiring the armaments she spotted another familiar face, Sev. The nine foot tall semi mechanical man had a torpedo in his grasp and seemed to be coming from the torpedo storage area before placing it effortlessly into one of the slots on the wall. He seemed to enjoy showing off his superior strength as other members of the crew had to wheel torpedoes around in carts.

The large metal man caught a glimpse of them and his face immediately lit up with a wide grin. Azula still couldn't figure out how such an imposing creature could have such a carefree and friendly demeanor.

"Captain!" He greeted, "And the fire spitter! See I told y'all she'd be fine." He gave a friendly slap on the shoulder to a slender alien with a banana shaped head that nearly knocked the wind out of him.

"GARI SHORA KA'TEE!" Gax shouted from above, climbing the piping of the ceiling like a hog monkey, seeming to be repairing some loose wiring.

Sev turned to him, "Yes I did say that! I was a firm believer she'd recover with no problems."

"KA'MI TA KORRO!"

"I did not say that! Now you're just putting words in my mouth!"

Azula continued to watch the strange back in fourth before deciding to intervene.

"You actually understand what… he says?" She was going to refer to Gax as a thing due to his more animalistic appearance but managed to catch herself figuring they might take offense to the term. These two seemed to be her strongest candidates for allies, other than Lectro and it would be wise not to offend them.

"Oh yeah. His language is easier to translate into my native one, so I've got a better understanding of what he's saying than most." He turned up to where Gax hung, directing his next statement to him, "Although it'd be nice if he learned how to speak primary like the rest of us!"

Gax only made a noise that sounded like a scoff before dropping down and landing on his armored friend's shoulder.

Gax leaned towards her and extended a large webbed hand, "TE' KARRI!" He then greeted her with a wide crooked smile.

"He says it's nice to meet you."

Of all the creatures she had seen so far Gax unsettled her the most. Whether it be his appearance as a walking talking frog, his smile that was a little too wide for Azula's liking, the manic unpredictability behind his large bulging eyes, how he seems to shout with every word that leaves his mouth or the way the gills around his head flared out.

Reluctantly she accepted the friendly gesture and grabbed his larger hand. It was slimy and damp, two things Azula physically couldn't stand and made her skin crawl, "Nice to… meet you." It was a struggle for her to maintain her friendly persona.

Gax shook her hand vigorously like a child who has had too much sugar and practically shook her entire torso in his grasp before retracting back to Sev's shoulder, her hand covered in a thin mucous substance that she discreetly rubbed off on the leg of her jumpsuit.

"Sev. Gax." My'Rell greeted them in an informal but friendly demeanor, "How goes the inspection?"

"So far so good. We haven't found anything on any of the torpedos in this room. Heard the same from the other armament rooms."

"Good. Once you are all done get some rest and food. We're going to need you all to help make repairs."

Both groaned at the thought of that, "Yes ma'am. We'll try and get as much of that done before the sending."

With that said My'Rell let them get back to their work as she led Azula out an onto the next destination.

They would soon find themselves in the cargo bay, the same one that housed the Fabricator. When they entered the crate that housed the target of their attackers was in the center of the room and opened. The Fabricator was a large rectangular black and silver box shaped device with each side of it having a window allowing for viewing inside its empty compartment.

Besides the device Lectro stood with his back to them as he typed away at a tablet connected to the built in console.

"Come on… just work for me." He grumbled to himself as the console screen flashes red.

"Lectro." My'Rell greeted the lizard man making him jump in surprise. He didn't seem to hear their approach.

"Don't sneak up on me like that! I've already almost had like three heart attacks today and I don't need a fourth."

"My bad Lectro, how goes-"

"Azula!" He shouted in relief and joy running past the captain up to the princess. Azula was reminded of his overbearing curiosity.

"You're not dead! That's great! I was so worried! I told you zero-g was something you wouldn't be able to handle, but somehow you survived. Which is great! I also heard that you were capable of generating a blast of electricity, which I have to know how you did that and…" he continued to bombard her with questions while speaking a mile per minute giving himself little room to breath between words until My'Rell pulled him out of his tirade with a firm hand on the shoulder.

"Lectro! The poor girl just barely made it out of Death's grip and was locked up for twenty six hours. I'm sure the last thing she wants is to be overwhelmed with questions."

Lectro gave a sheepish grin realizing this, "Sorry, it's just we thought we lost you there for a little while, and they're is still so much we can learn from you."

"So you're only concerned for me when you have something to gain?" She asked condescendingly.

His scaly expression turned to one of shock and nervousness, "That… came out wrong. That's not what I meant to say."

A narrow smile crept up on her, a smile of mischief that was followed with a sinister glint in her eye, "Oh no, your intentions were made clear. I'm Just a slab of meat for you to poke around and experiment with. "

"W-wait no! That's… uh… c-captain! Help me out here?"

My'Rell, picking up on what was going on gave a devious smirk of her own, "What is there to help Lectro? You made it clear that she's your lab experiment. Why lie to the poor girl?"

"Perhaps you'd like to cut me open and harvest my organs for some immoral uses." Azula added.

"Or take out her brain and leave it suspended in a jar?" My'Rell teased, taking just as much pleasure in making him feel uncomfortable.

Lectro, having no control of the situation, decided to change the subject, "Uh… hey! We unpacked the fabricator and almost got it online! W-why don't I show you guys that?"

He practically sprinted back to the console wanting to get out of this situation.

As she approached to get a closer look at the device she walked into an object that toppled over in a loud metal clang.

"Alert. Alert." A monotonous voice droned out of the object, "I am under siege. I repeat. I am under siege."

Lectro grabbed the cylindrical object pulling it back up, "Quite being dramatic B3, you're all right."

The object in question was a short machine covered in faded green metal plating held up by four thick spider-like legs. The top of it rotated towards Azula, a single red eye staring up at her.

"You have a living trash can?" She cocked her head studying the strange being.

Lectro let out an amused chuckle as he patted the machine's head, "B3 isn't a trash can. He is my robotic assistant. B3, meet our newest recruit. Princess Azula."

The lens of the machine's eye focused on her, surveying her up and down, "Unidentified life form. Scanning… Analyzing data. Unidentified. Hypothesis, deformed Pendaren."

"Excuse me?" She responded somewhat offended by being referred to as deformed anything. She was a princess after all, no deformity would be tolerated by her, "I am not deformed, I can assure you that."

"You lack several key features of a Pendaren; such as, facial striping, pigmented sclera, cranial horns-"

"Did it ever occur to you that I might not be a Pendaren?" She interrupted feeling B3 would list out too many things to warrant in conversation.

The robot stayed silent for a moment, "Analyzing new data. Conclusion. Unregistered species."

"We could always pass you off as a deformed Pendaren." My'Rell said, clearly taking some amusement from this conversation.

She rolled her eyes at such a thing. She was her father's perfect weapon, to accept being referred to as deformed would stain her pride.

With B3 reoriented and still connected to the fabricator via cables, Lectro went back to his work, "We almost got everything ready and set, the raw material we collected from the planet is on standby. We just have to break through some of the security authorizations in order to get it to function." He explained as he typed away at his tablet, "Needless to say, whoever was the last owner of this thing really didn't want anyone else using it but them."

My'Rell peered over his shoulder as he worked, "How bad is it?"

"Every time I think we've made progress another firewall shows up."

"Firewall disabled." B3 stated.

"Great! Now we can-"

"Firewall detected."

Lectro groaned in frustration, "How many does that make?"

"Six firewall's in total."

"I don't need to remind you that this thing is the key to us leaving this system. Do I?" My'Rell stated.

"I understand that captain but this is a very advanced piece of equipment that is almost completely alien to me, and B3 has never been connected to something like this."

This caught Azula's attention and made her furrow her brow in confusion, "How is this any more alien than everything else on this ship?"

"That's because it was made by one of the most hyper advanced civilizations to ever exist. They outpaced almost every other race in the galaxy with their tech." Lectro explained as he coordinated with B3.

"Really? They must be quite the civilization if they are capable of creating such a device that everyone wants." She said in wonder as she looked into the fabricator's interior.

"They were." he corrected.

Azula cocked an eyebrow, "Were?"

"Yes, they used their magical printers here to generate components for weapons of mass destruction then nuked themselves into extinction. They didn't really venture outside their own solar system either so they pretty much doomed themselves." He continued then cursed in irritation when he couldn't get through the firewall.

"All that's left of their civilization is a few pieces of tech like this and some ruins." My'Rell finished.

This was a surprise to Azula, people who had access to such equipment and essentially unlimited resources ended up destroying themselves. How can beings with such power end up undoing everything they had achieved?

"I think the empire has some mummified corpses in their museums." Lectro added.

She then remembered when she first met Lectro he had mentioned some sort of empire. Any information on this entity could prove valuable.

"Final firewall breached. Access to fabricator acquired." B3 interrupted before she could ask, retracting its chord from the machine.

"Finally! We've been at this for hours." Lectro wasted no time accessing the console. He gestures to another crewman, "Get the coal, let's do a little test run."

The alien wheeled in a cart filled with coal to the back of the machine and began dumping shovelfuls of it in a funny shaped opening.

"Where exactly did you get this coal?" Azula asked.

"From the planet below." Lectro answered.

She rolled her eyes, "Obviously, I meant where specifically."

"B3, pull up the map." Lectro said to the robot who projected a holographic display of the planet.

"We mined out almost all of this coal from this area here." He pointed to the northern portion of the main Fire Nation island, "There was an old mine that looked to be abandoned. We sent a probe in and found a whole lot of coal still buried there, so we geared up and grabbed all this. The main reason we have data on your language is because we sent a few probes to gather info just in case we ran into any locals, if you were wondering about that."

She was wondering about that however this curiosity was overshadowed by the obvious theft of her homeland.

"Why does it matter where we got it?" My'Rell inquired.

"No reason. Was simply curious." She lied, she felt great offense that they stole from her country however she was in no position or mood to argue against it, and besides it was Zuko's fault for not noticing this theft in his own backyard.

The alien crewmen notified them that the coal was loaded up. Lectro hopped back to the console, "Let's start with something simple. How about a wrench?"

After typing in his commands the empty compartment of the machine came to life as a mechanical arm unfolded from the roof of the machine and began moving back and forth at great speed leaving behind layers of molten metal that cooled quickly until it took the shape of a strange looking wrench.

Azula watched in amazement. A machine like this could generate just about anything the fire nation would need. If they had this machine alone the fire nation would have dominated the earth in no time.

Once cooled Lectro opened the compartment climbing in and pulling the wrench free.

"Beautiful! Isn't it?"

"It's remarkable. I can see why you were being attacked for it." Azula was genuinely impressed, "How does it work?"

After climbing out of the machine Lectro was more than happy to explain, "I'm glad you asked. You see, this device is what is properly known as a matter converter. By putting matter in one end the machine can manipulate said matter down to the molecular level and convert it into a different substance to fabricate whatever you need."

She didn't quite understand some aspects of what he said but understood the basic concept well.

"However it can only do so with non organic substances and depending on the malleability of said substance determines how long it takes to fabricate. It also takes a whole lot of power for it to work."

"So it will take awhile if we solely rely on it for repairs." My'Rell said taking the newly fabricated wrench inspecting it.

"Yes, which is why I suggest we only use it to repair and replace specific components needed to get us out of here and get further repairs back at base."

"Understood. I think I know where our next stop will be." My'Rell pockets the wrench and says her farewell to Lectro and B3 before making her leave and beckoning Azula to follow.

"Be sure to stop by my lab later!" Lectro calls out to Azula before going back to his work and accidentally walking into B3 tipping him over.

"Alert. Alert. I am under siege."

"Always so dramatic. Aren't you B3?"

It didn't take long for My'Rell to lead Azula to the engineering room at the rear of the ship. The thick metal blast doors covered in bright yellow markings opened with their presence revealing a multi leveled cavernous industrial room that would put the Fire Nation's most advanced steam engines and boiler rooms to shame with its walls being covered in exposed piping, wires and machinery, the humming sounds of the twin titanic engines that hang overhead echoing loudly, crewmen ran about working at their stations to maintain the health of the ship.

"Welcome to engineering." My'Rell said over the various sounds, "This area of the SeCore is dedicated to allowing us to traverse space along with providing power to all functions of the ship."

"I take it this is where the enemy disabled the ship?" She had to raise her voice just as much to get through.

"Indeed." She turned to a large hunched over creature that resembled a komodo rhino dragging a large cable, "Where's Cetro?"

The creature pointed to the reactor room across from the twin engines.

They entered the equally large room with most of its space being occupied by a massive spherical structure that was the reactor and was being held behind a transparent wall of glass and metal to prevent radiation exposure.

"Are you stupid or are you purposefully trying to incur my wrath!? Because these cufflinks are the wrong size!" An old gravelly voice shouted from one of the corners of the room.

They turned to the source where Azula saw the same multi armed creature she had run into when she first arrived standing over a shorter creature similar in appearance but with a red mane of hair.

"Wait! No! Don't answer that! Whatever you say is only going to make me even angrier! Replace the cables on generator three on the lower deck before I demolish you!"

The other creature scampered away as they approached.

"Cetro."

The creature in question turned to her, a sour expression on his serpentine face, "Captain. Come to tear me a new one for not getting the shield generator online again?" His four blue eyes narrowed in on Azula, "You!" He reached for his firearm causing her to jump into a firebending stance.

My'Rell jumped between them, "Hold it! She's with us!"

"Are you serious?" He asked incredulously, "She's the intruder that burned me!" He raised a hand wrapped in a black brace, "For all we know she was a scout sent ahead by the damn Death's Head!"

"Then why would a Death's Head spy shoot the bridge to her own ship?" She recalled, standing over him with a commanding presence, "And now what's left of the Death's Head is on board helping us get the SeCore up and running again. I expect you to play nice with her."

Cetro only snarled at her as he eased back into a lax demeanor.

"I suppose I should apologize for that, along with kicking you in the head." As much as she hates the idea of apologizing if she wanted to plant the seeds of her takeover then maybe saying sorry to this crotchety creature would be wise.

Cetro only scoffed. He and Angara seem to have in common a distaste of her, at least Cetro seemed to have a valid reason to not like her.

"Azula, this is Cetro. The head of engineering and he will be your mentor outside of combat." My'Rell introduced.

"When was this decided?" Cetro asked.

"Right now." She stated with finality, "As you know everyone who serves on a starship needs to know basic engineering and she knows nothing of it which is why I need my best engineer to get her up to speed."

Cetro's scaled brow furrowed as he looked back at Azula, "But she's a primitive. Does she have any scientific knowledge at all?"

"I dissected a squirrel toad once." She wasn't wrong, she did do this when she went to the Fire Nation royal school for girls but she knew this isn't what he wanted to hear and took silent pleasure in his annoyance at her comment.

The head engineer only scowled at her in silence for a long while before speaking, "Captain, can I speak with you privately?"

The engineer and the captain took a few steps away out of earshot.

"I'm already standing up to my agnots in idiots here with a bunch of new idiots who tried to kill us on the way to repair this relic of a ship. I don't have time to play babysitter to some primitive that grew up in a mud hut."

My'Rell sighed pinching the bridge of her nose, "Everybody pulls their weight here Cetro, she needs to do the same. It doesn't have to be anything complicated, just give her some simple tasks that will keep her busy and out of your way while also giving her some tips and tricks on how things work here."

"I don't like her attitude either. She's a smart ass and I don't like smart ass's."

"Now you're just being childish."

Cetro scoffed.

"Listen, she's smarter than you think, she'll adapt and hopefully learn quickly. Think of it this way, you'll get to boss around the girl who burned you and gave you a minor concussion, and if she becomes too much of a hindrance I'll put her to work in the mess hall instead."

Cetro still didn't seem convinced but rolled his eyes and accepted it, "Fine. But I'm not going easy on her just because she's a kid."

"Never said you needed to go easy on her."

They turned back to the princess who was observing the massive sphere above them and called to her.

"Alright kid, what did you say your name was again?"

"I am Princess Azula." She introduced.

"Private Azula." My'Rell corrected.

Azula frowned at the mention of her new title and the emphasis the captain put on it.

"Alright kid. I'll teach you what you need to know. Just keep that fire trick of yours under wraps unless I need you to weld something."

She narrowed her eyes in annoyance at him wanting to use her bending as some workplace tool.

"What's wrong with the shield generator this time?" My'Rell asked.

Cetro scoffed, "What isn't wrong with it?"

The multi armed alien led them to the upper levels and into the room that housed the shield generator that was a large cubical machine.

"So far we've tried the basic fixes but nothing has worked so I think it's a more advanced issue inside." Cetro explained as they approached a panel, "I've got Copelo in there inspecting all the components."

"Someone is inside that?" Azula took another look at the shield generator noting that the impressive machine was indeed large but seems like it is filled to the brim with components that would make fitting inside it impossible.

"Yup. Let's see if he's made any progress." Cetro pounded on a panel door, "Copelo! You find anything?"

After a few moments a panel door swung open with a narrow headed serpentine creature with six beady eyes slithered out arching up at them, six segmented limbs sprouting out of its underside just beneath its head.

"I did!" it said in a strange high pitched voice, "The coolant pump is broken. It won't pump anything into the generator thus causing it to overheat when in use."

Azula looked at the small creature slack jawed and spacing out to the technical talk between Cetro and the snake creature. She was perplexed at how something as small and weird as this was considered a person despite the fact that it looked like a mutated animal. Then again it spoke clearly like an educated person and wore a dark blue sleeve over its long coiling body like clothing.

"So it's just the pump?" My'Rell repeated taking Azula out of her analytical trance at the sight of Copelo.

"That's the main problem, yes. But there's a bunch of smaller issues like wires beginning to rot away, rusting gaskets and a slew of other issues that could turn into problems in the future, but that's to be expected from such an old ship."

"So we either replace all the broken down components or buy a brand new shield generator."

"What of the Fabricator?" Azula mentioned catching all of their attention, "Lectro has it working, surely we can replace said old components with new ones."

"Exactly." The captain followed up producing the fabricated wrench and handed it to Cetro, "He made this wrench from coal converted into steel."

Cetro inspected the tool testing out its weight and tapping it against the generator, "Hm… this could work. We could save a whole lot of units with this."

"Make a list of everything that needs to be replaced and we'll replace it back at base. Right now talk to Lectro and get a new coolant pump made."

After that the pair left the engineers to their work with My'Rell giving Azula a quick rundown of the reactor, showing her the gravity core on the opposite end of the room before leading her to various other locations such as the briefing room, the mess hall, living quarters and locker rooms, escape pods, various component rooms and Dr. Bevel's cultivation room that was filled with strange alien plants used to create medicine.

Their final stop was the bridge. They entered the command deck where many of the officers in the room continued to scramble, monitoring the ship's health and other factors. A majority of the bridge crew being Pendaren.

"Here is the command deck. From here we monitor the SeCore's health, chart courses, control weapon systems and scan the space around us." My'Rell explained, "You won't be on this deck very often but I feel you should see it at least once."

"Captain." Commander Shaul called out with a tablet in hand, "We've organized the new recruits into the stations where their expertise can be utilized."

She took the tablet from him looking over the reports, "Good, hopefully we can get everything up and running again."

Shaul looked over the captain's shoulder at their new recruit, "Is this her, captain?"

"Yes. Azula, this is my second in command, Commander Shaul. Commander Shaul, Azula."

The commander bowed his head slightly in respect while extending a hand, "pleased to meet you."

Hand shakes were not something Azula was accustomed to, living a life of royal luxury made her expect people to prostrate themselves at her presence but even then hand shaking wasn't very customary within the fire nation.

Reluctantly she took his glove hand and gave him the most sincere smile she could fake in order to hide her discontent at the strange greeting, "Likewise, commander."

"I didn't expect you to be up and walking around so soon after your trip into space. You gave Dr. Lectro quite the scare when he heard what happened."

"Oh yes, I am aware." His bombardment of questions and worry came back to mind.

"He won't have too much time to worry about. I'll see to it that his attention stays on the fabricator for now." The captain added.

"I assume that means the device is online?" The commander asked.

The captain and commander continued their discussion and Azula felt that her presence there was no longer needed and decided to wander about the cabin, being sure to stay out of the way.

The holo table was the first thing to catch her attention as a glowing hologram of the gunmetal gray ship with a bright red nose that she stood on floated in midair. The surface was covered in red highlights, likely damaged areas.

She paced away towards the panoramic window again gazing out into space at her home world to the left of the ship, the earth kingdom taking up a majority of the planet's surface. She wondered if she could see Ba Sing Se from up here, after all it was the largest city in the world and all of the Earth Kingdom maps proudly display its size on all of their maps.

No matter how hard she squinted she couldn't find the city in the sea of green and beige that made up the continent. Perhaps the Fire Nation wasn't the only one that exaggerated the scale in their maps.

Satisfied with the view she turned her attention back to the captain still embroiled in conversation with important matters for the ship but noticed a vacant seat on a raised platform in the center of the room. Undoubtedly the captain's chair, the throne of the ship, the most powerful position on this ship. Her throne if she plays her cards right.

She approached the chair studying the various buttons that lined its arm rest. Her observation reminded her that she's been standing all day and her legs were feeling a bit stiff so she decided to have a seat, might as well see the view from her future position and determine if it's satisfactory enough for her.

The view was as splendid as she expected it to be. She had a clear elevated view of the whole vessel before her, dorsal cannons facing forward or her flanks with the planet clear in her sights. She feels she has the power to level the whole world if she wanted to, like her plan for Sozin's comet but on a far larger scale. She could see it now; the crown hair piece being placed in her topknot as the SeCore looms overhead threatening to rain down destruction, the alien creatures following her every will, policing the populace and tearing down all that oppose her. It was glorious.

The sound of someone clearing their throat pulling Azula out of her daydream. Commander Shaul loomed behind her with a stern expression. It was then that she noticed the other bridge officers scowling at her, mainly the Pendaren's.

"Enjoying my seat, private?" The captain asked with a sense of amusement just like how her uncle laughed when she had sat on the Fire Lord's throne when she was younger.

"That chair is meant only for the captain's use or any she gives command to." Shaul reprimanded.

It would seem the Pendaren's take the chain of command very seriously and violating it in any small way earned their scorn.

"My mistake, I felt a little light headed. Must be a side effect of the vaccine." She said, fainting a dazed expression as she got back up.

Hopefully this lie would placate them along with her general ignorance of her environment.

His expression softened, "Be sure to see Dr. Bevel then." He turned back to the captain, "I have some preliminary reports sent to your ready room for your convenience."

She thanked him before making her way to a room at the back of the command deck, Azula followed behind.

The ready room was a small office that was more spacious than some of the other rooms she had seen on board, with a desk near the back, a small window displaying the planet beyond, a rack filled with personal mementos and a tank filled with alien fish swimming about.

"So private, what do you think of the tour?" The captain asks as she sprinkles some flakes into the fish tank.

"It is impressive. Truly a marvel of science. At least to my "primitive" understanding of it." She began to despise that word.

"Thank you, despite the shape the SeCore is currently in and her age." She sat at her desk, "Any lingering questions that weren't answered?"

"A few. What is our destination once we leave?"

"Kazima." She answered plainly, "It's a backwater planet on the fringes of explored space. Outside the jurisdiction of just about every major galactic power."

"Such as this Pendaren Empire?" Azula asks as she inspects some of the captain's personal items; many of which being military medals, trophies and model ships.

One that caught her attention was a picture of a younger My'Rell dressed in a royal purple military uniform of some sort, her hair tied back into a neat bun, bright red cape draped over her left shoulder and a decorative hat resting on her head with one of her upward spiraling horns decorated with a gold ring.

She wasn't surprised that the picture didn't seem to be painted and instead looked like a real image captured in time. She had seen so many spectacular things as of late that this seemed mundane in comparison.

She then noticed a young girl that looked to be the age of five or six standing next to her. She had yellowish orange skin and bright green eyes, lacked horns and dressed in a school uniform. Undoubtedly My'Rell's daughter as they shared similar faces. There was a third figure as well, they wore a similar uniform only this one was white and the red cape was draped over the opposite shoulder but the corner of the picture where their face would have been was burned.

"Oh yes, the empire." There was a flatness in her voice as if it was something she didn't care to talk about, "Before you ask, yes I was part of the empire along with many of the Pendaren crew and yes the SeCore was also an imperial warship. We no longer affiliate with the empire or share in their ideals."

"So you're a defector? A traitor to your nation." The scorn laced in her voice was not lost to My'Rell. After all, why wouldn't Azula despise traitors. Her brother betrayed her, her two best friends betrayed her, even her own mind betrayed her and led to the fire nation losing the war and losing her title of Fire Lord.

Their eyes met, Azula's narrow gaze probing the captain, attempting to find any weakness to exploit however My'Rell's steely gaze and calm expression gave a calm defiance, with no indication of giving her what she wanted.

"Let's just say that we don't agree with the direction the current regime was taking us on." With that said My'Rell brought the topic to an end.

"Why don't you tell me about yourself, private?" She gestured towards a small couch by the window, "Just who is princess Azula?"

Azula thought carefully of what she wanted to say, taking the seat and sitting upright with her legs crossed giving an image of authority while the captain took a more laid back and informal posture.

"That's easy enough to answer. I am the youngest child of Fire Lord Ozai…" She paused remembering who was the current leader of her nation, "Former Fire Lord. I am a firebending prodigy with years of experience fighting in our war against the other nations. I am the conqueror of Ba Sing Se, effectively winning the war and was to be crowned the next Fire Lord, all at the age of fourteen." She stated proudly at all her achievements being sure to leave some elements out but overall speaking in nothing but truth for once.

Her expression soured as she remembered how all her achievements crumbled away, "Until my traitorous brother Zuko joined our enemy and effectively undid everything our nation had accomplished. Stole my crown along with imprisoning my father and I for two long grueling years." Her voice and anger rose with each word before she realized she was losing control and quickly regained her composure, "I managed to escape and… well, here I am."

My'Rell took all this information while leaning back in her chair, an impassive expression still on her face, "Impressive, very impressive. Assuming you're telling me the truth."

Azula scowled, "You think I'm lying."

"Not really lying, more like… embellishing the truth. You have to admit, it is a little far-fetched that a teenager conquered an entire city by herself, and based on some of the observations some of our probes picked up, Ba Sing Se is quite a large city. Not only that but a capital city as well. The brother betrayal sounds truthful and tracks well with the little information you've already given and the crowning sounds plausible. A lot of societies that use monarchies tend to crown children as rulers."

Azula's eye twitched, "Ba Sing Se was my greatest achievement! I conquered the city when so many others had failed! Question it as much as you want, but the fact of the matter is I took the city all by myself without anyone's help." She left out the aid Mai, Ty Lee and Zuko provided but she didn't care. They were all traitors anyway, the names of traitors don't deserve to be by hers in the history books.

My'Rell's lips curved into a subtle sly smile, "I'm curious, just how did you take this city?"

"Simple really. Everyone else tried to brute force their way in so I took a less direct approach."

"So, you snuck inside and caught them where they'd least expect you. Clever, but I can't imagine it was that easy."

She scoffed, "Persuade or fool the right people and it is."

"Interesting." That was all My'Rell said of the matter before looking over to her console.

The way she said it though set off an alarm in Azula's mind. This whole conversation wasn't just some friendly attempt at banter, My'Rell was probing her for information just as she had been and used her lapse in judgment when her conquering of Ba Sing Se was put into question. Had she given away her plan before she even began to put it into action? No, she could work with this, treating it like she was listing off her skills to further convince her that she would be a valuable asset. If the captain was as cunning as Azula believed then she would have eventually found out her skills sooner or later. She just needed to maintain control, that's it. As long as she remains in control of her actions and mind she will succeed. Her greatest worry now is that perhaps being trapped in a mental asylum for two years may have dulled her ability to stay calm and collected.

"I've got some reports to go over. Why don't you go down to the mess hall and grab something to eat. I'm sure you're tired of the nutrient bricks Dr. Bevel has been giving you."

"Glady." She said feeling her stomach beginning to rumble. Food that didn't taste like bland chalk would be nice.

"One last thing before you go." My'Rell stopped her before she exited, "In a few hours we are having a sending in hanger two. It's a funeral tradition for all those that had fallen in battle. I'd like for you to be there."

"Are you sure it would be appropriate? I've only just joined."

My'Rell gave her a nonchalant gesture, "Nonsense. You're a part of the storm now. It would also be best to get you familiar with some of the naval traditions that come with serving on a ship. Although I wish it didn't have to start with a funeral."

"Very well. I will attend. Just find me at the appropriate time." She said hastily then turned to depart.

"Very well…" My'Rell repeated expecting a certain response.

Azula gritted her teeth as she almost choked out the words, "Very well… Captain."

My'Rell gave a satisfied smile, "I'll see you there, private."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance once she was certain the captain couldn't see her and went for the door, almost running into Commander Shaul on her way out.

The commander entered the office closing the door behind him leaving only him and the Captain, "I take it everything went well?"

"You could say that." She replied, not looking up from her screen, "Be honest with me Shaul. What do you think of her?"

The commander looked away in thought as if to find the right words, "She's bold, I'll give her that. Not many would think to sit at the captain's chair on the first day, although I would chalk that up to cultural ignorance and the dizziness from whatever the doctor gave her."

"You really fell for that Shaul?" The captain gave a half hearted chuckle, "She was lying through her teeth. She knew exactly what she was doing."

"Well then perhaps she is due for some lessons in proper naval etiquette." Shaul was annoyed that the captain seemed to be letting her off easy, "What do you make of her, ma'am?"

My'Rell paused for a moment really thinking about her opinion, "She has potential. She's got the ego of a princess, there's no doubt there, very headstrong and confrontational."

"How confrontational?" Shaul asked not liking the sound of that.

The captain let out a disgruntled breath, "You should have seen her with Angara."

That statement alone was all Shaul needed to understand, although now his opinions on Azula may have softened knowing that she was most likely being confrontational in self defense.

"That bad?"

"I can already tell that those two are going to be the best of friends." Her tone betrayed the optimism of that statement as she rubbed her head as if already feeling all the future headaches they'll cause, "But she's smarter than she lets on, she's cunning, her fighting skills alone say a lot, and she's ambitious. A little too ambitious though."

This caught the commander's attention, "That won't blossom into a future problem, will it?"

"Right now it's too early to say for certain, but I want to keep a close eye on her. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid."

"Well, she is a teenager and teenagers tend to do stupid things." Shaul took a seat before her desk, "Although I can't say I've ever seen a teenager shoot blasts of fire or electricity, so there's that to consider."

"This isn't just some normal teenage shenanigans I'm worried about. All throughout the tour she was asking questions about the ship and to some of the crew. Probing questions, questions I would ask my commanding officer if I was tasked with taking down a larger foe, and she was subtle about it too."

Shaul took this in, his brow hardening as he stroked his beard, "I'll keep tabs on her. If she's as cunning as you believe then I want to be ready for anything."

"Please do. Was there anything else you needed?"

"Yes, some of the other officers and I were wondering about the planet and its inhabitants. Will Azula be the only one we recruit?"

"For now, yes. As much as we need new crewmen, I would rather not waste time grabbing a bunch of random primitive people and teaching them everything they need to know after they freak out at the existence of life outside their home. One is good enough. As for the planet, we'll mark it on the map. If we need to go into hiding for any reason or are in need of resources this place will do. And if our new private ever changes her mind on her new career path we'll put her on a shuttle and bring her back."

"Wise idea. I'll let you get to your reports then." With that said Shaul let himself out and My'Rell went back to her work.

*****

Azula walks with purpose in search of the mess hall with her chin held up high and arms crossed behind her back. She needed to look like she had some kind of authority to the other crewmen despite her low rank. She still couldn't get her last exchange with the captain out of her head. How foolish she was for walking into that obvious trap. She would need to meditate and try to regain her cool collective persona back.

That could wait, for now she needed food that actually had flavor. The nutrition bricks, as they call them, she was given by the doctor were so bland it almost made her want to vomit. She just needed to remember the route.

She managed to find it after several wrong turns and blocked off hallways. This ship was a maze without My'Rell's guidance, she managed to find the spacious room filled with tables and benches with a line already formed.

"Hey look, it's the fire spitter!" Sev called out from his place near the front of the line after spotting her.

The dozens of other alien creatures turned to her and for a moment Azula felt a bit threatened by all the unfamiliar eyes on her until the room erupted in cheers and claps. Some of the closer creatures even gave her pats on the shoulders.

She can't say she wasn't used to being cheered on when entering a room but it was still a strange sight coming from people that didn't look remotely human however it seemed they were all appreciative of her actions during the battle so she reveled in their praise.

"Why don't you come up to the front and cut in front of me." Sev said and was met with a series of lighthearted complaints from those around him, "Oh shut it, she saved the ship so she should get first pickings."

She put on a self satisfactory smile as she strode to the front being showered with praise as she did so until she was before Sev.

"Thank you for your praise. I don't think I had the patience to wait in line for long."

"No problem. It's always good to get on your good side early so you don't shoot lightning at me for whenever I eventually piss you off." He laughed.

Azula did not laugh, instead she grabbed a trey and observed the display of unfamiliar foods that ranged from things that looked normal like steaks that were purple instead of red, misshapen fruit and soup that seemed to glow along with things that were much stranger such as what looked to her like a roasted pill bug, surreal shaped vegetables that she wasn't sure were either food or set dressing an some sort of floating red liquid inside a glass canister.

She had no clue what would be considered edible to her, so she grabbed the closest thing to something she was used to, a bowl of cold blue noodles, some green bread and water.

"Damn, you got the last bowl of zamnu." Sev commented over her shoulder as he grabbed over a dozen plates.

She ignored his comment and whatever else he may have said as she examined around looking for a place to sit. Almost all the tables had at least one person occupying them but she manages to spot a table by the window and decides a seat with a view would do her good.

Once sat down Azula decided to dismiss Sev's conversation with her own topic, "I'm surprised your little friend isn't hanging off your shoulder right now."

"Oh Gax? He's talking to his sister back at base right now. She worries."

"There was another one of him?" Azula shudders at the thought of another slimy and damp handshake from a similar creature.

"Yeah, Chani. Don't worry she's not a psychopath like him." The giant said nonchalantly as he began eating.

She couldn't tell if he was joking or not, "Right… the Captain informed me of a sending later."

"Oh yeah." His demeanor seemed to simmer down, "Not the first one I've been to but it's never something I look forward to. Stick around here long enough and you'll see a few."

"I imagine all the crew will be there, but does that include our new Death's Head friends?"

"No, that's a recipe for disaster. Pretty sure the captain has them making repairs while we're doing that. Gax and I weren't invited to our first sending when we joined."

"So you were absorbed into the crew as well?"

"Yeah, I used to run with a crew of pirates for a while, boarding ships and making off with anything we could sell, then one day we attempted to board the wrong ship and My'Rell annihilated us."

He took another bite of his food and spoke with his mouth full, "She could have killed me and the other survivors but instead she offered us a job and I tell you what, this job is way better than being a pirate."

She looked him over once more looking at all the mechanical bits ingrained into his body, "I assume piracy had something to do with the various pieces of metal sticking out of your body."

"Oh you mean my improvements?" He seemed to like that she pointed this out.

"You call those improvements? Meaning you did this to yourself?" She said with a muddled expression.

"Not all of it." He stood up showing off his mechanical legs, "I got involved in a really bad shuttle crash when I was a little kid and lost my legs." He grabbed the knee to his right leg and with a quick twist his leg from just above his knee down detached, the stump was covered in a mechanical ringed cap.

He reattached the limb and sat back down, "The doctors said I would never walk again unless I had cybernetics and… implementing cybernetics into the body is heavily frowned upon by my people's culture."

"Yet you have them?"

"Yeah I do. My race, the Dretta, are a deeply spiritual people that preach spiritual enlightenment and the rejection of material goods." He said with mockery present in the last portion, "My parents and I were a part of that life for a while. Until the accident." A soft smile crept up as if in remembrance of something, "And my parents sacrificed everything; their faith, their cultural standing and their reputation just so I could walk again."

Azula had never been sympathetic towards others but she had to admit that sacrificing everything for a loved one in such a way sounded special. She wondered if her parents would ever do the same. Her father probably would have discarded her if she ever suffered an injury as severe as that. Her mother had thought she was a monster, so there was no doubt on her mind that she would do the same. Maybe for Zuko but not for her.

Not wanting to get bogged down thinking of her mother and run the risk of her apparition appearing she continues the conversation, "And what of your parents, if I may ask?"

Sev's expression turned into a scowl, "They were excommunicated, me with them. We were shunned by every other dretta we ever met. They called me the child of material sin. The rest of our family wouldn't even look at us." The utensil he used was crushed in his grip no doubt from years of pent up anger, "My parents spent the rest of their lives continuing the practices until they died, mother to sickness and father to a robber, leaving me alone. So instead of following the practices of the people who shunned and exiled us I decided I didn't want that life. My people call me the child of material sin so that's what I'll be, a mechanical monster that spits in the eye of everything they stand for, so I cut out bits of myself and replaced them with cold hard steel until I became the beautiful mechanical mountain you see before you."

Azula was captivated by his tail, more so than she'd like to admit. The idea of replacing useless parts of yourself with machinery was fascinating alone but what really enthralled her was his reasoning for doing so. He is considered a monster to his people just as she is to many of hers and he wore it as a badge of honor, perhaps she has more in common with him than she thought.

"And where does Gax play in all of this?"

"Oh him? Gax was a black market tech dealer when I first met him. He helped me create and install a lot of my tech and eventually he went from being my 'go to tech guy' to my best friend."

Not as fascinating as his first tale but nonetheless interesting.

"That's all about me. What about you, fire spitter? What's your story?" He asks before taking another bite of one of his many antreys.

Azula gave him a brief version of what she had told the captain, still leaving out some key details that could be incriminating for her.

"So how big is this Ba Sing Se place?" He asks, finishing a bowl of mashed vegetables.

"Massive." She answers in a pleased manner, "It's the largest city on earth and for one hundred years it stood against us. My uncle led a two year long campaign to take it and failed miserably."

"That must suck." He said flippantly before finishing his beverage, "You should probably eat your bowl of zamnu before they die on you." He gestured at her bowl of noodles.

She was so hooked on her conversation with Sev that she forgot how hungry she was. Then she remembered what he had said.

"Wait, what do you mean by 'they'll die on me'?"

He slurped up some noodles from one of his remaining dishes, "Your zamnu have been out of their tank for awhile, they'll dry out and die. Zamnu tastes best when they're still alive."

Her eyes widened at that statement and she looked down at the bowl now noticing that the blue noodles were slowly rything around. She poked at it with her utensil inspecting it further only to find a glossy black eye staring up at her. She sucked in a sharp breath in alarm once she realized that what she thought was a bowl of cold blue noodles was actually a series of tentacles attached to several live squid-like creatures. It almost made her lose her appetite.

She pushed the bowl away, "How about I trade you?"

"Sweet!" He eagerly took the bowl and offered her anything she wanted that was left from his tray.

She settled for a bowl of soup that would glow amber when disturbed.

"What is… you know what, it's probably best if I don't know."

After eating her fill it was nearly time for the sending. Down in hanger two she and many of the other surviving crewmen who could be spared gathered. In the center of the hangar lies caskets for each fallen crew mate lined in rows, a holographic image displaying their likeness along with a name written in a language she could not read. Everyone in attendance wore a space suit as per requirement, Azula was given another emergency shield suit. Many of the crew mates gathered around the caskets grieving their fallen friends and saying their farewells, some even carving messages into the caskets with a knife.

Azula observed from a distance, she didn't know anyone so felt no need to grieve. Instead she observed the holographic faces displayed on each casket and saw one for the insect man she ran into when first arriving. He must have been killed during the boarding as she didn't remember seeing him with the assault group.

Azula saw Angara standing far back as well dressed in her full suit of armor observing the mourners but not being a part of them. It seems she didn't have any one special she knew amongst the dead and was content with hanging back like her. Sev and Gax stood amongst the mourners giving their respects to some of the casket.

Commander Shaul called to attention when My'Rell entered clad in her own shield suit. The crew all scattered away from the fallen in a small crowd. My'Rell marched before the caskets and cleared her throat being sure to speak clearly.

"Today is a solemn day. We have lost a great number of our own. Friends, family and even lovers. As mercenaries these losses are of no surprise but that does not mean we should forsake the pain their absence leaves behind. For some of you this is not the first sending you have attended and for others it is, this will not be our last sending but let us learn from this experience and make sure the next one is far in our future and never forget those who we send to the stars."

"To the stars!" the crew repeated.

The speech was short yet the captain said all she needed to with the crowd clapping their various appendages at her words. Azula clapped with them but not as moved by her words as they were.

"Masks on!" She ordered, turning on her shield suit.

The crowd put on their masks and helmets with Azula turning on her own shield suit. Once everyone had dawned their space gear commander Shaul signaled the Hangar control room who then began depressurizing the room and shutting off the shields on the bay door that separated them from the void of space. Various crewmen made their way to the caskets gently lifting them up, two per casket depending on its size, and slowly marched towards the bay door until all members were lined up upon its length.

"To the stars!" My'Rell repeated and with that the crew gently released the caskets to float out into the infinite night, all the caskets gently floated out like a fleet of small ships setting sail, fairing the deceased into a sea of stars.

With that the sending was complete. The crew said their final goodbyes as the shield came back online and the atmosphere returned. Everyone removed their space gear and began to depart back to their stations.

*****

Outside of the ship many of the newly acquired recruits welded metal plates over holes with some of the SeCore engineers. The SeCore crew operated with specialized repair pods for the larger breaches and left the more tedious work to be done manually by the new recruits.

Skeeve grumbled to himself in his space suit as he held a panel in place while another welded it down. Of all the things he could have been assigned to do, space welding was the one thing he did not want, he already had an uneasy fear of being out in open space hence why Duratix thought sending him out with the assault team was a fitting punishment. Thankfully he managed to hide himself in one of the SeCore's crevices with a blast shield over him and wait out the battle, in either outcome he would find his way to weasel himself to safety.

"Hey you!" One of the Storm members, whose primary purpose there was to oversee them, pointed to Skeeve.

Skeeve hid his disgruntled demeanor behind a passive smile, "Yes sir, how can I help?"

"Just got word from the bridge that something is blocking a thermal exhaust port. Go check it out." He ordered pointing at the ship's curvature.

"Oh sure, yes! I'll have that taken care of in no time, boss."

"Just get it done quickly." As soon as the guard was out of sight Skeeve's submissive expression faltered and was replaced by a scowl as he made his way to the vent.

No matter how many times he sucks up to those in charge the sting of shame from their disrespect never goes away and he always finds himself grasping the short end of the stick. Perhaps he's trying too hard, maybe tone down the submissiveness.

His magnetic boots carried him past the ship's curvature separating the dorsal and starboard sides and found the vent several feet away with something preventing it from closing fully. He made his way there, being sure to keep his eyes either on the object or his feet so he wouldn't feel nauseous from open space.

On closer inspection he saw that the object was a pair of legs.

"Great, a dead body. Just my luck." He grumbled as he grabbed the legs and pulled.

Whoever it was they were lodged good in the vent as it took him several tries before they were finally dislodged. Still holding on to the ankle of the body Skeeve decided to have a look at who it was and to his shock he saw that it was his former employer Duritax, his face frozen in a panicked gasp for air, his moist green skin now frozen and his uniform partially charred.

When the bridge blew out the sudden decompression must have shot him out at high speeds to where he found himself now.

"Well, well, well." Skeeve said condescendingly as he mockingly brushed some frost off his shoulder, "Guess sending me out with the assault team was a good idea after all, wasn't it boss?"

He then peered into one of his pockets pulling out three small golden bricks of Units, the most common currency in galactic society, and pocketed them for himself. After all, Duritax wasn't going to be using them. He dug into his other pocket and pulled out Duratix's personal communicator. He thought about selling it for a decent price until it started to vibrate with a green light flashing from it, someone was calling him.

After peering around and making sure the others weren't looking he pulled out his arm mounted mini computer and connected a cord to the device and switched his radio frequency before answering the device.

"Duritax!" An agitated voice came through with a deep voice filter disguising it, "I've been trying to contact you for the past few hours! What is the status of my fabricator?"

This must be the employer. Skeeve weighed his options on weather or not to report this to the Storm and maybe fall under My'Rell's good graces. However, perhaps this could be an opportunity for him.

"Hello, this is Skeeve. High ranking member of the Death's Head." He lied while giving his best attempt at an authoritative tone.

"Where is Duritax?" The voice demanded.

"I am so sorry to tell you this but unfortunately Duritax has been killed in the line of duty." He said solemnly while unceremoniously kicking his former employer's body out into the void.

"I don't care about that. Have you been able to secure my fabricator or not?"

"Uh… no. But I am currently thinking up a plan to-"

"We're done here. I knew I should have hired somebody else."

"WAIT! WAIT! WAIT! Hold on!" Thankfully the line didn't go out yet, "Death's Head may have lost but what's left of us was absorbed by the Crimson Storm meaning I have access to the fabricator."

"I'm listening." The voice no longer held any animosity.

Skeeve looked over his shoulders again and was still clear, "I can get you your fabricator, you've just got to give me time to plan and make it happen."

"And what do you want in exchange?"

"I want all of the units for this job, not only that but I want the bonus for taking out the Crimson Storm as well."

The voice let out a shrill laugh, "You're just one person, Mr. Skeeve. How do you plan to take out an entire mercenary group?"

Skeeve couldn't help but grin to himself as the gears turned in his head, "The Crimson Storm has a lot of enemies, just have to get one of them to do it for me."

"If you get me that fabricator and set up the Storm's downfall, I'll be sure you can retire with peace of mind and more units than you know what to do with."

He gave him his familiar subservient voice, "Thank you, good sir. It will be a pleasure working with you, Mr…"

"None of your concern. Keep your head low and stay in contact." The voice cut out leaving him alone.

He disconnected the device from his suit and pocketed it. It would seem the universe has delivered him a boon in this dreadful situation he found himself in. It didn't matter to him that he would betray the new crew he swore loyalty to, he held no loyalty to the Death's Head either and was only ever there for the money, now he has a chance to make even more money than he ever would have working for the Crimson Storm.

A hard hand slammed down on his shoulder pulling him out of his thoughts and making him momentarily panic as the Crimson Storm guard turned him around. The guard pointed to the ear of his helmet telling him to switch to his frequency.

"What the hell are you doing?! I've been shouting for you for two minutes!" He said furiously, "What's that you've got?" he indicated to the hand still in his pocket.

Skeeve fumbled around in his pocket not wanting to let him see the communicator. The guard grabbed his wrist and pulled it out of his pocket only to find the small bricks of units, "Uh… these were lodged in the vents." He lied hoping that it would be believable.

The guard grabbed the unit bricks out of his hand inspecting them before pocketing them for himself, "Get back with the group and start welding."

"O-of course." Skeeve went ahead back to the group with the guard following behind.

For now his plan is safe, he just needs to make sure he is careful if his plan is to come to fruition.

*****

Some time had passed since the sending and with many of the major repairs done and the broken down components replaced the SeCore was ready to disembark back to its place of origin with Azula ready to leave everything she knew behind. She stood before a window overlooking the planet, the fire nation in all of its glory resting before her, the sun rising from its eastern shores. In a few moments the lands she has visited, everyone she knows and the enemies she has made will be behind her, but only temporarily. She will return one day but she will do so as a conqueror.

She wonders what people will think of her sudden disappearance. She's sure many are jumping with joy; Zuko won't have to worry about her scheming against him, the avatar and his companions are probably shocked about the SeCore but will probably believe that it was better that she was carried off with it, Mai and Ty Lee are probably overjoyed that they no longer have to worry about her ever coming for them and the last person who would be remotely affected by her disappearance being her mother would probably be happy that her little monster has disappeared for good so she can be with her favorite child Zuko and the replacement daughter she had with her new peasant husband.

As Azula was lost in thought she glanced at her side, her eyes widening to see the apparition of her mother standing behind her in the reflection of the window in the same royal robes with the same somber expression that seemed to be a permanent fixture of her appearances. The one thing she could not leave behind was this illusion of the woman that haunts her mind.

The sudden appearance of Lectro snapped her out of her vision.

"What?" she asked, slightly panicked.

"The view. I asked if you were admiring the view?" he asked.

She looked back to the reflection in the window seeing that her mother had vanished, "Somewhat." she ran her fingers through her hair in an attempt to calm herself, "Are we set to leave?"

"Yup. Everything is good to go. Just waiting for the captain to give the order." He joined her in their view of the Earth, "You think you'll miss it? Your home?"

Azula scoffed, "There's nothing left for me here anymore."

"I understand that. There isn't much for me back at my home either, but one positive thing about the universe is that if you don't like one world there's an infinite number of others to visit." he reassured with a smile across his narrow snout.

Azula kept a blank expression but somewhat appreciated his consolation, "It would seem so."

They stayed silent for a while, Azula keeping her gaze on the Fire Nation while Lectro seemed a little more awkward trying to think of a way to fill the silence, "So… I bet you're wondering how we are actually going to leave your home star system?"

"In a way, yes." She admitted.

Lectro put on an excited expression, "Well in that case-"

"But it can wait. I've had enough long winded explanations for one day."

"Oh…" He said with some disappointment.

A voice came from the intercom, "All hands be advised. Dimensional jump immanent."

"Maybe a visual will do better." He said, angling himself to look at the ship's nose.

She followed suit and saw the space before the SeCore beginning to distort and swirl into a spiral until it formed a bizarre swirling sphere where stars, or the reflection of stars, warped and rotated as light bent around it. It was another amazing sight for her to witness Azula. The SeCore's engines charged up and in an instant it darted into the distortion at blinding speeds and entered a tunnel of infinite color. Lights of all hues darted past as the SeCore hurtled towards its destination.

"Beautiful isn't it?" Lectro asked, "I've seen Dimensional jumps countless times but it always amazes me each time we do it. What do you think, Azula?"

She did not answer, as soon as the SeCore entered the distortion Azula felt deep within her soul her fire extinguish as if she never had it to begin with. She clenched her chest and breathed heavily from the shock.

She was certain now, she had lost her bending.

Chapter Text

Azula sat in an empty stall in the locker room focusing all the energy she had into her hands trying to generate a spark of fire only for nothing to appear. She began to panic. Her bending was gone, just like the day of the eclipse. The entire reason the Crimson Storm took an interest in her was now gone and with it her plan, and even her well being, was in jeopardy.

What's worse is Lectro was very insistent on getting her in the lab to run some tests on her bending. She's been avoiding him since she felt her fire leave her but it's only a matter of time until they find out.

"Private Azula, please report to the science lab." The intercom bellowed.

She couldn't hide anymore, now she had to face it and try to adapt from there. After leaving the stall she marched through the corridors, having to take directions from a few crewmates, and found his lab.

She took a deep breath to maintain control before entering into a decently sized room filled with all manner of outlandish looking machinery, beakers, desks and other equipment.

Lectro stood working at a computer console before realizing her arrival, "Finally! I was beginning to think you were avoiding me."

"I got turned around on my way here." Not entirely a lie, after all this ship is a maze without My'Rell to guide her.

"You're here now and that's all that matters. So let's get started! B3 prep the scanner!" Lectro seemed to be excited to finally be able to study her bending, but it only made Azula more anxious.

The robot emerged from a charging station, its legs folding out of its cylindrical body and roaming around on spherical wheels, and approached a large glass box with a computer console attached. A pair of metal tentacles like those in the surgical room slithered out of B3's body and began preparing the device.

"These tests of yours aren't going to be too invasive, I hope?" She approached the glass box, scanning it up and down curiously.

"Nope, nothing like that today. Right now I just want a basic scan." He pulled open one of the box's glass doors, "Step inside please."

Reluctantly she did so with him closing it behind her.

"Try and stay as still as possible so we can get an accurate scan."

She took a stance as a wall of blue light appeared above her head and traveled down, going over every inch of her body before retreating back up.

"Was that all?"

"As a baseline it was perfect." He gave her a clawed thumbs up, "Now produce a flame and we'll do another one."

"Is that really necessary? Surely there's another method of doing so?" She deflected as her anxiety grew.

"Not really. You're quite literally the only species that has an ability like this. The most accurate way we can scan for now is directly."

She hid a grimace from him and held her hands out once more in one final attempt. So far her luck was returning to her so hopefully it will come once more, but alas not even a flicker appeared.

"Whenever you're ready." Lectro said, watching intently.

She tried once more, her anger now starting to rear its head but no flames would erupt. This went on for several minutes until Lectro tapped on the glass to get her attention.

"Is everything alright?"

"Everything is fine! Just give me a moment!" She shouted at him causing the lizard man to jump back in fright.

"Uh… o-okay. Take as much time as you need." He looked to B3 for support with the robot giving none.

Another minute passed and no flames came. She threw her hands to her side and demanded to be let out.

"What's wrong? You run out of fuel or something?"

"Everything is wrong! My firebending is… is…" She growled in frustration and kicked a chair over.

"Subject has become violent. Permission to incapacitate?" B3 asked as he produced a taser from his body.

"I'd like to see you try, trash can!" She took on a firebending stance despite not having any.

"My designation is B3."

"Hang on!" Lectro shouted getting in between them, "Let's just calm down and put away the metaphorical fangs and just calm down."

Azula eased out of her aggressive stance with B3 retracting his taser.

"Now, what is the issue here?"

Azula didn't want to answer him but she had no choice, "My… bending. It's gone."

He gave her a skeptical look, "It's gone? I'm sorry, but how do you know?"

She rolled her eyes then threw a jab at the corner of the lab, "There should be a scorch mark on that wall but there isn't!" She throws a sweeping kick in the opposite direction, "That table should be on fire!" She then held a hand up to Lectro, her eyes like a rabid animal, hair beginning to fall out of place with her breath growing heavy and unsteady, "And there should be a fireball in my hand!"

"Alright." He held up his hands to ease the tension, "When did this start happening?"

She retracted her hand taking a few steps back, "It's been getting weaker ever since I got on the SeCore until it just disappeared."

"You call what you did in the cargo bay weak? If that's the case I'd love to see what you consider strong." Lectro said in a more positive tone hoping to bring some levity to Azula who only grimaced at him.

"My strength returned to me in that instance but don't ask me how because I don't know."

"Then let's just retrace our steps on some matters. Is there anything that could have had some kind of effect on you? Anything you may have come into contact with like a chemical or something?" He asked, setting his chair back up and taking a seat.

Azula ran through all the events in her head trying to recall anything until she remembered her time in the med bay.

"The vaccine!" She declared, "The doctor said that there could be side effects. That has to be it."

He scratched his chin in thought, "It could be possible. B3 contact Dr. Bevel and tell her to come here."

"Affirmative." The robot moved to a computer console.

"Don't worry, we'll get this sorted out in no time."

She scoffs, "Easy for you to say. Your reason for being here hasn't disappeared."

*****

Skeeve struggled to lift one of the large heavy cables that were replaced into a bin for disposal. His skills were in finance and computer work, so why was he stationed in engineering doing heavy lifting?

He stood there resting on his knees, heaving in tiredness and his scrawny arms burning. It took him awhile but he managed to collect all the old cables and damaged components from his sector, now he just needs to dispose of them.

"Hey new guy!" Cetro called out from the catwalk above, "I wanted all of that trash taken care of already! Why's it still here?"

Skeeve grimaced to himself before putting on his submissive persona, "Sorry, the cables are just really heavy and-"

"Then eat protein and build some muscle mass!" Cetro shouted, causing him to wince in response.

Skeeve has only known Cetro for a short amount of time but he already has a great disliking for the overbearing head of engineering.

"It's bad enough that I'm stuck looking after you idiots! Now I've got a fire breathing primitive to teach the basics too."

Skeeve's pointed ear perked up at that last comment. They have a primitive on board? But why? The population SkyBurner picked up on their initial scan of the planet showed that it had a population of primitive life forms but they didn't seem like anything special and the Crimson Storm didn't seem like the type of organization that would dabble in the slave trade either. This wasn't the first time he heard about this primitive as the SeCore crew kept chatting about it and the survivors of the Death's Head whispered in apprehension of this primitive.

Skeeve saw one of his fellow former Death's Head members working a console; a seven foot tall woman with a dark green carapace, long limbs and a mop of long black hair obscuring her face, and approached her.

"Hey, what's the deal with this primitive I keep hearing about?"

"You don't know?" She responded with a dry two toned voice, "The primitive destroyed the bridge to SkyBurner with some energy weapon."

He did recall seeing a blast of electric energy being fired when he peaked out from his hiding place. He didn't think a primitive would know how to use such a weapon, he figured they must have offered her to join in appreciation.

"How'd a primitive get a hold of an energy weapon? I'm pretty sure that's a recipe for disaster."

The taller woman scoffed at him, "Figures you wouldn't know. You were probably hiding somewhere with your tail between your legs to see it."

Ignoring the slight against him he pushed for more info, "See what?"

"She is the weapon." The insect woman left her station with her work done leaving Skeeve to process this information.

There is someone on board that is able to naturally generate a blast of energy powerful enough to pierce the hull of a battleship. Skeeve had heard of races capable of generating natural electric energy but never powerful enough to do that.

Perhaps this individual can aid him in his plan for the fabricator.

"NEW GUY!" Cetro hallared from the catwalk startling him again, "Trash! Get rid of it! NOW!"

"Understood sir!"

*****

Dr. Bevel entered the science lab, medical tablet in hand, where she was met with a glare from Azula.

"Bevel! Good to see you." Lectro greeted hoping to get rid of some of the tension Azula emitted.

"I hope this is important Lectro, I have work that needs done in the cultivation room."

"Very important actually, you see-"

"Whatever you injected into me took my bending away!" She finished with an accusatory tone.

"Excuse me?" The older woman's face contorted in confusion.

Lectro proceeded to cut in, giving a quick explanation of their current predicament to the doctor before Azula could escalate things further.

"Are you certain that my vaccine is the cause of this?" She asks.

"So far it is the only thing we've got to go on. The problem is we don't have enough information on her fire bending in general."

"Perhaps comparing and contrasting medical data from Dr. Bevel's medical scans of private Azula and our current scans may provide an answer." B3 added.

"Good idea B3." Lectro dragged a large transparent board from one corner of the room covered in various scribbles that vanished with the press of a button before displaying a 3D image of what Azula presumed to be herself.

Dr. Bevel tapped away at her tablet with another image of Azula appearing next to it. The two scientists began discussing the issue using technical jargon Azula couldn't understand very well with them asking her questions that ranged from mundane to invasive along with taking several more scans, saliva and blood samples.

By a certain point she couldn't take being cooped up in this room and being the only person not able to fully contribute to the conversation and decided to leave.

"Where are you going?" Lectro asked as he examined a brain scan.

"It's clear that I am no longer needed here so I'll be getting a jumpstart on my work in engineering."

"That's fine. We have gathered all the necessary data to try and figure this out for now. If we make any progress we'll let you know." Dr. Bevel said, going over the scans on the board.

"Fine, but I ask that this not be spread throughout the ship. For a bender to lose their bending is… distressing."

"Alright, but we've got to tell the captain this." Lectro explained.

She immediately turned to him, "You will do no such thing! If she finds out then I'm useless to her and I'll be tossed aside."

"The captain's not like that, Azula. If this turns out to be permanent then she'll find a place for you here. The rest of us don't have firebending and we're all just fine." He continued to reassure her.

She rolled her eyes, "You wouldn't understand. A firebender is nothing without their bending." Memories of what happened to her father at the hands of the Avatar resurfaced.

Lectro was going to continue but a gentle hand from the doctor stopped him, "This is a cultural issue Lectro, one that I don't think either of us are ready to deal with. Let's focus our efforts on solving the issue that we can handle."

"Alright fine, we'll hold off on telling the captain for now. But if we can't figure anything out we've got to tell her."

It's not what Azula wanted to hear but she accepted this.

"I will escort her to engineering. That way you and the doctor can continue your research." B3 said to his owner.

"Very well. Lead the way, trash can."

"My designation is B3." The robot corrected before taking the lead.

She followed the robot through the corridors in silence. She focuses on watching the robot as it glides across the floor trying to keep her mind off her bending. Perhaps conversing with this machine will help alleviate her misgivings along with getting some more useful information, "So, machine."

"My designation is B3." the robot repeated, his head swiveling behind him to look at her.

"Right." she said with very little interest, "What do you make of my predicament?"

"Unknown." B3 stated in a toneless manner, "I have insufficient data regarding your firebending ability, therefore I cannot make any assumptions regarding such a matter." He opened a bulkhead to a stairwell, his spherical wheels retracted as he scuttled down the steps like an insect.

"You can't just make an educated guess like the others?"

"I repeat. I have insufficient data regarding-"

"Yes, yes. I get it. I figured with you being a scientist you would be able to make some sense of this."

"You are mistaken, Private Azula. I am not a scientist."

"Then what are you?"

"I am a modified B3 service droid."

"So you're a servant?"

"An appliance would be the correct term."

B3 made no attempt to continue this discussion with a long string of silence following them.

"At least you're not a conversationalist, I've had enough of that."

"I am not programmed for prolonged conversation."

"Clearly."

They exit the stairwell, "I understand that you are upset, however lashing out at others could be detrimental to forming friendly relationships with your fellow crew members."

She rolled her eyes and spoke under her breath, "I can't believe I'm taking advice from a talking trash can."

"My designation is B3."

She rubbed her eyes and grumbled to herself, "This feels like the damn eclipse all over again, except I don't have my dai lee or the upper hand in anything."

The robot's head swivels back around to her, "Eclipse? Please elaborate."

"Why the sudden interest?" she asks as they approach the doors to engineering.

"Any more information you can provide regarding any other past events such as this can be useful."

She sighed, "Very well. Two years ago there was a solar eclipse that took away the bending of all firebenders around the world for a short period of time and then when it passed it returned."

"I will share this information with doctors Lectro and Bevel. Please enjoy your first day working for the Crimson Storm." B3 turned and wheeled away.

She sneered at the notion and entered engineering where she was met with the same cacophony as before.

"About damn time!" Cetro shouted, tossing a toolbox into the arms of another engineer nearly making him fall over, "I need you to hose out the gunk on the cooling fans to the auxiliary engines and I need it done now!"

She didn't respond at first and instead only gave him a look of annoyance, "Good day to you too, head engineer. I'm thrilled to work with you as well."

He sneered at her sarcasm.

"Aren't I supposed to receive an education on what to do as a ship engineer before I start doing tasks?"

"Yeah, it's called hands-on learning. You'll start by cleaning the crap off of the components first and then once we are back at base, and not on life support, I'll give you a more detailed education. Now get the hell out of my face and do what I tell you!"

Her face tightened at his rudeness, "Fine. Which way to the-"

"HEY!" he called out to someone else and pushed past her, "Did you get that inspection done on auxiliary engine five like I asked an hour ago?!"

Now she was alone with still no idea where her station was and decided to ask where the auxiliary engines were and was directed to them by another crew mate on the level below the twin main engines where the many lower auxiliary engines reside, all cut off while the main engines were at work.

The auxiliary engines were much smaller than the main engines but still much larger than a person of Azula's size. The engineer handed her a hose and some protective clothes before being left with her task. She wasn't even told how to properly do her job and instead had to observe several others in the same position as her hosing down the fans of the engines.

She observed the gun of the hose and mimicked them pulling the trigger but was not expecting the recoil causing it to slip out of her gloved hands and blasting herself in the face with a full jet of water.

Angered and humiliated she picks herself up glaring at the centaur-like alien that snickered at her failure two engines down.

"First time hosing down an engine?" a nasally voice came from her left with an amused tone where she found a blue skinned rodent man in similar garb doing the same job.

She wiped her face with her sleeve and gave him an icy stare ignoring his comment as she grabbed the hose once more with a firmer grip and began firing.

Skeeve studied how she did a haphazard job at spraying the dust off. The pressure for the water was too high and it was causing her to fail at keeping a steady aim causing a mess. Was this really the primitive that everyone was talking about? It made sense that she wouldn't know how to operate machinery but seeing it was just sad, she didn't even look like the type of person who has ever done a labor intensive job before. What stuck out to Skeeve most was just how young she was. He expected the powerful new member of the storm would be a little older. This did not faze him in the slightest, children and teens were always easier to manipulate and hopefully he can get this apparent living weapon on his side.

"You know, if you twist the nozzle you can lower the pressure and make things easier for yourself."

She gave him another sulky look before turning the nozzle, finding that he spoke the truth.

"Thank you." She begrudgingly said.

"No problem. Always nice to help out a rookie." He said with a honeyed tone, "You seem like you're new around here."

She rolled her eyes and responded sarcastically, "Really? What gave that away?"

"Well most people who hose down the cooling fans usually check the water pressure first."

She remained silent, hoping he would stop talking to her.

"Say… you're that primitive that got picked up from that planet we were just at, right?" He suddenly asks, with her halting her work. She really started to hate that word.

"Call me primitive again and I'll waterboard you with your own hose."

His candied expression shifted to nervousness when he saw just how real that threat was by the look in her eye.

"Sorry, didn't mean anything by it. It's just you're new and I didn't recognize you as one of the new recruits I know."

"So you're Death's Head then."

"Former Death's Head, actually." Skeeve corrected.

"The same Death's Head that was trying to kill me not too long ago."

A cold sweat fell on him as another glare was shot his way. Something about her sharp piercing gaze and tone made him quiver.

"We were on a job. You all just happened to be in the way of it."

She turned her attention back to the engine in an attempt to ignore him. He didn't seem like he could serve a purpose for her plan so she shouldn't waste time on him.

"Doesn't matter now, though. Duritax is dead and the whole group might fall apart without him, all because a weird energy weapon took him by surprise."

"Who?" she asked, not recognizing the name.

"Duritax." Skeeve repeated hoping that would be enough of an answer but clearly wasn't, "The leader of the Death's Head mercenary group."

"Hmph…" she shrugged in disinterest as she continued her work.

Skeeve was beginning to grow more annoyed by her refusal to acknowledge him but he was more patient than most, "Word is that beam of lightning didn't come from a weapon, but a person with strange powers from the planet."

Azula halted her work at the reminder of her bending, or lack thereof, "Let me guess, you want a demonstration?"

"Oh no! I caught a glimpse of it outside during the battle and I think once is enough. Just wanted to see the one responsible for my freedom from continuing to waste away with a failing mercenary group." He said with a flattering tone that hid the fact that he was very well paid and the Death's Head was far from falling apart, "Not only that but I thought that someone who doesn't know anything about the galaxy at large could benefit from having a friend. One who is well informed on current events."

Azula rolled her eyes. One of the drawbacks of being powerful were the parasites that hoped to benefit off her. She dealt with more than enough of them in the royal court so she wasn't very surprised they would exist in the universe at large, but after being out of power for so long she almost missed having weaklings try and leech their way into her good graces. Almost.

"I'm Skeeve, by the way."

"Fantastic. I didn't ask."

His smile faltered.

"As for your friendship, I think I'll be fine without it. The captain can provide me with the necessary information I need to survive."

Skeeve let out a shrill chuckle, "You're gonna take her word?" He looked over her shoulder seeing the centaur alien move on to another engine further down out of earshot, "She's a Pendaren."

She raised an eyebrow to this, "Obvious racism aside, what does that have to do with anything?"

He scoffed, "What has she told you about the Pendaren Empire? Did she give you the typical imperial propaganda? That, 'we're here to spread peace and order throughout the galaxy' crap that they always go on about."

She recalled what My'Rell had shared with her regarding the empire and it indeed wasn't much, "Enough to know that she isn't apart of it anymore."

"That doesn't matter. As far as I'm concerned, you can take a Pendaren out of the empire but you can't take the empire out of a Pendaren."

"Then what can you tell me of the empire that I don't know?"

"Well they're the biggest, oldest and meanest intergalactic superpower in the known universe that most would rather not or can't go toe to toe with, they're the most entitled species I've ever had the displeasure of meeting, they think that just because they run the most successful society in the galaxy they know what's best for the universe, and you know what the scariest thing about them is?"

"What?" She asked with genuine curiosity.

"They're spreading."

"Of course they are. They're an empire, and from what I hear, a powerful one at that. When you are powerful you spread your influence to other places to accumulate more power and trample any who get in your way and if you don't you run the risk of being conquered yourself. It is only natural that weaker nations would fear them." She stated immaculately, repeating her fathers teachings and reliving her own conquests herself.

Skeeve side eyed her as he finished hosing down his engine, "Spoken like a true Pendaren. You sure you aren't one?" He said with a sly smile, "Just pray that the empire never shows up on your doorstep, or at least not in your lifetime."

"Speaking from personal experience?"

"Me? No, nothing like that. I'm Just a man who's trying to get by in life. Had some run-ins with imperial Pendarens, all of which were not pleasant and if you've lived as long as I have you see and experience a lot of things and you can't help impart some wisdom on the younger ones like you."

"How thoughtful." She said sarcastically, "What is the likelihood of us running into the empire once we reach this place called Kazima?"

"Kazima? That's pretty far outside of imperial territory, so unless we actively go looking for trouble with them, or unless they took over the place already and everything in-between, I'd say pretty low."

"Interesting." Now she has a new factor to accommodate for.

The Pendaren Empire sounds like a formidable foe, one that the Crimson Storm seems ill equipped to handle and the knowledge that this faction is actively spreading its territory draws some concern. As powerful as bending is, it probably wouldn't be enough to topple an empire that has conquered other worlds, even the Avatar may have difficulty dealing with them. Perhaps once she has taken the Crimson Storm and conquered the earth her first decree as ruler will probably be to fortify just in case the empire does turn their gaze in her direction.

She then remembered Skeeve doesn't necessarily seem like an unbiased source of information, he's already shown that he has a disliking towards Pendarens and may be feeding her misconstrued or false information. He is a parasite after all, what better way to keep someone as powerful as her under his control than to control the narrative? But then again she is dangerously low on vital information.

She'll use Skeeve for now, get all the necessary information from him she can and toss him aside once he's outlived his usefulness. She'll even let him think he's in control, it'll be a wonderful sight to see once she decides to show how she outplayed him.

She put on a honeyed smile of her own, "Thank you, this little session of ours was very informative. Skeeve was it?"

"Indeed it was, Ms…"

"Azula."

"Ms. Azula. Hope we can chat some more."

"Maybe later. I believe I should focus on my current task. It wouldn't be wise upsetting Cetro on my first day." She can hear the echoes of the head engineer shouting at another worker.

"I think his default setting is upset." Skeeve gathered his hose and began moving on to a different engine.

Skeeve smirks to himself, he manages to draw Azula's attention and give her information on the universe at large. He gave her some necessary information, cherry picked some details out that she didn't need to know but he mostly told the truth. However something he didn't account for was the intelligence he saw behind those piercing eyes. He never did associate intelligence with teenagers yet this one showed a surprising amount of it, manipulating her may be harder than he thought but if manages it he could not only get the fabricator to the client but maybe get himself a useful tool.

The rest of Azula's day was spent completing various tasks for Cetro such as cleaning more components, scrubbing the floors of the gravity core room, standing by Cetro's side and handing him tools to fix something while also getting yelled at for handing him the wrong tool. She gritted her teeth through it all as without her bending she couldn't properly threaten anyone.

By the time her break came she was exhausted, this must be what peasants feel like all the time, but powered through it and marched back to Lectro's lab where she found the scientist scribbling on the transparent board, B3 by his side and Dr. Bevel nowhere in sight.

"Have you figured it out yet?" She demanded, suddenly appearing behind him and giving him a startled jump.

"Don't do that! Jeez!"

She did not care for his fright and only demanded further, "Have you made any progress? And where did the doctor go?"

"Somewhat and Bevel had to go back to the med bay. But I'm glad you are here, I want to ask you something about your bending."

She crossed her arms dissatisfied with his answer but decided to go along, "Hurry up and ask."

"Well when we first bombarded you with questions we neglected to ask about a very obvious source of power for your bending, the sun. B3 tells me that you lost your bending ability a little while ago due to a solar eclipse, am I correct?"

"Yes."

"Then would you say that the sun gives your bending strength?"

"Yes."

Lectro clapped his hands in joy, "Then we've solved our mystery!"

"I don't see how that has anything to do with this." She said in confusion.

"It has everything to do with it. Let me give you a brief overview of how space travel works."

Azula sighs at the thought of another long-term technical lecture, "Is this really necessary?"

"It relates to your bending, I promise."

Lectro erased the scribbles on his board, "So. Space is really big and in order for galactic society to function properly ships need to be able to traverse vast distances in a short amount of time which isn't possible without the use of hyper dimensional space jumping."

Azula was already lost.

He draws a circle on one end of the board, "In order to make those jumps all ships are built with a dimensional drive that creates a distortion in space called a dimensional rift, or rift for short." He then draws two straight lines at the top and bottom of the circle, "Once a vessel passes through a rift it enters what is known as extra dimensional space until it reaches its destination where another rift is formed and we exit into the physical world." He punctuated by drawing another circle at the end of the lines.

"That's fascinating and all, but I still fail to see the point of this explanation." She deadpanned.

He scrunched his scaled brow in what looked like annoyance as if the answer was obvious, "Okay. So, we are currently in extra dimensional space." He drew a crude version of the SeCore in the center between the two lines, "Extra dimensional space is completely separate from our reality. We are pretty much taking shortcuts through another dimension, meaning no planet's, no matter, no stars and more importantly no sun."

She then quickly caught on, "So as long as we are traveling through this tunnel I will be without my bending?"

"Precisely! Meaning for your bending to return, we simply just have to wait until we re-enter the physical world."

She felt a wash of relief flood her body after hearing this. The loss of her bending isn't permanent, she couldn't be anymore thankful for that than she already was.

"How long until we reach our destination then?"

"Approximately seventeen minutes and fourteen seconds." B3 answered for Lectro.

"See, you'll get your bending back in no time. You were getting all worked up for nothing."

She glared at him, a silent fury building within her at how aloof he was about all of this. Did he really not realize the gravity of this situation?

"What if my bending was gone forever? I would have been useless, I would've just been a burden." She inched closer to him a look of fury growing on her face, "The very little I would have achieved in my time here would come crumbling down."

Lectro began to back away with unease as she invaded his personal space.

"I would be stuck out here in a place more alien to me than you are, stuck without the thing that makes me powerful! The thing that gives meaning to my life!" Her voice was rising with each word as she backed him against a wall.

"Subject is showing signs of hostility. Permission to incapacitate." B3 said, producing his taser once more only to be kicked over furiously by Azula, knocking over a stool and table.

"Without my bending life would be meaningless, I would be powerless, and when you are powerless you are locked up! Trampled on by those weaker than you! And have everything you've worked for stolen from you!" She shouted in the lizard man's face, "So tell me, how is that not worth getting worked up for!?"

Lectro didn't say anything for a while, he only stared into her furious amber eyes with his fearful yellow ones as if he was looking into the eyes of an enraged beast, "I… uh… I think you might be projecting a bit… but… I think I see your point."

He then gives her a sheepish smile hoping it will de-escalate the situation before putting his hand up to B3 who approached from behind, taser sparking.

"B3 wait!" The robot stops inches away from her with Azula finally noticing, "I don't think that'll help the situation."

"Acknowledged. However I advise caution to be taken from this moment forward." The machine retracted the taser and backed away.

Azula quickly got out of his personal space catching on to her behavior and did her best to regain her composure. Lectro went back to his board, erased the diagram made and pulled up his scans from earlier in an attempt to reestablish some normalcy, "Sorry about that. I… didn't realize just how important your bending was to you."

Azula kept facing away from him and took a deep inhale to further calm herself, "It doesn't matter. Are you certain it will return?"

He reoriented the stool, "Well, there's only one way to find out. B3 how much longer until we reach Kazima?"

The robot placed some papers that were scattered back on a desk, "Approximately one minute and fifteen seconds."

With that said they waited until the SeCore exited extra dimensional space. The announcement over the intercom was the first indication followed by the sudden turbulence.

The effects were immediate to Azula. She felt her inner flame burning again, still weak like before but feeling it at all was all she wanted.

She brought her hands up once more and with some effort a spark of fire appeared in between them. A genuine smile of joy and relief spread across her face. She had already lost so much, she couldn't lose this.

"See I told you!" Lectro said with joy and also relief as he feared what would happen if her firebending was gone for good.

She quickly extinguished the flame and pulled herself together. She cannot show any more weakness than she already has, "Kazima. It is within view, I assume?"

"Correct. Our exit point should have left us in a position to view the planet." B3 answered.

"Good. I will take my leave then." She left the lab quickly before the scientist could say anything.

"Make sure you stop by again so we can do another scan!" Lectro called out and once the door slid closed he turned back to his robot with a look of fright, "Oh my God. Did you see her? I thought she was gonna rip my snout off."

"I would advise against halting my hostile defense programing in the future."

Azula wasted no time in finding the nearest window and when she arrived at one she saw their location, Kazima. A planet just like earth with several noticeable differences such as landmasses covered in scarlet vegetation, a vast ocean between them and the most peculiar aspect, a giant ring circling the center of the planet. This was it, her new home and one day it will be the birthplace of her rise to power.

Chapter Text

My'Rell sat at the captain's chair as the bridge officers went about their tasks. Kazima in full view in all of its glory. She can't wait to dock and get off the SeCore. The week-long detour from the pirate clearing job had thrown everything off. Her prized ship was damaged, its crew dwindled and the encounter with the Death's Head was less than favorable, although some good came out of it such as there brand new fabricator, the discovery of a new habitable planet, the termination of her biggest rival and her new subordinate, the former princess Azula.

However Azula was a wild card in all of this. The ego on her was plain for all to see and it came through with how she carried herself, she may have to be more assertive with her in the future. She had no doubt Azula was planning something as My'Rell could tell a schemer from a mile away, years working under the empire helped her see that. She'll just have to keep a close eye on her for now.

That didn't matter, now she and her crew were home and were in need of some rest.

"Send word to the station commander of our arrival and have preparations for docking made." She ordered her communications officer who complied.

Commander Shaul stretched his arms from his station by the captain's side letting out a pained grunt showing his age, "It feels as though we've been gone for years."

"You're telling me. I might actually take you up on that scheduled vacation."

Shaul let out a jovial chuckle, "We both know you won't take it, though."

"Of course I won't. This whole place would fall apart without me." She joked.

Shaul put on an expression of mock offense, "Captain, do you not have faith in my ability to take command?"

"Of course I do, commander. I have all the faith in the universe that you can keep the Crimson Storm together… for a week."

The two friends shared a laugh at the captain's jab but it was soon interrupted by the communications officer, "Message has been sent. Station commander Suldon is preparing the main hangar for docking and repairs."

"Good. Helmsman, take us home."

The thrusters of the SeCore burned brightly as the ship was propelled towards the asteroid ring of the planet.

*****

"This is a size four wrench! I need a size three wrench!" Cetro shouted at Azula who gritted her teeth as she tried her best not to burn the four armed alien alive.

"They look identical! How am I supposed to tell the difference?" She shouted back.

"Look closely, you five foot tall waste of oxygen!" He held up the wrench to her face, "This is a size four wrench," His lower arm dug into the tool box she held pulling out another wrench, "and this is a size three wrench."

Azula looked at the two tools seeing no difference between them other than they both had a different symbol etched into them.

"Please explain because I don't see a difference!"

He rolled his four eyes and spoke in a patronizingly slow manner, "The size four wrench has a bigger head meant for size four bolts and the size three wrench has a smaller head for size three bolts."

She looked at both heads of each wrench, finding the size difference to be very miniscule, "The difference is so small! How am I supposed to tell?"

"Then memorize the numbers on them you idiot!" He points to the curved symbol etched in them.

"I cannot read that! And how dare you call me an idiot when you so clearly are terrible at explaining anything!"

Their argument continued for quite some time as they stood in one of the hangars where Cetro was called to repair a broken down lift with Azula brought to hold his tool box with him attempting to give her a hands-on lesson on repairing mechanics, however it quickly devolved into a shouting match.

Their back and forth was stopped when a helmet collided with the wall near them, its visor shattering.

"Shut up!"

They turned to see Angara standing at the rear opening of the Shakarr, "I can't sleep with you two screaming!"

"I don't know who you think you are throwing helmets around like that!" Cetro shouted back and kicked the helmet back towards her.

"I'm the one who's about to take those wrenches and shove them down both of your throats if you two don't shut your damn mouths!"

Azula only rolled her eyes at the two arguing. She was already tired of hearing the engineer's angry rants and now she has no more mental energy to spare for Angara coming into the mix. She didn't even bother to give the tattooed bounty hunter a retort and instead watched the view of the red and blue planet come closer from outside the shielded hangar bay door.

"New Girl!" Cetro shouted, taking her out of her trance, "Pick up the tools! We're done here."

It seemed their argument ended while she was admiring the view. Reluctantly she complied, already annoyed with receiving orders instead of issuing them out herself.

"Is that all we have to do for today?" She asked, "It feels like I've been working nonstop."

The engineer sneered, "Fine! Yes! We're done! Since all you seem to do is complain! We're back home now anyway so I don't need you anymore. So get lost!"

"Glady." She shoved his toolbox into his chest and walked off before she could hear another remark from him.

She found her way back into the mess hall taking her seat by the window watching as the ship approached the ring. The sight was remarkable but she was already getting used to it. She could feel her inner flame growing as they approached the ring. It puzzled her how the strength of her bending fluctuates in space. Could it be her distance to the sun or something else? She didn't know and it was slowly driving her up a wall. She can't afford any possible setbacks for her plan.

Her introspection was interrupted when someone sat before her with a tray of food. It was the captain. She seemed to have gotten a break from her command duties to pay her a visit.

"Heard you had some complications with your powers while we were in transit." she said before taking a bite from an orange fruit resembling an apple, "Everything alright now?"

She was far from fine regarding this but lied anyway, "I'm fine. It seems there is much about my own bending that I don't know about outside earth."

"That won't be a problem will it?"

Azula met the captain's gaze expecting an honest answer. Truthfully she wasn't entirely sure what to say, "I don't know. I'll go to Lectro's lab later so he can do more tests and we can figure this out."

She turned back to the window watching as the SeCore entering the ring, colossal asteroids drift past that made the already massive ship look like a pebble in comparison.

"Please do. Lectro keeps pestering me to get you in the lab again." she said jokingly as she looked out the window with her, "I bet you've never seen an asteroid ring before. It's one of the many sights you'll see out in the galaxy. Beautiful isn't it?"

It was beautiful in some strange way watching the giant rocks fly past with the red and blue planet in the background.

"Why are we in this ring? I thought the planet would be your base of operations."

My'Rell answered after taking a sip of her drink, "Our homebase is within Kazima's ring, it used to belong to a small-time syndicate that was extorting the local Kazimen government until they paid us to clear them out and even let us keep the hideout."

Azula looked to her in confusion, "A small criminal organization was able to have a stranglehold on an entire world? How is that possible?"

"Kazima is a large planet but it's only a recently settled frontier world with no indigenous sentient life and only three major cities. It doesn't take much to hold a planet like that hostage."

Power dynamics were much different out here than she had thought but that could work to her favor.

"You want to see it don't you?" My'Rell asked, gazing at the big red continent that covers the northern hemisphere.

"I will admit that the idea of stepping onto a brand new world is exciting."

"Good, I'm heading to the surface once the SeCore is docked and settled in. If you want you can tag along."

"Going to give me a grand tour of the planet as well?"

"No, I'm going to collect the payment for the pirate job we were on."

"What of the fabricator?"

"It wasn't mentioned in our contract with the employer therefore it's staying with us." The captain explained as she ate her meal.

"I can't imagine your employer will be happy about you keeping something as valuable as that for yourself."

"The job was to get rid of pirates not to retrieve anything of note. They'll find out eventually but they won't do anything about it, after all when all else fails they come to us and it'll benefit everyone if we keep it."

She didn't know enough about the relationship between the storm and the local government so she decided to change the subject, "Once we've settled down and I learn everything I need to know, what will be my place within the Crimson Storm? I imagine it will be some combat role."

My'Rell finished her drink and wiped her face with a napkin, "I'm thinking something small like bounty hunting. We'll pair you up with a seasoned bounty hunter and go from there."

Azula supposed this was an appropriate start to her career as a mercenary however she remembered the name of one particular seasoned bounty hunter, "It isn't Angara I hope."

My'Rell let out a chuckle, "Angara is one of our best, however you two don't seem to get along too well so you'll probably have to settle for second best."

"Second best?" Azula sneered at the thought of this, "I am a princess. I don't do second best."

"Were a princess." My'Rell reminded, the sharp look of her father present in the captain's black and cyan eyes.

Azula bit back a response, she had to remember that she was still at the bottom of the totem pole, "Is there no one else better than Angara or just as good?"

My'Rell finished her meal, "I can think about two who are at the same level but they are currently indisposed. Hopefully they'll be back by the time you are up to speed."

As they looked out the window Azula saw an asteroid unlike the rest. The asteroid in question was the size of the Fire Nation capital covered in artificial structures dotting its surface with industrial towers extending out from various points like towers connecting to smaller asteroids acting as bridges with further structures built into those.

"Well we're here. Welcome to our home base."

A set of massive doors attached to the main structure opened as the SeCore began descending towards it, its opening was large enough to hold the cruiser with space to spare. The engines powered down as large legs extended from its ventral side gracefully touching down on the metal surface with the doors closing above it. Small docking collars extended out from the walls and connected to the ship.

The weary crew begin their exit into the base with My'Rell leaving the ship under Commander Shaul's care as she goes to meet the station commander, Azula following in toe. Meeting them at the corridor was Commander Suldon, Azula was expecting yet another Pendaren but instead the commander was a bizarre triclops octopus creature within a pill shaped fish tank with a pair of mechanical arms and legs attached to it, the creatures six tentacles manipulating what look to be controls at the base of its tank.

The fish tank approached the captain with stiff mechanical motions, its mechanical arms outstretched in a friendly gesture and spoke in a charismatic digital voice, "Captain! I'm glad you're finally back. We were getting worried when we didn't hear back from you for a while."

My'Rell gave him a friendly smile placing a hand on his shoulder, "It's good to be back. It's been one hectic week."

"I heard. Got to discover a new planet and took out the Death's Head, finally got those bastards out of our hair."

"Yes, but at great cost." Her smile faded.

The cephalopod's three eyes softened as well, "Yeah, another reason why we can sleep easier knowing Duritax is part of a floating wreck."

"Not only that but they were hired to take us out."

"By who?"

"Don't know. We've asked just about everyone of the Death's Head crew members we took in and the most consistent thing we've heard is that Duritax and his inner circle are the ones who would know and they're all dead now," she then gestured to Azula at her side, "thanks to our brand new recruit here."

The creature within the tank shifted to look at her with Azula again masking bewilderment at yet another strange creature with an aloof disposition.

"This is private Azula, former princess of the planet we discovered."

She couldn't help but grimace at the constant reminder of her rank that My'Rell insisted on.

The creature within the tank let out a string of bubbles as the suit spoke for it, "Oh, we're recruiting royalty now?" He then bowed the top of his tank to her in some respectable fashion, Azula couldn't tell if it was in mockery or genuine respect as his body movements were too unnaturally stiff, "It's my honor to welcome you to our humble station."

"Thank you commander. I look forward to serving here." She gave the creature a cordial smile as she put her hands together and bowed her head in typical Fire Nation custom.

"She'll be starting off as a bounty hunter, so I'd like to get in contact with either Bavicks or Serrin at some point to discuss an apprenticeship." My'Rell said.

"Oh…" Suldon's robotic voice had a hint of worry.

She raised a brow, "What's wrong?"

Suldon gestured that he and the captain speak in private with My'Rell excusing herself as the station commander led her to the corner of the long room.

Azula accepted this and made her way to exit the area, however she hid behind the corner of a corridor to listen in on the captain and commander's private conversation.

"About Bavicks… he quit."

My'Rell was visibly upset with this news and with a tempered voice that restrained the fury she was feeling she asked, "What do you mean he quit?"

"He said that he was tired of having to go after big shot bounties constantly just to keep us afloat and complained that we take too big of a cut."

My'Rell pinched the bridge of her nose feeling a headache coming, "What about Serrin? Is he still with us?"

"He is but he's going after some big shot syndicate leader that went into hiding. Says he won't be back for at least a month or two."

My'Rell let out a cursed sigh at that information.

"You could always pair her up with Angara."

"Absolutely not."

"Why not? Angara is better than Bavicks and just as good as Serrin if not better." Suldon crossed his mechanical arms.

"Angara doesn't like her."

"Angara doesn't like anybody."

"This is different, Suldon. Those two come close to murdering each other every time they speak."

"Wait, that little thing has the stones to talk back to Angara like that and walk away with all her teeth intact? Damn, she must really be something."

"She is, and I was hoping to pair her up with one of our best but it looks like she'll have to settle for one of our lower level hunters."

Azula's eyebrows scrunched in annoyance from hearing this, she is a prodigy she will settle for nothing less than the best but her only option is someone she can't stand.

Everything about Angara made her angry, she always seems to have a retort for each one of Azula's comments, openly challenges her and looks down on her, however she is considered the best for a reason. She was after all just as deadly as Azula was in a fight despite not being a bender, so much so that she could become a major roadblock in the future. She held her own quite well during the battle in the cargo hold and many of the other crewmen seemed to be afraid of her. The two of them were very different however they shared just as many similarities and being able to learn from someone just like her would be ideal. It pains her to admit it but perhaps it's time to play nice with that woman, after all it would be better to have her as an ally then a potentially deadly enemy.

She turned back to eavesdropping only to find that they have concluded their business with both of them going their separate ways. With them gone she had no reason to stay so she decided now would be a good time to wander and familiarize herself with the base.

*****

Skeeve wandered about in the hangar once it was pressurized looking up at the mighty SeCore, its hull battle worn and sporting the scars of battles in the far past with the emblem of the Crimson Storm painted proudly on its side, a bright red swirling cyclone with a haunting demonic face incorporated within it. He had seen Pendaren battleships before but from a distance but the SeCore was not one he'd ever seen in operation as it was the last of an obsolete model, before the empire's aggressive expansion when it was created with the cooperation of other species. Now the empire relies solely on itself, retiring anything of the old regime and advancing with only Pendaren interests in mind. Others like it were either retired and placed in museums or broken down into scrap metal.

Skeeve admired the ship but didn't much care for its fate. All he knows is he will find a way to scrap it himself if it means getting the money he wants. He stopped marveling at the ship and went back to his original goal, find the fabricator, and he did not need to wait long to find it as two cargo loaders, compact crab shaped vehicles held up by four wheeled legs with two grasping arms, carried the large machine down one of the hanger ramps slowly as to not cause any damage.

Skeeve approached one of the hangar bay workers as he logged in information on a tablet, "Hey, where are they taking that thing?"

The worker acknowledged him looking at the fabricator, "The captain ordered that the Fabricator be moved in a storage room. Why?"

"Just curious. We went through hell getting that thing and I just wanted to know it was safe." He lied as easily as he breathed.

The worker went back to his work leaving Skeeve to himself. He thought of taking a tour of the station, find the best possible exit routes just in case things go wrong, but a buzzing vibration within his pocket stopped him. It was the client.

He looked around for a covert spot to answer the call and ran behind a large fuel tanker pulling out Duratix's communicator, "Hey, picked one hell of a time to call." He said in an annoyed hushed tone.

"Where are you now?" The distorted voice asked, ignoring him.

"Currently in the main hangar of the Storm's base, somewhere in Kazima's ring."

"And the fabricator?"

"Being moved to a storage room."

"What do the station's defenses look like?" The voice asked impatiently.

Skeeve looked over his shoulders again before answering, "Listen! We just docked, I haven't even had a chance to find the nearest bathroom. If this is gonna work out I need time."

The voice growled, "How much time?"

"A week at least, any sooner than that and they'll catch on."

"Fine, you have one week. Be ready to coordinate with the rest of the Death's Head to extract the fabricator."

Skeeve scrunched his brow in confusion, "But Duritax is dead? Without him there's no one to hold the group together."

"No one except his son." The voice stated.

Skeeve's eyes widened as he remembered Duritax's ruthless and blood thirsty only child, "Courtix?! That guy's a psychopath! There's no way he can lead the Death's Head. Sure he's a good meat head soldier that can smash his way through anything but he's no business man like his dad."

"He can lead them long enough to get this job done. Whatever happens to him and the group after is irrelevant. I'm sure you won't care either as you'll be so rich you will never have to work for a group like the Death's Head ever again, if you get me my fabricator."

Skeeve remembered his end goal. It would be nice to never have to pick up a blaster for work again, "I'm not splitting the payment with Courtix and the rest of the Death's Head, am I?"

"Courtix is only interested in avenging his father and agreed to a lower payment. The majority will go to you along with your bonus."

That's all he needed to hear, "I'll get you everything you need to know in a week."

"Good. Once it's done you'll coordinate with Courtix for the attack and extraction."

"Wait what?" His eyes widened in horror at the thought of interacting with that brute, "Why me?"

"You two are high ranking members of the Death's Head, shouldn't it be obvious that you two coordinate with each other?"

Skeeve remembered the lie he had fed them and also that he had only ever interacted with Courtix once and he threatened to skin him alive with his machete, "R-Right! That's exactly right. We are both on good terms with each other and will definitely get this job done."

"Be sure you do. I will contact you within a week. Have all the necessary information by then." He hung up before Skeeve could respond.

"Welp, better get a lay of the land then." He began to wonder about the base.

*****

Azula had spent the majority of the day wondering about the facility getting a better understanding of her surroundings. The SeCore may have been a maze to her however the home base was an even denser labyrinth of corridors and tunnels that led to various places such as crew quarters, smaller hangars, warehouses, component rooms, generators and many other rooms that the SeCore had but on a much larger scale. It reminded her somewhat of the bunker beneath the fire nation capital with its tunnels of bare rock only without the magma. Occasionally she would find a path that would take her to one of the artificial structures on the asteroid's surface overlooking its barren crater filled landscape. She was unable to access various areas due to her low rank such as the command tower that overlooked the main hangar.

Just like the SeCore it was fascinating and a sturdy sign of strength, one that she would be proud to own however she found herself lost in its tunnels. She soon found herself walking in circles passing corridors she swore she had already seen and her pride did not allow her to ask for directions. She grew frustrated with not finding a place that looked familiar to her and rushed to find something as she does not wish to miss out on leaving to visit the planet's surface.

As she Storm's down yet another corridor she rounded a corner and bumped into someone hard enough to knock them over while she was only staggered.

In no mood to deal with this situation she growled and lashed out, "Watch where you are going!"

The person she ran into apologized as they stood back up. At first Azula thought they were a human girl however on closer inspection she wasn't. Her skin was pink like cotton candy with plum purple striping and a glossy shine, her eyes were large and blue, what Azula thought was hair was actually long dorsal fins that draped down past her shoulders and dressed in loose flowing robes that left her arms and midsection exposed. She almost looked like she was one of the depictions of Airbender nuns she had seen in old history books.

"I'm sorry, I should be more mindful of my surroundings." She spoke in a peppy optimistic voice with an accent Azula didn't recognize, "Are you lost? I haven't seen you here before."

She might as well ask for directions now, "Yes to both of your inquiries. I have no idea where I am and I'll be traveling to the planet soon so I don't wish to miss that."

"I see, I'm returning to my brother with this trinket he asked for." She held out a mechanical tool she was holding, "He is getting ready to go to the planet's surface as well, I can lead you to the area you need to be."

"Very well. Lead the way."

The stranger continued down the corridor with Azula in tow.

"My name is Chani by the way." She turned back to say with a warm smile on her face.

"Azula." She responded with disinterest.

"Azula?" She repeated, "Oh! My brother was telling me about you. He says you have strange fire powers. Is that true?"

She figured news about her would spread so she decided to revel in it just a little, might as well control the narrative.

"Oh yes. That's all true. Did he also tell you that I destroyed the bridge to the enemy ship and effectively killed the leader of the Death's Head?" Her voice was filled with self admiration at her feats and producing a small orange flame to show off.

Her already wide eyes grew wider in awe, "That is amazing he also told me it was like a storm had shot lightning. Although I can't help but feel sad for the loss of life."

Azula's brow furrowed as she extinguished the flame, "What does it matter? If I hadn't, no one on the SeCore would be alive."

"That is true. I understand that in order to save lives some must be taken, but that doesn't mean I have to like it."

"You do know that this is a mercenary organization, do you, and what that entails?" Azula asked, wondering if this person was in the right place.

"I do. It's hypocritical of me to preach peace and kindness while working for an organization that requires violence to function but that's why I chose to be a financial worker instead of a fighter, I'm mainly here to make sure my brother doesn't get himself killed." She said as they reached an elevator that took them upward.

Azula wanted to puke at that statement, for her siblings were only just another source of her ire. Zuko would never join an organization he opposed to look after her and her youngest sibling Kiyi was nothing but a replacement for her. They can both rot for all she cared.

Chani seemed to notice her inner turmoil as they stood beside each other, "Are you alright, your inner thalm is radiating waves of crimson."

This was enough to snap her out of thoughts in confusion, "My what?"

"Your inner thalm. It radiates such negative rays of crimson. I apologize if I said something to offend you."

"What does that even mean?"

Chani took on an apologetic yet bubble demeanor, "Oh, I'm sorry. That does sound confusing. In my culture someone's inner thalm is the energy of their spirit and judging by the colors they emit I can guess at someone's mood."

"So auras then?"

"Is that what your people call it?" Her features brightened in excitement, "I'm so glad that there are others who share in such a practice."

Azula gritted her teeth and rolled her eyes, "Great, another Ty Lee." She grumbled to herself under her breath.

The last thing she wants is a reminder of her former best friend who's betrayal is still fresh in her mind. Was this the universe playing some sick joke on her?

The elevator stopped at the level they needed to be on and Azula followed the amphibious girl ignoring her attempts at spiritual conversation until they reached what looked to be a renovated storage room filled with tools, computer monitors and the most unsettling thing being the mechanical limbs hanging from the walls with some type of loud rambunctious music playing in the background.

Within it they found Sev with his back turned to them sitting in a chair, his armored vest off and hanging nearby with his exposed back housing small bits of metal that ran along his spine, metal plates covering his shoulder blades and scar tissue surrounding them. Gax stood close by on his completely metal right shoulder working on one of the shoulder blades with a tool that emitted sparks when in use.

As amazing as Sev's augmentation where there were aspects of it that made Azula's stomach churn. There were just so many scars.

Chani knocked on the wall alerting them of their presence, "Brother! I have your tool!" She shouted over the loud music.

"Hey Chani! Azula. Come to witness the freakshow?" Sev greeted as jolly as ever.

Azula winced at the wrangled chorus of whatever it was they were listening to, "What is that infernal noise?"

"What? You don't like thrasher? It's the best music in the galaxy!" He lowered the volume.

The vile and crude lyrics said otherwise to Azula.

She walked up to Gax holding it out with the toad-like creature raising his goggles to acknowledge her with a wide grin, "CHAR KATNI!" He said happily while taking the tool.

Azula looked at Chani and Gax with a look of befuddlement, "Wait, this is your brother?" She pointed to Gax.

"Yes." She answered simply.

"Adopted then, right?"

"No, we're blood related."

This only added to her confusion and to Sev's amusement. The two individuals before her were apparently brother and sister however they looked nothing alike, sure they shared superficial details such as moist amphibious skin, webbed hands and feet, gills behind the jaws and dorsal fins that were styled in a way to look like hair but Chani's proportions where slimmer and more in line with her own compared to her supposed brother who's head was larger, more angular, had a prominent snout, eyes that rested at the top of his head, larger hands and feet and stood somewhat hunched over two feet under her.

"DOSHI KARA KA'INA!" Gax said to his sister while pointing to Azula.

"Oh I see." Chani said in an almost dumb manner that reminded Azula too much of Ty Lee, "It's been such a long time since I've had to explain this to someone that I nearly forgot."

Sev turned around in his swivel chair, "Hang on, I want to get comfortable when I see how she reacts to this." He put his metal feet up on a crate.

"I'm tired of being left in the dark, explain!" She demanded not liking being toyed with.

Chani stepped forward and began explaining, "You see, Azula, my brother and I's people have very extreme physical differences between men and women. Men typically take on a more rugged and exaggerated body plan that helps with climbing and physical challenges..." She gestured to Gax who in response licked one of his bulging eyes with his tongue like some grotesque gecko, "...and women are better adapted for more spiritual challenges and other matters that require the mind."

Azula didn't know how to respond to this information and only gave them an expression contorted in various states of confusion at how such a thing could exist with Sev laughing at her expense, "So, men are dumb brutes while women are delicate geniuses?"

Gax gave a thumbs up and a crooked grin in affirmation.

"I mean… that's not entirely true. Gax is quite smart when it comes to mechanics and such." Chani quickly scrambled to say as to not make it sound as though she is talking down to her brother.

"But in essence they all look like… that. No offense Gax."

The shorter creature made a dismissive gesture completely unfazed by the comment.

"More or less, with some variation. This is a typical reaction to most people who are unfamiliar with our species, they often think my brother and I are of different races."

The universe truly is a strange place.

"Strangeness aside, which one of you is the oldest?"

Gax raised his hand, "GUSH KARI!"

"Stop lying to her! We're the same age." She lightly slapped his shoulder, "We came from the same clutch of eggs."

Her eyes widened, "Eggs? As in breaking out of a hard shell?"

"They didn't have a shell so it was quite easy for our little tadpole forms to wiggle out."

"Tadpole?" Her eyes widened further with Sev laughing harder.

Azula held a hand out for her to stop talking, "I think that's enough strangeness for one day. My only question now being why is it that you speak the common language yet Gax does not?"

"That's because Gax is just lazy. He learned to understand primary but he doesn't feel he needs to put in the leg work to speak it." She said with an accusatory tone with her hands on her hips in disapproval.

Gax only waved her statement off and mimicked her words with a mocking tone as he went back to work on Sev's mechanical arm. This was followed up with the two siblings bickering back and forth in the same untranslatable language.

She rolled her eyes at them but it brought a nostalgic smile to her lips of all the times she and Zuko would quarrel like that, she was always the instigator but Zuko always made it too easy that she couldn't help herself, "You've convinced me, only siblings could bicker like that."

Chani gave a warm smile, "Indeed. Do you have any siblings, Azula?"

Her smile quickly faded, "I have an older brother and-" She cut herself off before she could mention the half sibling she just found out she had a year ago, "Just a brother. No one else." She refused to acknowledge that replacement daughter her cowardly mother had with that worthless peasant shared her blood.

Chani took notice of this but did not press the matter.

Already tired of this conversation, Azula decided to change the subject, "Not to be rude but when are we going to the planet's surface?"

"As soon as the Captain's ready." Sev answered as Gax finished what he was doing on Sev's arm who flexed it, "Gax and I are tagging along to grab some stuff, it shouldn't be long. You can just hang here with us until then." he raised the volume to his thrasher music.

Indeed it didn't take long as after several minutes being with these individuals the Captain had contacted Sev and let him know she was ready to depart. Sev and Gax led Azula to a smaller hangar filled with shuttles. Chani didn't accompany them as she had several tasks of her own to take care of leaving Azula with the two. Once they arrived they found My'Rell by a long rectangular shuttle speaking to the pilot.

Once she had finished conversing with him Azula approached her eager to be on her way, "Are we set to depart, Captain?"

"Everything is set to go, just hop in and we'll be off."

"Excellent. I'm eager to see this Kazima and how much it differs from earth."

"A little warning before we depart, Kazima is a little larger than your world so the gravity will be a bit higher than what you're used to." My'Rell said as she entered the shuttle's open compartment and took a seat on the bench that went horizontal to the crafts center.

Azula took a seat near her, "I'll adapt. I always do."

Sev crouched his way in, his head practically scraping the compartment ceiling, and took a seat behind them, nearly taking up the whole bench with Gax by his side.

"Try not to light anything on fire while we're on the surface." Sev said over his shoulder.

"Yes, keep your fire bending to yourself. We don't know how the people will react to it and we don't need any more trouble." My'Rell added.

"As long as trouble doesn't come my way." Azula folded her arms.

The last passenger was Angara who sat in the far corner of the bench, her damaged red helmet in her lap.

With everyone on board My'Rell gave the order to leave with the side compartment doors sliding close sealing shut. The twin engines rotated allowing the ship to hover before propelling it out of the hangar bay. The smaller ship soared through the asteroid ring, some turbulence rocking the cabin, and as they exited the ring Azula could feel her inner flame growing again as they inched closer towards the planet until they finally broke the atmosphere and began soaring through the clouds and she could feel her firebending strength return to her at full power like it had never left.

"We're finally here. Congratulations Azula, you're officially on a new world." My'Rell said to her with a chipper attitude.

Azula stared at the bare metal wall as turbulence shook them, "I was expecting more of a view, but I guess I can wait until we've landed."

"I'll take care of that." She turned to the pilot and copilot sitting in their upper platform, "Let's get these doors open."

With that said the doors that made up the sides of the ship retracted once they were at a safe altitude exposing them to a view of red forests that quickly gave way to an open savanna of rose colored grass beneath a vast sunset orange sky that gave the water of a nearby lake a purple hue. Thousands of large six limbed rhino-like beasts grazed about in the fields while flocks of four winged birds with rodent faces glided alongside the ship and resting above the sky Azula could see Kazima's ring shimmering gold like it was painted on by a divine brush in a single stroke.

It was like a dream world came to life, so familiar yet so different, she could imagine that this is what the spirit world looked like. It was so magnificent that she couldn't hide her awe with her eyes wide as dinner plates and her mouth hanging slightly open.

My'Rell couldn't help but smile at the wonder struck the former princess displayed, like a parent watching their child see the world for the first time.

"Quite the site, isn't it?"

"I-It's beautiful." Azula stuttered out, "It's more than that it's amazing! It's … It's …" she caught herself once she saw the smug smile on My'Rell's face then took on a more rigid posture and putting back the mask of indifference, "It's nothing special, I've seen better vista's outside my bedroom at the royal palace."

Angara snorted from her position, "Sure you have, princess."

Azula ignored the comment as she was too busy chastising herself for letting her guard down.

"Don't look away now, the city's coming up." The captain said.

Azula's attention was brought back to the view where she saw their shuttle was flying over a bridge with smaller vehicles following its length. She trailed it until she saw before them a city as large as Ba Sing Se's inner ring with towers of glass, steel and concrete each styled strangely with some having smooth organic shapes while others held a rigid and sturdy appearance with hard edges and angles with geometric shapes while others were completely abstract in their architecture. Streets filled with speeding vehicles darted back and forth between the buildings were lit by neon lights and holograms of screens and icons with other flying vehicles accompanying them in the sky. It was truly a sight far more beautiful than the natural environment Azula had seen before and one that put into perspective just how insignificant she and her Fire Nation was. She then noticed below them were a vast horde of rundown slums and ghettos that circled the fringes of the city separating the pristine metropolis with the wilds of the planet. Some things truly are universal.

The shuttle veered away from the central city towards an open area where dozens of other ships were docked or taking off with the shuttle gently touching down on a small landing pad. Azula was one of the first to step off after My'Rell and as soon as her foot touched down she felt the higher gravity the captain warned her of. It wasn't overwhelming and felt more like she was draped in her heavy royal robes that were thoroughly soaked in water, it almost tipped her off balance but she recovered before anyone could notice.

"It's good to be back on a planet. Being stuck on a spaceship and space stations really takes a toll on my muscles." My'Rell stretched out her arms breathing in Kazima's fresh air, "So, Azula. How does it feel to be on a new planet?"

Azula looked out into the sky at the shimmering ring, "Fascinating." she couldn't hide it in her voice but maintained her stoic expression.

Chapter Text

On a hot summer evening on ember island the royal family was enjoying their vacation. Prince Ozai knelt in his royal palanquin with Azula accompanying him as their servants carried them into town, four royal firebenders surrounding them. It was getting stuffy in the royal vacation home what with Iroh and Lu Ten joining them on their summer trip before the siege of Ba Sing Se and Ozai was growing tired of the constant laughing and pleasantries his brother and Ursa kept generating along with his nephew Lu Ten seeming to enjoy making both Zuko and Azula as energetic as possible. He thought a solitary trip into town would clear his mind and he gave no objections when Azula pleaded to come along, she hasn't been ruined by their weakness yet and it would do her good if he was able to keep her from becoming like them.

Ozai perused the wears of an antique shop, the shopkeepers keeping their distance allowing him the privacy to shop but close enough to attend to any questions he may have, Azula however was bored but tried to mirror her fathers stiff demeanor often mimicking his motions as he observed the wears.

"Azula, come here." Her father called out with her running to his side.

Before them stood a golden statue of a frightening spirit that took the shape of a man with two heads and multiple limbs, its glaring expression and plumes of fire emanating from each limb gave off an aura of power in its fearful might, Ozai felt it would look magnificent in his study.

"Tell me Azula, who is this?" He asked, never turning his gaze away from it.

It didn't take her long to answer as she recognized this spirit's visage, "That's Agni, great fire spirit of the sun."

"Correct. And what is the most significant thing he has done for our people?"

"Crowning the first Firelord."

The corner of Ozai's mouth raised slightly in affirmation, "Yes." He kneeled down scooping up his youngest child so she was at eye level with the statue on the table, "By crowning the first Fire Lord the warring clans of the Fire Nation were united and became our triumphant nation. Do you know how the first Fire Lord united the clans?"

Azula thought long and hard but didn't remember, that lesson was so long ago.

Ozai answered for her, "He had a vision for the future, a vision to unite our country but there were fools that impeded his vision so he showed the other clans his strength and wiped out those that would not kneel to him and in doing so the other clans kneeled to his strength in respect of his might." He turned to her, "The one thing that matters more than anything in this world is strength and to maintain this strength his subjects must fear him. Agni saw this and knew that he was fit for this role. That is the divine right to rule and as his descendants it means that strength is in our blood and to maintain it…" he trailed on waiting for her to answer.

"The people must fear us."

"Good." He nodded his head with a smile, "Fear is the lifeblood of any ruler, when someone is feared it establishes order and discipline. They are respected and no one would dare go against them, they tremble at the thought of someone like us raising a hand to them and if a ruler is not feared then he is weak. He invites his own downfall by the hands of someone stronger. Remember, Azula, Agni saw the strength in our bloodline, we must not dishonor his judgment, unlike some members of our family." He said the last part with displeasure.

"But people don't fear uncle." She said, pulling him out of his thoughts.

"You're right Azula. Iroh thinks that by ruling through love and kindness he will guide a brighter path for our nation." He scoffed, "Respect is earned through fear Azula and your uncle does not share this belief. He will invite the downfall of our family, our bloodline, and even our nation if he sits on the throne." He derided looking into the eyes of the glaring statue, "If I were to sit on the throne I would ensure the strength of our nation goes on and if that were to happen I will need you by my side as my heir."

"But what about zuzu?" She asked innocently.

Ozai grimaced as he walked with her in his arms, "Your brother… has been infected by the weakness in your uncle and mother. You however, are still young enough to be taught properly which is why I believe you are the future of the fire nation."

Azula smiled brightly and wrapped her arms around his neck, "Thank you daddy! I'll make you so proud!"

Ozai awkwardly patted his daughter's back as she hugged him, "I'm sure you will Azula."

He turned to the shopkeeper telling him he will take the Agni statue. As one of his servants came to give the shopkeeper the money, a commotion caught everyone's attention. Ozai marched outside with Azula still in his grasp where they found one of the royal firebenders forcibly holding a peasant dressed in rags face down in the dirt.

"What is going on here?" He demanded.

One of the other royal firebenders bowed his head in respect, "This thief was attempting to steal from your palanquin, Prince Ozai."

Ozai's expression tightened into one of malice, "Perhaps it is time for a demonstration in fear." He said to Azula before putting her down. He approached the dirty man motioning the guards to allow him to kneel.

The man prostrated himself before Ozai, planting his forehead into the dirt, "I'm sorry my lord! I did not know that this palanquin belonged to you!"

Ozai only stared at him with discontent, "Thievery against anyone within the Fire Nation is a serious crime, a crime that comes with a serious punishment."

"I-I'm sorry my lord! My family and I are poor. I only steal to feed them."

Ozai remained silent, deliberately drawing out the man's dread, "Which hand did you use in your attempt to rob me?"

The man quivered in terror as he raised his head, "M-My right hand."

"Better make it both hands to be precise."

Azula watched as the two guards grabbed both of his hands forcibly holding them out.

Ozai outstretched his own hands producing a scorching plumes of fire like the statue of Agni he purchased and made an announcement before all present in the market, "Let it be known that thievery against the royal family will not be tolerated!"

Azula saw all the people around the market as they watched in fear as her father approached the man, mothers covering the eyes of their children, men too weak to watch looking away and others froze in place.

This was what her father was speaking of. Respect through fear, no one would dare go against her fathers decision, true strength at work. She would not be weak like them so she looked on and watched as her father maliciously burned the man's hands.

*****

Azula continued to marvel at the cityscape. It truly was an amazing sight. As she was observing My'Rell was digging for something in the ship, Sev and Gax discussing technical stuff she didn't understand and Angara finishing a conversation on her communicator. She remembered the conversation she eavesdropped on regarding who would mentor her and how she would only allow the best to teach her so she decided to seize this opportunity to gain an ally.

She approached the bounty hunter as she fiddled with a device on her gauntlet and addressed her as standoffish as ever, "What do you want?"

Azula gave her a honeyed smile and friendly demeanor, "I believe you and I may have gotten off on the wrong foot. We both have very strong personalities, so it was only natural that we would clash, but given that we are both playing on the same team now it would probably be mutually beneficial if we weren't at each other's throats all the time."

Angara continued to ignore her.

Azula gritted her teeth and bit back any remarks coming into her mind, "I'm not saying we have to like each other or that we should become best friends. Simply let us not be hostile towards one another."

"Alright, what do you want from me?" She asked, closing the screen of her gauntlet and fully turning to her.

"What do you mean?"

"I know your type, princess. You see, you're the type that only acts nice to someone like me because you want something in return. So spit it out."

Azula's brow tightened and she lost her smile, Angara was smarter than she thought, "My'Rell is thinking of making me a bounty hunter. The only problem is I need a mentor and I would prefer to be taught from the best."

Angara wheezed out laughing, holding her belly as if it was the funniest thing in the world before recovering, "Tough luck princess, but no."

Azula's jaw clenched, "Why not?"

"Well for starters, I don't like you. I don't like people like you. Schemers, manipulators… liars." There was a hint of malice in her tone, "People that hide their intentions behind false smiles and pleasant words make my blood boil, and when I see you all I see is that."

There it was again, that defiance that annoyed her to no end.

"Besides, I don't take young bloods. They slow me down and get in my way. So you'll have to settle for someone else, princess. But if you beg, maybe I'll reconsider." She said with a sneering smile.

"I would rather have my bending taken away and rot away in a cell for the rest of my life than do that." Azula sneered back before shaking her head, "This was a stupid idea anyway." Azula walked away.

Angara waved to her as she kept her mocking smile, "Bye bye, princess. Try not to get stuck with someone like Davos as your mentor, he got his legs blown off while catching a smallfry!"

Azula growled as she went back to My'Rell's side. Of course nothing good could come from talking to that woman, even trying to make peace with her was a fruitless battle.

My'Rell approached her pulling her out of her thoughts, "Before you go anywhere be sure you take this." She handed her a small white box with a speaker.

"What is this?"

"This is an audio translator. It'll translate everything you say into primary. Everybody in the storm wears a translator to make communication easy but here in the city not many people wear them. This will make sure people understand you."

It never occurred to her that she was speaking in a language no one understood but it made sense. She tested it out saying something aloud only for the device to repeat it back in a robotic voice. It sounded like it was only echoing her words but she knew if she removed the translator it would sound completely different. She attached it to her hip dangling from her belt.

"Also take this communicator." She handed her a small rectangular device that flipped open revealing a small screen and a few buttons, "If you get lost use this to contact one of us and we'll come find you." She then gave her a quick demonstration on how it is used.

They were interrupted by the sound of sirens approaching from the sky. A black and white vehicle hovered towards them with red and blue lights flashing from its top and landed before them.

Angara let out an annoyed growl as Sev and Gax approached from behind, "Ah great, officer fatso's here." Sev said in annoyance.

"KEKERA KAI!" Gax shouted from his shoulder.

"You said it buddy."

The door retracted upward as a large round creature with sickly green skin, round face, beady red eyes, short ridged horns growing along the length of his head and small tusks protruding from his lower jaw stepped out dressed in a white and black uniform and a scowl over his pudgy features. The way his wrinkled face was scrunched up reminded Azula of a bulldog.

"My'Rell Tivanti." he announced with a gravely old voice, making sure to annunciate her full name with clear disdain.

"Proxly." My'Rell said plainly, "What seems to be the problem this time?"

Proxly snapped his fingers with another officer handing him a tablet, "Say's here that your ship was directed to land in the space port from the altitude that we received your signal from and yet you came into the city through the badlands instead."

"I wanted to take the scenic route, admire the beauty of Kazima's wilds on my way in." she answered flippantly which only seemed to provoke Proxly further.

"We have flight paths for a reason, My'Rell. So air vehicles don't crash into each other."

"Relax Proxly. Horizon city doesn't have enough air traffic. Also, this seems like a very small issue for the head of planetary security to be paying me a personal visit." My'Rell held her ground as he marched up to her, standing a full head taller than her, My'Rell was already quite tall by human standards.

"I just want to make sure mercs like you know your place." He growled, lowering his head to be at eye level, "Out in space you may be tough and strong but once you break atmosphere, you're in my territory which means you play by my rules. Got that, merc?"

Azula could feel the mutual disdain the captain and this Proxly had for one another like heat from a fire it radiated around them.

My'Rell's cold stoic expression then gave way to a smug smile as her eyes narrowed with mischief, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind when the governor pays me for doing your job better than you can."

Proxly's eye twitched in fury.

"Also, how long was that pirate den hidden at the edge of the system? Four, five months maybe? Pirates that were targeting merchants coming to and from Kazima. With Kazima being the only habitable planet in the system I would think that that would be a primary concern for the head of planetary security. Would it not be?"

Proxly let out a low thunderous growl like that of a tigerdillo as he took a few steps back and crossed his arms, "Yes it would be, but I am just one man looking after an entire planet, plus I've had my hands full dealing with raids from your Ke'Kuvon friends."

My'Rell's smile faltered along with catching Angara's attention.

"What the Ke'Kuvon do is none of my concern." She stated firmly, the authoritative look returning to her eyes.

Proxly's own smirk appeared, "It should. After all, you were the one who brought them here." His eyes ran over her crew members, eyeing them all with disdain until they fell on Azula, "I don't think I've seen you here before. What are you, some mutant Pendaren half breed?"

Azula scowled at his words but before she had the chance to respond My'Rell stepped in between her and Proxly.

"I think you've wasted enough time here Proxly. Yours and mine. So why don't you go back to your job and leave my crew and I to our own business?"

The edge to her voice was enough to let everyone know this discussion was over.

Proxly only grumbled to himself in response as he climbed back into his vehicle, "Stick to the designated flight paths in the future, or next time I won't be so nice." He closed the door with the other officer climbing into the driver side and taking off.

Sev whistled as the vehicle flew out of sight, "What a prick."

"I'd like to rip those horns out of his head." Angara snarled out.

"CHURO KARA KINE!"

Sev laughed, "Gax's right, the captain might beat you to the punch."

"He seems friendly." Azula deadpanned to My'Rell.

"He's just another headache." My'Rell sighed before turning to them, "I'm heading to city hall to collect our payment. Azula you come with me so we can get an ID made for you. The rest of you go do whatever you want, but stay out of trouble."

"Aye, captain." Sev said giving her a thumbs up with Gax doing the same, "If you need us we'll be in the market area buying tech."

The two then departed.

She turned to Angara, "What do you plan on doing?"

Angara held out a small case she had strapped to the back of her armor, "Gonna turn in some dead bounties. Then head out to the Ke'Kuvon camp to repair my helmet."

"Dead bounties?" Azula questioned, "Don't you need bodies for that?"

"That's what the case full of frozen scalps is for."

"While you're at the camp, see what these raids are about." My'Rell said.

"They won't tell me anything, not if it means ratting out their own."

"Then at least try and get back whatever they stole."

Angara murmured, "I'll see what I can do."

My'Rell directed Azula to follow her to a parked vehicle not too far away that waited for them. It was a sleek black vessel that housed enough space to fit several individuals with a small compartment at its nose for a driver. A humanoid shaped robot standing by its side.

"Governor Belko is expecting you and has made arrangements for your arrival." The robot said with a polite digital tone.

My'Rell nodded to the robot as she entered the vehicle with Azula following. The robot entered the driver's compartment. The four hover modules on each end of the vehicle activated, sending the vehicle skyward with it floating over the city at a much slower pace than the ship. Azula watched as the buildings passed by with My'Rell sitting across from her.

"You must be on good terms with this client for him to arrange such luxurious transportation." Azula said, making note of the extravagant interior of the vehicle.

"Oh yeah, governor Belko and I have history. He used to be a smuggler before going into politics, but he managed to turn his life around once he came out here."

"History? As in romantic?" Azula asked with a raised brow.

My'Rell let out a hardy belly laugh, "No, nothing like that! History as in I arrested him twice while I was in the empire." She laughed so hard she had to wipe away a tear, "Plus, he's not my type. Too many legs and I'm not very fond of mandibles."

Azula shivered at the thought of romance with something like that and decided to avoid this discussion going any further, "So… the big fat one. Proxly, was it? Who is he?"

My'Rell's expression soured as she let out a noise of disgust, "A gigantic pain in my ass. He's the head of security for the planet and surrounding territories, except he's terrible at his job. You remember the syndicate I told you about?"

"The one that had control of the planet?"

My'Rell nodded, "During that whole crisis Proxly could barely fight against the syndicate and they completely steam rolled planetary security, killing dozens of security forces, until Belko hired us and we steam rolled them and inadvertently exposed him for the incompetent fool that he was. Ever since then he's held a grudge against us, so he's made it his mission in life to be as petty and difficult towards us as possible."

"He sounds pleasant." Azula said sardonically, "And here I thought it was because you rejected some proclamation of love." She joked.

"Well he did hit on me when we first met and I rejected him, of course, so that might also play into it."

Azula laughed at that, not expecting to hear that she actually was right with My'Rell sharing in it as well. Azula then reminded herself that My'Rell was an obstacle, not her friend. She was just as smart as her and she couldn't afford to let her guard down around this woman. To keep her focus she decided to probe for more information.

"He mentioned a Ke'Kuvon camp and that you brought them here. What did he mean by that?"

My'Rell looked back out the window, "That's… a long story."

"Long enough to accommodate this ride?"

My'Rell let out a tired sigh as she leaned forward resting her elbows on her knees with an introspective expression, "For generations the Pendaren Empire had been trying to tame the Ke'Kuvon and their homeworld, Tunbani, but the Ke'Kuvon are a proud and stubborn people that refused my people's customs and teachings. This has been the source of conflict for as long as I can remember. That, and they insist on being an independent nation when their home system is completely surrounded by imperial territory. Eventually diplomacy failed and all out war started. The Ke'Kuvon were hopelessly outnumbered and outgunned but that didn't deter them so they kept fighting, so much so that members of the imperial military and navy started to fear them. The emperor didn't take too kindly to this information so if he couldn't tame Tunbani he decided to get rid of it." My'Rell turned her gaze on Azula, her expression as cold as ever, "Ten years ago, through the aid of insurgents within the Ke'Kuvon's ranks, the empire destroyed Tunbani through orbital bombardment and ordered for the destruction of any ship attempting to escape. I disobeyed orders and defended several ships that escaped, even firing on my fellow imperial ships, and brought them to Kazima where I knew they would be safe. That's why they are here and also how I left the empire."

Azula's expression shifted to one of confusion, "So you defected because you pitied your enemy?"

"I respect the Ke'Kuvon." My'Rell said suddenly as if she was being accused of something, "And it wasn't the only reason I left. Tunbani was the last straw on a very long list of last straws." She looked away with shame in her eyes, "The empire I grew up with, the one that I was proud to serve is gone. Now it's just another dictatorship run by a self righteous man that believes the universe belongs to him and that all should fear his might." She scoffed in disgust.

"Well, being emperor, it would make sense to rule through fear by making an example of the Ke'Kuvon so no one else steps out of line."

My'Rell gave her a critical look, "I'm assuming this is how your father ruled?"

Azula smirked, "Yes, and his father and his father before him, and it has served to create the most powerful society on earth."

My'Rell crossed her legs and rested her head on her hand, "So you think that's the only way to rule?"

"Of course, any other way invites weakness and weakness invites someone else to come and crush you."

My'Rell stayed silent for a few moments thinking of how to properly continue the conversation now with a better understanding of Azula's thought process and decided to challenge the younger girl, "Let me throw a little scenario your way. Say a king who rules his subjects with fear decides to go for a hike-"

"Why would a king go on a hike? Wouldn't he have better things to do?" Azula interrupted, mostly because she didn't feel like listening to whatever Iroh-like metaphor the captain planned on delivering.

"Humor me."

She rolled her eyes and listened.

"The king who rules with fear goes hiking with one of his subjects for whatever purpose he needs him for, but during that hike he stumbles and falls, breaking his leg. The king demands the servant that fears him to save him or else. What does the servant do?"

Azula snorts, the answer is obvious, "The servant does as he is commanded and helps his king. If he doesn't he fears punishment."

My'Rell gave a nod, "He could help him but it's just the king and his servant, a servant that only fears him, doesn't respect him or frankly even likes him, and now the king is at his mercy. Sure he can do as he is ordered and save the king but that would mean further living in fear of him. The most likely scenario is that the servant will realize that he has an opportunity to get rid of the very thing he fears most. So he takes it and leaves the king behind in the wilderness, where he will die alone."

She pauses to let Azula absorb the information before continuing, "Now say another king goes on a hike with his servant, but this one doesn't rule through fear. He rules through respect and kindness. Like the first king he falls and breaks his leg and is also at the mercy of his servant, but this servant doesn't fear him. The servant respects and admires him. What does that servant do?"

Azula was silent for a moment thinking of the answer, "He is weak, so the servant leaves him only to be ruled by someone else who is stronger."

My'Rell shook her head "No. He respects and loves the king so he would risk his own life to save that of the king. The king goes home, heals his leg and continues his rule."

"Is there a point to this?" the former princess asked in annoyance.

My'Rell looks somewhat disappointed that Azula didn't get it, or she did and just didn't care, "Fear can only get you so far, Azula. True strength comes from the strength and aid of others. If you constantly rely on fear to maintain your strength it will become your weakness and it will invite your own downfall."

Azula was hit with the memory of her own downfall and how alone she was on her coronation.

"I'm not going to pretend like I know the full story on what happened to depose you and your father but I can guess from context clues and my own experiences. Just know that kindness can get you farther in some cases than fear can."

Their hover vehicle began to descend.

"Looks like we're here. Try to be on your best behavior."

Azula only grimaced at her words as the vehicle landed, its doors retracting as they exited to a large pristine domed building with long curved pillars surrounding it that resembled the ribs of a great beast. Azula followed the captain inside, paying little attention to her surroundings as she pondered her words, especially regarding the Pendaren Empire.

My'Rell's words on the follies of ruling through fear stuck in her mind. For as long as she's lived Azula had been told by her mentor and father that fear was the proper and most effective way to rule yet the captain's example of the king reminded her how she was left alone when she stumbled, how Mai and Ty Lee were the first to leave her side and how empty her coronation was, along with how many rallied behind Zuko. She shook her head of the thoughts, My'Rell was a fool. She knew nothing of what it was like to rule, she's nothing but a filthy space peasant in charge of even dirtier space peasants. She couldn't possibly know what it's like to be royalty like she was.

She would refocus her thoughts on a more pressing topic, the Pendaren Empire. It would seem Skeeve's warnings were true as My'Rell's opinion of them was fairly similar and the revelation of their destructive might was a cause for concern. Aligning herself with the empire would be logical as they seemed to be the most dominant force in the galaxy however that would ultimately leave her living under their thumb which was less than ideal. Perhaps allying herself with others against the empire would be a better bet. She managed to topple the Earth Kingdom so perhaps she could do the same to an intergalactic empire. Only time will tell, but that was a problem for a future date.

Now her main focus should be observing and planning, but She refocused her attention and found she and the captain were being directed to meet the governor in his office. They stepped through a large circular sliding door into a spacious office scarcely decorated where they found the governor sitting behind a desk seated in a chair that was suited for his anatomy but would be uncomfortable for others.

He was a tall brown ant-like creature with large bulbous eyes, long feather shaped antenna dressed in regal white robes, his arms folded up against his chest like a mantis.

The creature acknowledged their presence, putting away some paperwork as he rose to greet them on four multi jointed legs, a round abdomen hanging from his rear.

"Glad to see you in one piece My'Rell." A digital voice came from a translator that hung around his neck after a series of rhythmic clicks emitted from his four pronged mouth.

The shock of seeing these bizarre creatures was beginning to wear off with each new one that appeared.

"Almost came back in several, though. Had a run in with a rival group but we took care of it." She responded flippantly.

"I noticed. Planetary security caught several surviving pirates trying to enter Kazima space after you destroyed their hideout. Though I was beginning to worry that maybe they had done you in when you didn't come to collect your money immediately."

"Belko you know they can't kill me that easily. Plus, somebody needs to remind you how awful Proxly is at his job." My'Rell said patting his shoulder while they both shared a laugh.

"He's not all bad, sure he's difficult to work with but if you're constantly dealing with threats to Kazima's security you'd be as crotchety as he is. But enough of that, I have your units here." He scuttled back to his desk where he procured a large heavy black box dropping it on the desk. At the press of a button the top slid open revealing dozens of small golden bricks neatly stacked within, "Forty thousand units, as promised."

"Didn't skim any for yourself did you?" She said jokingly as she inspected it.

The governor let out a series of clicks his translator interpreted as hardy laughter, "You know I don't do that anymore, especially after what happened when I did that to some pirates." He pointed to a deep scar on the carapace of the left side of his face, "Will this be all you're visiting for?"

My'Rell closed the case, "Not entirely, my protégé here is new to Kazima and is in need of an ID. I was hoping you could help with that."

The bug man turned to Azula, his large compound eyes scanning her up and down, "I was wondering who this was. You usually don't employ people so… young."

"She's the exception."

"Well there is a bit of a waiting list, however, if My'Rell recommends you then perhaps I can bump you up a little."

Azula bowed respectfully to the insect and replied in a honeyed voice, "Thank you governor. I'm glad you would welcome me to your world."

"Nonsense, all are welcome here. Hundreds come to the fringes of explored space in search for new opportunities, whether it be a new life, a second chance or to hide from the troubles of their homeland. Kazima is a place of new beginnings and growth." His digital voice held a warmness that clashed heavily with his insectoid appearance.

It was strange being so welcomed despite knowing nothing about her or her status.

"Although we do need to run thorough background checks on all new potential citizens."

"That won't be an issue." My'Rell reassured, "Azula here is from an uncharted system away from galactic society. She doesn't have a record."

The governor's body language shifted towards apprehension, "An uncharted system? Am I to expect a visit from a new civilization soon?"

"Not at all."

"Good, I'm in no mood to negotiate trade with a new civilization so soon, especially when there are problems that need solving here. I'll send a message to our immigration office and get the process started for you. We'll classify her as an unregistered species." The governor said as he typed away at his computer.

My'Rell thanked him as they went to the immigration office where Azula was asked a series of questions, many of which she was unable to answer but My'Rell was able to bluff or fill in for her and in no time Azula was granted her ID.

She looked it over observing the photo taken of her in a poised regal expression. All her necessary information was on the card. After gaining her ID both she and the Captain left city hall, the large box of money being carried by the same robot that drove them here as they returned to the hover car.

"So, now that we have our money and I have this, what now?"

My'Rell sat opposed to her with the chest by her side, "Deposit this in the bank and since I don't feel like going back into space just yet and I'm sure you don't want to be stuck wearing that jumpsuit for the rest of your life. So why not go do some shopping?" She then tossed her a few of the golden bricks, "Try not to spend it all in one place."

The vehicle took them to the market area of the city where My'Rell chaperoned the former princess as she was allowed to buy some clothes for herself, nothing too fancy, mostly utilitarian wear for work as for now Azula prioritized functionality above all and also due to her not knowing what is considered fashionable in the galaxy.

With Azula's shopping out of the way she tailed My'Rell as she window shopped the wears of the bustling market area. They had left the robot driver behind with their vehicle awaiting their return, the marketplace was located near the seedier parts of town near the slums, My'Rell warned her to keep an eye out for pickpockets.

The captain stood at a kiosk selling various firearms with a clear admiration for them, often asking specific questions regarding their capabilities, range and materials used to make them. The enthusiasm she showed for these weapons reminded Azula of the subtle passion Mai displayed when it came to throwing knives and other sharp objects.

Azula on the other hand only looked at the weapons with apathy. She saw these plasma blasters as a crude imitation of firebending. It took Azula her entire life to be able to fire bend as brilliantly and lethally as she could, however anyone could just grab one of these weapons and just fire away with no skill or discipline, however she can't be too disgusted with there existence after all bending seems to only exist on earth so a substitute was bound to exist.

She was quickly beginning to grow bored as My'Rell insisted on seeing more firearms. The remaining units in her pocket were the only thing she had to fiddle with to keep her mind stimulated until she felt a soft tug at her pant leg.

She looked down to the source where she saw a little boy dressed in rags that looked very similar to Angara only without the facial tattoos and dark hair instead of red, a Ke'Kuvon child.

"Miss, can you spare some money, please?" he pleaded in a soft dreary voice as he looked up at her with his large amber eyes.

Azula sneered at the little boy for touching her with his filthy hands, "Leave me alone. I have nothing for you."

"Please Ms. we don't have enough for food."

"What makes you think I have any money to spare?"

The small child pointed to the golden hair piece woven into her topknot.

"Fair enough." She growled to herself, "If you want money for food then go someplace else and maybe think about getting a job. Now get out of my sight." She lined her voice with a threatening edge that made the poor boy shutter with him running away alongside a little Ke'Kuvon girl.

She returned to the captain's side as she held a large bulky blaster aiming down the sights, "Are you almost finished here? This place is starting to become suffocating."

My'Rell continued to aim down the sights before pulling back on the barrel causing cooling flaps to open along its sides, "Just a minute. I'm still debating on whether I want this blaster or not."

Azula only groaned to herself as she reached into her pocket again to fiddle with the spare change she had only to find that her pocket was empty. Confused, she quickly patted all the pockets on her legs trying to find the few unit bricks that she knew she still had only for a realization to kick in. She had her money until that little boy came up to her and when she darted her head to the direction he had run off to. There he was with the little girl that ran past counting her money between them. The boy must have been a distraction so the girl could pickpocket her.

Enraged at their theft Azula called out to them as she bolted in their direction pushing past the various other alien shop goers and leaving a confused My'Rell behind. The two children ran in fear as she chased them through the streets past various vendors. The two children dashed past a parked hover cycle with the boy revving the accelerator causing it to dash towards Azula but she jumped out of the way as the vehicle crashed into the side of a building with her continuing the chase until she was back on their tail following them up a stairwell.

At the top the girl spotted a cart of maroon vegetables with its owner distracted with a possible customer and pushed it down the steps barreling towards Azula. On impulse she shot the ground beneath her with blue flames propelling her in the air flipping over the storming cart until she landed perfectly near them as the cart smashed at the base of the steps spilling its contents everywhere.

"My Kazimen cabbages!" the alien merchant cried out as Azula stormed passed still in chase.

The two children ran into a narrow alleyway that perfectly allowed them to maintain their speed but slowed Azula down as she had to squeeze her way through until she pulled herself out into the outskirts of the slums. She scanned the horizon of run down homes and dirty streets until she saw the children run into what looked like an abandoned warehouse. She growled in annoyance as she advanced to the building, the heavier gravity was causing her to tire out quickly.

The hole in the wall that they crawled into was too small for her to follow so instead she kicked open a chained up door off its hinges where she found a group of other Ke'Kuvon youths of various ages loitering about with all of their attention on the intruder.

The two children ran behind the eldest youth with short dark red hair, narrow face and dressed in grungy streetwear who turned to her with a snarl flashing his teeth as he brought his raised hand down from throwing a knife at a poster with several other knives and with a commanding biting tone asked, "Who the hell are you?"

"I'm the one who was just robbed by those two brats!" she bit back pointing to the two children who hid behind the teen, "I don't take kindly to thievery."

The various teens got up from whatever they were doing and began to crowd around her brandishing improvised weapons such as broken pipes, crowbars or their bare knuckles. Azula scanned all five of them as they approached for possible weaknesses, none of them seemed as though they were skilled fighters, just a bunch of street thugs acting tough. She could clearly defeat all of them without the use of her bending.

The leader fiddled with the knife in his hand as he waved for the two kids to get back, "Well you should have kept better track of your wallet then." he squinted as he studied her, "What are you some kind of deformed Pendaren?"

She rolled her eyes, "I'm really starting to get tired of people asking me that."

"You should turn around and go back to wherever you came from. Pendaren's aren't welcomed here." He waved the knife close to her face as he stood over her.

"Well…" she pointed the tip away from her with her index finger, "First of all, I am not a Pendaren. Second, If I can just get back what was stolen I will be on my way… and no one gets hurt."

They all started to chuckle, "You're really threatening us?" the leader asked, "It's five against one."

"I've faced greater odds." she said smugly stated.

The leader let out a mocking laugh flashing his fangs with the rest of his crew following suit before he sent a fist flying towards her face. Already anticipating the attack Azula pulled her head back avoiding the blow easily before stepping in and striking his stomach hard enough to knock him back. He snarled like an animal lunging forward with the knife swiping at her with Azula dodging each attack, the last swipe managing to leave a shallow cut on her shoulder, that last attack shouldn't have hit her but the higher gravity was slowing her movements down. Not wanting to risk another attack landing she grabbed hold of his wrist twisting the knife out of his grasp before throwing him aside.

The others soon decided to join in with Azula ducking out the way of a pipe being swung at her and side stepping a crowbar. The one with the crowbar swung down at her again only for Azula to catch his wrist and deliver an open palm to his chin, disorienting him long enough for her to subdue him with a swift kick to the stomach. She quickly grabbed the crowbar and blocked another swing from the pipe then sweeping his legs out from under him before firmly planting a drop kick on his chest knocking the wind out of him and subduing him.

The other two, who seemed to be a brother and sister pair, came at her. Azula threw the crowbar at the legs of the brother, sending him falling to his face; the sister however got behind Azula and was able to wrap her arms around her tightly. Recovering from his fall the brother reared up and threw a fist towards Azula's face. She narrowly escapes the blow by moving her head out of the way causing him to punch his sister instead.

The sister's grip was still firmly around Azula but the disorientation gave her the opportunity to throw both feet into the brother's chest, knocking him back and propelling the two girls into an old stack of empty crates. Now free Azula delivered a hard punch to the girl's face knocking her out.

Azula was beginning to feel the fatigue set in and no more was this present then when she turned to face her next opponent and was met with a shoulder bash by the leader that knocked her to the ground. He jumped onto her before she could get up, sending a flurry of blows down on her that she blocked with her arms. This would not be a viable defense for long, his fists felt like frozen turkeys hammering down on her and the higher gravity only made their impact sting even more. As he pulled his arm back for another blow she broke her defense and struck him with an open palm to the throat then kicked him off of her before stumbling back up where she was grabbed by the brother and thrown against the wall, the impact knocking the breath out of her lungs.

After recovering she saw the brother marching up to her cracking his knuckles. From what she could tell he was the biggest of the group and the strongest as he was able to shrug off that kick to the chest, if she wanted to take him down she would have to strike at a precise weak point. Just as he was getting ready to strike she sent a kick between his legs causing him to let out a high pitched cry of pain as his knees gave out from under him and he was left there holding his crotch as he fell over. It seems Ke'Kuvon anatomy was very similar to humans, at least for the males.

Now the only one left was the leader who got back to his feet, he ran back to the wall pulling all the knives out and took on a throwing stance.

"Taking me seriously now, are we?" She said in an almost mocking manner.

"That's on me for underestimating you, but now I ain't making that mistake again!" He threw one of the knives at her leg.

She jumped out of the way as it landed where she stood. He threw a few more with Azula dodging each. He was good, just as good as Mai when they sparred during their time hunting the Avatar, thankfully that came in handy when dealing with this street rat.

She managed to close the distance between them dodging a few more until he was left with one in each hand. He lunged at her swinging each blade with precision managing to leave shallow cuts on her arms and legs as she tried her best to dodge his attacks. She couldn't keep up with his attacks, she was too tired and slowing down.

He roared out as he swung a knife downward, a swing she could not dodge and braced for the inevitable pain, yet it never came. When she looked down she saw the knife landed on her audio translator, throwing out sparks. The leader tried to pull the knife but it was stuck.

Now was her time to strike, she swung her leg into his side making him drop his blades before grabbing him by the collar and with all her might and frustration repeatedly punched his face, blood trickling from his nose and bruises forming all over until his body went limp and he fell backwards. His breathing labored and was on the brink of unconsciousness.

She struggled to stay on her feet, exhaustion almost taking hold of her. She managed to defeat them all but it took entirely too much effort on her part. She should have just used firebending from the start. Now she will rectify that decision.

She held out a hand and summoned a blue flame just as the leader was beginning to recover, his eyes growing wide at the sight of it in fear.

"Now I believe a demonstration of fear is in order." She echoed her fathers words as she approached, "So tell me, which hand is your dominant one?"

The leader crawled away as best he could until he touched the wall.

"Why don't we make it both?" She summoned another flame, "Just to be precise." A sadistic smile grew on her lips as she got closer. She revealed in his fear, finally she felt powerful again. She felt in control, like nothing could stop her, until a shovel collided with the back of her head sending her sprawling to the floor.

Behind her the little boy stood with an old shovel. The leader got back up grabbing both kids by their hands leading them away and kicked his friends awake, "Come on! Let's get out of here before this psycho wakes up!"

They all ran out following the leader. Azula however was still awake, a little disoriented but awake, and recovered herself.

"Hey!" She called out while stumbling to her feet as she gave chase, "Where do you think you're going?"

The group ran out of the old building turning down the street with Azula in hot pursuit. Many of them attempted to do as the kids did, overturning various objects hanging by the streets and pushing people in her way. Still a bit disoriented and fatigued, Azula found dodging the obstacles difficult with her being tripped up by a rolling trash can or running into a bystander that she promptly pushed out of the way.

Seeing how relentless she was the leader ordered they split up with each member taking a different path at an intersection. Azula focused on the leader and the two kids he dragged with him, bolting up the street they took and was almost able to catch them until a man herding several tall six limbed camel-like creatures cut her off. The teenage Ke'Kuvon grabbed both kids and tossed them onto a hover trolly passing by before climbing on himself and with a smug smirk waved her goodbye as the two kids stuck their lavender colored tongues out at her while making immature faces.

Her blood now boiling, Azula used her firebending to launch herself over the group of animals, startling them into a stampede and landing in a roll that put her back on the warpath towards the three Ke'Kuvon. Her targets quickly lost their smiles.

The trolly crossed over a bridge overlooking a canal and with the road running out as it crossed a bridge that was clearly made only to hold the trolly Azula propelled herself in the air once more running along the side of the surrounding buildings using her firebending to keep her afloat until she was close enough to jump onto the roof of the vehicle. She swung down through the open entrance and was met with the teen waiting for her and delivering a push kick into her stomach sending her out and into a puddle.

Now significantly battered and now wet, Azula vowed to make sure these three paid for the trouble they caused her, the water of the puddle boiling at her fury before she gave chase again.

The leader now seeing Azula using her fire to fly out of the canal and was back on the warpath again he decided to look around the environment for a better means of escape, his amber eyes landing on the train station in view with a train leading out of the city parked.

Azula couldn't keep running forever, the weight of the planet was bringing her to exhaustion but her pride wouldn't allow such a transgression against her to go unpunished and with all her might used her firebending to propel herself onto the rear of the vehicle where she climbed in through the emergency exit. The passengers parted way in fear after witnessing the jets of flames along with the small bursts of blue fire that emitted from her mouth every time she exhaled.

Her eyes darted side to side looking for the teen and what she assumed to be his siblings and finding no trace of them. She turned to a cyclops alien with a thin head and grabbed him by the collar forcing him into eye level with her.

"The three Ke'Kuvon brats that were here! Where are they?!"

He frantically pointed out the window towards the train station. After tossing him aside she jumped out of the moving trolly and broke out into a light jog towards the station. Surely those peasants are just as tired as she is.

The three managed to make their way to the station, the oldest keeping an eye out for their pursuer as the two kids followed him.

"Tyto, is she still following us?" The little girl asked with worry.

"Yeah, she's scary." The little boy followed up.

Tyto pushed the two kids before him, encouraging them to go ahead as he continued to look over his shoulders, "I don't know. Listen, Teo and Tia, if she shows up before we can get on the train home I want you two to sneak on one without me. I'll make sure she doesn't follow you."

The two siblings nodded in agreement to him.

"That girl is crazy, and what was up with that fire? How much did you take from her anyway?"

Tia, the little girl, dug into her pocket pulling out the gold brick followed by a few silver and bronze ones, "Five units."

His head shot back in surprise, "Five units?! You're telling me she beat up our entire group and chased us all over town for five units! That's not even enough to buy lunch. She must really be crazy."

He led them to a chain link fence on the side of the building and pulled a torn end up allowing the two kids to crawl under before going as well with the end of his black jacket getting caught and tearing off as he went through.

Azula finally made it to the station now tired and out of breath and marched to the ticket kiosk, "Ke'Kuvon… three of them… have you seen them?"

"I'm sorry?" he asked in confusion.

She slammed her fist against the glass, "Three Ke'Kuvon brats came here! Have you seen them or not!" she shouted in violent rage.

"I'm sorry miss, but I can't understand what you are saying."

She then remembered her audio translator turning to her hip and seeing the knife still firmly planted in it and sparks still shooting out from it. Roaring out in rage she pulled it away and threw it to the ground as she went to continue her search.

Azula searched around the area and followed the fence, finding a torn piece of clothing at the end of a torn end of the fence recognizing it as belonging to the oldest teen of the group. With her fire bending she shot herself over the fence nearly catching herself on the barbed wire and landed not so gracefully on the opposite end. She growled in frustration to herself as she jogged up and entered the only train just before it took off.

*****

Angara sat comfortably in one of the center carts watching as the slums passed by, her broken helmet sitting in her lap. There were very few attending this cart as at this time of day on Kazima the trains are not as fully packed with passengers which is how Angara likes it. No one to bother her or get on her nerves.

She already spent most of her day stuck in the law enforcement office getting the scalps she collected scanned and authenticated as the DNA testing machine was down for a good while keeping her from collecting her bounties adding to her already high temper. Now she is getting back to her people and can finally take some time for herself and enjoy the sounds of the train. That silence was interrupted when the door to the far end of the car slid open with three individuals entering in a panic.

She opened her eyes to see whatever annoyance came to disturb her solitude but was surprised to see people she knew, "Tyto?"

"Angara?" He said in surprise.

"Big sis!" the twins called out running and jumping onto her with a hug.

"Stop calling me that." She said in annoyance as she patted them affectionately, "Didn't expect to see you three so quickly. And you-" she looked at Tyto and was shocked at how bruised and bloodied his face was, so much so she stood up quickly looking him over like a concerned parent, "What happened? Who did this to you?"

"We're being chased by a crazy lady!" Teo said, pulling out from the hug.

"Yeah! She beat up everybody and chased us all over town!" Tia followed up, still clinging onto Angara's leg.

"Really?" Angara said flatly and gave Tyto a scornful look, "Why are you being chased?"

Tyto, feeling the scrutiny in her gaze, looked away scratching his head nervously, "It's just like they said. She's crazy!"

Not believing a word he said she grabbed his pointed ear pulling at it hard enough to make him cry out, "Are you making your cousins pickpocket again?"

"No! I swear I didn't!"

She turned to the twins with a piercing gaze, "Did he?"

The two children looked away, twiddling their fingers.

"A little." Tia answered.

Angara pulled at his ear some more as she scolded him, "And now you pick pocketed the wrong person putting your cousins in danger and you getting beaten to a pulp, like the idiot you are!"

"Okay! Okay! Yes, it's my fault! Could you please stop trying to tear off my ear?!"

Angara let him go, "This crazy lady, is she on board?"

"I don't know. I think we lost her." Tyto held his ear trying to soothe the pain.

Angara growled as she rubbed her head in frustration, "Sit down. I'll make sure this lady doesn't do anything if she shows up."

"Yay! Big sis is gonna fight her!" the twins said in unison.

"Shut up. I'm not your sister." She grabbed the twins and sat them down giving Teo her helmet to hold before turning to Tyto, "And don't think you're getting out of this unscathed. Your uncle is gonna be hearing about this!"

He sat down next to the twins with his head downcast and responded in a defeated tone, "Yes big sis."

She lightly slapped his head, "What did I say about calling me that?"

Now with the task of babysitting again she kept a watch on each end of the cart awaiting this crazy lady they came across, "So what does this crazy lady look like?"

"She was a Pendaren!" Teo shouted.

"I think she was one." Tia responded, "But she looked weird."

"How weird?"

"She didn't have horns or black eyes like one." Tyto answered.

"Huh…" Angara responded as this was beginning to sound familiar.

"She had weird hair too." Tia then said.

"She had a pony tail on the top of her head with a gold thingy in it." Teo added, pointing to his dark hair.

"That's called a topknot."

"She also shot fire from her hands!" Teo tried to imitate her movements.

Angara turned to them, her eyes widening in realization, "Tell me it wasn't blue fire."

"It was!" Tia answered.

"Yeah she was like a walking flamethrower. Wait, how did you know it was blue?" Tyto asked just as the door they had just came from slid open with a very angry, scuffed up and soaking wet Azula stomped through.

"There you are, you brats!" she announced seething with anger.

"It's the crazy lady!" Tia shouted, hiding behind her brother.

"Kill her big sis!" Teo shouted in support.

Azula's brow furrowed seeing Angara standing with those she had been chasing at the far end of the cart, "You! What are you doing here?"

"I just enjoy long train rides." her sarcastic remark only added more fuel to Azula's frustration, "What does it look like I'm doing? I'm visiting family."

Tyto got up behind Angara standing between her and his cousins, "Careful big sis! She kicked the crap out of all five of us."

Angara scoffed, "That's not very impressive Tyto."

"Step aside Angara! My business is with them." Azula said, making her way closer to them. The few other passengers grew uncomfortable.

Angara stepped between her and the group and said with an audacious snarl, "Hold it princess. They're with me, so if you've got an issue with them you gotta take it with me."

In an attempt to calm her nerves she took several deep breaths, "Those two children stole my money out from under me and the other one assaulted me with his gang of misfits!"

The two girls locked eyes neither willing to back down from the other. Angara snapped her fingers and held out a hand, "Money."

Tia dropped the units in her hand.

She looked at the money counting it, "Five units…" She scoffed before tossing the change to Azula's feet, "There's your money, now go sit in the other cart and use it to get a ticket back."

Azula looked at the measly series of brick shaped coins at her feet, "This isn't just about the money anymore. After everything those peasants put me through I demand retribution."

Tyto bared his teeth letting out a defiant hiss with the twins mimicking him. Angara only stared at her with a scowl, "They'll get their punishment. I'll see to it."

"That's not good enough!"

"Well too bad because that's all you're gonna get."

Azula closed her eyes and took another long deep breath before stepping over the money, her voice becoming a demanding growl, "Step aside."

Angara bared her teeth and hissed, "Make me."

Chapter Text

Azula and Angara stared each other down at the end of each corridor waiting for the other to make the first move. The three young Ke'Kuvon standing behind the older huntress as if she was an impenetrable wall while the three other passengers looked on in dread as to what's to come.

"Everybody who's not me or her, get out!" Angara announced, the other passengers made no hesitation to run off. She leaned back not taking her eyes off her opponent, "That goes for you three as well."

"But, big sis…" Tyto pleaded.

"Beat it!" She ordered.

Tyto grabbed his cousins and pulled them behind the sliding door leaving Angara and Azula alone.

"You can turn back now princess. We can forget this ever happened and just walk away." She said, grabbing her broken helmet from the seat.

"Getting cold feet already? I thought you were braver than that."

Angara cracked her knuckles against her chin, "It's good sport to allow the weaker opponent to walk away."

Azula let out an exasperated laugh as she ran her fingers through her hair, straightening it out, "I'm going to enjoy this far more than I should." Her expression shifted to one of detachment as her analytical mind took over.

Compared to the previous group of untrained misfits Angara was a force to be reckoned with. Covered almost head to toe in armor that turned her into a living tank along with a series of gadgets. Azula knew she was at a disadvantage, the only edge she had was her firebending but the chase and earlier fight had sapped her of a lot of strength. If she was going to stand any chance against Angara she needed to bait her into making the first move. It shouldn't be hard, after all she was like Zuko, an emotional brute who attacks in blind rage.

"I was such a fool thinking I could make peace with you. A savage filthy peasant, part of a sad dying and defeated people. Too prideful to recognize their own weakness!"

Angara's snarl grew wider as she growled like a feral wolf bat, nostrils flaring, "That's it! I'm gonna smash every bone connected to that mouth of yours!"

Angara took the bait and charged blindly. Azula smirked as she quickly lined up a shot and sent a small blast of blue fire towards her eye's. Angara reacted quickly and blocked the shot with her helmet before throwing it with all her might.

Azula ducked out of the way as the helmet nearly collided with her face but could not recover in time to stop the punch to her stomach, the force of which nearly knocked her off her feet. Angara followed up with another swing this time directed towards her face. On instinct Azula shot a blast of fire with her foot into Angara's stomach pushing both opponents away from each other.

Azula clenched her stomach as she braced herself against a seat. She had received very few direct physical blows like that in her life but that one was by far the strongest and most painful one she's ever taken.

Angara quickly shot up to her feet, her padded stomach covered in scorch marks, and was quick to go back on the offensive.

Azula bolted up ignoring the pain and shot a continuous cone of fire at her. Angara threw up her arm with her energy shield unfolding and sent the blast in every other direction as she closed the distance between them, stopping the blast with a swift back handed swipe with the shield. With the shield retracted Angara sent a flurry of powerful blows with Azula ducking and weaving out of each but struggled to keep up until one struck her face almost sending her to the floor

The baited attack didn't work so now Azula must remain on the defensive and wait for an opening.

Angara's attacks were relentless with her strategy clearly being to overwhelm Azula, her offense simultaneously being her defense, thankfully for Azula Angara's movements were slowed down by both the weight of her armor and the high gravity. She couldn't use her firebending at this range as the narrow train cart gave her very little room to bend without the risk of burning herself.

The only obvious weak point was her head so Azula focused on sending a jab or punch to it any chance she got with the Ke'Kuvon woman taking each shot like it was nothing.

Azula went for another jab to her jaw but Angara caught her by the wrist and pulled her in to deliver a devastating headbutt, her thorny head spikes digging into the princess's forehead. Heavily dazed from the attack, Azula was wide open for another that Angara greedily took by hammering her head two more times into Azula's but in the process put herself in a similar daze.

The two stumbled away from each other, Angara bracing herself against a pole trying to regain her senses while Azula was in a worse state sprawled out on the ground, forehead bleeding. She was on the edge of consciousness, the world spinning around her, ears ringing and nausea setting in but she refused to go down. She would not allow herself to be defeated in such a manner and she slowly pushed herself up and saw Angara attempting to reorient herself.

She forced herself up and shot two more fireballs at her, one dispersing on her chest plate and the other hitting the edge of her armored skirt burning through the fabric of her side, Angara cried out holding her side leaving her open to a flying knee that collided with the side of her face sending her sprawling to the floor on her stomach.

Azula wasted no time wrapping an arm around her neck putting her in a choke hold. Angara struggled against her grip but her position didn't allow for much flexibility. With her opposing hand Azula summoned a plume of fire with Angara grabbing hold of her wrists before the flame could be jammed into her face.

"You know, my brother has this awful burn in the side of his face!" She attempted to inch the flame closer to Angara's right eye, "I loved to make fun of it and watch him get angry knowing he couldn't do anything about it! But I haven't seen him in a long time and I'm growing a little homesick!" Angara struggled to keep the fire away, its light blinding, "Why don't I make you my new Zuzu?!"

Angara couldn't keep this up forever so she reached for her jetpack controls on her hip activating the thrusters and propelling them both into the roof of the compartment, Azula taking the brunt of the blow and broke the hold she had over her.

Angara summoned the blade from her gauntlet and swung backwards landing a deep cut just under the princess's eye. Angara swung the blade savagely roaring out with fury trying to slice up the princess. Azula caught her arm, stopping her assault until the huntress grabbed the back of Azula's head and attempted to pull her neck onto the edge of her blade.

"Still think you got the upper hand here, princess?" She let a feral smile creep up on her face.

With the blade inching closer and closer to her throat Azula found it difficult to breathe. With one last deep breath Azula shot a small burst of fire singing the Ke'Kuvon's scarlet bangs with Azula kicking her away.

The two glared daggers at each other and were about to lung until one of the doors slid open pausing their battle momentarily as an elderly alien slug woman pushed a cart of refreshments down the aisle. She was so old that she didn't seem to notice the carnage of battle on the two passengers.

Not wanting the old woman to get involved in their fight the two girls shifted out of their fighting stances and pretended to be passengers enjoying the ride while using this time to regain their strength.

The old woman's droopy eye stalks turned to them, "Refreshments?"

"No, we're good." Angara said in a rushed response, wanting the old train attendant gone.

"Actually," Azula called to the attendant, "I'm feeling a little parched. Do you have any water with you?"

Angara's glare intensified as the old woman searched the cart and presented her a bottle of water, "Twelve units, please."

Azula took the bottle and feigned concern as she patted her pockets, "Oh no, it would seem I don't have enough money on me." She turned to the smoldering Angara, "You don't mind, do you?" She asked before opening the bottle and taking a gulp from it.

Angara's face tightened further in rage to the point she was grinding her teeth as she reached for her wallet and presented a card to the attendant not wanting to continue the fight while the older woman was still present.

After scanning her card the elderly slug woman returned the card before slowly slithering out the opposite door.

"You owe me twelve units." Angara spat out bitterly.

"Is that a lot?" She took another long sip.

"For a bottle of water, yes."

"Thank you for your sacrifice then." She gave her a snobbish smile before taking another sip.

Angara gave her a long hard stare as she watched her drink the overly priced water she was forced to pay for, "I hate you."

Azula screwed the lid back onto the half empty bottle, "The feeling is mutual."

She then threw it as hard as she could, managing to hit the bounty hunter in the corner of her forehead and disorienting her long enough for Azula to deliver a push kick into her stomach and send her into the cart window, the window cracking as Angara's jetpack made contact. She followed up with another blast of fire that Angara narrowly dodged.

After rolling out of the way of another wave of fire Angara grabbed her helmet from the floor and swung it hitting Azula in her side, interrupting her attack before going on the offensive again.

Azula attempted to throw another jab to her nose hoping to blindside her long enough for a more devastating attack but found herself punching the metal helmet Angara used as a shield at full force.

After recoiling from the pain Angara lunged towards her, tackling the princess through the sliding door, the door bending and breaking off its hinges and glass from its window shattering.

Both opponents were exhausted and hurt but neither were willing to stop the fight, however Azula was hitting her limit and she was struggling to get up. Angara still had her strength though and pulled herself up and knelt over her.

"I said… I was going to… smash every bone… attached to your mouth…" Angara said in between breaths.

Azula's eyes widened as she raised the helmet over her head and aimed for Azula's mouth.

"I always… keep my promises!" Before she could hammer the helmet down a metallic voice cut through the air.

"Freeze!"

Angara turned to see two law enforcement officers standing behind them with their weapons drawn.

"Weapons down! Appendages in the air!" The other officer shouted.

Angara slowly lowered the helmet and got off Azula doing as instructed.

Azula stumbled up attempting to smooth over her appearance, "Officer… there's been a misunderstanding here…" she attempted to smooth things over.

"Appendages in the air!" He repeated more forcefully.

She couldn't bargain her way out of this situation so she just had to comply.

One of the officers began to list out their crimes as he made his way to arrest them. While doing so Angara looked to her right towards the flexible membrane between the carts. She summoned her wrist blade and with a quick swing sliced it open with the sudden shock of the outside wind shooting in disorienting everyone present she leapt out.

Seeing an opportunity to escape Azula followed diving through the hole before the officer could catch her.

Azula plummeted to the ground below, throwing her arms to her side shooting jets of fire to slow her descent until she made an ungraceful landing in a dirt mound.

The train sped away following the elevated tracks towards its destination leaving both of them behind in the badlands of Kazima. Azula looked around herself seeing nothing but pink sevanna and sparse red trees. She attempted to stand but her limbs buckled. She had used up all of her strength and couldn't continue with her vision blurring until she fell on her face unconscious.

Angara walked following the tracks until she saw Azula face down in the dirt. She snarled in frustration, "You've got to be kidding me!"

Angara marched up to her, flipping her over, finding that she was unconscious. A rhythmic vibrating came from one of her pockets. Angara reached into it pulling out a communicator and answered it.

"Azula, finally! I've been trying to reach you for an hour now!" My'Rell's voice came through loudly in annoyance, "Where are you, right now?"

"The princess is currently knocked out in the badlands, captain." She answered in a tired tone.

"Angara? Why are you answering Azula's communicator and what do you mean she's knocked out?"

Angara looked down on the unconscious princess wanting nothing more than to bash her face in but her honor prevented her from striking an unconscious opponent.

She sighed, "How much time do you have, captain?"

*****

Azula awoke to water being poured over her face making her jump up in surprise.

"Wakey, wakey princess." Angara said with a sneer holding a canteen over her.

"What happened?" She asked frantically.

"We're stranded in the badlands because of you." She said sitting on a rock, "Horizon city is an eight hour walk back the way we came and the nearest place of refuge is the Ke'Kuvon camp which is three hours that way." She pointed in a direction away from the other end of the tracks.

Azula hissed in pain as she slowly tried to pull herself up, "Then let's make for the camp and try to-"

"Sit down." Angara ordered, drawing her blaster.

Azula furrowed her brow in frustration not wanting to deal with another argument.

"Listen! If we are going to survive we need to-"

A bright red plasma blast struck the ground by her feet, silencing her instantly, "Sit. Down."

Azula slowly complied.

"You know, I could redirect that beam." She cautiously reminded her.

Angara flipped a switch on her blaster, "Let's see if you can redirect rapid-fire, then."

She looked to the sky staring at the great ring and two moons orbiting overhead, "So are we just going to sit here and wait for whatever passes for man-eating animals to eat us or are we going to try and get out of here?"

"We are going to sit right here and wait until My'Rell comes with the shuttle and picks you up. Then I'm going to go back to my people and try and forget you exist."

"How long is that going to take?"

"However long it needs to be."

"She could pick me up at the camp-"

For the third time Angara interrupted her, "There is no way in hell I will ever let you anywhere near that camp!" Angara stood over her, fury in her eyes but winced at the pain caused by the burn on her side, "You chased three members of my clan all over town and tried to burn them over five units. My people already have a lot to deal with, I'm not going to bring a psychopath like you into the mix."

"Would you have simply let it go?"

"No I wouldn't, but I saw Tyto's face. Yeah, maybe he deserved it. He's a stupid kid who can't keep his nose out of trouble but you got your retribution, so you should have just taken the money and walked away! That's what I would've done." Angara sat back down attempting to calm herself, "You may have been the head of the pack on that primitive rock you call a home but you're not there anymore. Out here you're not a princess you're just some pup biting at bigger predators you think are prey." She chuckled to herself, "You know, I think that'll be my nickname for you. Pup. After all, I don't want to feed your ego by calling you a princess."

"That's enough!" Azula exploded attempting to stand but her wounds kept her down, "I will not sit here and be lectured to like I am lesser than! Especially by someone like you!"

Angara raised the weapon, "Careful pup, in case you forgot I won that fight and you're in no condition for a rematch."

Azula glared at her before taking a seated position, "I was exhausted, both from the chase, my fight with this Tyto and his lackeys along with just how heavy everything is around here… that's the only reason you won."

"Right." Angara said slowly.

Azula then turned to her glaring and with an edge to her voice, "If you ever call me pup again I'll-"

"You'll what? Break your nose on my fist?" Angara responded with just as much edge.

Azula turned away seeing a small watering hole, "I'm going to wash my face, or is that a problem?"

Angara gave her a long hard stare before responding, "Stay in my line of sight."

Azula stood up and slowly hobbled to the pool of water and kneeled down and looked at her reflection. She was a disheveled mess. Her pristine skin sullied with bruises and cuts. Her topknot was a tangled lopsided mess, strands out of place and hanging in her face.

She looked just like she did on the day of the comet. Imperfect, broken, insane… monstrous. She looked at her hands and noticed they were shaking.

"Azula." A familiar voice called out from across the watering hole.

She looked up and saw her mother standing amongst the pink grass, her red robes looking as though they belonged with the surrounding environment.

She can't snap not here. She can't show anyone else her weakness. Not again.

She shoved her hands into the water getting rid of the image, scooping up some water and cleansing her face. Azula looked up again, the apparition gone.

She sighed in relief then undid her hair, redoing it so that not one hair was out of place. She had to be perfect, it's the only way to keep her focused, keep her sane.

Her skin was somewhat back to its original appearance save for the cuts and bruises and her beautiful hair was perfectly tied back into its normal topknot except for one thing, her right strand of hair that she allowed to hang loose to emphasize her jawline was cut in half lining up with the cut beneath her eye. An imperfection created by the Ke'Kuvon woman sitting behind her, one that drove her ire as she clutched it in her hand wanting to pull the offending imperfection away.

"Hurry up, Pup!" Angara called out.

Angara's communicator buzzed, My'Rell was calling, "Captain. You on your way?"

"I've got some bad news." The captain's voice came in with clear annoyance.

Angara snarled, pressing the sights of her blaster into her forehead as if to quell an oncoming headache, "What is it now?"

*****

My'Rell stood before the shuttle, arms crossed and a vein throbbing on her forehead, staring at a bright yellow clamp attached to the upper platform of the landing pad with its opposite end locked around one of the the shuttles legs with a thick cable connecting them.

She brought her communicator up to speak, "Proxly clamped the shuttle and he's not answering any of my calls."

*****

Angara roared out a series of curses drawing Azula's attention, "How long until you can get here?"

"I have no idea. You know how Proxly likes to drag things out." Her voice came through, "Listen, I know you're not going to like this but…"

"No! I am not bringing her there! I don't want her anywhere near the camp!"

"Then the both of you will be stuck out in the wilderness with no supplies!" My'Rell's voice came through like a mother scolding her child, "I don't like this anymore than you do but the camp is closer to you than the city. Just keep an eye on her until the morning, we should have this sorted out by then."

Angara continued to growl like an animal but deep down she knew the captain was right, "Fine, but if she burns anybody I'll kill her."

"Let me talk to her."

Angara called out to her using her new nickname then tossed her the communicator.

"Captain." Azula called, still not used to using such a device.

My'Rell's voice came through with a serious and careful tone, "Listen closely Azula. You'll be going with Angara to the Ke'Kuvon camp. They're not very welcoming to outsiders so I need you to follow and do everything Angara says."

"But-"

"No buts Azula. If you do anything to offend the Ke'Kuvon you could end up dead or worse. You think Angara is a pain? She's nice compared to some of the other members in that camp. Do you understand?"

Azula gritted her teeth and agreed. My'Rell hung up leaving the two to themselves.

"Alright pup it's a three hour hike, so keep up or I'll leave you behind!" Angara took back her communicator and marched towards the direction of the camp looking up at the sun, "It's going to get dark pretty soon so we better hurry."

Azula grumbled to herself and followed her as they began their trek through the pink grass hating every moment of being stuck with the bounty hunter, but at least the scenery was pleasant.

*****

My'Rell knelt at a table within her and her crews favorite restaurant Nogshita's with Sev and Gax as she messaged her temples trying to sooth away a migraine. First she spent all day running around the market looking were Azula took off too, then tried calling her eleven times on her communicator only to hit voice-mail every time, then when she finally does get through it is Angara who answers only to tell her that Azula was unconscious and mildly injured because they got into a fight on a train over Azula trying to inflict capital punishment herself for petty theft. Not to mention Proxly clamping their shuttle down because of the detour they took.

"The petty bastard." My'Rell kept repeating in her head.

Now she can't help but worry that her newest recruit is going to get herself killed either on the way to the camp by either Angara or some wild animal or in the camp. Things were truly a mess.

Sev seeing the captain's dejected domenor decided to offer some friendly words, "Hey Captain, want some squig?" He held out a green cube shaped bottle.

She snatched the bottle and took a long gulp from it slamming it back down before him.

"I uhh… meant a glass but… alright."

"That girl…" My'Rell ran her hands through her ebony hair, "She's only been with us for, what? Two? Three days? And she's already causing trouble and giving me stress headaches… Angara didn't even do that and she was a massive pain when she first joined."

Sev reached above them and pulled a hose down from the jellyfish shaped hookah machine that hung above their table and offered it to her, "Take a hit of some spice. It'll cool your nerves."

My'Rell did just that, inhaling the fumes of the herb and puffing out a cloud of pastel blue smoke. She could already feel its calming effects take hold, "Maybe I should just assign her to mess hall duty."

Sev puffed out a cloud of blue smoke as well, "It's just one bad day cap. We've all got our bad days. The firespitter is new to how things work out here. Maybe this'll be a humbling experience for her. Right Gax?"

Gax sat in a squat position, his large eyes drooped as blue smoke leaked from his nostrils, "Goora ka ni keshka." His voice was mellow and soft as the spice took hold of him.

"See, he agrees with me."

My'Rell wasn't even sure if that was true, after all she barely understood what Gax says. She shook her head as she let the hose retract back into the machine, "I just don't trust her. Do you two?"

"Not particularly, no." Sev answered, "But I'm giving her the benefit of the doubt and offering her a hand in friendship. Hopefully she doesn't spit in it."

"Gachita gunda Kora kata." Gax said with Sev chuckling.

"He says he trusts her as far as he can shoot her. You didn't exactly trust us when we first joined the crew and look at us now! Two of your finest weapons engineers! And that was after we tried stealing your ship."

"I was in a good mood that day. Any other day I would have thrown you out into space." My'Rell jabbed, taking the bottle of squig.

Gax let out another cloud of smoke letting the hose retract, "Kera kuru shi gal?" He said calmly to the captain.

She looked to the mechanical giant, "Sev, translate."

"He's asking why you let her join if you don't trust her so much." Sev drank from his glass, "Why her and not some other person from her planet?"

"The practical answer, she was already on-board and willing to work."

"And the not so practical answer?"

My'Rell thought long and hard about what to say, "I see a little bit of myself in her. Young, arrogant, dogmatic…" she shook her head at the memory of her younger self, "I also see someone who is confused, lost and alone. I guess my motherly instincts kicked in and decided I should take her under my wing. She had nowhere else to go and an ability that we could use so I offered her the job and thought that maybe I'd offer her a second chance after whatever happened on her world. After all, almost everyone in the storm is there for a second chance."

Sev and Gax accepted this answer.

"I just hope she doesn't get herself killed before then." she poured herself a glass and downed it, "While we're here keep your ears to the ground." She changed the subject with her expression shifting to one of stoney indifference, "Someone wants us dead and I have a feeling they're not gonna stop just yet."

Sev shifted his weight with his jolly demeanor shifting with it, "There's a lot of people that want us dead cap; syndicates, pirates, rival mercs. Hell, most of them want us dead because the storm is a Pendaren run group."

"I know but we can narrow it down to whoever hired the Death's Head to grab the fabricator. Duritax said they were offered a bonus to kill us. Typically a client would just tell them to get the job done but this one made it a point to pay extra to have us gone. Something tells me this was personal."

"The only people who knew about the client were Duritax's inner circle and the firespitter shot them all out into space and we already interrogated all our new members about it and got nothing."

"They would keep a record of it in their home base. We just need to access it, find out who hired them for the job and… persuade them from taking further action."

Sev and Gax gave each other a look, "Hitting Death's Head HQ? That's a tall order cap."

"I know but without Duritax the group is disorganized and panicked. However we have another issue, Courtix."

Both Sev and Gax grimaced at the name, "The butcher of Axelon four."

"He's going to want revenge and he'll strike soon. He's not exactly known for his patience."

"What should we do then? Just wait for him to show up on our doorstep."

My'Rell sighed as she poured herself another drink, "We might have to, but thankfully for us he's a thick skulled idiot so he'll be easy to strategize against."

"He might be lacking in the strategy department but he's a sledge hammer that hits like a runaway hover truck." Sev warned.

"But if you see the truck coming you can get out of the way." My'Rell countered before downing her drink, "Enough talk about work. I'm tired and I want to at least enjoy some of my time planetside."

With that said My'Rell and her two crewmen ceased all conversations involving their line of work.

*****

Azula and Angara continued their journey in relative silence through the rose colored grasslands, the sun beginning to set over the horizon turning the orange sky into shades of dark purple. The hot dry air was beginning to cool down and creatures of the night began to call out to one another. Azula may have had time to rest while unconscious but it did little to help regain her stamina with the high gravity continuing to sap away her strength with it beginning to become a struggle to keep up with Angara's brisk pace.

As Angara walked she continuously attempted to make contact with the camp but the signal within the badlands was proving to be spotty.

"Hey! This is Angara. Can anyone hear me?" She was only met with static, "Angara to camp! Your signal sucks! I don't know if you can hear me or not but I'm hiking to the camp after falling off the train. I've got a plus one with me so don't kill her… at least until I say so." Only more static came.

Azula eventually stopped, placing her hands on her knees as she tried to regain her breath, "Hold on… I need… a few minutes."

Angara looked over her shoulder, "Every moment we waste is a moment we can use to keep going."

"I'm exhausted!"

"And I'm mad that I'm stuck here with you, but you don't see me complaining!"

"You did plenty of that earlier." Azula muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" Angara hissed.

"Five minutes! That's all I need. Then we can continue."

Angara growled, "Fine. You get five minutes, pup."

Azula growled in annoyance, "Stop calling me that!"

"I'll stop when you beat me in a one on one fight." The snark in her voice only further rubbed salt in the wound for Azula who only growled in response.

Azula saw the canteen strapped to Angara's side, "I'm thirsty, give me some water." She trusted her hand out expectantly.

"Oh you mean this?" Angara unhooked the canteen, "Twelve units!" she demanded before strapping it back in, "You thought I forgot about that, huh?"

Azula rolled her eyes and focused back to regaining her strength.

"Twelve units for a freakin water bottle." She continued to grumble to herself, "By the way. You can definitely forget about trying to win me over as a mentor."

"Like listening to you shout at me all day for inconsequential things would do me any good." She sat down and decided to change the subject before it turned into another argument, "I imagine your siblings would have returned by now and informed them of me. So what should I expect when we arrive?"

"They're not my siblings." Angara corrected.

"I'm sure I heard them call you, big sis."

Angara groaned, "None of my siblings are at the camp and all the kids call me that for some reason. As for when we get there, don't expect a friendly welcome. They don't like outsiders, especially Pendaren's for reasons I'm sure you already know." She scoffed, both of them recalled Azula's baited words.

"I'm not a Pendaren." Azula growled in annoyance.

"But you look like one and that's bound to cause some problems, so when we get there let me do all the talking. Don't say anything to anyone, don't go anywhere without me and keep that fire magic to yourself."

"Bending."

"Whatever." Angara looked over the horizon and saw several streams of smoke emanating from behind a patch of trees. The camp wasn't far but during her scan she spotted on a hill a dark purple feline creature staring at them.

"Crap." She cursed loud enough to draw Azula's attention.

"What is it?" She stood back up and followed her line of sight to the animal.

"Laugh cats." Angara answered, unholstering her blaster.

Azula snorted at her reaction to the small creature, "It doesn't look so tough."

"The problem with laugh cat's is that there's never just one." She fired her blaster in its direction with the creature disappearing into the grass with a whooping call, "Your five minutes are up, let's go."

Azula didn't feel anymore rested than she was before but followed anyway. She just wanted this trip to be over and done with and was happy to continue their journey in silence.

The silence didn't last as Angara began muttering to herself, "I knew I should've just taken my ship down here, but no I wanted to save up on gas and take a shuttle down then take the train. And look where that got me. Stuck in the badlands with a pyromaniac."

"You know I can hear you, right?"

"I said it loud enough to be heard, didn't I?"

Azula groaned, "Alright, I get it. You are angry with me, sulking about it isn't going to get us anywhere."

Angara ignored her retort.

The sound of high pitched laughter came from behind and she spun to face it only to be met with tall grass that sturred with the movement of something within it. She quickened her pace to match Angara's.

"How much further is the camp?"

"We're getting close, keep up or they'll drag you away. It's the dry season, you know. They can't afford to be picky." She responded in a taunting manner as more barks and howls began to join them.

Azula made sure to do just that as she caught glimpses of small creatures scurrying about in the tall grass.

"They'll disperse once we get to the camp." Angara lazily assured then fired her blaster into the brush. Several whooping barks followed.

"You mean if we make it." Azula muttered as she summoned a torch in her hand, its sudden appearance causing some of the creatures to stir in apprehension.

"If you don't make it you mean. I ain't dying here, not yet." Angara fired again to her left, two creatures bolted away.

"You sound so certain that you'll be able to fight off however many of these things there are." Azula swiped the air to her right, throwing a wave of fire after hearing another laughing howl that was too close for her liking.

"It'll take a lot more than a pack of laugh cats to take me down." She roared at one of the creatures before firing again, this time with a loud yelp following, "Besides, I can't die knowing that he is still alive." The determination and bitterness in that explanation caught Azula's full attention.

"Really? And who exactly is he?"

Angara didn't answer for a while before finally saying, "Just forget it. Focus on getting to the camp."

Azula's expression fell into disappointment, just when she was actually starting to get interested in what she had to say.

The eerie whooping laughs continued until they were impossible to ignore. She could hear the grass crumple under multiple sets of feet, the gaunt features of the creatures poking out of the openings in the grass and she could even smell the thick odor of wild animals surrounding them.

"Pick up the pace, Pup!" Angara commanded as she marched, firing her blaster ahead of her with Azula throwing waves of fire behind them. The fire illuminates a dozen sets of eyes.

It didn't matter how many times they shot or threw fire at them, the laugh cats pursued them relentlessly. Azula wished to hit them directly but the slow decline of daylight made pinpointing each individual creature difficult and with the added knowledge that it was the dry season meant there was risk of causing a wildfire if she is careless. The last thing she wanted was to be stuck in an inferno of her own making.

She continued to tail Angara until a pair of small hands grabbed hold of her ankle. She stumbled down, turning over while throwing out yet another arc of fire to repel her attacker and under the blue light she got a clear view of the creature gripping her leg.

It was the size of a dog with a skinny emaciated body covered in dark purple skin, a line of dark hair running along its back, its clawed forelimbs firmly grasping her trousers with a second pair behind them. The most unsettling thing about it was its face as it had small beady sunken in eyes that had a look of boundless hunger within them above its toothy maw that took the shape of a wide unsettling ear to ear smile, saliva dripping from it.

She was horrified at the sight of it, to think that something like this was just a simple animal yet it looked like a sinister spirit that belonged to stories meant to frighten children all the while emanating a ghoulish bark that sounded like inhuman laughter.

She ripped her foot from its grasp and planted a hard kick in its grinning face and ran back to Angara's side as she summoned her shield and started swinging at them.

She continued to wave flames at them but the smiling creatures refused to be scared off, "There's too many of them!"

"Thanks for stating the obvious!" Angara shot two more and struck another with her shield, "Think you can use that fire to fly?"

Azula shot a fire ball striking another creature then kicked another, "Not for long periods."

"Better than nothing, follow my lead!" She activated her jetpack and ascended.

With both arms Azula pushed the creatures back with a tornado of azure flames before boosting herself into the air behind Angara.

In the air they saw that they had been completely surrounded by the laugh cats who gave chase.

Azula couldn't maintain her altitude for long, firebenders were never meant for prolonged flight without the aid of the comet, and she found herself slowly descending.

"Keep up or you'll end up as dinner!" Angara called out.

Just as Azula was going to respond, one of the laugh cats leapt from the grass and clamped its maw around Angara's ankle. The armor protected her however the creature's added weight was pulling her down. Another jumped and latched onto her front trying to bite at her throat only for her to throw it off. Another jumped and used its four forelimbs to grab hold of her other leg.

The added weight had pulled her back to the ground tumbling into an exposed patch of land where the rest of the pack exited the tall grass and began to surround her, each taking turns leaping on her only to be thrown off or beaten back with her glowing shield and wrist blade.

None of the creatures attempted to leap at Azula, the jets of fire deterring them. The laugh cats seemed to have settled for Angara circling around her like a living tornado of starving animals. She could easily leave her there to serve as a distraction however Azula knew that if she were to show up to the camp without her the Ke'Kuvon would definitely kill her and walking back to Horizon city was not an option.

Azula growled in irritation as she turned around and boosted herself higher in the air again to fly back. Angara will owe her for this.

Angara switched her blaster to rapid fire and sent a flurry of blasts hitting several of the creatures dead with the rest scattering momentarily before regrouping. As she was going to fire again another cat lunged, catching her gauntlet in its jaws, the sudden shifting in weight flinging the blaster out of her hand. She jammed the edge of her shield into the creature's face forcing it to let go of her before another jumped on her back biting at her shoulder pad, its claws being dragged over the vital components of her jetpack.

She threw this one off into another and summoned her wrist blade, slashing another. She then summoned her needle launcher as a substitute only to be attacked by another that pulled the launcher off her suit.

The laugh cats continued their manic calls as they scampered around her relentlessly. She let out a furious roar, baring her fangs in defiance of them. If she is going to die here then she won't make it easy for them.

Just as a large group of them began to make a move they were disrupted as a ball of blue fire collided with the ground below them. Azula came soaring back, kicking several waves of fire at the laugh cats, scattering them further before landing by Angara's side.

"So you do have enough heart to not let me get eaten alive." Angara said, taking a defensive stance.

"Shut up! I'm only doing this because I need you alive." She swept an arch of fire at another group.

Now standing back to back the two fought the horde of laughing creatures as they boldly leapt at them, Angara slapping them away with her shield and striking back with her blade while Azula put up walls of fire between them and the pack following up with quick shots of fire managing to hit several of them.

One laugh cat leapt past their defenses colliding with Azula throwing her to the ground. Before it could wrap its jaws around her throat she grabbed it by the neck using all of her strength to push its grinning visage away from her. Its jaws snapping viciously just inches away from her face as saliva was flung into it all the while it snarled savagely.

Angara sent a powerful kick to its stomach, sending it flying off of her and pulling her up before another could take its place. Azula spotted three coming up behind the bounty hunter and quickly dashed behind her, sending a smoldering roundhouse kick coating them in fire.

This attack left Azula open with another cat flanking her side but Angara plunged her blade into the creature before it could get close enough to strike. The two switched positions with Azula swinging her legs into a low swipe sending a blast into another group while Angara brought the edge of her shield down on the neck of another.

They continued to attack and defend each other while sustaining damage from the swipe of their claws and shallow bites until Azula shot a jet of fire at the ground and ran around her and the huntress in a circle dragging the flame with her until a ring of fire separated the both of them from the pack, Angara tossing and kicking the few that were trapped in with them out as the blue flames faded to orange.

With the fire barrier set the two women are momentarily safe from the pack. The laugh cats circled the ring barking, hissing and laughing as they poked and prodded for weaknesses.

Both Azula and Angara fell to their knees exhausted and took the time they needed to catch their breaths. Azula studied the animals as they failed to break her defenses and began to settle down themselves and lick their wounds, they were clearly not going anywhere.

"What's the plan now?"

Angara shifted to a sitting position holding her burn, "Don't know… let me try and call the camp again, see if the signal is any better."

Azula focused on maintaining the fire as it was their only barrier against the feral beasts and watched the laugh cats circle them, hunger still present in their eyes. Many of them licked their wounds or that of a neighbor while others began to cannibalize the dead. She couldn't help but wince in disgust of these feral creatures and it didn't help that they had a permanent smile plastered on their faces.

Her eyes landed on one that had a severe burn on the left side of its face, almost completely covering the eye, it whimpered as it limped around the fire until another began licking the wound. The burn reminded her of Zuko and she began to wonder if the Avatar informed the new fire lord of what happened to his dear little sister. Does anybody know or would anyone believe the Avatar and his friends? It didn't matter, once she takes control of the Crimson Storm she'll show them her new found might… that is if she manages to escape these creatures.

She couldn't help but think of how rotten her luck had become as of late. Nothing came easy to her anymore, people were looking down on her more often, people were less afraid of her and now she's stuck with a savage that came closer than most to almost completely destroying her face surrounded by starving monsters. It was as if the universe was working against her. What happened to her being born lucky?

"Oh Azula…" a voice came from beyond the fire.

She looked on seeing the scarred laugh cat staring at her.

"...were you ever truly lucky?" it said in a distorted voice that she vaguely recognized.

Azula gasped at the creature and looked behind her to Angara seeing that she did not react at all to the voice that was loud and clear to her.

"Think about it, Azula. What was so lucky about you?" The creature's face began to distort as it circled the fire, "Did you ever have anyone to look out for you, who really cared?"

The creatures face distorted further, its dark purple skin turning pale white, the thin line of hair on its head growing longer and thicker along with its face changing shape until it took on the haunting visage of Zuko but still had the wide unnerving fanged smile of the laugh cat.

She was hallucinating, she knew it and cursed her broken mind for choosing now of all times to have an episode. She brought her knees to her chest, covered her ears and looked away, repeating to herself internally that this wasn't real hoping that the illusion would go away.

"You had all of our father's love and acceptance but where was that during the day of Sozin's comet, when father abandoned you?"

"He didn't abandon me!" She muttered under her breath, "He crowned me Fire Lord!"

"And you lost it because you weren't strong enough to keep it. You were weak, everyone abandoned you because they saw your weakness and saw how strong I was with the Avatar on my side." His already wide grin seemed to grow wider, "Mai saw it too and came to my aid, then Ty Lee followed."

The laughs of the surrounding creatures seemed to grow louder as if to mock her.

On impulse she shot a flame bolt at the thing wearing her brother's face with it scurrying away.

A familiar giggle crept in from her right, one she recognized as belonging to someone she once thought of as friend.

"Poor little Azula…" She turned to face it and found another laugh cat with Ty Lee's face, unsettling grin and all, "With an aura as inky and black as yours it's no wonder you're so unlucky. An aura fit for a lonely monster!" It laughed harder with a distorted convulsion that was a mix of human and laugh cat.

"It's a shame really…" Another voice droned from her left, this time coming from a lounging laugh cat with the visage of Mai that was even more unsettling as like the others she too had the wide grin on her usual dour face, "Someone as mighty and powerful as you lost it all because of how weak you really are. I should have abandoned you sooner."

The laughter grew louder and louder, "You betrayed me because of your foolish love for Zuko!"

"And look where he is now, sitting on a throne surrounded by people who love him while you're sitting out here waiting to be eaten alive." The Mai creature began laughing.

Mocking laughter filled her ears forcing her to cover them to try and drown them all out.

"I guess you weren't really born lucky at all, Azula." the Zuko creature approached, "You were just lucky to be born."

The creature cackled loudly in disgusting delight with the hallucinations of her former friends joining in with the inhuman laughs of other creatures turning into the familiar laughs of humans mocking her, mocking her failures, mocking what she has lost and what she has become. Her breath was becoming labored as she was beginning to lose control with the ring of fire shining blue and growing more wild.

"Hey!" A sharp jab to her side from Angara's elbow brought Azula out of her trance, "What's up with you? You're breathing like you're about to have a heart attack."

Azula looked around, the laughter returning to alien barks, laugh cats continued circling them with normal animalistic faces. The cat with the half burned face just sat there licking a wound on its paw. The fire grew shorter and returned to orange.

"N-nothing. I'm just… tired." She breathed clutching her head in a desperate attempt to maintain her sanity, "Were you able to contact the camp?"

Angara sighed as she leaned back against Azula, "Nope. Couldn't get a signal through."

"Great." Azula sighed sarcastically.

"If Tyto and the twins made it back to the camp then there's probably a search party looking for me. So we'll just have to wait until they show up."

"If they show up." Azula said cynically.

"Then get your strength back and be ready to fight again." Angara sat more comfortably.

The two sat in silence for what felt like hours. Many of the laugh cats continued to circle them continuing their laughing howls while most lounged about as the sun fully set in the east with the stary night sky above them.

The darkness that was only making things worse for Azula as every now and then the creature's barks turned into derisive laughs. Her eyes darted between the creatures trying to spot any wearing the faces of people she knew.

She couldn't take this, the hallucinations always came when she was unfocused and left alone with her thoughts. As much as she hates Angara she needed to hold a conversation with her just to keep her sanity.

"Say something."

"What?"

"Just say something! Anything. This silence is going to make me go insane."

Angara didn't know just how literally she was being with that statement.

Angara relented with a sigh. It wouldn't do her any good if the person responsible for their current defense lost it, "You held yourself pretty well against these things."

Azula didn't expect a compliment to be the first thing out of her mouth but took it for what it's worth, "Thanks. I was trained to fight people and equally skilled benders, not wild animals. But I suppose those skills transferred over nicely." She rubbed at a deep cut on her upper arm.

"I'll admit, even against me you did pretty good." Angara dragged her finger tips over her bruised jaw remembering the knee to the face she took, "Definitely didn't make it easy for me."

"Of course. I was taught never to show mercy in a fight."

The pain from the burn on Angara's side shot up her body as she shifted her weight, "I noticed." Once in a comfortable position she continued, "So who taught you how to fight like that?"

Normally Azula wouldn't be privy to speaking about the inner workings of her life but training was the rare topic on which she was open about and it gave her a reason to boast about her skills, "My father trained me himself in the art of firebending, and several tutors filled in for him when he was too busy to give me lessons. Being Fire Lord didn't give him much free time. What about you? Did your father train you in your savage way of fighting?"

Angara's face dropped at the mention of her father, "No. My father died when I was young. The other warriors at the camp taught me what I know."

"Well, as much as I hate to admit it, they taught you well. Although you could use a lesson in being more graceful, fighting you felt like fighting an animal." Azula begrudgingly complimented her.

Angara smirked at her words, "Thanks pup, I appreciate that."

Azula gave her a scornful look, "That last part wasn't a compliment."

"Well I took it as one."

There was a long pause filled only with the chatter of the laugh cats until Angara suddenly asked a question, "Your brother. Did you put that scar on him?"

Of all things to talk about it just had to be about her brother, "No. He did that himself with his own foolishness." Thoughts of Zuko's Agni Kai flashed in her mind.

"So that means you're not fireproof?"

"No I'm not."

Angara smirked and with a chipper attitude said, "Good to know."

Azula didn't like the way she said that, another weakness she exposed to her enemy.

"Older or younger?"

"Older, by two years."

"Well… there's something we've got in common. We're both the runt of our litter."

"I thought you said you didn't have siblings."

"I said I didn't have any siblings at the camp, not that I didn't have any."

"So then, how many do you have?"

"Three. Two brothers and an older sister."

Azula couldn't imagine having so many siblings, Zuko alone was already exhausting enough sometimes, "That must have been a constant fight for attention."

"Not really. My oldest brother and sister were in their twenties the last time I saw them and getting ready to have families of their own. Sure we fought sometimes but we were all very close." Angara's mood of irritation changed to one of nostalgia of the many times her brothers would play with her and how her sister would braid her hair the way she liked. Angara looked over her shoulder, "You don't seem like the kind and caring sister type."

Azula scoffed as she waved some fire at another laugh cat, "My brother and I used to get along and play with each other every day." She looked distant into the stars, "That was a long time ago, now… I can't even think about him without wanting to light something on fire." The flames grew higher as she remembered seeing him standing over her, the water peasant by his side with pity in their eyes, "He took everything from me."

Angara chuckled, "Well, there's another thing we've got in common. Family that betrayed us."

Now her interest had been peaked, "Oh? Is this the same person you want dead."

Angara gave her a look that almost made it look as if she regretted mentioning it but continued, "Yeah. My uncle murdered my father, his brother, and paved the way for Tunbani's destruction."

Azula didn't expect such a level of betrayal that it took her by surprise that gave way to confusion at how such a thing could lead to the destruction of an entire world, "That's… well, I don't exactly know what to say to that."

Angara only grumbled before continuing, "Yeah well, don't ask for more detail. It's not something I like remembering."

"Wait. How did that turn of events lead to Tunbani? If that were the case then your father must have been quite important."

Angara's eyes widened in realization as she turned away to focus on the current threat still kept at bay.

Her analytical mind took over as she disregarded the pack of hungry animals and began probing for more information, information she could use, "You know, the captain mentioned how after she saved your people she accepted you as repayment. Strange how she could have demanded that they all work for her, or at least a good portion of them, but she settled for just you." She got up and began pacing around the fire, "I wonder, what is so special about you?" Her tone was like that of a mischievous child asking an obvious question.

"Drop it." Angara growled.

"You said that the death of your father led the way for the Pendaren's victory which means he was a very important person."

"I said drop it!" Angara's tone grew more hostile.

Azula continued to pace thinking aloud, "He could have been a resistance leader maybe, an important military commander, politician or maybe even a king of sorts." She glanced at her and noticed a slight twitch at the last statement. A smile grew on her lips and she pounced on it like a starving laugh cat, "That's it isn't it? Your father was a king wasn't he? Which would make you a princess as well."

Angara shot up, grabbing her by the collar and lifting her off her feet, roaring out in fury.

"Kill me and you kill the fire!" Azula reminded smugly, "Remember, I'm the only thing keeping you from them." She gestured to the crowd of grinning faces that watched them intently, drool still dripping from their fangs.

Angara reluctantly eased her down, baring her teeth, "Don't ever mention that!"

Azula fixed her shirt and suit collar, "And why is that? The warrior princess of the former king has a nice ring to it. I can see why My'Rell would want you as a pawn."

"Shut up! I haven't been a princess since I was eight years old, and keep your damn mouth shut about that! Only a few people in the storm know."

"Why hide it? You're royalty, or whatever passes for royalty by your peoples standards. Your title alone could rally all the support you'd need to lead your own campaign."

"Like my oldest brother did? After our father was killed and the empire came through he was trapped off world and did just that and was slaughtered by my uncle's forces and the Pendaren's!" She scoffed, "Nothing good would come from using my former status to lead yet another doomed resistance. Besides, I'm not a princess anymore. I'm just a bounty hunter, and that's all I ever want to be."

Angara's words had a weight of finality to them suggesting that the conversation was over with her turning away from Azula and sitting back down going back to watching the beasts.

Azula on the other hand couldn't believe her, she had what she craved; people with a shared hatred for a common enemy, access to military power and resources yet does nothing to take revenge against the one who wronged her and is complacent with being a nobody. She was beginning to think that she and Angara were quite similar but now she was certain that they couldn't be anymore different.

She shook her head before taking a seat on the dirt, "You're pathetic! I thought you of all people would want nothing more than to make your uncle suffer."

"Just because I have no interest in raising an army doesn't mean I'm gonna let him just get away with that. I'm going to kill him. I'm just doing it my way, without anyone else to get in my way."

They went back to sitting back to back in the ring of fire with Azula spotting the scared laugh cat staring at her and panting. Her grimace tightened, "I'll be sure to take you down my own way as well Zuko. With an army to rain hell on you." She declared to the creature under her breath glaring daggers at it while it only stared at her with blind hunger despite the nasty burn it suffered.

The laugh cats continued to circle them however some started to let out a panicked yelp causing them to scatter in fear.

The two princess's shot to their feet and took on defensive stances.

"What's going on?" Azula questioned.

"Don't know, a pack of laugh cats don't spook very easily… unless…"

"Unless what?"

A twig snapped, catching both of their attention as a much larger creature crept from the darkness; a bulky beast with ridged plated skin as pink as the tall grass covered in black stripes held up by six thick clawed limbs, quills on its rear that resembled the grass and a face that looked like a pig with long tusks.

It approached the fire slowly with no fear of it while emitting a low rumbling noise.

"So… what is this thing?" Azula asked, annoyed at yet another obstacle that fate decided to throw her way.

"Theron, biggest land carnivore on this side of the planet." Angara answered as she extended her wrist blade once more, "Also the biggest cause of death for travelers in the badlands."

"Oh that's just great!" Azula shot a bolt of fire at the large creature however it bounced off its thick hide.

This action only angered the creature as it roared out in fury and reared up on its hind legs standing almost at a height Azula estimated to be thirteen feet.

"Now would be a really good time to do that lightning trick you did before!"

"I need time to charge it!"

"I don't think he's gonna give us that!" Angara summoned her shield as the beast approached.

It was about to clear the ring of fire until a bright yellow plasma bolt collided with its shoulder drawing its attention away.

From the brush came the sound of thunderous footsteps until a large six limbed rhino creature came stampeding, throwing its horned head side to side with a man riding on its back clad in armor just like Angara's carrying a rifle.

The theron recoiled as the rider fired more blasts at the beast's underbelly forcing it back on all six limbs. A second rhino came stomping behind it with its own rider firing at it as well. The rhinos roared like deep pitched trumpets as they threw their large nasal horns into the theron's sides until the predator galloped back into the darkness, one of the riders firing several more shots as it ran off.

One of the riders turned to them removing his silver helmet revealing an older Ke'Kuvon man with a receding hairline of brown hair, longer head spikes and wrinkled features.

Angara's face relaxed into a happy smile, "About damn time!"

Chapter Text

Azula watches as Angara runs through the ring of fire and jumps into the arms of the older Ke'Kuvon embracing in a friendly hug, the second one still firing at the theron from his mount.

Angara pulled away still smiling, "I guess my message got through."

The older man, who shared the same style of facial tattoo around his eyes as Angara, spoke with a low croaky voice worn by time and the experiences of hardship but had a warmness to him that reminded her of her uncle Iroh, "We heard you but the signal was spotty and we couldn't respond. Thankfully we got to you before that theron did."

"You should have gotten here earlier. Had a real problem with laugh cats."

"I can see." The older one said studying the weathering and damage on Angara's armor and hearing their whooping laughs far off in the distance.

His gaze turned to Azula who still stood within the ring of fire as if it was a cage to keep out danger. His warm friendly gaze hardened with his stature becoming ridged, "So this is the plus one you mentioned. You know my nephew said that you were fighting a girl that can manipulate fire. One that gave him quite the beating." his hand hovered over his holstered blaster.

Azula studied him for any weakness if he decides to attack, her two fingers already tensing up in preparation to fire.

Angara stood between them, "Did Tyto also tell you that he's using your grandkids to pickpocket again?" The older man pulled his gaze away with a raised brow, "And also that the fire girl here is his latest victim?"

The older man sighed in annoyance as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "And suddenly this all makes sense." his demeanor relaxed and some of his elderly warmth returned in his eyes, "I apologize for the actions of my nephew and grandchildren. I will make sure he suffers the consequences."

Azula was finally able to somewhat relax with the fire dying down, "I suppose that will suffice. Now if we can get out of here I would be truly grateful." she said with as much respect she could muster.

The older man's brow furrowed in confusion as he leaned over to Angara, "Does she not speak primary?"

It was then Azula noticed that he didn't have a translator in any of his ears and mentally groaned at the thought of another language barrier and the loss of her audio translator.

"I'll speak for her." Angara said, giving Azula a sense of dread at what she may purposely mistranslate just to spite her.

"Azula, Tekhan. Tekhan, Azula." She introduced offhandedly.

"Don't worry, I have a translator in my helmet." Takhan said, making his way back to his rhino, "Would you like to ride with me or kick Charn off of his mount?"

"Charn! Hop off, I'm taking your ride!" Angara ordered, catching the riders attention, "The pup here will ride with me, she's got an attitude so I gotta keep her in check."

"Pup?" Tekhan asked.

The other rider jumped off his creature allowing Angara to climb up while he rode with the older man.

"Are we really taking her with us?" The rider known as Charn asked.

"I don't like it either, but she's kinda a coworker so I gotta look out for her."

A metallic scoff came from his helmet, "Did that Pendaren captain of yours order you to?"

Angara shot him a hard look as Azula climbed up the saddle, "Don't start."

Tekhan put his helmet back on and took the reins to his rhino, "Let's leave talk like this for another time. You've had a long day, I'm sure you and your co-worker want some rest."

"You have no idea." Angara whipped the reins with the rhino following behind Takhan's.

The rhinos trotted through the tall grass with ease under the light of Kazima's two full moons. The Ke'Kuvon didn't seem to have an issue seeing in the dark whether it was because of their helmets or some natural night vision; it was unknown to Azula who remained silent behind Angara, however she could feel the stair of Charn behind his visor bearing into her as he sat facing backwards, rifle in hand.

"Before you ask, no I am not a deformed Pendaren or a half breed."

"Then what are you? A subspecies?"

"Leave her alone Charn." Angara interrupted, "This one's got a mouth and I'd rather not hear it right now."

"How do we know she's not some imperial spy in disguise trying to give our location away to the empire?"

"She bleeds red like us. No amount of fancy imperial tech can hide a Pendaren's blue blood, besides if she was one she's a terrible one."

Charn grumbled, "I still don't like it. What about you Tekhan? You can't be okay with bringing an outsider to the camp, especially after what she did to Tyto?"

"I trust Angara's judgment. If she believes it's alright then I'm fine with it. So long as our guest doesn't wander or cause trouble." He looked over his shoulder to Angara.

Angara rolled her eyes, "Don't worry I'm keeping the pup on a leash and if she causes trouble I'll smack her around a little bit."

Azula gritted her teeth, "Stop calling me that."

Charn giggled, "So is she like your pet or something?"

"I am nobody's pet!"

Angara laughed at her mockery, "No she's just some new recruit that tried to punch above her weight, and lost. To me."

Azula scoffed, rolling her eyes at the huntress's smug comment, "I could burn you right now you know." She threatened through gritted teeth.

"Do that and they gun you down and leave your corpse for the laugh cats." Angara threatened back.

Azula groaned in frustration as she settled for a more comfortable position. She had always been the aggressor to teasing and name calling but has never been on the receiving end of such retorts. She was in no position to bite back with comments of her own and could only bear with it, a part of her wondered if this helplessness she felt from it is what Zuko felt in her many years of verbally torturing him.

For now she would just remain silent and ignore any comments made her way and thankfully none where as the majority of the trip was spent with Angara chatting with Charn and occasionally Tekhan would join in until they finally reached their destination.

Just beneath a hill they saw the camp, a large collection of tents, vehicles and what looked to Azula like portable homes. Bonfires lit various spots of the camp with several hundred Ke'Kuvon going about their business, several beetle shaped ships like Angara's could be seen parked outside the encampment with a few larger vessels that resemble dragonflies alongside them. When Azula was told of a camp she pictured a small group of tents but the number she saw made it seem as though this camp was a small town.

"Finally, home sweet home." Angara announced as she directed her rhino down the hill not even bothering to wait for the others.

"Quite a large encampment for one tribe." Azula commented.

"Not one. This camp is made up of members from fifteen different tribes. Or…what's left of them."

As the rhino trotted down hill Azula could see a series of large bulky dog like creatures with leathery tan and black skin, muscular limbs, and angular reptilian faces chained down surrounding the camp. Several of the creatures looked up at her and growled menacingly.

"Careful with the tharks. They bite." Angara warned.

Azula didn't need the warning as she could clearly see they were meant to deter any wandering wildlife, two of which snarled loudly at each other as they fought over a bone. She even managed to spot several domesticated laugh cats of a healthier weight chained down with them.

After finally entering the camp proper Angara dismounted her rhino and was met with greetings from various Ke'Kuvon all ranging in shades of greens, yellows and brown, some having the same scarlet hair as Angara while others had darker shades of brown, black and blonde. The warriors were easy to spot as they all wore Armor and gadgets similar to Angara but in different styles, colors and markings. Almost every individual was marked with some kind of black tribal tattoo on their bodies indicating which tribe they belonged to, the only ones who weren't marked were children and young teens.

The people all gave their former princess a hug, playful punch or some form of friendly greeting while almost completely ignoring Azula, passing her by like she didn't exist or giving her an unwelcomed scowl.

It was strangely off putting seeing Angara act so friendly and smiling so much when being around her people when all Azula has ever witnessed was her bitterness and scowl. It was also strange seeing the welcome she got. Azula was the princess of her nation yet no one had ever cheered or showed as much enthusiasm for her arrival as these people did when back on earth many reacted in dread at her arrival. If she didn't know any better she'd say she was a little jealous.

From the crowd Tyto appeared, his face bandaged up and went to embrace her before stopping dead in his tracks when seeing Azula by her side.

"What's she doing here?" He pointed an accusatory finger at her while slightly shaking in fright. Azula took some pleasure in his display of fear but it soon turned to apprehension when noticing the scowls of the others that followed, notably the stares of the warriors.

Angara stood between them, "My coworker is here because of a… miscommunication." She lied before shooting him a glare, "And because someone couldn't keep out of trouble."

A firm hand gripped Tyto's shoulder as Tekhan stood over him, his brow wrinkled in a scowl of disappointment, "You and I need to have a talk." He said firmly, "I'll take care of this Angara. You and your friend go see the chief and explain your little situation to him. I'm sure he'd be happy to see you again."

Angara nodded in acknowledgement as he forcefully pulled Tyto away with him, "Come on pup."

She growled to herself hearing that name again and begrudgingly followed. The crowd cleared a path for them, Angara getting waves and greetings from passers-by while they only stared at Azula, mothers pushing their children away from her, men snarling and barring their teeth as she passed by and wondering children hissing like threatened vipers.

To say she was unwelcomed was an understatement as the hostility each individual around her emitted almost felt suffocating, almost like the heat of the fires in her fathers throne room when he was feeling very displeased.

Just as they passed a large building-like vehicle a Ke'Kuvon man that looked to be as old as Angara spat at Azula's feet stopping her in her tracks to glare at him.

"You should go back where you came from. Pendaren trash."

Before Azula could respond Angara snarled at the man before pulling her away.

"Everyone here seems friendly." She muttered sarcastically.

"Told ya they didn't like outsiders." Angara responded.

"When we meet this chief, please explain to him that I am not a Pendaren."

"Yeah, yeah. I'll get to that, just keep your mouth shut. Chief Kowari can be a reasonable man but he can also be temperamental if you say the wrong thing."

They arrived at the center of the camp where the largest vehicle sat with a tall tower covered in satellite dishes extended from its rear, cables fed into it from other parked vehicles nearby.

The vehicle itself was obviously of military make, covered in turrets and small cannons while being held up by six massive wheels and almost looked like a mobile fortress. Undoubtedly where the man in charge would be staying.

They entered with Angara leading the way to the center of the vehicle into a large open room that looked to be some kind of military command center but was redecorated to be a makeshift throne room. It almost looked as though one of the water tribes had taken control of a fire nation facility.

In the center of the room sat a holographic table with several other Ke'Kuvon standing around it discussing something of irrelevance until the largest of them turned to them, his right eye having a mechanical glow to it.

He shot a glare at Angara who shot one back before waving off the others in the room and marched towards them. He was a beast of a man covered partially in armor, sharp angular tattoos covered his bare arms and extended to around his eyes like Angara, the right side of his face was severely burned with a mechanical eye and what seemed to be a built in translator for an ear, his long dark dreadlocks were tied back out of his face, the spikes of his head were chipped in the area of his scar and he gave off the aura of a conqueror. There was no doubt in Azula's mind that this was chief Kowari.

"Angara! You've got a lot of nerve walking in here and showing your face to me." He growled.

"Well excuse me for thinking it would be polite to let the man in charge know I'm here, lest he spend the rest of the day crying about it!" She growled back.

Kowari snarled, bearing his fangs at her as he glared harder, with Angara doing the same. Azula was confused, the way Takhan had worded it made it seem as though these two were on good terms with each other.

The two continued to growl at each other until Angara's growls turned into a chuckle with the chief following suit until they both started laughing.

The chief scooped her up off her feet in a bone crushing bear hug, "Glad to see you haven't gotten soft!"

"Careful with the squeezing! Got a real bad burn on the side!" she shouted in pain.

"Whoops, sorry." he dropped her and inspected the wear and tear on her armor along with the damage on her face, "Clearly you're still as tough as me if you're throwing jabs looking like that. What happened to you?"

"Long story, but right now I've got a guest." She pointed over her shoulder to Azula who watched from a distance.

Just like every other person Kowari's welcoming demeanor shifted to hostility at the sight of her.

"Who is this?" He asked with an edge to his voice.

"She's part of that long story…" she sighed before explaining.

Azula didn't want to relive the whole experience again and instead chose to survey the makeshift throne room, after all room decor often exposes a lot about a person.

The floors were covered in carpets with tribal patterns depicting creatures, people and other objects. They seemed generations old meaning the chief has a clear respect for tradition.

A suit of gun metal gray armor with golden highlights sat in a kneeling position against the wall, it was similar in make to the other Ke'Kuvon armor she's seen only this one looked a little more intricate and flashy with jagged patterns etched into its plates almost making it look as though it was made of textiles instead of metal. It didn't look like it belonged to chief Kowari as it was far too small to fit him and the style looked too immaculate for someone as rough in appearance as him, it could possibly belong to a well respected member of this group or ancestor.

She looked to the throne and saw it was a simple chair on a raised platform. Nothing too fancy meaning he was modest. The only thing of note was the strange animal skull that sat above it.

She looked to the walls that weren't covered by panels or screens and detected various weapons displayed from blasters to blades of various shapes and sizes. A warrior at heart and judging by the ware on some of them they were for more than just for display.

She continued to observe the wall and noticed several creature skulls mounted on one of the walls by the entrance. He seems to enjoy hunting, a brutish sport typical of men like him, however that thought would differ when seeing a line of skulls that were very human looking, the only difference being the black horns sprouting from either the temples or foreheads. Pendaren skulls.

She didn't put it past someone like him to keep such barbaric trophies given what had happened to his people but to see it gave her a sense of unease, perhaps it is just the uncanny similarities between a Pendaren skull and a humans. It even made her speculate if what she thought were animal skulls may actually belong to sentient beings.

Looking back to the chief she saw a set of horns incorporated into his left pauldron and noticed a silver ring circling one horn, the same type of ring My'Rell wore on hers in that picture she had seen in her ready room. The hatred for Pendarens was proudly displayed and she keeps being mistaken for one. My'Rell was right when she warned her about offending members of the camp, mixed with the less than stellar greetings she received on arrival she'll have to choose her words and actions very carefully.

"And that's how we ended up here." Angara finished explaining, Kowari running a hand over his warry face.

"Tyto, that boy. I ought to talk with him and the rest of his band of trouble makers." he sighed heavily, "And of all things to bring it had to be a Pendaren."

"She's not a Pendaren."

He gave her a strange look then observed Azula once more, "You're telling me that's not a Pendaren?"

"Do you see a pair of horns on her?"

"They can live without horns."

Angara rolled her eyes, "We found her on a backwater planet in the middle of nowhere. They're a bunch of primitive's that happen to look like Pendaren's and have no idea that the empire or us even exist. They probably still think the world is flat there."

That last comment struck a nerve in Azula's pride in her people and stepped forward, "Alright, I think I can speak for myself now." she stood before the chief and gave him a slight bow of respect as she formally introduced herself, "Azula. My apologies for intruding on your reunion and taking up your precious time; however I only ask that you allow me to stay the night and I'll be out of your hair by the morning." Hopefully this brisk display of respect will feed his ego enough and his more pragmatic nature will appreciate her getting straight to the point.

Kowari eyed her carefully, "Certainly more polite than any Pendaren I've met. Fine, but only one night. We'll pitch you a tent outside the camp, after that I want you gone." He waved for one of the others that remained, "Take her to the medical tent to get patched up, can't have My'Rell saying we don't treat our guests right."

One of the other Ke'Kuvon motioned her to follow with her doing so leaving Angara alone with the chief.

He made his way back to his throne, "I take it you did most of the damage on that girl?"

"More or less." She bragged before stiffening from the pain in her side.

"She roughed you up pretty good too."

Angara scoffed, "Yeah whatever. So how has everything been since my last visit?"

"Rough. The dry season drove all the animals that could feed us down south and fuel is getting too expensive for us to keep the nomadic lifestyle going. We're thinking of planting roots down somewhere, just don't know where yet."

She nodded taking in all of the news before cutting to a different topic, "Sorry to cut to the point but I need to talk to you about something. I heard something about Ke'Kuvon stealing stuff from Horizon."

Kowari leaned back with a sultry expression, "How do you know it was us? We're not the only Ke'Kuvon encampment on Kazima."

Angara narrowed her eyes at him, "It was a train transport going out of Horizon city and into the badlands. I looked at the locations of the other clans and our camp is the closest one."

Kowari sighed knowing he couldn't deflect her questions forever, "It was just a few water filters. That's all."

Angara crossed her arms in disapproval, "You didn't think of just buying some from the city?"

"Angara, we're not exactly swimming in units here. Most of our money goes into keeping the lights on and making sure there's enough food for everyone.

"So stealing is what you're going to rely on?" The disappointment in her voice was clear to him, "You always taught me that the dishonorable only turn to thievery."

"That was before. We were conquerors then, Angara, but now we are struggling to survive as is. The time of honor for our people has long passed. Now we must do what we must…" his expression softened as he looked at the armor on display, going to it and placing a hand of the glass separating him from it as he bowed his head in respect.

It was the armor of the former king of the ruling house, the armor of Angara's father and good friend to Kowari. They were lucky it survived the destruction, mainly due to it being in the trophy room of a Pendaren general but thankfully they were able to track it down and recover it.

"Not for honor, but for our people to live another day. We're already unwelcomed by the people of Kazima. That Pendaren captain of yours had to convince them to let us stay and when they did they threw us in their ghettos. So what if one transport loses its cargo? A lot of things get lost in the badlands."

Angara's accusatory expression softened as she joined his side.

"Things are hard, I get that." She began then gently placed a hand on the chief's shoulder, "But stealing from the city is only going to make things worse. They'll probably start hiring mercs like me to go after you if you keep this up and the last thing both of us want is to be on the opposite side of that fight. I'll just tell My'Rell that it wasn't you guys, mistaken identity. Just this once, though." She warned, "Why not have some of the people come work with us in the storm. We just lost a lot of people and to be honest I don't think their replacements are gonna stick around long."

Kowari turned to her in dissatisfaction, "And be under the heel of that Pendaren woman! No. I am thankful that she saved our people when she did but let's not forget the reason why she was there to begin with."

Angara groaned in annoyance as he went back to his throne, "She's not like the Pendaren's we've met in the past."

"The words of a Pendaren always have a dual meaning and her people have done too much for us to ever forgive."

"She'll pay enough to fix your money problem."

"I will not work for or with a Pendaren! That's final. If you can convince any of the others to do so then that's fine, although I don't think you will get much luck out of that."

Angara growled in annoyance at his stubbornness, even though he was just complaining about how little money they had he always let his pride and hatred for Pendaren's take over whenever Angara mentions working with My'Rell. She gave up on trying to convince him as she never could even make him budge the first dozen times she brought it up and wouldn't do so now.

"There is a solution to our problem, though." He caught her attention.

"Really? Then what is it?" Her voice dripped with sarcasm as she was disinterested in whatever scheme he may think of.

"Some of our hunters in the city heard that a group of pirates that were at the edge of the system had a fabricator."

Angara's disinterest turned into concern.

"That thing is a piece of miracle tech that'll meet all our needs. The only problem is when we went to scout out their hideout the Crimson Storm had just got done plundering their plunder." He leaned in, his brow creasing as he looked her in the eye, "You guys didn't happen to find it did you?"

Angara kept a neutral expression as her body became rigid, she wanted to tell him but My'Rell had already claimed it for the storm and didn't seem willing to rent it out but if she told him that there's a chance that conflict could arise as Kowari has shown he is willing to turn a blind eye to his honorable teachings if it means serving their people.

"No." She lied reluctantly but hid it with a firmness to her statement, "It must have just been a rumor. We swept that place and didn't find anything like it."

Kowari's hard gaze lingered on her some more as if he was probing her for lies before sighing and shaking his head, "A shame. We could have really used something like that."

"Yeah… I'll keep an ear to the ground if it turns out there is some truth to that."

"Thanks Angara."

"Right." She wanted to change the subject to something else and something the chief should know about, "Listen, chief, there's something else I've got to tell you."

"What's that?"

"Our guest, she knows who I really am."

Kowari's eyes widened, "What? How?"

"I-I don't know. She figured it out somehow." She didn't want to let him know that she accidentally shared information with him that allowed her to unravel the answer for herself.

Kowari pinched the bridge of his nose growling, "This is a problem. If it gets out that you are still alive the Pendarens will send out their best hunters to execute you and if your uncle Turan finds out he will slaughter anyone who harbored you."

"I know! I know, alright! That's why I'm telling you now. So how should we deal with this?"

"There's only one thing to do." he unholsters his blaster and hands it to her, "She can't be allowed to leave."

Angara reluctantly took the blaster, "I don't like her but is this really the only option?"

"Do you trust her to keep it a secret?"

She didn't answer the question already knowing the answer, "My'Rell's taken a liking to her, she's gonna want to know what happened."

"Just say she died out in the badlands. We'll throw the body out there and let the laugh cats take care of the rest."

She nodded in agreement, "She's tougher than she looks, she came close to beating me in our fight on the train. So it'll be a difficult fight in the morning."

"No, there will be no duel, wait for her to go to sleep then end her there."

Angara gave him a look of contempt, "Kill her like a dog? Kowari, I don't like her but she's a warrior like us, to end her without giving her a fighting chance? That's not our way."

Kowari let out a sad huff as he put his hands on her shoulders to refocus her, "Like I said Angara, the time of honor is gone. We can't risk her leaving and putting everyone here in danger."

She looked at the weapon in her hand, its weight becoming more apparent to her as did the weight of this task. She hated Azula but respected the strength and confidence she displayed, if she was to kill her then it should be as an equal in combat not with a cowardly knife in her back but Kowari's words also held true. She didn't trust Azula to not leak this information.

After weighing the options she holstered the weapon and gave Kowari a determined look, "Okay, I'll do it, but I don't like it."

"The hardest things we have to do are never things we agree with." Kowari said in a drained manner with the weight of past decisions he didn't agree with coming to mind, "Go get patched up and some food in you, I'll let the armorer know that he's got something to fix." he pointed to the broken visor of her helmet that dangled at her side. Angara agreed and left him to go back to whatever duties he still had.

*****

Azula winces as the Ke'Kuvon nurse sprayed the cuts on her face with a medical mist that formed into a waxy substance mending the wounds but left a stinging sensation behind. The cuts and scrapes where the first things to be treated next was the gigantic bruise that formed on her stomach caused by Angara's sucker punch. The nurse slapped a patch on it ungracefully making her groan in discomfort as she held the end of her shirt up.

The nurse gave her some water and pills, "Take these for your concussion, don't pick at any of the sealant on your cuts and try not to piss off Angara again or you'll end up back here." she said in a disinterested tone not even looking at her as she chewed on something while reading a magazine.

Azula gave her a scornful look as she snatched the pills from her hand, "What makes you think I won't put Angara in here instead?"

"No one puts Angara in the medical tent. Not without ending up here themselves." She said walking away.

She rolled her eyes at that statement before taking the pills, the pain of her migraine beginning to disappear. The medical tent was large and long enough to hold a large number of people but was sparsely populated with maybe one or two others.

Angara slapped away the door flap as she hobbled in holding her burned side and sat on a bed next to her, "All healed up, pup?"

Azula fumed at the nickname again, "Feeling better than before, although the help needs a better bedside manor."

The nurse shot her an annoyed look as she went to treat her burn.

"So, where is my tent?"

"It's getting pitched."

It wasn't exactly ideal for her but she was in no position to be picky and being away from the rest of these people would probably be best.

Her stomach began to rumble, "What about food, I'm starving."

Angara's stomach also growled at the sound of food, "Fine, dinner then bed."

After Angara was patched up she led Azula towards one of the temporary buildings that was serving food and was served a bowl of stew. The two went to one of the bonfires where several other warriors sat, their helmets sitting beside them as they dined and chatted away loudly.

Angara sat next to a few happily gossing away while Azula sat further back on a tree stump. She's already unwelcomed as is, no point in trying to socialize with these people. Instead she'll just try to listen in and learn as much as she can, after all if her plan for the Crimson Storm doesn't work out she's certain she can talk chief Kowari into helping her take back her throne.

She took a sip from her stew and almost spat it out as it was the most bitter stew she's ever had.

She looked around watching as the Ke'Kuvon mingled about. Festive fast paced music played in the background as men and women chatted about as they did their chores, old men gathered playing some sort of tile based game and children ran around playing with unchained tharks, some of the animals sat close to those with food or lying by the feet of their masters.

She heard a whimper at her side and saw that one thark sat by her leg with its reptilian eyes focusing on the bowl in her hands.

"Get!" she kicked some dirt at it.

The creature whimpered and remained at her side. Another thark troughted to her other side nuzzling her leg as it begged for her stew.

"Get away!" She stood up with both tharks following and whimpering. She may not like the stew but she is very unwilling to give it to these animals.

Angara and the other hunters noticed as she held the bowl far above her head as the two animals reared up dragging their dull claws across her body as they whimpered, causing the hunters to laugh at her misfortune.

"Having fun there pup?" Angara laughed.

"Get your animals!"

Angara whistled to the creatures drawing their attention as she fished out a strip of meat from her stew and tossed it away, the tharks chasing after it. Another thark pranced up from behind touching its nose to her leg also wanting a treat. Azula found herself having to join the group to get away from the pestering of their pets.

"Why are your pets roaming free?" She sat next to Angara as another hunter pulled the thark away by the collar, "Should they not be chained down to keep watch?"

The chuckle from Tekhan drew her attention now wearing a translator, "Tharks aren't meant to be chained up their entire lives. They have to be allowed to roam every now and then, even if it means they beg for scraps."

"Yeah, didn't your parents ever let you have a pet?" a young hunter with long dark hair asked from across the fire. She recognized his voice as an unmasked Charn.

"No." she said plainly as she saw several small children laughing and playing with an old thark that lied lazily as they hugged the creature, "My father always said that pets were a waste of time and resources."

"That's depressing." Charn said as he slurped up the rest at his stew.

"Don't mind her." Angara said, "Pup here had a long day, what with getting her ass handed to her by me and almost getting mauled to death." Azula growled at the comment but didn't dispute it, "So how has the hunt been for all of you since I've been gone?"

A gruff older bald man with a long gray beard and long head spikes was the first to speak in a hardy gruff but grandfatherly voice, "Oh you know girl. Chasing ne'er do wells across the galaxy for a few units. Caught a zetrion pirate captain a few days ago that was wanted for some heist. Got seven thousand units off him."

"Ha! That ain't nothing!" a woman with fiery orange hair lined with streaks of gray, "I caught a serial killer last week on Bethos! Not alive mind you, but he was worth eighty thousand units dead."

"How much would he have been worth alive?" Charn asked.

"Hundred thousand units. What about you young blood?"

Charn made a displeased noise as he put down his bowl, "I would have caught an arms dealer on Rythala four but my prey was snagged from me by the Nizar Twins."

"Who?" Angara asked after slurping her stew.

"Corporate mercenaries. Apparently the arms dealer screwed over someone high up in the galactic food chain so they hired the twins to nab him right before I could take him in. Would have taken him back too if it wasn't for the three broken ribs I got from getting to him."

Tekhan was next to speak, "You would have died in that attempt, even if your ribs weren't broken. I've heard of those two, they are in a league of their own."

"How about you, Angara?" Charn changed the subject.

Angara tossed her empty bowl aside, "Meh, you know. I caught some baddies back to back, nothing major until we were ambushed by the Death's Head and crashed on some backwater planet. That's how we found the pup." she pointed to Azula, "And also how my helmet got damaged." she held up the broken visor of the helmet.

Tekhan gave a saddened look, "Your mother's helmet. She protects you even in death."

Azula raised a brow to this new information that answered the question as to why she didn't just get rid of the helmet and get a new one.

"It's the main reason I came back, other than to gloat about how much of a better hunter I am than all of you."

They all chuckled at her jab.

"So what's the pup's reason for being with ya?" Charn asked, using her nickname striking a nerve.

"That's because I killed the Death's Head leader." Azula boasted.

One of the older hunters spat out his stew, almost choking on it.

"That sounds like a load of thark crap, girly." the orange haired huntress said.

"Yeah. Duritax ain't foolish enough to let himself get killed by a scrawny little thing like you." the old bearded hunter said.

"Just ask Angara if you don't believe me, she was there." Azula said with a smug attitude much to the Ke'kuvon princess's dismay.

Angara groaned, "Yeah it's true. Granted you had no idea he was on the bridge when you blew it up."

"Still killed him though."

"Bet you don't even know what he looks like." Angara commented.

"Who cares? He's dead and we survived." She finally took a sip of her stew.

"You killed his son too, right?" Tekhan asked.

"He has a son?"

Charn sucked in some air sharply, "Oof. That means no, so… better watch your back."

Azula's interest had peaked, "Who's his son?"

"You killed Duritax without even knowing who Courtix, the butcher of Axelon four, was?" another young female huntress asked.

"That man is a monster." the older bearded hunter added, "I tried to go after the bounty on his head years ago." He then grabbed his left shoulder and pulled it off revealing his armored left arm was actually a mechanical prosthetic, "Cut my arm off with his laser machete. I was lucky that was all he cut off."

"We lost a few of our seasoned hunters that day, Kowari forbid anyone from going after his bounty because of that." Tekhan said as memories of old friends lost went through his mind, "If Courtix doesn't already know who you are he'll find out and he will stop at nothing to have your head."

Azula snorts, "Many others have tried and failed."

Angara rolled her eyes at her hubris. It didn't matter if Courtix came for her, Angara knew that she had to end her tonight.

Some of the other hunters laughed at her hubris as well, they underestimated her but that is only because they haven't seen her in action or what she is capable of.

"You overestimate yourself, pup." Charn laughed using Angara's nickname struck a nerve again, "You're just some teenager and Courtix is a raging maniac who slaughters armies for fun. There's no way you could take him out."

The older orange headed woman joined in, "And now that Duritax ain't there to keep him on his leash anymore you're as good as dead."

Not contempt with being laughed at she subtly waved her hand to the bonfire before them with the flames suddenly turning blue and shooting high into the air stopping their laughs and causing them to jump back in surprise, lounging tharks jumping to their feet and barking at the fire with some of the surrounding Ke'kuvon reacting as if they were being attacked.

The flames returned to their original color and lowered with Azula crossing her legs and sitting in a domineering posture that radiated arrogance with a vain smile, "Still think so?" They all stared at her as if she had suddenly grown a second head.

Angara grabbed her arm and forced her to her feet, "Your tent is pitched, let's go!" She pushed her hard to start walking.

Azula complied with a smile knowing she was able to startle these skilled deadly hunters with her own power.

Angara led her to the tent she would be staying in. It was small and pitched outside the main encampment with room for only one person with only a stretcher inside for a bed, a flat pillow, blanket and a lantern dangling overhead, just enough for one night.

"Stay here and don't go anywhere." Angara ordered, "I'll get you in the morning." She then left her and retreated to the camp.

Finally Azula was alone and away from anyone who could be considered an irritation. The first thing she did was pull the translator out of her ear and pocketed it as it was beginning to cause her inner ear to grow sore, then undid her topknot letting her long hair drop as she sat on the stretcher. The whole day had been nothing but exhausting for her and her body was aching for rest. She didn't even want to think of her plan for taking the storm. She just wanted to sleep and get out of this place and away from these rotten people, especially Angara. That coward who would rather hide than use her title to take down her foe. At least she was able to end the night on a high note with that display of power.

The cut ends of her hair came into view only reminding her that Angara did indeed win that fight and it made her blood boil knowing she was too weak to beat her.

"Such a shame, your bangs always accentuated your face nicely."

Azula looked up and standing before her was the vision of her mother.

She closed her eyes and groaned, "Can I not just have one moment of peace?"

"You two are more alike than you think." The vision said.

Azula groaned at her words again as she undid her boots, "You are not real. You are just a fiction my mind has made to torture me for some reason." She announced hoping this declaration of what she knows will make the vision go away.

"Well, at least you are aware of it." The vision of Ursa responded.

Azula scoffed, "Oh yes I've been more aware of it since actually seeing the real you! Seeing you hiding behind a false face with your new family and replacement daughter! With no memories of your little monst-" She cut herself off as her voice rose remembering her mother was only a vision, "What am I doing, arguing with thin air? Just go away." She threw the blanket over herself and turned her back to her mother.

Ursa knelt down, "You have every right to blame me for what I did. I just hope you can forgive me someday."

Azula covered her head with her flat pillow hoping to drown out her voice.

The commotion from the main camp could still be heard from her tent.

"They are a fascinating people aren't they?" Ursa said with a faint smile, "So full of life and energy despite everything they've been through."

"They're nothing but a bunch of savages and weak ones at that." Azula scorned.

Ursa's smile dropped, "Not everything needs to be a contest of strength Azula."

"That's how the world works. If you are not strong then you are weak, and if you are weak you are eaten up by the strong. They just managed to not be fully eaten." She said cynically.

"Strength takes many forms. Being there for those that remain and ensuring their well being can take more strength than conquering a nation."

Azula shot up and faced the visage, "Oh that's rich coming from you of all people! Where was that strength for Zuko and I? You weren't there for us! For me, when I needed you!"

The specter remained silent.

"Nothing to say to that, huh? No motherly comment to share or lie to tell?"

Ursa stared back with the same solemn look she always wore, "I never lied to you when I told you I love you."

"Don't…" Azula choked out as her eyes began to water, "Just… don't." She looked away hoping her hair hid her weakness from the vision.

Ursa stood up folding her hands back into her sleeves, "I've always loved you Azula."

She couldn't take it anymore, hearing such obvious lies, and grabbed the nearest object and with all of her strength threw it at the visage of Ursa with it passing through and punching a hole in the tent.

Her mother had disappeared just as she always did when she got violent leaving her hyperventilating from the stress. She was thankful that she had just enough self control to not burn the tent down before collecting herself.

It had been such a long time since she's had this many episodes back to back. She thought she had gotten better after escaping her brother and leaving the Forgetful Valley but now it just seems to be getting worse. She shook her head and wiped her tears deciding she was just tired and over stimulated from the various new experiences she has gone through in such a short amount of time.

After lying back down she forced her eyes shut hoping sleep would come quickly but before she could do so, a question went through her mind. What did she just throw?

She got back up and realized there was almost nothing in the tent for her small enough to make the hole. Nothing except… her crown hair piece.

Cursing she threw the blanket off and haphazardly strapped her boots back on. Just her luck that her mind would make her throw away the one thing that reminded her who she was. She had to retrieve it before any of these peasants stumbled upon it and tried to either melt it down or sell it for drinking money.

*****

Angara returned to the bonfire sitting back down in an empty chair sighing heavily, the other hunters looking to her for answers as to what just happened.

"So it's true, she does have abilities." Tekhan said, "I thought that was just something Tyto made up just to get out of trouble."

"Yeah, it threw us for a loop too."

"How does it work?" Charn asked.

Angara gave him an annoyed look, "I don't know. What do I look like, a scientist?"

"Twenty units say she emits gasoline from her hands." The orange headed woman said.

This topic was annoying Angara to no end and she roared out in fury cutting everyone off, "Can we talk about something else?! I spent the whole day stuck with her and she is the most annoying person I've ever had to deal with!"

All of the hunters stared at her in silence because of her outburst.

"Jeez, what crawled up your tailpipe and died." Charn blurted out causing her to glare at him.

"You seem more agitated than usual, Angara." Tekhan said, "Is something bothering you?"

"I'm just…tired is all. She's all I've been hearing about for the past three days, all anybody talks about back at base." She then began speaking in a mocking tone of admiration, "The fire princess that blew up Duritax and saved the ship."

"Can you blame them?" Tekhan asked, putting his finished bowl down, "A teenager killing one of the most ruthless mercenary leaders on this end of known space with a strange ability to control fire, gives me goosebumps thinking about it."

"Not only that but it looks like she gave you a good run for your money, too." The old bearded hunter said, pointing out the bruises and scratches on her face.

Angara snarled and bared her fangs to him, "I won that fight."

"But how close was it?" Tekhan asked, "That burn on your side was really limiting your movements."

"It was just a lucky shot."

"Prey only needs to be lucky once in order to escape or injure its hunter, and you are one of our best."

Angara took the older hunter's wisdom into consideration.

A mischievous smile crept up on Charn's light green face, "What, is our little princess jealous of the new girl in town stealing her spotlight?"

A few of the other hunters chuckled at that, making Angara simmer with her rising temper.

"I broke your arm once already, Charn. You want me to do it again?"

"That was a training accident."

She gave him a piercing gaze capable of cutting metal, "Was it?"

Charn's smile dropped faster than a heavy stone being tossed from above.

The orange haired huntress decided to join in the conversation, "Well if you're so butthurt about it, why not just challenge her to a duel in the morning?"

Angara tensed up, "I… can't do that."

"Why not? Neither of you look too bad of shape." Tekhan asked.

She sighed heavily before explaining, "Because the chief ordered me to kill her, tonight."

Tekhan furrowed his tattooed brow, "Why? She may have strange powers but I don't see how it affects us enough to kill her."

"She knows."

They all looked at her with surprise.

"If she knows, then the Pendarens will come for us!" the bearded hunter said with fear in his voice.

"Or your uncle." the older woman huntress remarked, "He already suspects that you're still alive, we don't need his hunters showing up at our doorstep."

"Why do you think he ordered me to kill her? Just gotta wait for her to fall asleep then take her out there." Angara said.

"Kill her in her sleep? While she's at her most vulnerable and can't fight back?" Tekhan scrutinized as he looked at her with disappointment, "Like your uncle did to your father?"

Angara snarled, standing back to her feet, "You think I don't know how this looks! I don't want to kill her like that either but I have to do it to keep us all safe."

"Through an act of dishonor!" Tekhan accused rising to meet her, "If you are to do it then wait until the morning when her strength has returned and she has a chance to fight for her life."

"I can't, I have to do this. She is strong and if she escapes because I let her have a chance at a fair fight it puts the entire camp at risk and also the Crimson Storm."

Tekhan shook his head as he pleaded, "This isn't our way Angara, you know this."

The older woman made her opinion known as well, "I agree, challenge her to a duel and kill her that way. You beat her once you can do it again."

"Hold on, it doesn't sound that simple." Charn added, "You see the state she's in. If anyone can make Angara look like that then maybe she has a chance of actually beating her, no offense Angara."

Angara snarled at him and began to pace.

The woman scoffed, "We are Ke'kuvon, we face adversity head on knowing the challenge could end us."

"We have to think about this realistically. If she does somehow beat Angara in a fair fight she could be spiteful towards us and let the secret out. If we can take her out here we can get rid of a problem before it becomes one."

Tekhan snarled in anger, "You can't be serious Charn!"

"I am! Think of this from the chief's perspective, an outsider came into our camp knowing one of our most protected secrets and can expose it to our enemies. It's his job to protect us and if he sees a threat to us, why shouldn't he order her dead if it means we are all safe?"

"He's right." The bearded old hunter said with a hard look on his face, "The outsider is a threat to us and should be dealt with."

Tekhan gave the older man a look of betrayal, "Kaveer… Not you. A young blood like Charn I can understand but you."

"When I faced Courtix in honorable combat I adhered to the ways of our people, and you know what happened? He took my arm and got away. Didn't even honor me with a warrior's death, said my blood wasn't good enough for his blade. The money I could have gotten from his bounty could have helped the camp greatly, but our ways kept me from doing what I needed to and cost us that. Our enemies have never fought with honor so why should we let honor keep us from doing what has to be done?"

Tekhan felt as though the whole world was against him now, "The Pendarens have already stolen so much from us! Our home! Our families and friends! Our unity as a people, and now you are going to let fear of them take away who we are?! Our culture? Our traditions? What makes us Ke'Kuvon?!" His words caused many who agreed with this action to turn away in shame and rile up the others who were against it.

"It's time we adapted Tekhan." Charn fought back, "If we stay down the path we have been following then we are doomed to die off."

Kaveer made his way to Tekhan placing his mechanical hand on his shoulder, "Tekhan. None of us likes this but it is the right thing to do."

The balding hunter pulled out of his embrace in disgust giving them all a hard look, "I can't believe any of you would be okay with this." He turned to Angara, "You especially." The guilt of this action was already weighing heavily on her mind but his words were like a knife being twisted in her stomach.

He turned and stormed away with Angara following after pleading with him, "Tekhan don't go. Where are you going?"

He responded in a hard commanding tone lined with exasperation, "To make sure my dishonorable nephew is still cleaning the rhino stables. Perhaps I should impart some wisdom on him so he doesn't start adopting these disgraceful ideals!" he continued on leaving all of them to the bonfire.

The orange haired huntress looked to Kaveer, shaking her head in disappointment, "I guess your arm isn't the only thing Courtix took." she stormed off as well.

Many of the other hunters that agreed with them left grumbling to themselves while others stayed but the mood did not allow for lighthearted conversation to continue with a heavy awkward atmosphere. Angara watched as they left, questioning if what she must do really is the right thing.

Charn approached her, "Don't listen to him, he's… stuck in his ways. If you need help carrying this out-"

"I don't!" Angara said sharply, "The dishonor will be mine and mine alone."

"It's not dishonor Angara." Kaveer stated, "You are doing what is right."

His words put her at ease momentarily but didn't erase the shame.

"And who cares. She's just some outsider that you don't even like. Right?" Charn continued.

Honor had always been something that was taught to her by both her parents and Kowari but now everything she had been taught was being put into question. Should she kill Azula in her sleep like she's putting down an animal to keep her adopted family safe or give her the fighting chance she knows she deserves?

*****

Azula searched in the dark of night for her crown only with the light of a blue flame in hand. She must have thrown it pretty hard as she was starting to get farther away from her tent. She kicked through the short grass hoping the gold would catch the light but saw nothing. She could have sworn it flew in this direction.

As she turned to look in another direction the light of her flame illuminated a shape in the grass. It was one of the thark creatures, this one seemed to be older with its angular face having more wrinkles and the black ridges on its back turning gray. She already had enough dealing with animals today and didn't appreciate being startled by another, but on a closer inspection she saw the creature had something shiny in its mouth, it was her crown.

"Drop that!" She ordered the creature but it only stared at her in indifference, completely ignoring her order.

She gritted her teeth as she approached it slowly however its lips peeled back revealing short but thick fangs as it let out a low rumbling growl that stopped her advance.

She glared at the thark's defiance towards her. As tired as she was she was ready to fight this animal if it meant regaining her hair piece but after an analytical view of the creature she saw that unlike the laugh cats that were small and frail with small razor sharp teeth meant for tearing flesh this animal was larger with a sturdier build who's wider jaws were made for crushing bone.

It would definitely be a tougher fight than a laugh cat and it would be much easier to find a Ke'Kuvon to make it drop the crown but Azula didn't do things the easy way. She'll show this mindless beast her strength and force it to yield to her if she must.

"Alright, if that's how you want to do this then so be it." She took on a fighting stance ready to hurl a fireball at it but before she could do so it turned and trotted away.

"Wh-Hey!" She shouted as she followed it.

The thark paid no mind to her calls as it continued its steady trek away from the camp until it led her to a large yurt sitting farther out from the camp in isolation made from dark fabrics of blue and purple that made it look like a void in the night.

The thark quickly made its way through the tarp. Azula studied the large circular tent and saw a steady plume of smoke rising from the top meaning somebody was home. Better for her at least because now she can demand the owner to take responsibility for their pet.

She slapped the tarp open and was immediately met with the heavy smell of incense burning, it was almost suffocating, and saw the inside was filled with various trinkets and ornaments on display, prayer beads dangling from above and statues of alien beings littering the corners of the tent. She could see a figure sitting by the fireplace in the center draped in dark robes, prayer beads wrapping around them and a wide brimmed hat obscuring their features from her as they carved away at wood, seeming to be creating more beads for a necklace.

The thark dropped her crown by their side and layed down, catching their attention as they inspected its find.

"Excuse me!" She said as loud and bluntly as possible with the figure slowly turning to her, "Your pet stole that from me."

The figure was silent for a short time before speaking slowly in a croaky old voice that sounded as old as time itself, "My apologies. Kezu brings me trinkets from time to time, things that people discard, but every now and then she takes something that is still cherished."

He held out a yellow hand with six long spindly black tipped fingers presenting the hairpiece to her. She was a little drawn back at the sight of his spider-like hand, whoever this was they were clearly not a Ke'kuvon.

"Just see that your pet stays out of people's belongings." She snatched it away from him and turned to leave.

"May your fire remain burning, Serpent of Blue." He said going back to carving.

She stopped turning back to him with a scornful look, "Excuse me? What did you just call me?"

"Serpent of blue." He repeated slowly, "The name that echoes from your soul into the outer world."

Her scorn turned into confusion as she tried to make sense of this strange being's words, "The outer world?"

"The world that overlaps ours and houses the voices of times long past."

She couldn't help but chuckle at that statement, she meets many new beings of different backgrounds and finally meets one who hears voices like her. In some grim twist of fate she wonders if she'll end up like him in a hut collecting junk.

"So you hear voices? What, pray tell, do they tell you then?" She was mocking him, hoping to gain some pleasure after her recent experience with her mothers illusion.

"Voices of the outer world whisper of the world of the bridge… and a child of fire walking through stars…" He held up a bead inspecting it before putting it aside with a pile of others and grabbing another wood chip.

She bursted out laughing, it wasn't exactly funny but the ramblings of old crazy fools always seemed to make her feel better about her own predicament.

"Well I must say, oh great soothsayer, that was quite the rambling." She calmed down wiping away a tear, "If only zuzu were here, maybe he'd be able to make sense of whatever that was since he's always around uncle listening to his proverbs."

"The scarred brother has learned wisdom through hardship and isolation. I wonder what it is you will learn." He droned out.

Azula's laughing fit ceased. What he had said sounded too much like Zuko, someone she had only briefly mentioned by a nickname, "How do you know that?"

The stranger held up the wood chip as he inspected the detail before continuing, "The voices of the outer world share many things if one is open to listen."

She rolled her eyes at his cryptic words and brushed some hair out of her face, when doing so she realized that she wasn't wearing her translator, and yet this creature was speaking in her native language.

Her interest was far beyond being peaked, now she was wondering if this creature had visited the earth, "Who are you?"

He shifted his head allowing her to see his three faintly glowing blue eyes, "A vagabond of the stars who seeks to guide others who are lost. But you may call me by the title the Ke'Kuvon have given me, The Mystic."

"And you believe I'm lost, Mystic?"

He went back to carving, "Some walk without knowing they are lost. Some who walk know exactly where their destination is."

Azula saw an empty space and invited herself to kneel before him, "So these voices… They tell you things? Things about people that aren't spoken?"

"Truths of one's nature, masked by ego and fabrication."

Azula rolled her eyes, "Speak plainly! Yes or no?"

The stranger put down the half formed bead and carving tool, "Yes."

"So you can answer any question about myself I ask?"

"If the voices of the outer world know the answers and see its truths."

"You know of my abilities then?"

"That fire and lighting burn and crackle at your fingertips. Yes."

Azula held out her hand producing a flame to test his resolve causing his thark to spring up and growl at her, he did not react and instead seemed to expect it. He calmed the defensive animal with a gentle pat on her head.

"Then answer a question that has been on my mind since I left home." She continued to play with the flame in her palm, making false movements that suggested she would drop it in order to get some kind of reaction from him, "My bending fluctuates from being weak and powerful and I just can't seem to find the answer for this."

A tentacle appendage slithered out from beneath his hat and grabbed a nearby pot bringing it closer for him to grab a handful of sand and allowing it to trickle past his fingers into a pile. As the tentacle put the pot away he drew four symbols in the sand with his long finger, each being an unfamiliar symbol for the four elements.

"The four basic elements all exist in constant balance with one another. Fire burns with passion, but requires the other elements to flourish. Fire needs air to fuel it, earth retains the heat it produces thus further warming the flame and water's coolness keeps it from growing out of control." He explained pointing to each symbol, "Space is absent of these elements and the artificial environments of ships and stations can only mimic a fraction of the natural world. The farther you are from the four elements the more your balance between them is disrupted." He waved a hand over hers and with a movement to close it extinguished the flame she held to punctuate his point.

"What of the sun? It still grants me its power as long as I am out of extra dimensional space."

"A cup can only be filled if there are no holes within it."

He spoke with nonsensical proverbs just like her uncle but the meaning behind his words made sense with everything the four nations on earth seemed to stand for and was in line with what she has experienced in both leaving and landing on a planet. She finally has a piece to the puzzle surrounding her bending.

"Quite interesting, what else can you tell me?"

He didn't answer at first and seemed to be I'm a trance but after a few moments spoke, "I have said enough."

"What do you mean?" Azula's face dropped into a frown.

"The voices of the outer world have silenced themselves, they have provided enough answers for now."

"What? No! I still have more questions for your voices!"

"The outer world will remain silent until it chooses to speak once more." He said cryptically before grabbing the half form bead and carving tool, "Perhaps another time, Serpent of Blue."

She gritted her teeth and lashed out grabbing his wrist, "You will answer my questions old man! Or so help me-" as soon as she touched his skin she felt a surreal surge of energy shoot up her arm into her mind as if lightning had been shot into her.

She jumped back nearly falling over, "What in Agni's name was that?!"

The Mystic's body language shifted to contemplation "I see…"

She took on a fighting stance, "See what?" The thark got up and growled to defend her master.

He looked up to her, his luminous eyes meeting hers, "A defeat from one you deemed a failure and the abandonment of those close to you has formed cracks in your mind, voices not of the outer world but of your own mind haunt you, and there is much… sadness in your heart."

Her eyes widened in shock and horror. He knew. He saw her weakness, if those voices he spoke of didn't tell him then whatever he did to her exposed every secret she had to him.

"Fair warning, Serpent of Blue." the Mystic said suddenly, "The path you have chosen to follow will not bring you satisfaction, only destruction and pain, not just for you but those around you. You are but a large fish who has escaped her small pond into an ocean of leviathans, your cunning and strength will not be enough against the titans of the galaxy. It is not too late to forsake this path."

It was too much for her to process and she needed to end him. He not only knows her weakness but also of her plan, she needed to silence him permanently before she could be foiled.

She brought her fingers up to send a bolt of fire to his heart but the stranger moved far faster than she could perceive and with a simple flick of his wrist knocked her hand away and pressed the tip of his index finger to her forehead. A surge of energy went through her body that calmed her mind and relaxed her muscles sending her into unconsciousness.

He caught her before she made contact with the ground. Kezu growling and barking at her as she lay in his grasp.

*****

Angara made her way to Azula's tent. She had decided what she must do, Azula had to be silenced for the greater good. She held her honor in high regard but this went farther than her and she must do what is best for her people.

She saw the tent in the distance and she drew Kowari's pistol. She must be asleep by now making her an easy target, a dishonorable target, however the light of the lantern made her take a silent and more deliberate approach to mask her presence and pushed the flap open slowly with the barrel of the blaster before peering in.

To her surprise the tent was empty causing her to jump in looking around frantically for Azula. She had escaped before she could even go through with her decision, making her curse and roar in frustration as she bolted out of the tent looking around her for any possible sign of where she went.

In her frantic search she felt a presence behind her and turned with the weapon drawn at whoever it was only to find the Mystic standing tall over her carrying Azula in his arms bridal style with his thark by his side.

"Mystic!" she said surprised, quickly pointing the weapon away from him and bowing her head in respect, "I-I didn't see you there, and what are you doing with her?"

"Red Cap." The Mystic greeted and bowed his head calmly, "The Serpent of Blue wanders… uncertain of her place in the world." He glided past her into the tent and laid her down carefully on the stretcher before placing her crown on the ground next to her before exiting, "Why do you visit her when anger is all you feel towards her?"

"I-I was… just checking in on her. Making sure she's… sleeping well, ya know." she gave the Mystic a nervous smile.

"Lies are unbecoming of someone who speaks in blunt truths." Her smile fell, the Mystic always seemed to know things and see past lies, "Is it not Ke'Kuvon tradition to slay a beast head on rather than slit its throat while it sleeps?"

She swallowed hard as she looked down not even wanting to face the Mystic, "I have to do this. I have no choice."

"One of the greatest illusions in the universe is the belief that there is no choice," he countered.

She growled, "Well this time there is no choice! If I don't kill her now, everyone could be in danger!"

"Do you know for certain?"

"Uh… no."

"The Serpent of Blue has lived a life believing she has no choice, and you would rob her of being able to make her own choices now that she is free because of an uncertainty?"

Angara turned to him, "How do you know that?"

He held out his long spindly hand, "She has touched me and inadvertently allowed me to peer into her mind."

Angara recoiled at the thought of being in Azula's mind, "That must have been unpleasant, can't imagine what goes on inside that head."

"She is… delicate. Believing she too has no choice and plagued with false beliefs that pull her towards a dark path."

"Then I'd be showing her mercy by just ending her."

"Mercy through a blade delivered in shadows is not mercy at all."

Biting her lip in frustration she then shouts to the cloaked figure, "Then what do I do, huh?! Let her live so she can tell the whole galaxy that the youngest princess of our people is still alive and lead all of our enemies here!"

The Mystic did not answer right away, instead he waited for her to calm down, "Violence does not have to be the first option."

"Then what would you have me do?" She asked with frustration.

"Action may speak louder than words but actions can only convey so much. The two of you are more alike than you think, perhaps a dialogue would be more productive."

"Dialogue? Every word out of her mouth makes me want to strangle her!"

"As do the words that come out of your mouth to her, Red Cap."

Angara only groaned as she looked out at the stars pondering what to say next, "You speak of letting her make her own choices. What if those choices lead to our downfall?"

"They may not. We will never know if we let our fears overcome our better judgment and it would be a shame to cut her down at the very beginning of her journey."

"Really?" Angara questioned unenthusiastically, "What do you see in her?"

"A broken soul who was robbed of the chance to walk her own path. Pride and ego are all she knows and because of this suffering awaits her no matter which path she takes. It is up to her to decide how that suffering will mold her, but she must be allowed to choose."

Angara said nothing as she contemplated his words.

The Mystic began to walk away with Kezu following, "The choice you make now is entirely your decision."

Angara watched him leave until the darkness of night swallowed him away leaving her alone to contemplate his words. She looked at the blaster in hand wondering if she should go through with this, if she should rob Azula of her choices just as her uncle had robbed her of so many of hers and their people.

Chapter Text

Azula awoke feeling more rested than she has ever felt in the past few years. Her mind felt at ease, at least for now but her body was incredibly sore. She recalled the events of meeting the Mystic however everything was hazy, he was so strange, stranger than the other beings she has met thus far. Surely he had to have been a dream, the Ke'Kuvon were not a warm and inviting people so they most likely wouldn't allow someone like him in their community.

She decided it wasn't worth thinking about and got ready to leave. She's had enough of these people and would rather be around the menagerie of creatures on the home base instead.

After preparing herself for the day she exited the tent putting the translator back in her ear and made her way to the main encampment. The sun was rising just beyond the horizon turning the sky pink, its light making the red vegetation beneath it take on a purplish hue with the ring streaking the sky in pure white.

The camp wasn't as lively as it had been last night with many of its inhabitants still asleep and only a few hunters keeping watch whether it be in the camp or on the back of a rhino patrolling the outskirts. Most didn't pay her any mind as she strolled by looking for Angara while the rest glared at her.

"You have joined the waking realm, Serpent of Blue." The haunting voice of the Mystic startled her into a fighting stance.

The Mystic stood outside the rhino stables stroking the head of one of the creatures while clutching a tall walking stick wrapped in beads, "I am glad to see you, and glad of the choice made."

She was frozen in place as the realization that he was not a dream at all. This man, no, this creature did something to her, something that allowed him to know everything about her, the plan to take the storm, her history and even the voices in her head. She even began to wonder how she got back to her tent as she doesn't remember returning herself, in which case, what did he do to her?

"You! How did- what did you do to me last night?"

"I apologize for what occurred." He spoke slowly as he fully turned to her, "I should have taken better precaution to prevent contact with your mind. I did not mean to pry into your subconscious."

"You read my mind? How is that even possible?" She eased out of her stance after deeming that he was not a threat.

"Contact through touch is the easiest manner in which to do so."

"So does that mean you read that creature's mind just now?" She pointed to the rhino.

"No, through great effort I can silence this ability." He continued to pat the rhino's head as it grunted in appreciation, "But that is not why you are here. Is it, Serpent of Blue?"

She grunted in annoyance, "That's not my name. You know things about me, things I can't have anyone else know."

The Mystic stayed silent for a moment as if pondering her words, "Yes, but do not fear. I have no intention of sharing what I know with others."

"Forgive me if I don't believe you."

"The transfer of information between minds is a sacred and intimate process, to share such things is the ultimate violation. I have taken a vow of silence against speaking of such things unless given consent by the one who was read."

She decided to test the resolve of that statement, "Even if I hold information that could endanger you and this camp?"

"If you are referring to Angara's status as a wanted princess, yes. However, that is a secret that I do not need to keep as many in the camp are aware that you know and they do not approve."

"All the more reason for me to leave."

"Leave you should. An attempt was made on your life last night, but thankfully I was able to persuade them to make a different choice."

Azula couldn't say she was surprised at that, she suspected it was Angara who would have done the attempt, but was confused as to why he would intervene, "Why save me? What do you gain from my survival?"

"Nothing. All life is sacred, even the lives of the wicked. One day we all shall venture into the outer world and become one of its many voices, but there is no need to rush or send others before they are ready."

She rolled her eyes at that, "Speaking of this outer world, is there anything those voices would like to share?"

"The outer world remains silent in regards to you, for now."

"If that's the case then tell me where I can find Angara."

He pointed to his right with his mighty walking stick, "Red Cap will be in the center of camp within the chieftains war horse."

She assumes he means the giant vehicle the chieftain stayed in and turned to take her leave but the voice of the Mystic stopped her, "I have something for you, Serpent of Blue." He dug into his cloak and pulled out a small bracelet made of wooden beads. Reluctantly she took the bracelet from his spindly fingers, taking extra caution to not touch him. She looked at the bracelet and found a wooden pendant of some strange serpentine creature curled in a spiral with swirling patterns running along its body.

"What is this?"

"A charm carved from steel wood. A wood that is notorious for its difficulty to burn. May it help guide you down the path you choose to follow and bring you good fortune." The Mystic turned back to the rhino and patted its head.

She thought nothing of his words as she pocketed the tacky bracelet and followed the direction he pointed towards. When she arrived she found Angara was already awake standing at the top of the vehicle no longer dressed in her armor leaning against the railing at the top of the vehicle, seeming to be watching the sunrise while contemplating something deeply.

"Hey!" Azula called out to her with the former Ke'Kuvon princess who gave her a scornful look, "Are we ready to leave yet?"

"I just woke up, give me a few minutes!" she shouted, "And why are you awake so early? I'd expect you to be sleeping in after the beating I gave ya."

"I don't waste time sleeping in. Fire benders rise with the sun after all." Azula responded.

Angara rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Of course you'd have some dumb saying like that. Anyway, I talked to My'Rell last night, they're still working things out with planet security so we might need to catch a ride from someone here."

She rolled her eyes, "As long as we leave, I don't care."

"Hang on, pup. There's something you and I need to talk about." Angara leapt from the railing and landed close to her, "You know something about me that I can't let get out."

"You mean the fact that you're a princess?" Azula asked as if she didn't know what she was talking about.

"Yeah that." Angara growled, "You knowing that is a really big problem and I don't trust you to keep your mouth shut."

"Really? And here I thought our little experience out in the wilderness helped us to grow closer as friends." Azula purred sarcastically, "So what are you going to do about it. Strike a deal with me? You don't seem the negotiating type. But…" she tapped her chin as a smile creeped up her face, "I would still like to have the best bounty hunter in the Crimson Storm to show me the ropes."

Angara made an annoyed face, "You're still on about that?"

"Like I said, I only accept the best. Agree to that and maybe I'll consider keeping quiet."

"No."

Azula was taken aback from how quick that response was, right when she thought she had her.

"No? You do realize I have some very valuable information?"

"Yup."

"So why refuse such a simple request?"

"Like I said before. When I look at you all I see is a liar and a schemer. Someone like that can't be trusted to keep her mouth shut even if a deal is struck." The defiance returned to Angara's cat like eyes, "I spent all night thinking of how to deal with that problem and I think I've got a solution that'll make everyone happy."

"Really then? Well don't keep me in suspense." she responded in a sardonic manner.

With Angara's gaze hardening she spoke clearly and confidently loud enough for several of the passing hunters to hear, "I challenge you to a fight to the death!"

Azula wasn't expecting this, especially so suddenly but with her strength back and better knowledge of her environment and opponent, a devilish smile spread across her face at the prospect of a battle to the death with the woman she hated, "I accept."

After the two princesses ate breakfast and geared up, Angara back in her armor minus her helmet and needle cannon while Azula remained in her jumpsuit, they met outside the camp with almost the whole camp circling around them, cheering Angara on while shouting for Azula's death.

"Break her legs big sis!" Teo shouted while clinging to his grandfather's leg along with his twin.

"Beat her up!" Tia cheered.

Tekhan patted both of their heads, "Now remember you two this is a battle of honor between warriors, not some common street brawl meant to gawk at for cheap spectacle. A battle to the death like this should be witnessed not for the sake of watching two people beat each other senseless, but by virtue of bravery in the face of adversity and-"

"Smash her face in and send her to the outer world!" Tyto cheered on in glee, disregarding any lesson his uncle was trying to impart with his cousins cheering with him.

"Maybe I should stop letting you three watch those fights on the omni-net." Tekhan said flatly.

While side eyeing his nephew disapprovingly he noticed the tall cloaked form of the Mystic appear next to them spectating with the rest of the crowd, "Mystic, I didn't think you'd be interested in witnessing an event like this. You're normally indifferent to our warrior ways."

The Mystic murmured, "A choice was made, one that has spared the life of another. However, another was made that may end with a similar grim outcome. Choices I helped initiate. Regardless of outcome I must bear witness and accept responsibility."

Tekhan turned his attention back to the makeshift arena, "Always so cryptic. Aren't you?"

Chief Kowari pushed past the crowd still in a drowsy state after being woken up, "What is going on out here?"

"It would seem our princess came to her senses and challenged our guest in honorable combat." Tekhan answered.

"What!?" Kowari shot his gaze to the makeshift arena, his eyes widening seeing Azula still alive stretching and ignoring the crowd's boos, "Why is she still alive?"

"Come now Kowari, you shouldn't be surprised. This is our way after all." Tekhan gave him a judgemental look.

"You disapprove of my orders?"

"Greatly."

"Then you know why I gave them. That girl knows too much."

"She's a fighter like us. She deserves to die on her feet facing her opponent, unless you don't think Angara can defeat her."

Kowari shot the older man a hard look taking great offense to that statement, "You think I doubt her abilities? I taught her everything she knows."

"Which makes it even more insulting to her that you would have her shoot a girl in her sleep."

Kowari's glare tightened at his words.

"A choice made in fear is a choice made in ignorance." The Mystic murmured.

"You! You had something to do with this didn't you?" The chief accused. He never did care for the Mystic but he was vital in keeping morale up in the camp along with advising many in their day to day lives, it helped that he also shared in their beliefs of the outer world.

"Red Cap was at a crossroads, unsure of which path to take. I merely helped guide someone who was lost."

Tekhan softened his own gaze not wanting another fight to break out, "Let us not argue on this matter here old friend. Let's see just how much our princess has grown since we last saw her fight."

Coming out of another stretching position Azula spoke to her opponent as she began stretching her legs, "I know I agreed to this little death battle quite quickly but what exactly are the terms for our duel?"

Angara cracked her knuckles against her chin before cracking her neck, "Simple, if I win you die so you can't leak me being alive out. You win, I die giving no reason for anyone to bring harm to the people I care about." Angara looked to Kowari as she said this, her words resonating with him as he knew that this could potentially save the clan no matter the outcome but would result in losing the girl he raised as his own, "If that is alright with you chief."

Kowari huffed, "Kill her and be done with it, Angara."

She nodded in affirmation before activating her shield and unsheathing her blade, "That sit well with you, pup?"

Azula, now in a fighting stance, responds as confidently as ever, "The terms sound fair. Now why don't we stop wasting time and get on with it." A cocky smile came to her face.

"Are you sure you're not going to need a weapon?" Tekhan asked, "This is supposed to be a fair fight after all."

"I already have my weapon." She felt the heat of the rising sun filling her with his strength.

The two combatants eyed each other looking for an opening to attack, neither willing to make the first move now that they have a better understanding of each other's skill, Azula now adjusting herself to the heavier gravity.

Their circling of each other continued until Angara activated her jet thrusters, propelling her forward using her shield as a battering ram. Azula used her bending to propel herself out of the way and followed with a blast to her side. The crowd ceased their boos and call's for her death after witnessing her blue flames, their obscenities replaced with gasps and whispered speculations.

The blast bounced off the backplate of her armor harmlessly as she rolled out of her charge and lunged at her while swinging her blade. Azula jumped back as the blade almost severed the other strands of hair she allowed to hang freely, she wouldn't allow Angara to further ruin her hair.

Azula shot a blast of fire at the ground between them, throwing up dirt and forcing Angara back, then threw a series of blasts at her that she blocked with her shield but kept her from engaging further. Azula knew that Angara was at her most dangerous up close, she had the advantage when it came to range and needed to keep her opponent at a distance if she had any chance of winning.

Angara was pushed back, almost to the ground, as an intense and constant blast of fire coated her shield, almost as if she was blocking the flames of a dragon. The heat was so intense she was struggling to keep her eyes open, for her next move she needed to rely on luck.

Angara retracted her blade then swung her free arm low, firing her grappling hook in a swinging motion low to the ground. The wire wrapped around Azula's legs and pulled them together throwing her off balance before Angara pulled her feet out from under her.

Now that the flames were gone Angara closed the distance once more attempting to slam the edge of her shield down on Azula's stomach.

The firebender managed to roll out of the way in time only for her opponent to bring it back down on her again. Azula managed to catch the edge of the shield before it could collide and struggled to hold the shield back making her very aware of the difference in physical strength Ke'Kuvon had over humans.

She could barely move, she was using most of her strength to keep the shield from her abdomen and her legs were still bound in cable being held in place by Angara.

On the gauntlet that housed the grappling hook Angara summoned the wrist blade once more and made a jab for her legs.

Thinking quickly Azula took a deep breath and breathed out a small blast narrowly missing her face but enough to make her miss her mark. Azula was able to push the shield away and saw the cable had gotten wrapped around the blade. She yanked her legs as hard as she could, pulling the cable against its edge severing it and freeing her legs. She tossed the hook and cable aside before sweeping her legs in a spiraling motion that sent flames everywhere pushing her opponent back far enough for her to recover. The crowd backed away as well in fear of getting hit with the flames.

Angara swiped at her with the blade managing to leave a laceration on Azula's arm. This weapon was becoming a nuisance to her, one lucky strike from it could end it all for her. Azula noticed the cut cable and grappling hook and dove towards it while dodging another swing. She held it between her hands ready for Angara's next move.

Angara swung downward but Azula held out the cable, managing to catch her arm before wrapping it around her gauntlet and redirecting the blade into the ground. She repeatedly hammered her foot down against the blade until it snapped then sent a knee into Angara's face.

The crowd winced at the blow. A look of concern appeared on Kowari's face as he watched on, Angara had indeed improved in her close quarters fighting skills however her opponent was just as skilled and more resourceful than he had anticipated.

As angry as he was with Angara not killing her in her sleep he allowed the duel fully believing in her ability to handle this problem but now seeing this manipulation of fire and the skill that it was being used with brought worry to him. Angara still had the advantage when it came to defense with her suit of armor and shield where Azula was a glass cannon. Kowari knew Angara only needed one lucky shot and this fight is as good as over. He just hopes Azula doesn't get a lucky shot of her own.

Angara continued to hold her shield before her as blast after blast of fire forced her on the defensive. She could barely get close to her long enough to do any damage. She then remembered a gadget she hadn't used yet but it would require her to retract her shield.

Angara activated her jetpack and put as much distance from her and Azula before ascending into the air.

"Running away? I thought you were braver than that!" Azula taunted sending more blasts into the air.

Angara retracted her shield and with the same gauntlet a small compartment opened with two small missiles flying out. Azula wasn't expecting that and jumped out of the way as the first one exploded where she stood and the other tailed behind it exploding just inches away from her, the shockwave momentarily disorienting. Once she got her bearings back she couldn't find Angara in the air or on the ground.

She spun around just in time to find Angara barreling through the smoke with her jetpack and shield already open delivering an upward backhanded swing that collided with Azula's chest and chin, the force of which sent her flying back into the crowd that caught her only to throw her back into the arena.

Kowari's worry eased, this was the opening he was waiting for. Now Angara could finish her off and they can be done with this.

*****

On a watch tower just outside the camp two Ke'Kuvon hunters watched the fight from a distance, one using the zoom-in feature of his helmet to get a closer look while the other used a pair of binoculars.

"Angara's really giving it to her, ain't she." The helmeted one said.

"Of course she is. It's Angara we're talking about." The binocular one responded, "Holding back isn't her specialty."

"Ten units says she breaks her neck." The helmeted one said.

The other one chuckled, "Fifteen says she bludgeons her to death with her bare hands."

"Deal!"

They both continued to watch the fight from their tower and in doing so failed to notice the long range scanner flashing red indicating several ships were coming straight towards them from Horizon city.

*****

Azula had not recovered yet from the shield bash but just as she did a fist collided with her face, then a hand grabbed her by the collar of her shirt before she felt the familiar sting of Angara's head spikes collide with her forehead as she delivered another headbutt.

The crowd's cheers grew louder as Angara delivered a flurry of blows before ending it with a hard jab to the stomach with the edge of her shield sending her stumbling back.

Azula was now on her knees holding her stomach as Angara stood over her regaining her breath.

"Got nothing else to say?" Angara taunted her, "You're usually a chatterbox, can't get you to shut up!" She then delivered a swift kick to her side then grabbed her by the hair forcing her up, "Normally I'd try to get this done quick and easy but I think I'm gonna drag this out a little bit longer. Just for the fun of it!" A malicious smile spread across her face, a smile Azula was all too familiar with.

The crowd continued to cheer Angara on however Kowari grew restless.

Tekhan groaned, "She's showboating again."

"Why does she always feel the need to do this?" Kowari facepalmed.

The Mystic only looked on in silence.

Angara pulled her up higher by the hair forcing Azula to cry out as she raised a fist. Azula thought quickly on how to get out of this situation and remembered the burn on Angara's side. It wouldn't have healed fully so quickly.

Just as Angara was going to hammer down her fist Azula grabbed a hold of the second degree burn and squeezed with all of her might, stopping Angara's attack and making her howl in pain. Now open for an attack Azula sent an open palm into the side of her face pushing her back and disorienting her. Now it was Azula's turn to deliver a flurry of blows to her face and exploited the weakness of her burnt side by delivering a sweeping kick to it every time she attempted to retaliate.

Angara managed to catch her leg with her right arm and with her left to grab her and attempt another headbutt, a seemingly favored move.

Azula was prepared for this and just as she was pulled closer to deliver the blow she countered by flinging her elbow into Angara's face striking the bridge of her nose.

The strike was enough to make Angara lose her grip allowing Azula to send a blast directly into her chest plate making her fly back before beginning another assault of fireballs, this time her attacks becoming more savage and relentless.

Angara struggled to defend against the assault with the reawakened pain in her side. The blasts of blue flame became too quick to follow with several blasts colliding with her armor and almost knocking her over.

Azula was growing tired of this shield And decided it was time for it to be destroyed and to further demonstrate her power. With her right two fingers she drew them into a circular motion generating a crackling of lightning swinging it in the air and catching it with her other hand further charging it up.

The crowd grew silent at this display in shock and horror. Kowari especially.

Once satisfied with the charge Azula flexed her fingers towards her opponent's energy shield generating an explosion that sent Angara flying back so far the crowd had to leap out of the way in hopes of dodging her.

Silence now filled the arena as Azula stalked up to Angara who laid in a small crater, her armor covered in glowing scorch marks, smoke rising from her, her energy shield damaged beyond repair as sparks shot out of it but she was still alive.

Angara looked up trying to regain her bearings, a numbness coming to her shield arm, and saw Azula standing over her with a malicious and triumphant smile plastered across her bruised face.

"I win."

Angara could give her a glare of defiance and spat out some blood. She could barely move and if she could her body screamed in pain. She was right, she had been beaten.

Angara pulled herself up into a sitting position, "Alright… get on with it." She accepted her defeat with grace, she won't let it be said that she was a sore loser in her final fight.

Azula's smirk faltered a bit, "What, no remark? No insults? Not even gonna beg for your life?"

"Nah, I don't beg. I said that if you win I die. So just do it already before I find some way of killing you first." Angara gave her the most arrogant smile she'd ever seen.

There was no fear in Angara's eyes, no hint of regret either and this only made Azula's victory feel bitter. This wasn't what she wanted. She had beaten her, humiliated her before her own people and proved her weakness, yet she still holds that defiance that sapped away any joy she could have obtained from this moment.

She raised a hand drawing up a sapphire flame and was ready to make her final strike, until the voice of the Mystic shot through her mind, "Is this the path you wish to continue down?"

She froze as he stood far away in the crowd yet his voice was so clear, it was as if he was standing inches away from her.

"A choice can be made here, your choice. Free of the influence of others, and one that may shape your future. Choose wisely." His voice echoed to her and deaf to all other ears.

"Well? You gonna finish it or what?" Angara said impatiently.

Azula, now drawn back to the situation, looked down on her hoping seeing her defeated form would reignite her fire but it did nothing. She wanted to see Angara broken but instead she sat there accepting what is to come with the same defiance as ever unafraid of the bite of her fire. Unlike her who faced defeat ungracefully, sobbing and screaming like a child. The shame of that memory still haunts her.

She couldn't understand this feeling, there was anger that she couldn't break her but behind that lay a sense of admiration for Angara's calm disposition in what should be her final moments.

Was this respect for someone she defeated, someone that she proved was weaker than her and unworthy of her admiration?

Kowari noticed the hesitation in Azula and activated the blaster on his gauntlet to end this himself.

A hand grabbed him by his arm. It was Tekhan holding him back with a pained and saddened look on his face, "Kowari don't!"

"I can't stand by and allow this to happen!"

"She knew the risks when she initiated the challenge!" Tekhan urged, "You'd do nothing but dishonor her by intervening."

Kowari growled before pushing him out of the way and taking aim, "To hell with honor!"

As Kowari lined up his shot the two watchtower guards looked on, fully absorbed in the matter until one heard the sounds of engines roaring. He turned his binoculars to the horizon and saw several ships incoming.

"Ships! Ships on the horizon!"

The alarm came too late as several black and white ships sored overhead stopping everyone from what they were doing. The crowd dispersed as they circled the area, the winds generated by their engines kicked up clouds of dirt and threw loose objects into the air, said winds extinguished the flame in Azula's hand along with throwing her off balance with Angara pulling herself back to her feet as one ship landed before them all. Azula recognized these ships as belonging to planetary security mainly because of the flashing red and blue lights.

Kowari approached the landed craft with several other hunters following behind preparing for a fight as the door opened and Proxly's round frame sauntered out followed by several other security officers.

"Chief Kowari! How are you this fine morning? Well rested I imagine." Proxly greeted sarcastically.

"What is the meaning of this Proxly?"

Proxly pulled out a tablet, "I'm here because I'm looking for your little red head hunter Angara and this new girl…" he squinted at the tablet, "A-zuuul-a. Think that's how you pronounce it. Anyway, these two are wanted for disorderly conduct, destruction of public property and resisting arrest. And given how this camp is the closest location from the badlands where we lost them this is where they'd likely be." With a glance to his right he saw the two individuals he was looking for battered and bruised, "Would you look at that. The girls of the hour. Cuff em."

A pair of officers approached them with cuffs in hand until several hunters stepped between them.

"You have no right to just come here and make arrests!" Kowari growled.

"Actually I do. You see, as a member of planetary security I can arrive at any settlement on Kazima and neighboring territories to make arrests and do searches if I suspect threats to security, smuggling, foul play or in this case, harboring criminal fugitives. And given how two law breakers have been found here, maybe I should do a search of the whole camp just in case I find something else that shouldn't be here, like say some water filters that went missing a few days ago."

Kowari said nothing and only growled at him.

"But given how I found what I came here for, I can just take them and be on my way. Less files I have to fill out."

Angara pushed past the crowd until she was before Proxly, "If I come willingly you'll leave?"

"You and your fire breathing friend."

"Fine." She held out her hands allowing one of the other officers to cuff her.

"Don't fight them, pup. Not unless you want to leave unconscious." She said over her shoulder to Azula as the crowd parted for the officers to make their way to her.

Azula would rather not be bound but this seems to be her only option out of the camp at the moment and she'd rather not live as a fugitive again.

"Let's just get this over with." She too held out her hands.

"Angara no!" Kowari said coming to her side, "This is foolish!"

"You see any other option? I'll be fine, My'Rell will pay my bail and I'll be out in no time."

"But what of her?" Kowari pointed to Azula as two officers escorted her into the ship.

"I-I don't know." She admitted refusing to look him in the eye out of shame and thinking that maybe she should have just followed his orders.

The officers pulled her to the ship, "I'll figure something out."

She was shoved onto a bench in the center compartment of the ship a few seats away from Azula with several officers in between them.

"Been a pleasure seeing you again chief." Proxly said as he waddled back onto the ship, "Make sure you and your people stay out of trouble. I'm always watching."

After all the officers returned the doors closed and the vehicle ascended back into the air returning to Horizon city.

Kowari watched as it left with his adopted daughter hoping that she would find some way of dealing with Azula.

He turned to the crowd, "Fight is over! Go back to your business!" He glanced over to the Mystic whose robes flapped to the winds as he too watched the ship's fly off, "The girl hesitated. Did you have something to do with that?"

The Mystic's sky blue eyes met his, "I only asked her a question. One she does not seem to be ready to answer yet." He turned and began walking back to his hut.

His words had always confused Kowari. For now he decided to forget about the cloaked man and turn his attention to a more pressing matter, "Who was in charge of the watchtower?!"

The two Youngblood hunters tried to disappear into the crowd after seeing his glare land on them.

*****

After having her hand prints scanned, mugshot taken and all the few personal belongings she had with her confiscated, Azula sat isolated in a glass cube in a hallway lined with other cubes, several of which housed various aliens in cuffs like her. The cells had nothing in them save for their occupants meaning they were only temporary housing until planetary security figured out what to do with her.

She took the time to try and meditate and refocus her mind so she could get out of this unscathed however she was aggravated that her duel was interrupted right as she was going to deliver the final blow but also of her strange feelings of respect for that abhorrent woman and the intervention of the Mystic didn't help.

The sound of a cell near her opening pulled her from her thoughts as Angara, now stripped of her armor and only dressed in a mesh suit, was shoved into the cell hissing at the guards who left her cuffed before leaving.

Once Angara noticed her stare she glared at her before taking a seat on the cold floor.

"Well… This is quite the predicament we find ourselves in." Azula said aloud.

Angara ignored her.

"So, how long will it take for My'Rell to get us out of this?"

"No clue, so shut up." Clearly she was in no mood to speak so Azula didn't push the matter and went back to meditating, however Angara decided to ask her something, "Why didn't you finish me off? You won the duel so you had the right to end my life then and there, but you didn't. Why?"

Azula wasn't sure if she should mention the voice of the Mystic and she would rather die than letting her know she might have developed some modicum of respect for her, but he did have strange abilities, perhaps the truth may be the best answer, "I heard a voice speak to me from within my head, the voice of the Mystic."

Angara rolled her eyes and scoffed, "Of course. Figured he would have done something like that."

Azula felt more at ease knowing that Angara believed her, "He mentioned that there was an attempt on my life last night and that he was able to talk them out of it. That was you wasn't it?"

Angara remained silent confirming her hunch.

"So we both hesitated because of interference from this Mystic friend of yours."

"It wasn't just him! Something else got in the way."

Azula snorted, "Like what?"

Angara sighed as she spoke in a calmer tone, "It would have been an honorless death. As much as I hate you I respect you as a warrior and know that if you are to die by my hands it should be as an equal in combat."

Their eyes met, Angara's remained defiant as ever while Azula's face was blank and expressionless until she started snickering until it turned into full blown laughter. She laughed so hard that she fell over on her side cackling uncontrollably.

"You didn't… kill me b-because of honor?" She gasped in-between breaths, "That's so stupid! You could have easily taken me out and never have to worry about me again! You really are like Zuko!" she continued laughing, filling the detention center with her erratic howls.

Her laughs struck a nerve in Angara as her eye twitched at the ridicule making her jump to her feet and start slamming her cuffed fists against the wall of her cell shouting threats, "When I get out of here I'm gonna strangle the life out of you!"

"That wouldn't be very honorable of you. Now would it?" Azula said mockingly, still laughing.

Angara roared in frustration as she kicked at the walls until a guard opened the door to Azula's cell, "On your feet." He grabbed her and pushed her down The hallway.

Azula was led into a small gray room that only housed a table, a chair for her to sit and Proxly who sat at the opposite end reading something on his tablet. He motioned for the guard to seat her and leave.

"Cuffs over the magnet." Proxly said pointing to the black circular plate on her end of the table.

She did as instructed with the magnet pulling her arms against the table catching her by surprise with the force it grabbed her with. She tugged her hands away but the magnet was powerful and didn't allow her even an inch.

Proxly didn't say anything to her, only continued to read his tablet in silence as if she wasn't there. She knew this tactic, using silence as a weapon to be in control of the situation. A favored tactic her father used for intimidation and one she used often. She took the time to look around and noticed a mechanical eye in the corner of the room watching them.

"So, Azula. Am I pronouncing that correctly?" He finally said looking up at her.

"Correct." She said flatly.

"First day as a citizen of Kazima and already you're causing trouble." He put the tablet down and reached into his pocket pulling out what seemed to be a pack of cigarettes and ignited one in his mouth with a lighter taking a deep inhale before breathing a puff of smoke into her face, "Got reports from a dozen different people about you chasing after some Ke'Kuvon brats and spewing fire out like some Kavidarian, only you weren't breathing it out your mouth like one and instead they were shooting out your hands like a jet."

He flipped the tablet over to her tapping the screen with a dull claw at the video of her using her firebending.

"That's a neat trick but a very dangerous one. I could put you behind bars for a good while for that alone; add in you hopping on a train without a ticket, your fight with Angara, the damages to the train and fleeing arrest. I've got enough evidence to kick you off Kazima permanently." He took another drag from his cigarette and released the smoke from his four nostrils, "Gotta say it's not looking good for you."

"Did those reports mention the fact that I was robbed by those brats and was only trying to get back what was stolen?" She said accusingly.

"Is that right?" He shook some ash onto a trey, "What else happened?"

"I ran into a gang of them, fought them all and chased the ones that stole from me to the train."

"And that's where you had the confrontation with Angara. Can't say I don't believe you, those Ke'Kuvon are nothing but trouble, but if that's the case you should have contacted one of our officers and we would have taken care of it."

She scoffed, "And wait for someone to come so the thieves have just enough time to get away? I don't think so. Where I come from, thievery isn't tolerated."

"And where is it that you come from?" he put the cigarette back in his mouth as he went back to his tablet, "Says here you're an unregistered species from an unregistered planet, we have nothing on your background and no information on this fire thing you do."

"Fire bending." She corrected.

He gave her a look indicating that he didn't like being interrupted, "Right. Fire bending. Your species, what is it?"

"Human."

"And your homeworld?"

"Earth."

"Where is this Earth exactly?"

Azula smirked, "Honestly I'm not sure. I haven't had a chance to ask My'Rell for the exact location yet."

He tapped some more ash out onto the trey, "That makes you a part of the Crimson Storm, correct?"

"I suppose it does."

"You look a little young to be part of a mercenary crew, sixteen years if what I'm reading is correct. How did you get involved with them?"

"I'm sorry, but I don't see how this is relevant to the crimes I'm being accused of."

"I believe it's relevant which means it is." He punctuated by smashing his cigarette bud hard on the ashtray, "You're a complete mystery to us and if there's one thing I hate more than anything else in the galaxy it's mysteries. So, you are gonna answer all my questions or I'm gonna kick you off my planet."

He was losing his patience and Azula could see it.

Azula kept an indifferent gaze, "Has My'Rell been informed that I am here? I would much like to speak with her first before I proceed any further."

Proxly gave out a snorty chuckle, "That ain't how things work around here. You are in my domain where I ask you questions and you give me answers."

"I believe I'd be able to answer more clearly if I had someone present who has a better understanding of the law here."

Proxly's thick brows tightened as his scarlet eyes bore into her, "I am the law here."

Azula gave him just as hard a gaze. They both glared at each other like two predatory animals trying to intimidate the other into submission.

"You sure you're not Tivanti's bastard child."

Azula's gaze hardened even further at such a rude remark, "You mean My'Rell?"

"Yeah, you've got that same look in your eyes as her. Cold arrogance that says you think you can do whatever you want." He lit another cigarette, "Those imperial types never change."

Azula raised a brow, "She left the empire though. That must count for something?"

The round alien only snorted, "A Pendaren can leave the empire but the empire never leaves a Pendaren."

"Perhaps, but from my observation she seems to have gone through a change in world view."

Proxly laughed further, "Listen little girl, I've worked this job for over forty three years and you know what I've learned? People don't change and if they do it's never for the better. I'll always be who I am, the Ke'Kuvon will always be nothing but a bunch of savage raiders and My'Rell will always be an arrogant imperial no matter how much she pretends she isn't. And you…" he took another long drag of his cigarette and breathed out another cloud of smoke into her face causing her to wince and cough a bit, "You look like some stuck up, spoiled rotten brat who thinks the universe revolves around her, and that's all you'll ever be."

Azula now had a clear picture as to who the head of security was; a self righteous and rude man who uses the law and possibly abuses it to his advantage, he has no care of protecting lives but instead coasting off the benefits his position provides and treats anyone at the opposite end of the law as trash.

A hard knock came from the door causing Proxly to replace his self righteous grin with a look of annoyance, "I'm in the middle of an interrogation here!"

An officer entered the room, "Apologies sir but it's My'Rell. She's here demanding to speak to you again."

"Tell her I'm busy."

"We did sir but…" he trailed off for a moment noticing Azula's attention on him so he went to tell Proxly in a hushed whisper.

Proxly sighed and snuffed out his cigarette, "Bring her in."

Within minutes My'Rell stormed into the room, "Why was I not informed that Azula was in your custody? As her legal guardian I was to be informed that you had her immediately and no interrogations were to be made until I was told of her status and well being."

This caught Azula by surprise, "Legal guardian?"

"Yes." She turned to her, "You are only sixteen and because you are considered a Pendaren adjacent species that would make you a minor in the eyes of Kazima's law therefore I made myself your legal guardian." She turned back to Proxly, "Which is why she should have stayed in a cell and not be probed with questions."

Proxly waved for the guard to leave, "She's an unregistered species, we have a little more leeway. She could be saying she's sixteen but she could be a hundred for all we know."

"That wasn't recognized when her ID was being made. You just don't want to admit negligence on your part."

"That doesn't erase the crimes she and Angara caused."

My'Rell positioned herself next to Azula and blocking the view of the camera before reaching into her jacket and putting a stack of units on the table and spoke in a hushed whisper, "Consider this payment for the damages." She then pulled out another stack, "And this for letting my people go."

Proxly's brows raised at the sight of the bribe. He covered the stacks with his tablet, "Get your brats out of my sight, just this once."

With that the magnet keeping Azula's hands to the table shut off allowing her to pull them free. Without another word the two left Proxly and were escorted by an officer to the main office where Azula's cuffs were removed and her personal belongings returned. Mainly her communicator, crown and the serpent bracelet she had forgotten to discard.

It took a little while longer for Angara to join them as she put all her armor back on and was still recovering from their fight.

After leaving the police station they took a cab back to the spaceport riding in silence before My'Rell broke it, "You have any idea how much of a pain in the ass you two were?"

They both remained silent.

My'Rell turned to Azula who sat beside her watching the buildings go by, "You're still new here and don't really understand how things work so I'll be lenient with you. But you," She directed a critical look to Angara who sat across from them, "You know better than to flee from planetary security and cause damage to public property."

Angara looked away like a child being scolded.

"Proxly is the last person any of us wants to deal with, I get that, but that stunt you pulled on the train was reckless. Remember the governor is allowing us to remain on Kazima and if we become too much trouble he can and will use planetary security to get rid of us."

Azula snorted, "Won't do them much good since their security force couldn't handle a small time syndicate."

"That was years ago Azula, Proxly has been building up his defenses and armaments since then. He actually has the resources to go toe to toe with us and he's just waiting for an excuse to use it."

The cab entered the space port.

"I'll let this whole fiasco slide for now. Don't let anything like this happen again." Her orders were absolute with an authoritarian edge that kept both of them silent as she exited the vehicle.

The words of the Mystic came to Azula's mind, "You are but a large fish who has escaped her small pond into an ocean of leviathans."

As much as she hated to admit it he was right. This whole experience has taught her that she was overestimating herself and getting in over her head. She would never have done this two years ago in her prime but now she keeps making little mistakes. It's time she started to change strategies.

She needed to try and predict the unpredictable, keep an open mind to anything and expect that any encounter could be her last. After all she is in a setting that is truly alien to her. My'Rell is an obstacle to her but perhaps she could use this obstacle to her favor. She has had years, maybe even decades, of experience as a leader so perhaps it would prove useful to maybe take some notes.

They exited the vehicle where their shuttle awaited in the same landing pad, clampless and unmoved since its arrival. Sev sat within the compartment with Gax at his side fiddling with a piece of tech, both waiting on the return of the rest of their party.

"There y'all are!" Sev greeted, his smile fading seeing the bruises and scratches on both Azula and Angara, "What happened to you two?"

"Got into a fight." Angara answered, taking a seat next to Sev.

"CHOON GARI?" Gax asked as Azula sat next to him.

"He's asking who won." Sev translated.

"I did." They both answered at the same time, which followed with them glaring at each other.

"I won round one, though." Angara scoffed.

"And I, round two." Azula responded.

"So when's round three?" Sev asked with a cheeky grin.

"Never!" My'Rell announced from the seat behind them as the compartment doors closed and the shuttle began to levitate, "And that's the last I want to hear of it."

Sev leaned over Gax towards Azula, "Pretty eventful first day, huh firespitter?"

Azula rubbed her tired eyes, "You have no idea."

"The pup ruined my day off." Angara growled from her spot.

"PUP?" Gax repeated.

Azula shot her another glare.

"It's my new nickname for her, because she's like a lost puppy." She said with a sneer, as if to drive the humiliation knife further.

"Daw that's cute." Sev laughed, "Got one more nickname under your belt, huh pup."

"Call me that again and you'll need a prosthetic tongue!"

Sev's smile faltered quickly, "Okay, I can take a hint."

Everyone remained silent after this exchange and it continued as the shuttle broke atmosphere and went towards the ring.

Azula could feel the strength of her firebending fade as they ascended. It seems the Mystic was right about her bending's balance being disrupted in space.

The shuttle reentered the hangar and allowed the passengers to disembark.

"You two." The captain addressed the two bruised fighters, "Go to Bevel and get patched up."

Azula followed after Sev and Gax who agreed to lead her to the medical bay while Angara hobbled to My'Rell before she could leave, "Captain, we've got to talk."

"What about?"

"Azula knows."

My'Rell gave her a perturbed look, "Get patched up first, then report to my office. We'll discuss this further there."

*****

"Honestly!" Dr. Bevel announced with a look of disappointment as she treated Azula and Angara with Sev and Gax hanging about, "Fighting like a bunch of children in the school yard! Should I expect to see you two in my medical bay every time you interact?" Azula winced as Bevel sprayed a healing mist on the cut of her arm.

"We're fine, Bevel." Angara stated nonchalantly.

"You have a second degree burn on your hip. You are not fine." She then applied a patch to her burned side making her cringe in pain, "And you have suffered a severe concussion." She pointed to Azula.

"I'm recommending you two stay away from each other for the time being so you don't do anymore damage to one another. At least until you learn to get along."

"Better listen to her." Sev said, "The doc will bang you up even worse than you are now if you don't listen."

Gax giggled.

"And he speaks from personal experience." Bevel stated shooting the cyborg a glare.

As she continued to lecture them Azula dozed off looking towards the window displaying the hallway outside until the scaled face of Lectro slapped against it startling her as his eyes darted around searching until they landed on her with his face lighting up.

"There you are!" He said enthusiastically before tripping over as he ran to the door and ran to her side, "I've been looking everywhere for you! Then I heard that you went to the planet's surface without me! Then I heard you went to one of the Ke'Kuvon camps! Which, why would you do that? Those people are savages!" He turned to a now glaring Angara, "Not that I think you're a savage or anything, and jeez what happened to your face it's all bruised and-"

"Doctor!" Bevel cut off his rambling before it could go on any longer, "I understand your concern and interest in Azula but right now she's a patient of mine and I won't allow you to bombard her with your rambling."

"Oh! Sorry, my bad." He apologized, scratching his head before turning to Azula, "Just don't forget lab time after you recover and relax in whatever quarters you are assigned too."

It was then she realized something, "Where am I sleeping?"

She felt a nudge from her side where she found Gax standing there, "CHANI KA ISHNI!"

Azula looked up to Sev, "Care to translate?"

"He says that Chani volunteered to have you as her roommate."

"Why would she volunteer? She barely even knows me."

Gax spoke in his native gibberish with Sev continuing to translate, "Think of it as thanks for saving the SeCore and by extension him."

"Then I'll go thank her myself. Where is she?"

Gax and Sev led the way with Lectro returning to his lab after reminding Azula to stop by his lab yet again with Angara remaining behind in the med bay. They took her to one of the smaller asteroids attached to the homebase through a series of pipes and wires, the gravity going between the two rocks fluctuating until they were on the main structure. This smaller asteroid was mainly used as a storage depot for ship and vehicle parts with some spare space used as barracks.

Sev gently knocked on the door where it slid open with Chani on the other end.

"Good morning and welcome!" She greeted them happily with her brother and Sev greeting her in a similar fashion. Azula however made no attempt at pleasantries.

"Azula, welcome! I hope you don't mind sharing a room. I figured you would prefer having one roommate rather than be stuck in the barracks with a dozen other people and no privacy." She was as bubbly as ever, too much so for Azula's liking.

Azula put on her best appreciated smile she could muster, "Yes, that does sound like a better option. May I?"

"Oh yes, come right in." The pink girl stepped aside and allowed her to enter with Sev and Gax leaving.

Inside Azula was met with a small room with a set of bunk beds against one wall and a desk at the opposite end, with a circular window on the ceiling displaying Kazima's majestic view. It was a serviceable room, nothing fancy but gave her a bed to sleep in, a small closet to put her recently purchased clothes and a roof over her head. There was only one problem, the decor. There was so much pink everywhere; pink pillows, pink blankets, pink carpets, pink everything. All of which reminded Azula of Ty Lee to a disgusting degree.

"It's so… pink."

"Oh yes, pink complements my inner thalm so much." She beamed, "I hope it's not a bother."

"No, it just… reminds me of someone."

"Oh, like a good friend?"

"I did consider her my friend once, but then she betrayed me and helped pave the way for my downfall."

Chani's smile faltered, "O-oh…"

Azula turned to her, "You wouldn't happen to be a contortionist, would you?"

Chani was confused by the question, "Uh… no, I don't think I'm flexible enough for that. Why?"

A genuine smile came to her, "Oh, good. You would have reminded me too much of her and I'd probably have to kill you."

Chani's already large eyes grew wider in concern.

Azula noticed the mood of the room shift after her words and the growing discomfort Chani was showing, so she decided to salvage the situation by letting out a light hearted laugh, "You're so tense. I was only joking."

"Right! Joking… that was all." Chani gave an awkward laugh.

Azula smiled to herself triumphantly as she expertly maneuvered out of an awkward situation, or at least that's what she thought.

Chani however couldn't shake the feeling that what she had said wasn't entirely a joke so she changed the subject, "Make yourself comfortable. We don't have a bathroom so you'll have to use the locker rooms down the hall-" Azula tossed her bag on the top bunk and began to climb it, "Um, that's actually my-"

"You don't snore, do you?" Azula cut her off, "I'm a light sleeper and I don't enjoy being awoken."

"Not really."

Azula then noticed a round device in the corner of the room that was spraying steam into the air, "What is that?"

"That's my humidifier, I need it to keep my skin moist."

"I can turn that off when you're not here, right? The room feels too humid."

"Well, actually I would prefer it to stay on for health reasons as too dry of an environment could cause problems for my health and-"

"Can this window close?" She points to the ceiling.

Chani was starting to grow annoyed with how often she was being cut off, "Yes."

She hit a switch on the wall with a metal curtain closing over it.

"Well then, I think I'm going to take a short nap. That fight with Angara drained me. Turn out the lights for me, would you?" Azula pulled out her translator before Chani could give any type of response and threw a blanket over herself.

"Oh… uh… okay. That's fine I have to get to work on our budgets anyway."

Azula didn't respond.

"And… you can't understand anything I say right now… can you?"

Azula still didn't respond.

"I'll just let you sleep then." She cut the lights off as Azula asked and left the room.

Chani was a kind person who didn't mind sharing her space with another but now she couldn't shake the feeling that her space had just been hijacked by her new roommate. Suddenly she doesn't know if volunteering her room was a good idea.

Chapter Text

Azula shot waves of azure flames around her creating a blazing cyclone for a complex fire bending display within the training dojo of the fire nation royal palace. Ozai, the current fire lord, watched on from his seat at the far end of the dojo with a servant providing him tea with her instructors Lo and Li sitting by his side. It was rare that her father would spare time to sit and observe her training, meaning he was curious to see how much she has improved since the last time he saw her.

It had been a year since Zuko's banishment and all eyes were on her to become the fire nation's future. She needed to be perfect, needed to surpass the incredibly high standards her father expected of her. Zuko was no longer around to soak up her father's ire and she would be damned if she took on that role.

She summersaulted through the air bringing down a flaming dropkick that completed the kata in a dazzling display of strength and agility.

The sound of a slow clap echoed throughout the dojo as Ozai raised from his seat, his mouth curved in a subtle smile of pride.

"Excellent Azula. Just excellent." He praised, "A remarkable display of the crane Phoenix form."

"An incredibly advanced form." the croaky voice of Lo said.

"One that many fail to master." Li followed.

"Mastered in only three attempts by the princess." Both croans said in unison.

She knelt to him accepting his praise, "Thank you father. It wasn't as difficult as I imagined it being."

"Spoken like a true prodigy." His words were filled with pride.

Her smirk grew wider at his praise and he returned to his seat.

"Now, show me the roaring fire ferret form."

Her smile quickly dropped. The roaring fire ferret was a less advanced form than the crane Phoenix but still quite advanced that focused on low leg sweeps and ended on a triple flaming wheel kick, the latter part of the technique being something she struggled to perform no matter how many times she attempted it.

"Such a low level form, father. I wouldn't think you'd be interested in seeing that." she hoped to redirect his interest into a different form.

"Yes, low level for you but still quite advanced, yet I've never seen you perform it. Surely you wouldn't have trouble doing so?" He said with a raised brow expecting to see it.

Her twin masters remained silent, having no words knowing just how difficult it was for Azula to perform.

Azula swallowed hard, "Of course not father." She rose up from her knees knowing full well that she had to perform it. No one tells the fire lord no.

She took the stance and began the kata throwing quick low kicks sending waves of flames like quick strikes from a prowling fire ferret. She sent several blasts upward from a low stance followed with a leg sweep all the while Ozai watched keeping an analytical eye on each and every movement.

She performed another sweeping kick finishing the main portion of the technique and now must perform the dreaded triple fire wheel as the roar of the fire ferret. She ran to build up momentum before leaping and flipping through the air as fire trailed behind her feet turning her into a smoldering wheel and sent a fireball towards the farthest wall and now must stick the landing.

She planted her feet on the floor hoping that she could finally catch herself, however the momentum of the attack sent her tumbling on her stomach.

Ozai's expression tightened and the room went silent, the only sound being Azula's heavy breathing as she recovered.

Azula quickly pulled herself up trying to save what little dignity she still had left but didn't face her father. She didn't want to see the scorn in his eyes, she could already feel it boring into her back.

"What was that?" Ozai's contemptuous voice cut through the air like a sharpened knife.

Azula bit her lip as she searched desperately for an appropriate response.

"Come here Azula." He commanded in a biting tone.

She quickly marched to his feet standing straight and looking him in the eye like he would expect from her.

"The roaring fire ferret is an advanced form for most but trivial for benders of our caliber and especially for a prodigy like you." He stepped down from his raised platform standing over the princess like a tiger dillo overlooking a cowering badger piglet, "Explain yourself."

Azula calmed herself mentally and spoke with confidence to not appear weak, "The spinning fire kick at the end of the technique… I build too much momentum and am unable to stop myself when landing. The rest of the form was executed perfectly, though. I almost had it-."

He held up a hand to silence her, "Almost? Did my grandfather secure our rise to power because he almost didn't defeat the air nomads?" He walked away and began to remove the long flowing outer layer of his robes, tossing them to the servant, "Did we become the greatest nation on earth because we almost didn't rise above the lesser nations."

He took the starting stance of the roaring fire ferret and performed the technique perfectly from all the low angled attacks to the flaming triple flip kick with an intensity that dwarfed Azula's before turning to her proclaiming, "Almost isn't good enough! You either can do it or not. There is no almost. Failure is failure no matter how small the error, or how well performed everything else is. I expect many things from you Azula but failure is not one of them. Remember, Zuko is not here anymore. His failure can no longer stain our family, be certain that you do not take his place."

He marched back to his platform taking his robes back, "Again."

Azula took his words to heart and began the kata again, and again, and again until she finally got it right.

*****

Azula practiced her fire bending forms in one of the empty storage rooms on the Crimson Storm's station. She threw punches and kicks in quick succession sending out plumes of orange flames through the air. She threw low angled blasts in the roaring fire ferret form and performed the triple fire wheel attack and landed on her feet perfectly, all the while going over the details of her plan now that she's alone.

For the past two days she's worked alongside the members of the storm learning the various ins and outs of working on the station, being taught personally by the grouchy head engineer Cetro who expected perfection out of her after every lesson and berating her with just about any insult that came to mind if she failed. It was a great annoyance however she could appreciate someone who wouldn't accept subpar work, Cetro will be very useful when she manages to take the storm.

It was too early for her to say the same for anyone else in the group. Lectro is her best bet at an ally as his fascination with her bending will blind him to her planning but he is just a scientist so what he could offer her is limited. Sev and Gax were powerful tools that could be used against her enemies however they were loyal to My'Rell and might not react well to a hostile takeover from her. Angara was an obstacle that needed to be dealt with at some point but My'Rell was possibly the greatest obstacle.

She flipped through the air sending a flurry of fire around her before landing in a low stance.

Unlike the rest, My'Rell was no fool, the captain was just as cunning as she was. She played nice but there was an air of ruthlessness behind those kind black and cyan eyes. She saw it shortly after returning to the station from Kazima.

*****

Azula stood alone in My'Rell's office with the captain behind her desk staring down at her with cold indifference, "So… you know Angara's true identity."

Azula kept a stoic persona, "It wasn't hard to figure out."

My'Rell ignored that comment, "I'm sure Angara explained to you just how important it is that you keep that to yourself."

"Vaguely, however, I can guess the importance of this secret. Even if Angara doesn't seem like she'd be much of a threat to an empire."

"She isn't but her oldest brother Culvan is one the most wanted men in the empire therefore she's guilty by association."

Azula furrowed her brow in confusion, "I thought the empire crushed him?"

"They crushed his rebellion but he is still at large. Nobody has seen him in years, but their uncle Turan is a paranoid man and the empire doesn't like loose ends."

My'Rell stood up from her desk and approached Azula towering over the shorter girl looking down on her while maintaining a cold blank expression, "I'm going to be frank. The Crimson Storm and Kazima do not have the resources to fight against the empire or Turan. You will not speak of Angara's true heritage to anyone outside of those who already know; no if, ands, or buts about it. That information will stay in your head and never leave your lips until the day you die. Is that understood?"

A clear and direct order that left no room question. The domineering look in her eyes reminded her too much of her father.

"Understood, captain."

*****

She kicked an arch of fire towards a wall imagining taking out two earthbenders. Azula wasn't sure if My'Rell was catching on to her plan or if it was just an intimidation display but she'll need to be more careful moving forward.

She shot several more blasts at her imaginary opponents and continued her training until an alarm from her communicator went off letting her know it was time to go see Lectro in his lab again.

She sighed in annoyance, she was hoping she'd be able to return her flames to their blue coloration but to no avail. She was also annoyed that she was forced to go to his lab every morning before shift.

Far above her in the rafters of the space the serpentine form of the engineer Copelo coiled around a pipe looking down at her. The pincers at the end of his tail brought up a communicator, "She's finished with her training and is off to Lectro's."

The voice of commander Shaul came through, "Good, stay out of sight and make sure she gets there."

"Understood commander."

He watched as Azula gathered herself and left, with him uncoiling himself from the pipe and scurried into an air vent.

*****

Lectro stared at his computer monitor hand over his chin in deep contemplation as he went over the data while in his lab on the SeCore.

Azula sat not too far away on a deactivated B3 connected to his charging station observing one of the holographic screens that displayed an x-ray of her skeleton. She noticed how Lectro was being uncharacteristically silent and looked over his shoulder at the screen, unable to make sense of the symbols and images she saw.

"You're awfully quiet."

Lectro remained quiet for a while longer before answering, "I don't get it."

"Get what?"

"Your firebending, I don't get how it works." he scrolled through the files again.

She rolled her eyes, "What's not to get? I explained to you how it works several times already."

"Yeah I know, the whole chi energy thing but that's just a spiritual way of looking at things." He closed the documents and went to one of the larger screens displaying all the scans he's collected of her and swiped through them, "But I'm a man of science and science requires facts and logic. Spiritual explanations only give a crude outline to how something works or nothing at all."

She raised a brow at his declaration, it was somewhat of a culture shock to hear someone have no belief in spirits, "You have no faith in spirits or the spirit world then?"

"Not really, it all sounds like make believe to me."

"Would you believe me if I said that I saw a spirit once?"

He gave her a somewhat intrigued look.

"She called herself the Mother of Faces, she took the form of a woman made of trees with several faces on her head, no eyes and dozens of faces floating around her."

Lectro gave her a chuckle, "Okay, either somebody fooled you with a holographic projection, you met a really weird looking alien or you experienced some kind of hallucination because what you described sounds absolutely ridiculous."

For once Azula didn't lie when talking about herself outside her achievements, she simply rolled her eyes and moved on, "Then what does your science say about my bending?"

Lectro's amusement disappeared as his look of dumbfoundment returned while he went to a holographic projector, "Difficult to say right now, there's still so much to learn." he pulled up a holographic recording of her firebending, "At first I thought that maybe you had some kind of organ in your limbs that produced a combustible chemical substance but after several scans of your arms and legs I found nothing. Then I thought that maybe you sweat nitroglycerin but after collecting sweat samples I can confirm there is no such thing. Honestly every bit of your anatomy shows clear signs that you should not be able to generate any kind of fire, yet you somehow do!" He said disappointingly.

"What about me controlling the blasts of energy from blasters?" She asked.

"Oh that?" He switched over to another set of notes, "I've got a theory for that actually. You see, fire is plasma, and our weapons fire superheated plasma. Essentially you are manipulating a different type of fire. It's actually very fascinating, to my knowledge there is no other species in the known galaxy that can do that. If only I could figure out how it works!"

She didn't think much of how the science of her bending worked and didn't quite care to learn, only focusing on whatever new abilities she could manipulate.

"There's gotta be something I'm missing, something I'm not seeing. I'll have to expand my research." Lectro said taking one last look at his notes, "Solar energy does seem to be a key factor in your fire bending." He turned to her, "You said your firebending is still pretty weak since you left Kazima's surface, correct?"

She remembered the Mystic's words on the matter, "Yes, I believe it has something to do with leaving a planet."

"That's a far-fetched theory, however I don't have enough data to prove otherwise." He changed the subject again as he fished around a drawer, "Anyway I need more DNA samples."

"Hasn't Dr. Bevel given you enough of my blood?"

"Not blood this time." He pulled out two small cups and handed them to her, "I'm gonna need you to fill these up."

She gave him a strange look, "With what?"

"Urine and stool samples."

Her face twisted in a mix of surprise and disgust, "What?! No! That is disgusting!"

"Hey, nobody said science was a clean business."

"I am not giving you these… bodily fluids!" She almost felt too embarrassed to even say them.

"Listen, I don't like dealing with this sort of stuff either but if we're going to learn about how your bending works, we need to cover all bases. Even the less than flattering ones."

Azula gave him a flat expression before shoving the cups back into his hands, "I'm leaving."

She marched towards the door as Lectro pleaded, "Hey wait! At least take one of them with you!"

The door slid shut as she disappeared into the corridor.

"Well… that went about as well as I had anticipated. What do you think, B3?"

The robot remained silent as he sat deactivated.

Lectro pulled out his communicator and called Commander Shaul, "Commander. Azula just left for her shift."

"That's earlier than expected."

"Yeah, she didn't like the idea of presenting a… certain type of sample so she left."

"Has there been any progress on her bending ability?"

"Unfortunately not."

"Very well. Keep to your work then."

"Commander." He stopped him before he could hang up, "It feels a little wrong for me to be keeping tabs on her like this. Why does the captain want me keeping an eye on her? She's just a kid after all."

"That kid shot a hole into the bridge of a starship, doctor, and is now walking freely in our station. She has access to devastating power and the captain wants to make sure she doesn't cause trouble. Remember she's also a primitive and they tend to be overly curious."

Lectro saw the logic to his argument but couldn't help that it was for some other reason.

The commander hung up shortly after leaving him alone to try and solve the puzzle that was firebending. He took another glance at his notes and saw one of his scribbles reading as, "solar energy required for bending" then he remembered Azula's explanation of the importance of the sun. An idea came to him, the galaxy is full of different types of stars. How would they affect her bending?

*****

Skeeve snuck his way into the communications component room. He made sure to close the door after entering the small cramped room. Finances weren't his only expertise as he was crafty with hacking, after all most of his financial work was done through hacking and transferring funds to his or his employer's accounts.

After popping open one of its panels he hooked up his own personal device to hack into it and prevent the station's coms from detecting any signals coming from Duritax's communicator. He couldn't risk the Crimson Storm picking up any of his calls with his mysterious client.

He also made sure to connect the stations signal with his personal communicator as a way to listen in on any outgoing calls, information is key and if he can listen in on My'Rell or anyone else then it could benefit him in the future.

It took some time but he was able to discreetly get into the network and leave before anyone was the wiser. He found an elevator and took it down to the asteroid's old mining tunnels and followed their path before coming to a sealed door guarded by two robots.

Skeeve knew this room well as it was the storage room that now housed the fabricator. His ticket to living the life of luxury and riches he's always desired. The only problem was that every entrance to this storage space had two armed robots standing guard, refusing to let anyone in unless they had special authorization from the captain.

Skeeve knew these models, B7 security bots. Like B3 service bots they had cylindrical bodies held up by four legs but stood much taller and were chunkier with twin blasters on each side of their heads. The Death's Head utilized this model a lot to guard various sectors of their base.

So far he's scouted out this location several times finding there were three entrances. If he had any idea of the rooms layout then maybe he could find a way in, he'll probably need to find some sort of schematic.

His personal communicator went off with Cetro's gravelly voice coming on, "Skiv!"

He jumped behind one of the cave walls as one of the robots turned its crimson eye in his direction, "It's pronounced Skeeve."

"Whatever, get to the main hangar, I've got new assignments!"

Cetro hung up before a response could be made. Skeeve cursed to himself.

He's only been here for three days and he has found Cetro to be the most irritating man he's ever met. He barks orders and yells constantly, quick to insult people, quick to change his mind when ordering people around, can never remember his name and expects perfection, and Skeeve has found himself on the receiving end of his wrath multiple times for very minor things.

Although it was nowhere near as bad as how he treats Azula. Skeeve couldn't help but feel sorry for the poor girl, she can't help that she's some primitive who's never seen such tech.

*****

After exiting the ship Azula entered the main hangar where the SeCore sat with a few other vehicles scattered about.

She couldn't believe what Lectro had asked of her. She never felt so disgusted in her whole life. She just hopes it isn't something he presses her for in the future.

She came to the office area where she knew the engineers came to get their assignments for the day and found a few other members of engineering there waiting.

Cetro looked up at her from his tablet and in a sarcastic tone said, "Well, look who decided to be on time today."

She gave him a scornful look, "I left the lab early so I could get a jumpstart on the day."

"Well ain't we all blessed then, Abzul."

"Azula."

"Ain't that what I said?" He ignored her and looked over all the faces in the group with his four eyes narrowing, "Hang on we're missing someone. Where's Skiv?"

As if on cue Skeeve appeared by Azula's side, out of breath from running, "Sorry I'm late! I was still using the bathroom when you called." He hoped that lie would be enough to cover for him.

Cetro glared at him and rolled his eyes. He went back to his data pad and began going over today's agenda, "Alright you gaggle of idiots, listen up! Today is gonna be a busy day." He turned to a former Death's Head member who was a seven foot tall insect woman, "Grease,"

"Gris." She corrected in annoyance.

"Whatever. You're gonna be here in the main hangar helping the SeCore repair team weld on some new armor. Skiv,"

"Skeeve." He repeated.

"Oh my god, I don't care! Go to life support and grab all the empty oxygen tanks and bring them to hangar bay seven and exchange them for full ones, then hook them up and mop the floors in life support." He turned to Azula, "Abzul, you're with me collecting what the fabricator made."

She sighed heavily, "I just told you what my name was!"

"DID I ASK?!"

As per usual Cetro's attitude perturbed Azula, but he wasn't as bad as Angara since his wrath seems to spread to just about everyone who happens to be in his line of sight.

Cetro went over assigning tasks to all of the other engineers, often getting the names wrong for the Death's Head members.

"Dismissed!" He waved them all off. They all left for their assigned duties with Azula standing there waiting for Cetro, "Wait here for a moment, I need my ID card." He shuffled back to a workbench.

She rolled her eyes as she was forced to wait on him.

Copelo slithered up from behind her. Even though he was ordered to watch her there was no rule that stated he couldn't converse with her, plus he had a question on his mind.

"Hey firespitter!" He called out from below using Sev's nickname.

She was still not used to seeing such a small creature speaking to her, "Uh… yes. What do you want?"

"I heard that you and Red Cap got into a fight down on the planet. Is it true?"

She couldn't help but smirk, "Of course, and I won."

The smaller alien laughed, "You beat Red Cap Angara? Yeah right, nobody beats Angara."

"You don't believe me?"

"I can't believe you." Copelo slithered up onto a crate, "Angara is one of the scariest, tough as nails, people around here. Nobody can just beat her up."

She snorted at that statement, crossing her arms in a lofty manner, "I will admit it wasn't easy and she is indeed as tough as you say but at the end of the day I defeated her in a battle that was supposed to be to the death. Until we were rudely interrupted."

"No way." Another alien who overheard their conversation said, "Angara's a beast. There's no way she'd lose to some teenager."

Azula gave him a self assured smile, "Ask her about the burn on her hip and see how she reacts."

Skeeve had yet to fully vacate the area when he heard this. He only knew Angara from her reputation as the infamous bounty hunter known as Red Cap and from what he had heard she was a ruthless maniac. What little he saw of her here reflected that. To hear Azula, some primitive from a backwater planet, was able to beat her was unbelievable. Surely she must have been lying.

He approached her, "That's a bit of a tall order. Wouldn't you say?"

"Tall indeed but I filled it without a problem."

"Oh Really?" Cetro returned with whatever it was he searched for, "I've known that Ke'Kuvon for years and I can tell you she don't lose."

"Until she met me" she said with the cockiest smile Cetro has ever seen.

"If you really beat her, then how'd you do it?" Skeeve asked.

Other aliens who heard the commotion came to hear her story. This was a good opportunity to boast about her strength and win over some supporters.

She gave an abridged version of her last fight with Angara, completely leaving out their first duel and exaggerating some details. They all listened intently, some believed every word while others had their doubts.

"Then I hit her with a blast of lightning and down she went, although that shield soaked up just about all of the damage. But I won all the same." She said triumphantly.

Cetro still had his doubts, "Well, it's your word over Angara's. How do we know you're telling the truth?"

Azula pulled out her communicator, "Why don't we ask her?"

*****

Angara sat in My'Rell's office with her feet kicked up on a table. The captain sat behind her desk with commander Shaul by her side.

With a firm look directed towards Angara My'Rell said in a calm yet stern tone, "Absolutely not."

"Captain, I know this sounds stupid-"

"Stupid doesn't begin to cover it, Angara. You do know what you're asking for, right?"

Angara scowled, "Yeah, and I hate it, but I have to do this!"

My'Rell pinched the bridge of her nose trying to calm the headache that was beginning to form, "Taking Azula on as your protégé is a terrible idea. You two have been at each other's throats since the moment you met, and that whole mess on Kazima the both of you caused only further confirms my grievances."

Angara slammed her hands on the captain's desk, "My'Rell! She knows who I am! If I can't kill her then the least I can do is make sure she doesn't go shooting her mouth off!"

"I'm aware of the circumstances, trust me. Kowari has been calling almost nonstop about this and I already have Shaul keeping tabs on her." she turned to her second, "Where is she now?"

"Lectro has informed me that she left his lab early and is in the main hangar. Cetro will be keeping an eye on her until further notice."

She turned back to Angara, "See. She won't be able to go anywhere in this station without us knowing about it."

"I understand that captain but I can't just leave this to other people. It's my secret, nobody else should have to deal with it."

Shaul rose from his seat to meet her, "Your secret doesn't just affect you and your people, Angara. The Crimson Storm will be in just as much trouble with the empire if this gets out. We will not allow what she knows to jeopardize our whole operation."

"Then add me to the list of tab keepers. You're gonna have to put her in the field eventually and nobody else is going to be able to keep up with her but me. Not only that but she's crafty, she can talk her way and manipulate anyone else you send but not me and if she does something to compromise us I'll put her down." she turned back to the captain, "You can't seriously trust her to keep quiet, can you? What if she's planning something with that info?"

My'Rell's steely gaze faltered as she contemplated her words.

"Do you believe she's planning something, captain?" Shaul asked with a raised brow.

My'Rell looked uncertain, "I'd be a fool if I said that I trust her. I've worked with people like her in the empire. Young, lofty upstarts obsessed with glory and making a name for themselves. Those types often invite trouble."

The captain remained silent for some time until she made her decision, "One job. If you two can do one job together without letting your ego's get in the way then maybe I'll consider it."

Angara's posture relaxed at this although she wasn't overjoyed, "That sounds fair."

"I'll be overseeing this job personally, I'd like to see how our little firestarter operates in the field. Give me some time to find a job that I think she'll be able to handle."

"I can work with that." Angara's pocket then began to buzz and she pulled out the communicator and groaned at who was calling her, "What timing." She answered the device, "What do you want, pup?"

Azula's voice came through loud and clear with a smugness to it, "Hello Angara, I was just calling because I was curious about our duel."

Angara rolled her eyes remembering the outcome of it, "What about?"

"Well it was a duel to the death and we were rudely interrupted before it could conclude but even though we weren't able to follow through, would you consider it my win?"

Angara furrowed her brow in annoyance. She has no idea why she would suddenly ask this, perhaps her primitive mind didn't know how to process it so she lamented her bruised ego and admitted her defeat in the simplest way possible.

"Yes! You beat me fair and square! I was in a position that meant I couldn't fight back anymore, therefore you won! Ya happy!"

"Oh, very happy." She responded back in a velvety smooth voice, "See I told you all I won."

Angara's head jumped up at that last statement, "Wait? What do you mean by that?"

Little did she know Azula held out the device while it was on speaker with the various members of the engineering team crowded around her all with expressions of shock and disbelief.

"No way!" one of the engineers shouted, "You actually did it?!"

Angara's face twisted from annoyance to horror when she heard that unfamiliar voice with chatter from the others coming through, "Who's with you?!"

Azula's voice came back with very noticeable amusement, "Oh, nobody important, just several members of the engineering teams."

Angara's eyes widened knowing the engineers loved to gossip.

One of the engineer's voices came through as he shouted, "HEY EVERYONE! THIS GIRL, AZULA, BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF RED CAP ANGARA!"

Angara couldn't help but shout back catching the captain and commander's attention, "WHAT THE HELL DID YOU TELL THEM?!"

"Oh nothing special. Just about our duel the other day. Thanks for clearing that up by the way, the others didn't believe me."

Angara's blood began to boil and she could feel the veins throbbing in her head, "PUP! When I find you, I swear to all voices in the outer world, I will-"

"Sorry, gotta go. Bye!" Azula swiftly hung up before she could get another word in, leaving Angara standing there barely able to contain her rage with her yellow green skin on her face turning almost as red as her hair.

"Uh… Angara?" My'Rell said softly, "Is everything alright?"

Angara seethed as her breath became unsteady, "I AM GOING TO SKIN HER ALIVE!"

*****

After Azula's humiliation of Angara everyone was dismissed. Azula worked alongside Cetro doing various tasks around the station from using her bending to weld holes in armored assault vehicles to using her meager upper body strength to help carry heavy objects, her pride wouldn't allow her to ask for help.

Now she found herself in the vehicle bay pulling open the panel of a crab lift with Cetro at her side instructing her.

"Remember, when pulling the battery out of a crab lift make sure the vehicle is shut off or you risk shooting sparks into your face." Cetro instructed with both sets of arms crossed beneath him, "Unplug the cable from the battery."

Azula yanked hard at the cable pulling it free.

"Now pull out the battery." She grabbed hold of the handles and with all her strength pulled the blocky battery the size of a small crate out of the vehicle letting it land on a cart at her side, "Easy! These things aren't cheap you know!"

She groaned in indignation as she pushed the cart while following him to the charging stations where several batteries from other vehicles sat. Azula unplugs another battery from its station on the floor and struggles to lift it up onto the cart.

"Remember, lift with your legs not your back, ya idiot!" He slapped her shoulder.

She wanted to say something back but she held her tongue as she did what he scolded her for. An imperfection in her attempt to adapt to her situation, one her father would scold her for as well, only Cetro's words cut nowhere near as deep.

She plugged up the other battery and pushed the cart back to the vehicle where Cetro helped her slide it into place and watched her plug it back in.

"Good, now we just need to get you to move faster than my grandmother on life support." the four armed alien praised.

They moved onto their next task which involved her pushing a large empty hover bin behind Cetro as they went to fetch whatever parts the fabricator finished creating.

They entered a service elevator that led to the fabricator. The elevator came through the roof of the storage room where the fabricator sat in the middle surrounded by cables that connected it to two generators and several engineers that were stationed here to insure it was fabricating smoothly. It required so much energy to function properly and the heat the generators gave off made the room quite warm.

She could see multiple arms within the compartment working tirelessly to generate various mechanical components, still amazed at what she saw.

She followed Cetro to one end of the room where various completed components sat where they both loaded them onto the cart.

Cetro grabbed one end of a bunch of steel rods tied together "Remember, lift with-"

"Lift with my legs! I know!" She said irritably as she grabbed the other end and lifted it into the bin.

"So, you really did beat up Angara." He said suddenly as he grabbed one end of a tire.

Azula grabbed the other end, "You don't approve?"

"Quite the opposite actually. I think it's about time someone knocked ol Red Cap on her rear. Just didn't think it'd be you." They tossed the tire in the bin before grabbing some fabricated wire.

That was possibly the nicest thing she's ever heard him say. It surprised her that he would even say something like that to her, although she didn't show it.

"Someone had too. I couldn't stand her attitude."

Cetro let out a chuckle, "Trust me, I know. My'Rell's been letting that girl's attitude run wild for too long. She thinks she's unstoppable just because everyone else here is scared of her, but I guess that can't be helped when your bite is just as bad as your bark." He tossed the wire in the bin.

Azula grinned as she picked up an empty fabricated oxygen tank, "I guess my bite is even greater."

"Careful kid, you're sticking your hand in the mouth of a SeCore."

She made a strange face in reaction to his words, "Is that some kind of saying around here?"

Cetro waved it off, "It's some Pendaren saying about hubris or something. Anyway, Angara isn't gonna forget about that stunt you pulled with the communicator. She's probably on her way here right now to rip your limbs off, and unlike me, I don't think yours can grow back."

"I've beaten her once, I can do it again."

He snorted, "There you go again sticking your hand back in the SeCore's mouth. Better yank it out before it bites down." His communicator buzzed with him answering and after speaking on the line for a few minutes then turned to her, "Alright kid, we've got something urgent to take care of. One of the mines outside isn't responding to signals from the command tower, so we gotta go out there to fix it."

Her eyes widened, "Outside? As in space?"

"Your deduction skills amaze me, kid." Cetro's voice was laced with sarcasm.

"I've only been out into space once and I almost died, so excuse me for being less than enthusiastic at the idea of going back out there. Especially since I haven't had any formal training yet."

"Then consider this your first day of space training, kid." he pulled up his communicator again calling someone else, "Skiv! Get your ass to hangar three and be ready to go out into space."

Before she knew it Azula found herself suited up in a form fitting red and black space suit with a yellow visor. It took her far too long to figure out how to put it on properly as it had too many zippers and buckles to keep track of but it was definitely better and more comfortable than the emergency shield suit and offered her a lot of flexibility in her movements, something she favored greatly in her attire.

However she felt a great apprehension about going outside. The only part of her bending she knew would work in this environment was lightning but it fried her suit the last time she used it so who is to say it won't do the same to this one. She could still feel it, the bone chilling feeling of space penetrating her body and her lungs struggling to pull in air that was absent.

It didn't matter now. She was already sitting in a repair pod next to Skeeve dressed in the same suit who sat there looking just as uneasy as the vessel sored through the asteroids.

"You know, I don't really like going out in open space very much. Zero-g isn't my favorite place to be and it makes me nauseous." He shared with her in an attempt to ease his own tensions.

Azula didn't care how he felt but the sudden turbulence made her jump to grab a safety handle and hold it tightly, "I guess that makes two of us."

The pod approached a large spherical object the size of a small house. The two long arms of the repair pod unfolded from its side and grappled the mine holding it in place.

With the mine secured Cetro left the pilot and co-pilot's side putting his helmet on, "Alright you two get ready to go outside." He then approached Azula, "Let me look over your suit and make sure you put it on right."

He pulled at several latches on the suit and readjusted some parts that were improperly secured.

"You did a crap job at putting this thing on. But better than most on their first time." He commented while readjusting a latch.

Not necessarily what she was expecting to hear but took the rare compliment from Cetro.

"Any tips you would like to share before we disembark?"

He put her helmet on her head, "Remember kid, in space there ain't no such thing as up, down or sideways so keep yourself oriented with the suits built in thrusters."

"How exactly do I do that?" She asked, testing her movements after his readjustments."

"All space helmets have built in tech that monitors your brain in order to predict your movements. Just focus on where you want to go and the suit thrusters will do the rest." He then pulled a cord from the wall of the airlock and hooked it to her belt, "So you don't float away."

The rear of the vessel opened and the three disembarked into the void. Cetro and Skeeve were the first to leave the vessel floating about with ease, their suits making micro adjustments to their directions allowing them to glide like fish swimming up river. Azula however struggled to use the suit's thrusters to orient herself accordingly.

She tried to focus on going straight and following behind them only to give too much thrust making her roll far forward and spiral out of control. The confusion it caused made her frantically try and stop herself which only activated more of the suits propulsion and further disorienting her until the cord stopped her from drifting further, so much so that Cetro had to drag her to the mine via cable.

"Does this ever get easier?" She asked after securing her magnetic boots to the mine.

"Sure it does. It's like riding a hovercycle, once you learn you never forget." Cetro stated.

"What's a hovercycle?"

Cetro only gave her a flat look while Skeeve couldn't help but laugh at that, "Just shut up and observe."

Skeeve approached trying his best not to look up into open space, "What am I supposed to do while I'm out here?"

Cetro unhooked a button from his belt where the tip extended with bristles sprouting from the top, "Clean the gunk out of the thrusters."

Skeeve's false smile faltered as he grabbed the brush, "More cleaning… great."

"Well if this is too much for you I could always slap a hazmat suit on ya and make you clean the inside of the reactor. Fair warning, they're the cheap kind."

Skeeve's flattering smile returned, "Cleaning thrusters isn't too bad!"

Cetro took a sonic screwdriver and undid a few bolts on the mine's surface pulling away a panel and uncovering a small computer screen and the inner workings of the mine.

Azula couldn't make sense of the complex machinery she was looking at, "So… what exactly is the problem?"

"Don't know, gotta run a full system scan. It's most likely just outdated software. These things are ancient so their computers are a little slow when it comes to updating, if they ever do update. So we might just have to upload the latest program manually. If it ain't that it could be an issue with the coding on this particular one."

Azula sighed, "I didn't understand a single word of what you just said."

Cetro groaned, "Okay, did anyone go over with you what computers and software are?"

"Isn't that what you are for?"

The four armed alien made a strangling motion with his hands, "I can't be the one teaching you everything!" He took a few deep breaths before continuing in a calm yet restrained tone, "Just watch what I do and we'll try and go over that later."

With that said Azula did as she was told and watched him work all the while he grumbled to himself, often throwing out the word, "primitive" in a derogatory manner.

She wasn't trying to incur his anger with her ignorance but she'd be lying if she said she didn't derive any pleasure from making him get all worked up.

Cetro continued his work on the mine's computer while Azula observed. He explained what he was doing in technical detail on the software however most of it went over her head.

Azula couldn't help but daze off and look out towards the stars hidden behind the many asteroids and washed by a green nebula that almost looked like a splatter of paint on a vast canvas of black. She was told that each star was a sun with planets orbiting it and couldn't help but wonder which star was her home. What she didn't expect from this serene view was just how silent it was out here, the only noises being the sound of her own breathing and the voices of her comrades on the radio.

She thought of her bending and in an attempt to use it she tried to conjure a flame in her hand only for none to appear, just like before. Another reason to be nervous about being in open space. She may even have to rely on those cheap bending knockoff weapons known as blasters.

"ABZUL!" Cetro's voice shook her out of her trance, "Pay attention! I didn't drag you out here to stargaze!"

"I'm trying to pay attention but this computer nonsense is too complicated for me."

"That's why I'm giving you a light introduction. It only gets more complicated from here on out."

She only rolled her eyes and went back to trying to pay attention but decided to ask more about the mine.

"Mines are a good defense from outside forces but from what I know you have to collide with them to be effective, yet space is so massive that there are literal miles between these rocks. It seems a ship could just slip through easily. Kind of defeats the purpose of having mines don't you think?"

Cetro only gave a condescending laugh, "Of course your primitive mind would think that, Abzul." he then patted her helmet like she was an ignorant child, "The beauty of technology means that you don't have to come to these mines to blow them up, instead they come to you."

She narrowed her eyes at him, "There's a less condescending way of explaining that."

"Yeah but I like my way better."

Skeeve rolled his eyes, he couldn't help but think that it would have been obvious for her to figure out.

"So what keeps them from exploding when we fly by?"

"That's because every ship we own broadcasts a code every time we enter the ring that lets the mines know we're friendly."

Skeeve's duel sets of ears perked up when hearing this, stopping him from cleaning and he listened more intently.

"Without that code you're as good as dead flying out here, every mine that detects ya would blow you away before you get anywhere close to the station." Cetro continued then went back to work.

They continued having their back and forth all the while Skeeve continued his duties and thought up a plan.

In his three days on the Crimson Storm homebase he had only scoped out the base level defenses of the area, cannons and turrets mostly with a few anti spacecraft artillery that could be dealt with by Courtix's forces but the thing Skeeve struggled with the most was finding a way for him to get past the mine field but thankfully Azula's ignorance to such defenses gave him the answer he needed.

He needed to know that code if Courtix was ever going to get remotely close to the station but the problem now is where will he find it.

It would most likely be in the base's server room which from what he saw were locked behind thick blast doors and monitored heavily. He could always try sneaking into the command tower and accessing the information there; however it was staffed at all hours and only authorized personnel were allowed.

Both options were equally risky so he'll have to thoroughly think out which was the better option. For now he'll continue his task and keep his ears open for any more useful information.

*****

Angara now stood in Sev and Gax's workshop with her damaged armor lying on a table and all three of them huddled around the destroyed energy shield that was forever stuck in its open configuration, "So… be honest with me. Can it be fixed?"

Sev studied its chard center and the retractable frame, "The only way this thing is getting fixed is if whatever God you believe in comes down from the heavens to do it himself."

Gax muttered something similar.

"How'd you manage to break it like this? Aren't these things supposed to be indestructible?"

Angara made a noise of disgust, "It's the pup's fault. She hit me with that lightning thing she used on SkyBurner."

"Wait, you tanked her big electrical attack at point blank and lived? The same attack that put a hole in the bridge of a capital ship?"

"Yeah. Arm is still a little numb from it." She said nonchalantly while flexing it, "So what you're saying is I've got to buy a whole new energy shield?"

"Yup."

"Great, as if this one wasn't expensive enough already."

"TAKUNI KE SHARI?" Gax asked as he fiddled with the shield.

"No, they're not gonna give me a discount back at the camp." She answered, beginning to pace about their workshop.

She didn't understand Gax's language but she's been around him long enough to get the gist of what his words meant through body language and the fact that he likes to gesture with his hands when speaking.

"The camp's armorer has a bit of a vendetta against me after this little accident I caused in his forge a couple years ago, and says the only piece of armor he'll work on for free is my helmet. You guys think you can fix up the rest of it?"

Gax observed her armor, "MARI SHARA KAVIRA!"

"Says it'll take a few days but it's doable."

"Good, in the meantime I'm gonna wait for the pup to come back from outside and tear her a new one!" she cracked her knuckles as if to emphasize her point.

"Still mad about the fight?"

"No, I'm mad that she started spreading rumors about the fight saying she mopped the floor with me when it was an even match! She's got the whole engineering team talking about it and making me look like some pushover!" she complained leaving out how Azula fooled her into revealing this herself.

Sev took a seat at a stool, "But you still lost the fight and that's what most people really care about."

"She didn't even tell them about our first fight! The one I won!" Angara paced harder around the room, so much so Sev was beginning to think she was going to wear down his floor, "That girl! I hate her, I hate her with every fiber of my being!"

"That's not a lot of fibers then, shorty." Sev joked.

She snapped her head in his direction, shooting him with a fowl glare.

Sev's light joking mood ceased, "Don't you think that maybe you're just a little jealous of her?"

Angara gave him a shrill mocking laugh, "Jealous? Of what? Being some primitive with fancy superpowers!"

"Jealous as in, you were the most scary badass merc here and then this new younger badass comes along and isn't scared of you, openly challenges you, is the talk of the station and, oh yeah, can confirm that she's taken you on and won without severe injury." He turned on the radio hoping the sound of his favorite thrasher music will drown out the tension brewing in the air, "Also being a princess kinda adds to the gossip."

Angara had to remember that neither of her two friends knew her true identity.

She disregarded that not wanting to think of her heritage, "Sev, you make it sound like I'm some old geezer afraid of being replaced. I'm only twenty one."

"And you're obsessing over what a sixteen year old is saying behind your back."

Angara opened her mouth to say something but closed it once she found the logic in his argument.

"Yeah… well… SHUT UP!"

"Maybe you should start acting your age." Sev teased.

"That's rich coming from the adult who still watches cartoons."

He argued back with a more defensive tone, "Animation is a medium that can be enjoyed by all ages."

Sev continued as he turned to one of his many prosthetic limbs that dangled from the ceiling and pulled one down to inspect it, "Maybe you're just jealous that the captain's taken an interest in her. Didn't she make herself the firespitter's legal guardian?"

"Only to keep an eye on her. The captain thinks she's planning something."

"Now you're just being paranoid." Sev said as he opened a compartment on the prosthetic.

"I'm serious! The captain even said so."

"What would she even be planning?"

Angara paused not truly knowing what to say, "I don't know. Maybe to take over the storm and make us all her slaves!"

Gax laughed loudly from the back.

"Now you really sound paranoid." He put down the metal limb, "But, the captain did say she didn't trust her, so…"

"See!" she shouted triumphantly.

"But at the same time I think that's your bruised ego talking."

"She's up to something, you'll see!" Angara said before making her way to the door, "Let me know when you guys are finished with my armor."

"You aren't going out looking for trouble, are ya?"

Angara didn't respond, she only slammed the door shut.

*****

My'Rell cleaned the disassembled parts of one of her many blasters in her private quarters. She finally had some free time to herself from the chaos of her work life and the disassembling and cleaning of her weapon always acted as a detox to clear her mind, especially now that she got a chance to finally inspect her new blaster.

Her peace was suddenly shattered as knocking came from her door. She recognized that energetic rhythm, it was Lectro probably wanting to run some kind of experiment with Azula. Of course of all times he could ask, it was during her off hours.

She turned her attention back to scrubbing the blaster component. Maybe if she ignores him he'll go away.

The knocking came again with more intensity, "Captain, I know you're in there! Commander Shaul said you'd be here!"

"Did he also tell you that it was my free time?"

"He failed to mention that! Can I come in? It's very important, it involves my research on Azula!"

She rolled her eyes telling him to enter knowing he'll just keep bothering her if she doesn't hear him out, "What do you have on her?"

He took a seat in an empty chair across from her, "Very little, we're still in the beginning stages of this which is why I would like to test a theory."

She never looked up from cleaning her weapon, "And that theory is?"

"Well, as you know, her bending comes from the sun, without it she basically doesn't have it."

My'Rell grunted in acknowledgement.

"But, as you know, there are different types of sun's out there, so I was hoping-"

"To take her to other solar systems and see what happens?" She finished for him.

"Oh… well yes actually. If we can see if there are any effects it could give us some very useful data. Along with giving us a better understanding of how to utilize her." He made sure to add a tactical reason as those tend to sway the captain's judgment in his favor.

She stopped her cleaning to contemplate this, "That would be useful. Wouldn't want to send her to a red dwarf system only for it to make her explode."

"Precisely!" He said excitedly, "Plus imagine all the useful data we could find."

My'Rell put down the blaster part and finally looked up at him, "Alright Lectro you've convinced me. Give me the details by tomorrow and I'll give you the okay."

"Yes!" Lectro declared shooting out of his seat, "Thank you, captain! You won't regret this!"

"Be sure to find a ship that'll take you where you need to go, and I want a thorough report on everything you find."

"Of course no details will be exempt."

"Good, now get out." She said swiftly wanting no more talk of work.

After ushering the energetic scientist out of her quarters she finished cleaning her weapon and reassembled it, along with deciding to take her brand new weapon to the firing range.

Once she entered the range and waved hello to the armament officer, an old blue Pendaren man, she noticed the range was occupied by one person, Azula.

Curious she entered the range where she saw Azula fiddling with a small caliber plasma pistol. She pointed it at the humanoid holographic target pulling at the trigger but nothing came out, a clear look of frustration on her face as she slapped the side of the weapon.

"Come on! Why won't you work?" She shook the weapon again, so much so it made My'Rell somewhat uncomfortable and fearful that she'd end up hurting herself. Thankfully she's not looking down the barrel.

Azula began looking down the barrel.

My'Rell jumped to her side and quickly pulled the weapon away.

"Rule number one on using a blaster. Never do that!"

Azula gave her a look similar to a child knowing what they did was wrong, "I can't get it to work. There must be some kind of obstruction."

My'Rell looked over the weapon then flipped a switch, "The safety was on."

Azula only crossed her arms and looked away to try and hide the shame of overlooking something so simple.

"What are you doing here alone anyway?"

She spoke as if she was admitting defeat, "I've been thinking about how my bending can't be solely relied on given how it fluctuates out here, so if I am to be effective I need to familiarize myself with these blasters."

"You say that like it's a bad thing."

Azula snorted, "Because I have to downgrade myself to using a weapon that takes no skill to use."

My'Rell's serious demeanor faltered as she let out a genuine laugh at her statement, "No skill? That's hilarious."

"It's true, all you have to do is point and shoot. No skill, no talent."

"Isn't that what firebending is? Pointing with your fingers and shooting?"

"That's different." Azula said in annoyance.

"Riiiight." My'Rell turned to the holographic target and began aiming with the pistol, "Sure any idiot that grabs one of these can squeeze the trigger and burn a hole through your body at point blank range but it takes real skill to use one effectively." She looked down the sights and aimed for the direct center of the target, "Like nailing a target from several yards away, hitting one that's moving or how you react when something jumps out." She squeezed the trigger sending a bright red bolt dead center in the target's chest, "Not to mention; posture, breathing, weapon type, situational awareness and more. Blasters can be simple to use but difficult to master."

Azula didn't feel she needed to respond.

"If you wanted a lesson you could have just asked, so you don't accidentally burn a hole through your head." My'Rell scolded.

"I can manage by myself, captain." Azula said, reaching for the weapon.

My'Rell pulled away, "No one will think less of you for it."

"I will." She shot back.

My'Rell sighed, "You needed a master in order to firebend, right? Same principle. You can't learn anything if there is no one there to tell you how not to get burned."

Azula grumbled but relented, "Fine. Would you mind giving me a few lessons then, sifu My'Rell?"

My'Rell didn't give her a verbal answer and instead brought the pistol to her attention, "What you're looking at here is a basic plasma pistol. Fits comfortably in most species hands and is standard use in the Pendaren Empire and in most other places."

She pointed to the switch just above the trigger, "All blasters have a switch like this that allows the weapons firing mode to be changed between three different settings. Safety, stun…" she switched the setting and fired a blue blast of electric energy, "... and lethal." She switched it back and fired another red beam.

"When you aren't using the blaster it should always be switched to safety, and just like how you would never hold a knife to someone's throat unless you intend on cutting it, never point this at anyone or anything unless you intend on shooting it." She handed it back to her, "I'm sure you were told never to play with fire, so don't treat this like a toy."

Azula took the weapon and mimicked her stance as best she could but with her legs spread further apart like many of her firebending forms.

My'Rell nudged her feet further together with her own, "Your stance is too wide. Keep it shoulder length, and straighten your knees a little." Azula made the necessary changes as My'Rell looks over her grip, "We gotta drill some trigger discipline into you, finger off the trigger until you are ready to fire." My'Rell then gently grabbed her hands and shifted the alignment, "Aim down the sights towards were you want to shoot." Azula took aim for the red chest of the target, "Lock your arms and wrists. It's going to have some kickback. Once you've got your mark, squeeze the trigger, don't pull."

She did as instructed and gently squeezed and fired. The bolt didn't hit her mark exactly like My'Rell's did but was in the general area. She was surprised by the power in the recoil, it was nothing like bending at all.

Fire always came out so smoothly while this weapon felt so rough and undisciplined, almost like lightning fighting to break free of her control. If she hadn't locked in her arms it probably would have flown out of her hands.

"Not perfect but very good for your first try. Go again and see if you can hit the center."

She took aim again and fired several more times, missing her target before managing to land her blasts in the general area of the target. She was confident at first but with each mark mist it faded with the recoil after each shot throwing her aim off. She kept firing hoping to at least land one until some flaps at the base of the barrel opened expelling heat with a loud hiss and the trigger locking up.

"Also watch out for overheating." My'Rell said while pulling out her blaster from its case, "Firing builds up heat in the battery and will automatically go into cool down mode. When that happens you'll have to wait a bit before firing again."

She prepped her larger bulkier weapon and took aim down the range, "When you're in a firefight getting stuck on cool down could be a death sentence as you'll be at the mercy of your enemy until your weapon is ready. If you don't want to be stuck waiting for your battery to cool off you can manually open the cooling flaps after firing a few blasts. Watch."

She fired up to three blasts at her target, nailing them in the center, then pulled back on the top her weapon expelling the heat quickly then repeated the process.

My'Rell's instructions were clear and lighthearted, she didn't demand perfection like her father and expected her to make mistakes. It felt surreal for Azula to receive praise just for trying and not being scolded for every little mistake, "Well… I guess you were right. There is more to it than I had thought."

"Of course I'm right. I didn't become a sharpshooter for nothing." She put her weapon down, "You really are a prodigy though. You took to it pretty well for your first time, almost able to hit it dead center."

She looked back at her target seeing the scorch marks on the wall through the hologram. She scowled at the sight of it, "Almost isn't good enough. Failure is failure no matter how small the error or how well everything else is performed."

My'Rell ceased her firing at the tone in her voice. She sounded as though she was scolding herself for not being perfect at it the first time around, as if she was expecting to be judged harshly even though she handled the blaster pretty well.

"Don't take it too seriously. For now almost is just fine." Azula gave her a strange look as My'Rell packed away her weapon.

Azula scoffed, "Such sound advice from my legal guardian. By the way, why did you make yourself my guardian?"

This was the first time it had been brought up since they had made her ID.

"What? Am I not worthy enough to play the role of royal caretaker for you?" My'Rell teased, "Because, it would have made things a lot simpler paperwork wise when making your ID, along with sidelining a bunch of legal stuff we would have had to go through. Besides, you need some type of oversight to keep you out of trouble."

"You're my boss, you already have oversight over me."

"Yeah, but now you won't be able to do certain things without my approval, like buy alcohol, smoke spice, watch R rated holovids, travel by yourself, etc."

"What's a holovid?" Azula asked, it was the first time she heard this term.

"The point is, if you want to do anything outside the storm you'll need my expressive permission, or I'll need to accompany you."

It was then that it clicked in Azula's head, My'Rell was using her status as legal guardian to keep a closer eye on her and limit her movements. There was no doubt in her mind that My'Rell suspect her plan especially now that she had Angara's secret. If Azula didn't suspect tabs were being kept on her she was more then sure now.

"So, am I to refer to you as my mother now?" Azula said sardonically.

My'Rell's brow scrunched up in a look of discomfort, "I'd rather you not."

"Why not? You're my caretaker now so you should have the appropriate title. Don't you think, mother?" She said with false sweetness and took joy in My'Rell's clear discomfort.

"You think you're funny, huh?"

"I think I'm hilarious actually."

My'Rell only shook her head at seeing her mischievous grin and decided to wipe it off by flicking her hard in the forehead.

"Alright you little shit. Since you want me to be your mommy so bad, how about I start by asking you this. Have you eaten yet?"

Azula rubbed her forehead grimacing at her, "No I haven't."

"Then let's head to the galley, I'm starving." My'Rell wrapped an arm around her pulling her along with her.

Azula struggled to get out of My'Rell's surprisingly strong grip, "Isn't it packed at this time? I'll wait till later."

"Nonsense, that's the best time to go. Get to socialize, have some down time with the crew, it'll be great!" My'Rell said with a smile completely ignoring Azula's attempts at escaping.

"No, really. I'd much rather-"

My'Rell pulled her into a headlock as she walked with her, "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't make sure my little baby was well fed?" she started to use a babying voice that only annoyed Azula further.

My'Rell was taking clear pleasure at her discomfort and Azula heavily regrets encouraging this joke, "Okay My'Rell this isn't funny anymore!"

"Aw, is my little pup throwing a temper tantrum?"

"Don't call me pup!"

Chapter Text

Angara twisting and flipping a knife between her fingers as she sat at one of the many tables of the galley in restrained fury not paying attention to what went on around her. All day she's dealt with crew members approaching to confirm what they heard about her duel with Azula to be true and a few taunting her for losing a fight with a primitive teenager, those she dealt with by delivering bloody noses or black eyes.

"YES SCORE!" Sev cheered as he watched a game on one of the many holo screens, the shout snapped Angara out of her stupor who promptly stabbed the table on pure instinct.

Chani sitting next to her jumped at the knife, "Um… Angara. I don't think the table is trying to hurt you."

Angara scowled and snarled at the girl as she pulled the blade free, splintering the wood of the table.

"Gara kash ka Azula torari." Gax whispered to his sister.

"I get that she's mad at her but can't she find a healthier way of dealing with it that doesn't involve sharp objects."

"That's just how she process's stuff, breaks things until she's calm." Sev said never taking his eyes off the screen.

"I do not do that!" Angara said while absent mindedly stabbing the table again, "Okay, maybe I do that a little, but can you blame me? What that little brat did to me is spreading all around the station like wildfire. She's tanking my rep!"

Sev finally managed to peel his eyes away from the screen, "Geez you're still on that? Relax Angara, it's happy hour and your attitude right now is sapping away all my happy."

"I agree." Chani said, "All of this negativity you're bottling up is making your inner thalm radiate so much red which isn't good for your skin at all."

Angara narrowed her eyes at Chani, "You saying I have bad skin?"

Chani didn't answer immediately, "Well… uh…"

"Gax! Your sister's trash talking my skin! You just gonna let that slide?"

Gax gave her a plain look and calmly said, "Gesh." which translated to yes and was one of the very few words from him she understood.

"I just think that maybe you should find a positive outlet for your anger." Chani said diplomatically.

A somewhat inebriated alien stepped up with slurred speech and breath reeking of alcohol, "Hey Angara! I heard you got yer ass kicked by some kid! I… I thought you were supposed to be tough or something!"

Angara grabbed him by the bangs of his long hair and effortlessly slammed his face against the table and watched as he crumbled to the floor.

"That tough enough for you!?" Angara scowled at her and spoke rudely as a few other members of the crew collected the injured drunk, "What are you my therapist? If I want your sappy advice I'll ask for it, Chani."

As always any attempt Chani made towards being friendly to Angara ended with hostility, she doesn't even know why she bothers. Chani always finds joy in spending time with her brother and Sev however she would often find Angara not too far behind and would invite herself into their company which Chani found to be less than pleasant as the Ke'Kuvon bounty hunter was always rude, often spoke about doing violent things to people she disliked and made no attempt towards empathy to anyone, especially Chani.

Gax tossed some nuts from a bowl at her and shouted with annoyance at her.

"Alright! Fine, sorry! I didn't mean anything by it."

Gax would often intervene if Angara's words became too harsh as one of the few things that made Gax angry was Chani being picked on.

Angara went back to flipping her knife and drank from her glass looking at it with dissatisfaction deciding she needed something stronger.

She turned to one of the galleys' waiter bots, floating flat cylinder shaped machines that used their flat bodies as treys to deliver orders, "Waiter bot! Get me a jar of Mi'beck!"

The robot floated away in acknowledgement.

"Breaking out the heavy stuff already?" Sev said while watching his game.

"I feel like burning my throat today." She sheathed the knife and got up, "Going to the bathroom, don't drink my stuff if it gets here before I do."

"Nobody wants to drink your battery acid." Sev assured while still watching his game then cringed in disappointment, "Come on! That had to be a foul ball!"

*****

After turning in Azula's pistol the captain dragged her to the galley. It was a large and spacious cavern at the heart of the main asteroid that had once been a mining chamber back when the station was a mining outpost but renovated into a recreational mess hall. Lights were bolted to the ceiling and walls, occupied circular tables were scattered all throughout the floor with waiter bots floating between them, and the bar was built into the farthest wall near the kitchen with an open space near one corner dedicated to recreational activities. Screens displaying various moving images dotted the area. The air was filled with hearty laughter and chatter as people enjoyed their food and drinks with music playing from speakers all around.

Azula has been to this place a few times but only for meals and especially not to socialize with these peasants.

My'Rell quite literally dragged Azula to the bar were commander Suldon sat. His squid-like form peeked out of an opening at the top of his suits tank allowing him to feed.

"Captain." His suit greeted before his three eyes focused on Azula still in a firm headlock, "Uh… what's this all about?"

"Oh this? I'm just making sure my widdle baby girl eats her food so she grows up all big and strong." My'Rell said in a babying voice and pinched her cheek.

Azula violently ripped herself out of the captain's grasp, "Okay, I get it! No more mother jokes!"

My'Rell only chuckled as Azula did her best to fix her now disheveled appearance before giving context for the station commander, "She was being a smart mouth so I had to embarrass her a little."

"That was more than a little." Azula pouted while fixing her topknot.

"And now you know your captain can play this game too. Now sit down and get some chow in you."

Azula turned to find a different table.

"Not gonna sit with us princess?" Commander Suldon asked.

"If I'm not mistaken I am a private, to sit with higher ranking officers would be insulting to my superiors. I will find somewhere more fitting of my station." She said, giving a slight bow of the head before attempting to leave.

This was true in the fire nation however she was mainly using this as an excuse to get away from the captain.

"Nonsense." My'Rell pulled her into the seat, "I want to speak with my sharpshooter in training, see how well you're doing."

Azula narrowed her eyes at the captain, "Is that an order?"

"I can make it one."

Azula rolled her eyes and reluctantly stayed.

The machine that housed commander Suldon's squid-like body laughed, "At least she respects rank."

"So, how have you been? Everyone treating you well? No unexpected surprises with your bending?"

"I'm fine and no, my bending is the same as it ever was, relatively speaking. Once I have a routine settled I'll be able to adapt adequately."

"Good, good." The captain said nonchalantly as the bartender approached with a drink for Suldon.

The bartender was a tall thin woman with gray skin covered in blue stripes, had four arms and tendrils growing out of head tied up in a ponytail, "What can I get ya captain?" She asked in a horse voice.

"Bottle of squig for me and a glass of fruit juice for her and whatever she wants to eat." My'Rell said patting Azula's shoulder.

She didn't like that the captain was ordering her drink for her, "Just give me that mushroom rice I've been having since I got here."

"You mean volk?" The bartender asked.

"Yes that."

Volk was a type of fungi that resembled rice and was the closest thing to food she was used to, even though it had a rubbery texture she hated.

"Coming right up." The bartender pulled up a cube shaped bottle and a glass for the captain then left.

"You invite me to the bar yet you don't let me order my own drink." Azula commented.

"Minors like you can't drink alcohol until you're twenty. At least while I'm running this station." She began pouring herself a glass, "Plus, a drunk fire bender sounds like a safety hazard."

Azula blew air out her nose from that comment, "I've had alcohol before, captain."

"So you were allowed to drink on your planet?" She drank from her glass

"Not necessarily. Every now and then I would sneak a bottle of rice wine out of my father's private collection."

"Did he ever catch you?"

"Almost. Thankfully my brother was there for me to shift the blame on." She chuckled at the memory as the bartender gave her her drink, "Father was so furious."

"I'm sure your brother didn't find it so funny."

"Oh no, I'm sure he still holds that against me. Amongst other things."

"Like what?" My'Rell asked curiously.

Azula felt this was an opportune time to give the captain her thoughts on her brother and maybe gloat a bit, "Well for starters, he's always been jealous of me because I was better than him at just about everything; fire bending, calligraphy, history. You name it and I could do it better than he ever could." She drank her strange fruit juice, "He was weak and a failure at everything. Honestly, I could go all day listing all of his inadequacies but that would get old real quickly." The bartender brought her food and she continued, "My father saw that better than anyone else and it embarrassed him to no end to know he was next in line for the throne, at least until he was banished."

This caught My'Rell's attention, "What did he get banished for?"

Azula shook her head at the memory of it, "He made an embarrassment of himself and our family before important members of our military and as a recompense he was to take part in an Agni Kai against our father."

"Agni kai?"

"An honor duel."

"Oh, okay. So your culture respects honorable combat, just like the Ke'Kuvon."

Azula didn't appreciate the comparison of her culture's honorable combat to the savage street fight that was her duel with Angara, "Anyway, he refused to fight our father and spat in the face of our traditions so father taught him a lesson and banished him until he could restore his honor and even then he couldn't do it on his own and needed my help." She still left out the existence of the Avatar then scoffed as more memories came to her.

"So you helped your brother? That was sweet of you. Even if you two didn't get along very well."

"I did it out of necessity. I needed a little help in defeating an enemy that stood in the way of my conquest of Ba Sing Se and he happened to be there."

My'Rell creased her brow, "Wait, I thought you said you took Ba Sing Se all by yourself."

Azula forgot she excluded her companions and mentally scolded herself for not remembering.

"Alright fine, you caught me. I had help taking the city."

"Now that sounds more believable than what you told me." The captain teased.

"They don't deserve the glory." Azula said, spite present in her tone, "They betrayed me, all of them. I went through the trouble of helping him restore his honor and how does he repay me? He runs off the day our country is invaded to join the enemy, helps to dethrone our father and lock me away. The worst part of it is that there was hope for Zuko now, he could have actually been something but no. Our uncle poisoned his mind and encouraged his confusion. I think I blame him more than anyone else."

"There's something else you and Angara have in common. Uncles you hate. At least you're free now, so there's that."

"I suppose. Being here is definitely much better than being on the run." Azula began eating her strange food, hating the texture, "I do enjoy this air conditioning you have here, I'd normally have my servants fan me when the heat becomes too dreadful yet out here in the stars even the peasants live with the luxuries of nobility."

She looked out into the galley watching all of the crew enjoying themselves, all dirty peasants unbefitting of her presence yet living with just as much if not more comfort than she ever had due to scientific innovation.

"Even if they are undignified." She commented after seeing two aliens fall over drunk from some sort of drinking game, "Honestly, why do you come here and fraternize with those below you when you can just take your meals in your quarters undisturbed?"

My'Rell turned to look on into the galley with her, "What and miss out on seeing who losses the drink off? What's the use of having a bar on the station if I can't come down here after hours, down some drinks and watch the game with the people keeping us going?"

"You're a superior. You should be setting an example for your underlings to follow, pretending to be their friends will only encourage improper behavior and disregard of rank." Azula said with an upturned nose as she took another bite.

"And if you lord over them like a dictator you foster resentment instead of comradery. Make no mistake Azula, I treat everyone here like a friend and equal but at the end of the day everyone here knows that my word is law and everybody has a job that I expect them to accomplish."

Azula shook her head at that notion, responses like that makes her think that My'Rell and her uncle would probably get along nicely and it made her sick to her stomach.

"Even the Death's Head members?"

My'Rell's demeanor shifted to one of apprehension, "I'll be a little harder on the Death's Head members, just until they prove themselves worthwhile. Duritax may have paid them well but I don't think comradery was promoted very well under him."

"Speaking of this Duritax, what does he even look like? I've been told he and his son are a big deal yet I don't even know what they look like."

My'Rell reached for her communicator, "They've got a bounty on their heads somewhere in the galaxy. Let me find them." Her communicator projected a holographic image of various bounties and cycled through them until she found what she was looking for.

Before her she saw the transparent image of Duritax, her face wrinkling in disgust at his long wrinkled face, his four eyes, chin tentacles and leathery green skin.

"He's hideous. I don't think I've ever seen a creature so profoundly ugly before in my life." Azula said in revulsion before noticing another member of the same race sitting two stools away scowling at her.

Instead of apologizing for her words she looked him in all four of his eyes and stated, "I meant what I said."

The alien took his drink and left grumbling to himself.

My'Rell couldn't contain her laughter and called out to him, "Forgive her Davos, she's just ignorant." She laughed a little bit more, "That was terrible, I should not be laughing at that." She swiped to the next image, "This one is Courtix."

Azula looked at the image seeing the same kind of creature only bigger, more muscular with yellowish brown skin, one of his outer eyes was scarred and blind along with one of his chin tendrils being cleaved in half. Where Duritax had a calm calculated scowl in his mugshot, Courtix had a wild look of untamed aggression with a furious snarl set in his features.

"So this is the man who's going to be gunning for me."

"I doubt he knows you're the one who delivered the killing blow, unless you've been bragging about it to people outside the storm." My'Rell said, putting the device away.

"It may have came up while I was at the Ke'Kuvon camp." She admitted and received a flat judgmental look from the captain.

"You are definitely not going to be walking around unsupervised outside the station now." My'Rell took another drink.

"So does that mean I won't be doing any jobs anytime soon? I'm anxious to put my fire bending to good use."

My'Rell decided to tell her of the deal she struck with Angara, no point in keeping it a secret, "This is what you wanted, right? To have our best as your mentor?"

"Partially, yes it would be great to learn from the best but unfortunately the best is… that woman." Azula said flatly.

"I wasn't too convinced it was a good idea either." My'Rell admitted, finishing her glass.

"So what is this job that she and I must prove ourselves with?"

"Don't know yet. I haven't had a chance to look for one I think would be suited for your skill level."

"Well I hope you don't pick one that's too easy. There's no use if there's no challenge."

"An easy job will be serviceable, the challenge is you and Angara playing nice long enough to properly work together. Think you can do that?"

"As much as I hate to admit it, she is a formidable warrior and our run in with the laugh cats showed that we can work together, so yes I believe I can hold back on my very true observations of her. At least until after the job is done."

My'Rell gave her a satisfied smile, "Good."

Just as they concluded their conversation Sev could be heard shouting cheers as he watched a game on one of the many holographic screens.

"I think you've suffered enough from your mother's company, little pup. Go hang out with your friends."

Azula scowled at both the nickname and the mother comment, rolling her eyes as she left the captain's company, "They aren't my friends. We're just colleges."

Sev was completely entranced with the game he watched as the two amphibious siblings chat with each other.

*****

"This fabricator is really saving us so much money on materials." Chani said, "We could put all the units we save into a budget for that secondary science lab Lectro has been talking about."

"MA CHIN'GARA KA ISHNI?" Gax questioned before sipping his drink.

"No, that's on the SeCore. He's been wanting a more permanent lab on the station so he doesn't always have to be bound to the ship." Chani explained.

"MARKARA KAREEN?"

"No he would still have the lab on the ship but he would also have the lab in the station."

"DESH KA MENARI!"

"Yes I know, that's the main reason why the captain keeps rejecting it because then he'd have two labs to himself. I think we should make it a communal lab, that way it wouldn't just be him using it.

"HEGENA ICH MANI'KA!"

"He's not the only scientist. Dr. Bevel could use it too."

"Doesn't she have an infirmary? Both on the ship and on the station?" Sev asked, still paying more attention to the game.

Chani pouted, "I'm just trying to find out a way in which this can work out for everyone and you guys aren't helping!"

"Well, sometimes you can't help everyone." He continued watching his sports until it cut to commercial and he gave her his full attention, "So how's having the firespitter as a roommate."

Chani's bubbly demeanor became less enthusiastic, "Oh… uh… you know. She's… great! Just great."

"You don't sound too enthusiastic."

"She's still adapting to this new lifestyle so it's bound to be a difficult transition."

Gax narrowed his large eyes at her, "TARAGA GA MAKNIKA!"

"What? No. I'm not making excuses for her. Don't be silly!" She waved off, "Although, she can be a little…" She paused trying to find the right word to describe her, "...Intense."

Sev furrowed his metal brow, "Intense how?"

"I don't really know how to describe it. I just feel that when I'm around her her inner thalm gives off this oppressive wave of negative miasma."

Sev and Gax looked at each other in confusion, "Chani. We love ya, but we don't understand any of that hippie talk."

"I'm just saying that being around her feels like being around a sleeping Theron." She took a drink from her glass of water, "She's not all bad though. She cleans up after herself and likes to keep things orderly."

"That's good at least. Nobody likes a messy roommate." Sev said before turning his attention back to the holovid when the game came back on.

"Although when she cleans she often rearranges my stuff… without asking."

"Yeah that's neat." Sev said, his full attention on the game before shooting up from his seat and cheering, "YEEEAAAHHH!"

Azula bobbed and weaved her way out of the crowd to their table taking a seat and greeted them, "Evening everyone."

Chani didn't see her appear and jumped from fright.

"Oh Azula! Hello! How long have you been here?" Chani asked, hoping she didn't hear anything.

"I just sat down. Why?"

"Oh nothing! Nothing at all." She tried her best to act as though she wasn't just talking about her, "What brings you here? You don't usually come here at this time."

Azula rolled her eyes, "The captain dragged me here against my will, literally, and since I'm here I might as well have dinner."

"Should've came yesterday. It was karaoke night." Sev still didn't look away.

She noticed how Sev paid more attention to the screen than her words, "What are you watching?"

"Grav Ball." He said quickly as if the name alone explained everything, "My team, the Xaveron Ace's, are tied with the Palinon Strikers. I've got five hundred riding on this game and I plan on getting me some new toys for the workshop." His face lit up as an alien on the screen wearing a green and yellow uniform floated through a glass tunnel towards a goal while holding a bright red ball.

From what Azula could tell this game took place in zero gravity and the goal was to get the ball through what looked like a finish line. Sev stood up from his seat cheering the player on in euphoric glee as the player was seconds away from entering the goal, until another player wearing a blue and orange uniform soared into him at great speed shoulder bashing him in the stomach, taking the ball and using his body as a springboard to enter the goal himself.

Sev's delighted expression dropped immediately and his cheers of joy turned to screams of sorrow as Gax jumped in the back cheering for the opposite team.

"I suppose that means you lost." Azula said as she watched a dejected Sev return to his seat.

"Yup." He grabbed a bottle of squig and poured himself a tall glass before downing it, "Why did I even bet on the Ace's? They suck! They haven't had a good win in a while."

"Didn't you say it was because you liked rooting for the underdog?" Chani said.

Sev fished out several units from his pocket that Gax gladly snatched away, "The underdog sucks!" He turned to Azula, "Oh hey fire spitter. When did you get here?"

"Did you seriously not notice I was here?"

"I heard a snippy attitude and immediately thought you were Angara."

Azula scoffed, "That woman is here? I don't have enough energy to deal with her."

"Well I've got just enough to deal with you, pup." Angara's voice came from behind her with her hand slamming on the table and leaning into Azula's personal space, "What the hell is your deal spreading rumors about our duel?"

Azula only gave her a pleasant smile to hide her annoyance, "I was only answering questions being asked of me. And I was telling the truth."

"More like stretching it. I've got people giggling behind my back because I lost to some kid! And you didn't even mention the fight on the train."

"To be fair, nobody asked me about our first duel so I didn't feel the need to bring it up."

Angara growled as she bawled her fist, "Why you little!"

Sev coughed loudly to grab her attention, "Behave yourself Angara. The captain's here." He pointed behind her were My'Rell still sat at the bar watching her like a hawk then waved at them.

Angara rained in her temper, "This ain't over, pup." She gave Azula some space and took a seat across from her next to Sev.

"Better be nice to me Angara, unless you want that leash to get tighter." Azula said, then taking a spoonful of her food, her eyes giving off a subtle glare letting Angara know she still had dangerous info.

"Wow." Chani said in a mousy voice, "Both of your inner thalms are radiating waves of deep crimson."

They both shot her a glare letting her know they didn't like being analyzed.

"So…" Angara began, taking a more relaxed posture, "...the captain is making me your mentor for bounty hunting. Ya got your wish in the end after all."

It was what she had wanted however now that she knew Angara's secret it was mainly to watch over her. Regardless, in the end she'll still be trained by the best, however she could still tease her just a little longer.

"Yes, but now I find myself asking, do I really want this?" She said with a velvety smooth voice.

Angara's tattooed brow scrunched, "What do you mean?"

"I wanted the best, and you lost to a simple teenager in honorable combat." She washed her food down with her drink, "That doesn't sound like the best if you ask me."

Angara grinded her teeth, "I won the first fight!"

"While I was handicapped by fatigue and gravity. Not a fair fight. So maybe I should wait until this Sorren fellow returns. But then again I heard he may be gone for months so I suppose I'll settle for second best."

Angara only glared at her as a service robot came by and delivered her drink, "Go ahead and make your jokes now because when I've got you all to myself I'm gonna make your life a living hell."

"And I'll get through it with no problem. I can handle anything you throw at me."

Angara scowled, she hated that self righteous confidence of hers but then looked over at the jar that was brought to her and decided to see if she really could handle anything.

She took a glance at the bar seeing the captain preoccupied with a conversation with commander Suldon, "Well pup, if you're so confident then why don't you take a swig of this." She slid the drink over to her.

The princess caught it and studied the jar filled with a crystal clear liquid that looked like water. She couldn't read the sharp edged angular symbols that covered the label.

"Oh no." Sev said with clear worry, "That's not…"

"Yes it is." a devilish smile grew on Angara's face, "Mi'beck. Or known by its galaxy wide name, Ke'Kuvon moonshine."

Azula put the jar down, "Is that supposed to impress me?"

"Don't do it firespitter! That stuff can melt the paint off a starship in two seconds, its only legal use is to sterilize wounds on cattle." Sev warned.

Gax only giggled with a manic grin eager to see what will happen next.

"You're over exaggerating. It can't be that bad." She curiously unscrewed the cap and sniffed the beverage only to recoil at the sickening and almost clinical scent of alcohol that burned her nostrils, "Dear Agni! That is rancid. People actually drink this poison?"

"Yeah, squig ain't nothing compared to this." Angara took the jar and poured herself a small glass, "Cheers." She downed the shot in one go, her face twisting as if in pain before becoming serene as she let out a satisfied sigh, "Really burns on the way down. That's why it's called liquid fire in some places. I figured the fire princess would want a drink befitting that name." She then poured another glass and pushed it to her, "Go ahead and take a shot."

The burning smell of this concoction still lingered in her nose made her want to gag at the very thought of consuming it, so she pushed the glass away, "Yeah, no. I'd rather not."

"What, is the great princess Azula scared of a little sip?" Angara taunted.

"No, I'm afraid I'll die of alcohol poisoning."

"Not asking you to guzzle down the whole bottle."

"A sip from a bottle of poison is still poison."

"Stop calling it poison!"

"I mean it practically is." Sev said.

"Shut it Sev!"

"I have nothing to gain by doing this and nothing to prove. So why even bother?"

"I guess daddy raised himself a coward then." Angara took the glass.

This struck a nerve in Azula, "Excuse me?"

Angara drank the glass, "You heard me. Daddy. Raised. A coward."

Both princesses' eyes locked once more, giving intense glares towards one another.

Azula could handle any words thrown at her by Angara but to listen to her insult her father; the true fire lord, the Phoenix king, the man who gave her everything she desired and made her the proud warrior she is today, was going well past what she was willing to tolerate.

The negative energies the two princesses immited were becoming too overbearing for Chani to handle so she decided to intervene, "How about instead of throwing biting words at each other we take a deep breath and calm our spirits so that we can-"

"Poor me a glass." Azula demanded and Angara's grin grew wider.

"Or we can just ignore me…" Chani said in a dejected manner while Sev facepalmed and Gax laughed maniacally as the glass was poured.

She observed the quarter filled glass, "You're not going easy on me I hope? Pour some more."

"Any more than that is gonna put you on all fours dry heaving." Angara warned.

"I said I could handle anything you threw, right? So pour some more!"

Angara happily did so, filling her glass halfway, far beyond the recommended amount for new drinkers.

Gax giggled some more clearly delighted with what was happening while his sister looked on in worry before getting up and running to the bar, "I'm going to get a pitcher of water!"

Sev sat there with his arms crossed looking at Azula with pity in his eyes for what is to come, "May the maker have mercy on your liver."

Azula brought the half filled glass to her, the smell burned her nostrils once more. This was a terrible idea, by far her worst, but this was to defend the honor of her father. She would not let anyone belittle him.

After psyching herself up she brought the glass to her lips and began tilting her head back but before even a drop could make its way into her system she heard a familiar eccentric voice pull her attention away.

"Azula! Hey!"

She turned to the source to find Lectro wading through the crowd until he got to their table.

"I didn't think I'd see you here today."

"You're not here to collect any of your special samples now, are you?" She asked still in disgust from earlier.

"Oh that? No, forget about that."

"Good, now if you don't mind I'm in the middle of-"

He cut her off holding a hand to her face, "Before you say anything else let me ask you this. How do you feel about a field trip?"

Azula ignored the fact he rudely interrupted her and raised a brow, putting the glass down, "Too where?"

"No place special. Just some planets orbiting around different types of sun's. Sun's that could have an effect on your bending." He emphasized her bending, hooking her interests even further.

This also pulled Angara's interest as she didn't like the idea of her being alone with Lectro along with also being curious.

"That sounds like fun." Sev said, "When we going?"

Lectro wasn't planning on having others tag along however it would help to have some extra muscle around if they run into trouble, "We'll leave as soon as possible once I give the captain my report and I find a ship."

Angara saw this as an opportunity to learn more about Azula's abilities and decided that she wanted to jump in, "We'll take my ship."

Azula scowled at her. She already spent more time than she cared for at Angara's encampment and it ended with her being arrested. She did not want another adventure with the Ke'Kuvon princess.

Lectro gave her a sheepish look, "Actually given the whole rumors and your attitudes towards each other, I think it would be best if you didn't tag along."

"Aren't you also still in recovery from the burns the firespitter gave you." Sev reached around and poked her still healing burn that caused her to jump in pain then send a punch to his chest.

"KAKARI SHA GATRA!"

"Yeah and Gax hasn't even started fixing your armor."

"I don't need my armor all of the time! I can fight just fine without it."

"The point of this trip is not to fight but to learn." Lectro stated, "It is purely for scientific research."

"I'm flattered you want to tag along, after all I'm such an interesting person, but I must admit this obsession you have with me is a little creepy."

Azula's words twisted the figurative knife further into Angara who decided to just end this conversation here, "Hey doc. The captain's at the bar. Go bug her."

"Oh thanks! She told me to give her my report by morning but I managed to finish it in under an hour" He said proudly displaying it on his data pad.

"I think what she meant by that was to give it to her tomorrow, not as soon as possible." Sev said, knowing of Lectro's habit of missing social cues.

"But I wrote it all out so nicely and detailed then sprinted all the way over here to catch her. Which, all that running has really made me parched." He took Azula's glass of Mi'beck, "Let me borrow some water."

"Wait! Lectro that's not-" Almost everyone at the table got up to try and stop him but it was too late. Lectro had already downed the half filled cup of liquor.

Almost immediately Lectro began coughing and dry heaving as he sucked in air quickly like a fish on dry land, bracing himself against the table until his voice came out in a raspy whisper, "That was not water… oh God… w-what did I just drink… battery acid?"

"You just drank half a cup of Mi'beck my egg headed friend." Sev answered.

"The Ke'Kuvon liquor?!" Lectro leaned over resting his hands on his knees, "That was… that was foul! I can't feel my face."

Chani returned with a pitcher of water in her webbed hands, "I'm back! Please tell me you didn't drink that yet."

Azula never took her eyes off of Lectro's suffering form, "I didn't, but he did."

Lectro then went on his hands and knees, "Dear lord… my throat is on fire!"

Chani quickly poured a glass for him that he grabbed and chugged greedily while on his knees, "Thank you Chani. You're so nice." He said before lying down on the stone floor.

Angara looked over the table at him with some guilt in her eyes, "You alright Lectro?"

"No… I'm just gonna lay here for a little bit, wait for my system to flush out the poison."

With that said Lectro stayed on the floor wallowing in alcoholic anguish with everyone returning to their seats save for Chani who knelt by his side pouring him another glass.

Seeing him lying in a fetal position after downing that glass was possibly the funniest thing Azula had seen in a while but did everything she could to suppress a laugh. Laughing at his misfortune could possibly make her look bad in the eyes of everyone at the table which wouldn't bode well for her plan, at least until she locked eyes with Angara who seemed to be doing the same.

Both young women tried to hold it in but the moment they noticed it in each other they bursted like a cracked dam and their loud cackling at Lectro's expense came flooding out. It was infectious as Sev and Gax joined in.

All were laughing except Chani who only looked at them all in judgment, "You guys are so mean."

Azula couldn't remember the last time she had a good laugh like that, one that wasn't false or meant to mock others but was truly genuine and people around her laughed with her because they too took joy in this moment and not because they felt they had to.

"Well…" Azula began not really knowing how to continue the conversation, "I guess I dodged a really big fireball there."

"Yeah." Angara responded, wiping away a tear, "Want another glass, pup?"

She took another look at the sad state of the scientist, "I think I'm good. Why don't you enjoy it?"

Angara gave her a dubious look before sipping the jar, "Guess you are a coward."

"I'll take the title for today."

"That's probably best." Sev said, "How about we leave the drinking games for another day. Come on, let's see how you react to VR."

"I'm only here for dinner. I'm going back to my bunk after this." She waved him off.

"Come on firespitter." He lifted her up by the back of her collar.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" She protested while kicking her legs.

"We're mercenaries, we can die at any moment. Live a little." He dragged her with him and Gax as they went for the recreational area while she protested.

Even though they shared a laugh Angara still couldn't help but speculate Azula was untrustworthy and after another heavy sip of the burning liquid she followed leaving Chani to take care of Lectro.

Azula was dragged against her will to forcefully have fun where Sev showed her the VR equipment which took the form of a visor resting over her eyes that displayed whatever she saw on a holoscreen and a pair of gloves.

"I feel ridiculous." She said as she sat on a couch unable to see anything.

"Good, because you look ridiculous." Sev said as he turned on the equipment.

"Why must I be blindfolded again?"

"It's not a blindfold, it's a VR visor."

"Yet I can't see anything."

"If you'll be patient I'll turn it on."

She huffed, "Fine, but explain to me what this VR is?"

With a devious grin he said, "You'll see." Then he turned on the device.

Before Azula's eyes was nothing but pitch blackness until the screen on the visor came to life displaying a colorful menu in a virtual empty white room. The sudden appearance of it startled her into pulling it off.

"What is this?" She said in surprise.

Sev and Gax laughed at her reaction, "That my friend is virtual reality, VR for short. We use it to play simulations and entertainment. If you want to visit a specific location we just put it in the machine and it creates a virtual environment of said place for you to walk around. Keep in mind though everything you see and experience isn't real."

"So it's an illusion?" She asked, studying the screen.

"An interactive one. Put it back on and let's play some games." Sev grabbed a controller as she did so, "Let's start with something easy."

"What about House of Slaughter?" Angara suggested from behind them.

"Her first VR experience isn't going to be House of Slaughter! That'll give her PTSD."

"Should I ask what that is?" Azula said, crossing her arms as she moved her head to look around the virtual room.

"Horror game with a lot of violence." He answered while going through a list of games stopping at one, "How about this one? Star Velocity."

"And that is?"

"Racing game." He selected it and Azula's screen flashed.

Suddenly she was sitting in the cockpit of an unfamiliar vehicle wearing a sporty red uniform while surrounded by machinery. She moved her hands seeing that her digital ones moved identically to every movement her real ones made with the gloves allowing her sense of touch to feel every surface her fingertips came across. She looked around the cockpit seeing she was under a bright blue sky and at the starting line of a race track. To her sides she saw strange cartoony caricatures of people riding in shiny hovering vehicles.

"Ready to race, fire spitter?"

"No, I have no idea what I'm doing."

Sev told her what to do by watching the main screen on the wall instructing her on the controls and what they did and then letting her race.

It was disorienting at first with everything beyond the screen looking so lifelike and moving far faster than she could keep up with.

"Break! Hit your break!" Sev said watching Azula's haphazard driving.

"Which one is the break?" she shouted holding her hands out to work the controls.

"MAKSHA! MAKSHA!" Gax shouted from her left.

"I can't make sense of your babbling!" She shouted back as her vehicle crashed while making a turn as flashing red words covered the screen making her pull the visor off.

"Welp, game over. Better luck next time." Sev said, patting her head.

Azula rubbed her eyes while trying to process this game, "Everything was so fast and there were so many controls."

"It's not as complicated as a real hover racer."

"You just suck at racing games." Angara said, "I, on the other hand, have the high score in this game."

Azula gave her an annoyed expression then remembered the strong drink that currently sat in her hand and an idea came to Azula on how to make sure Angara doesn't accompany her on their trip, "Really Angara? Then perhaps you can prove that by showing off your skill."

"That's too easy, pup. I've played that game a thousand times already." Angara boasted proudly.

"You're right it is too easy, so why don't we make it a little more interesting? You down some of that rancid beverage and see how well you drive under the influence and if you can't, well you can always take another drink as a penalty and try again." She extended the visor to her, "Unless, father raised a coward?"

Angara's eye twitched and without hesitation swiped the visor from her hands then took a large gulp of Mi'beck, "Scoot over."

Azula smirked as Angara took the bait, just like Zuko.

Angara took the controls and began playing the racing game. She did much better than Azula but the alcohol was clearly having an effect on her driving as her vehicle veered off track often and struck other vehicles until she crashed it into a wall just before the finish line.

"Oops, you failed. I guess that means another drink." Azula said, handing her the glass.

Angara growled, taking the glass and drinking, "Start it over!

She kept going on and on with the Mi'Beck making each attempt fail even worse than the last.

Azula, Sev and Gax laughed at Angara's failed racing with other members of the crew gathering to watch.

*****

My'Rell watched the gathering from her place at the bar. Cetro came by taking a seat at a stool near her.

"What's going on over there?" He asked, gesturing to the small crowd that formed.

"Our new recruit making friends." She answered, "How is she doing in engineering?"

"Better than I thought she'd be. Hardware wise she's memorizing everything pretty well, software though she's struggling. You should get someone to teach her how to use the Omni-net, I ain't wasting time teaching her general info."

"Understood, I'll figure something out. Nothing suspicious about her?"

"If by suspicious you mean complaining about doing, quote on quote, peasant work and lifting with her back instead of her legs then I'd say she's the most suspicious brat I've ever seen." The bartender brought his usual drink, "Don't know why you bother making me watch her. If you ask me you should be keeping tabs on our new Death's Head employees."

"I'm keeping an eye on them as well. At least the ones that chose to stay."

"Well the ones that did stay are just as bad as all the other idiots you've got working under me."

"You know maybe if you were nicer to them and tried positive reinforcement they'd probably do a better job. For example, getting people's names right."

Cetro grumbled, "I'll learn their names when they do something worthwhile."

Lectro appeared by the captain's side in a drunken stupor, "Hey Captain! I've-I've got my report f-for you."

My'Rell gave him a strange look, "Are you drunk?"

"A little. I thought a glass of Mi'Bek was water." He explained with a sluggish mumble as he braced himself against the bar and handed her his data pad.

"That's on you buddy." Cetro commented as he enjoyed his drink.

"You know I said you could give this to me in the morning right?" My'Rell said looking over the pad.

"I-I know, but I wanted to get this done as… as soon as… uh…" He slurred trying to find the right word.

"Possible?" My'Rell finished for him.

"Yeah that! I want to start studying her bending as soon as possible."

She looked through the report looking over the route he was planning to take, "This is a lengthy journey Lectro; Cadenza, Gafko, Ginza, Maripol, Tsu'len. Have you found someone to fly you?"

"Not yet." he sat down on a stool and rested his spinning head on the bar, "Angara offered to fly but I don't think that's a good idea."

"And with how heavy she's drinking I think it'll be a miracle if she manages to wake up past daytime hours." Cetro commented watching Angara taking another long drink of Mi'Beck and demanding to play again. He turned back to Lectro, "You said Ginza was on your route?"

"Yeah."

"I'll take you then."

Lectro lifted his head slightly, "Really?"

"Yeah, we'll take my cargo hauler. I need to make a supply run to Ginza anyway."

"Great! We have a ride."

My'Rell finished looking it over and handed his tablet back to him, "Alright, approved. Just be sure you're well stocked and armed. Ships have been going missing in some of the systems you plan on visiting."

"Meh, just a bunch of pirates. Nothing we can't handle." Cetro said, taking another drink.

"Still, be careful out there." My'Rell turned to Lectro, "And you, get sobered up before you fall and hurt yourself."

*****

"Re-restart it…a-again…Sev." Angara said, slurring her words and struggling to sit up straight while bringing a half filled jar to her mouth.

Sev grabbed the jar and wrestled it out of her hands, "I think you should call it a night Angara."

"Shut up! I-I can…can… keep going… you loser." She swung at him only for her fist to gently bounce off his shoulder.

"Nope. You're done." he lifted her up and began to make his way to the exit, "I'll take her back to her ship, she's gonna have one hell of a hangover when she wakes up. I'll see you guy's tomorrow."

"Put me down! Or-or… I'll break… your-your… uh… what was I gonna say?" The most feared bounty hunter in the storm said pathetically, incapable of focusing.

Azula waved at them both putting on the best serene smile she could muster, "Good night Angara, I can't wait to see you in the morning." She really couldn't.

Now with all of the excitement gone she felt it was time to turn in for the day and prepare herself for Lectro's field trip.

*****

The next morning Angara awoke to a loud alarm emanating from above her head. The sound was painful to her, as if it was louder than it should be and sitting right next to her ears. She scrambles to turn that horrific noise off by hammering a fist down on it several times until it stopped.

She didn't want to get up; she felt sick to her stomach, her mouth felt dry and sticky, her head was spinning, she felt as though she was going to throw up whatever she had for dinner and the very idea of having breakfast made her even more nasiouse.

She remembered Lectro's planned trip with her and the others and forced herself out of bed, almost tumbling over from the vertigo. Thankfully she was still dressed. She pulled herself up and flipped the switch for the lights and the immediate assault on her now very sensitive eyes made her regret doing that.

She quickly scrambled to grab her belongings and race to the hangar.

*****

Azula packed another set of clothes into her bag as she made preparations for the trip. She had very little else to bring other than that so she waited until the last moment to do so as Chani sat in the center of the room doing her morning ritual of meditative stretches before work.

"You must be excited to go out and explore the galaxy." Chani said as she sat criss-crossed, stretching her arms out into the air.

"Somewhat. I am curious how other worlds will look compared to Earth and Kazima." She debated packing a second set of boots.

"The galaxy is full of unique and beautiful worlds. Who knows maybe you'll find one you love so much that you'll settle down on."

Azula side eyed her, "Tired of me already? And here I thought you were so welcoming." She teased knowing Chani would feel guilty about her comment.

"W-what no! That's not what I meant. Honest!" She was just as easy to fool as Ty Lee, so much so that Azula wondered just how much she could get away with.

She paid her pleas for forgiveness with no attention, instead she looked to her exquisite collection of jewelry. As much as she hates Chani's choice of room decor she will admit that her taste in silver bracelets and necklaces was impeccable.

"Say Chani." She stopped her apologies as she picked up a silver chain bracelet studded with polished ruby and pink quartz charms, "You have such a nice display of jewelry. I was wondering if I could borrow one. I much prefer gold but this silver would look very nice on me. A princess such as myself should look her best you know, but all I have is my hair piece."

Chani's expression shifted to one of apprehension, "Oh… uh… I don't know about that."

Azula gave her a feigned look of hurt, "Really? I thought you and I were getting along so well. In my culture friends would bond by sharing our possessions with one another." This was nothing but a lie as Azula would rather burn her belongings than share them with anyone, "But I suppose I am in a different place and cultural norms aren't universal."

Chani scrambled to her feet trying to console her, "I'm sorry, I had no idea. Go ahead and take that one."

Azula smirked, she was entirely too easy to fool. Azula then remembered the ugly wooden charm the Mystic gave her, now would be a good time to dispose of such a tacky bracelet.

"Thank you Chani. In exchange let me give you something, it's not as fabulous as this bracelet but I hope the sentiment will be enough."

Chani's eyes widened in delight, excited at the exchange. Azula fished for the serpent charm in her jumpsuit pocket and dropped it in her webbed hands.

Chani studied the wooden pendant from the cut of its edges to the swirling etchings along the length of the serpent's body, "This is the mark of the serpent, a deeply spiritual charm meant to protect and impart wisdom. Where did you get this?"

Azula put the fabulous silver bracelet on and admired it, "Oh that? The Mystic of the Ke'Kuvon camp gave it to me."

Chani's eyes widened, "The Mystic gave you this?"

"You know him?"

"I've met him a few times. He comes to Horizon city every now and then to sell things like this. He's a deeply spiritual person, someone I admire. Oh to be able to commune with the outerworld as he does." She stopped admiring the bracelet and looked back to Azula, "I couldn't accept this. If he made it for you free of charge then it was meant for you and you alone. It may even be blessed with the voices of protective spirits."

"It's just a simple wooden pendant. I doubt it's anything more than that."

"I believe it may be more than that." Chani took Azula's hand and put the humble wooden bracelet alongside the more glamorous silver one, "The mark of the serpent has a dual meaning. Some of its darker aspects symbolize deceit, death, destruction and poison."

Azula rolled her eyes, just about all of that is how most people would describe her.

"But its lighter aspects symbolize protection, rebirth, change, and healing. If he gave it to you then maybe it was for a reason."

Azula scoffed and pulled her hands away from hers, "That sounds like nothing but a bunch of nonsense. I may believe in spirits like you and this Mystic, however I don't believe they give a damn about protecting or healing us." She packed the extra pair of boots anyway, "I should get going before Lectro decides to pop up announced. He seems to have a habit of doing that."

She exited the room without a second thought and left Chani to herself.

Azula arrived at one of the smaller hangars where Cetro's ship lay in wait. It was a long rust bucket of a vessel made up of bulky brown plating, four cigar shaped engines at its rear and a turret at its top and bottom. It was a simple long range cargo hauler meant for making quick supply runs. Of all the ship's she has seen on this station this was by far the least impressive.

"Azula! Hey! You finally made it!" Lectro said from across the hangar while speaking with My'Rell.

Azula wasted no time and sarcastically said, "Wouldn't miss this trip for the world."

"Well you seem enthused." My'Rell said.

"Believe it or not I actually am. I've been stuck inside this place for far too long and I'd like to feel direct sunlight on the opposite side of a window."

"Agreed, It'd be good to get you on a planet every now and then. Remember, Cetro and Lectro are in charge of this trip so behave yourself."

"Aren't I always on my best behavior?" Azula said back with a smirk.

My'rell already started to mentally prepare for whatever headache might occur.

"Is this our ride?"

"Yup. What do ya think?" Lectro said.

"It looks like a hunk of junk."

The sound of the ship's owner clearing his throat caught both of their attention from behind.

"She may be old and ugly but she'll get ya where you need to go." Cetro pushed past them grumbling to himself as he went up the ship's ramp almost running into Sev who had to crouch in order to get through the doorway. Cetro scoffed seeing the giant, "Great, you're here too. Where's the psychopath that's usually on your shoulder?"

"Gax ain't coming. He's busy fixing up Angara's armor."

"Good. One less idiot I've got to worry about stripping my ship for parts." Cetro pushed past him into the vessel, "Hurry up and get those supplies on board Skiv!"

"It's pronounced Skeeve." He grumbled to himself as he carried a supply box past Azula and Lectro.

Azula tossed her bag on top of the crate, "Take that to my quarters. Would you Skiv?"

He ground his teeth as he continued, "Skeeve! Skeeve, dammit!"

He was just glad that the head engineer was going to be gone for a while along with his days off starting today, which means he'll have plenty of time to gather more information. The deadline for his client was four days away, he needed to hurry and get the code for the mines and still had to find a way to get the fabricator out of the facility when Courtix attacks.

"Are you kidding me?!" Cetro shouted from within the ship.

Azula groaned, "What is he yelling about now?"

"Hard to say. It'd be weird if he didn't yell." My'Rell followed up.

Cetro exited the ship in an agitated state, "Just got a call from Bevel, apparently the extra set of hands I got to go with us just broke them while working in engineering."

"You can't find anyone else?" My'Rell asked.

Cetro scratched his chin as he thought of who else, "Everyone else I'd like to use are busy with more important tasks." He looked around until his four eyes landed on Skeeve who exited the ship.

"Everything is on board. Can I start my days off now?" Skeeve asked.

Cetro snapped his fingers, "Skiv, grab your stuff I need you on board."

"Wait what?!"

"You heard me! Get going!"

This was bad. From what he heard this trip would take days, days that he could use for his plan and the deadline was to close.

"Wait, wait! I've got some… stuff that I need to take care of."

My'Rell patted his shoulder, "Sorry Skeeve, but if he needs you he needs you. Captain's orders."

"But-but I…"

"Hurry up and grab your crap Skiv! We leave in a few!" Cetro shouted, making his way back into the ship.

He gave a dejected look as his freedom was stripped before him. Maybe he could beg the client for an extension.

Sev patted the blue rodent on his back, "Sorry bud. Maybe next time."

"Hold it!" Angara's voice came from behind.

They all turned and were met with an Angara, the feared bounty hunter Red Cap now looking like a shell of her feared persona with disheveled clothes, her long scarlet hair now a frizzled mess and swaying side to side clearly not over the hangover. Azula put hand over her mouth to suppress a laugh, she couldn't help but find her pathetic display of strength delighting.

"I'm ready."

My'Rell face palmed and sighed, "Oh Angara, what are you doing?"

"I'm… I'm coming on the trip. That's what." She stood up straight pretending to be alright.

"You sure?" Lectro asked skeptically, "You don't look too good."

"Well doc, you should get your eyes checked because I feel great. Better than great, I feel awesome!" She said while swaying and almost falling over.

"Really?" My'Rell asked flatly.

"Yeah really."

"You're not suffering from a hangover right now?"

"Nope." She slapped a hand over her mouth to prevent upchucked the contents of her stomach.

My'Rell suddenly clapped her hands loudly next to her head, the sudden noise hitting her sensitive ears made her cringe and grab them in pain.

"Yeah no, you're staying here."

"But captain!"

"No buts. You'll only get in the way."

Angara growled and sent a glare to the still laughing Azula, "You planned this! Didn't you?"

Azula wore a smile to try and hide her amusement, "I don't know what you're talking about Angara." The cracks in her voice only confirmed her suspicion.

"You-you…" she could no longer hold it in and ran behind a shuttle to vomit only causing Azula to break down laughing.

"Well… that's ungraceful." Sev commented.

Cetro saw the display and sighed heavily, "Somebody clean that up!"

B3 approached from the ship, "All necessary preparations have been made. We are ready to depart."

My'Rell messaged her forehead in second hand embarrassment, "You all get on board. I'll take care of her."

"Aye captain." Lectro said before turning to the ship with a chipper attitude, "Alright people let's get this show on the road!"

My'Rell turned to Azula, "Remember Azula, stay out of trouble out there. I'll be contacted when you arrive at every destination and informed of everything. Stay with the group and let them do all the talking if you come into contact with other people and keep your audio translator on you. I won't be able to bail you out of any dilemma you find yourself in."

"With Angara not around I think I will be just fine." Azula said, still enjoying the site of Angara in agony.

"That might be true. I should get her to Bevel." My'Rell said her goodbye and began pulling Angara away to the medical bay.

Azula turned to the robot, "Alright trash can, lead me to my quarters."

"My designation is B3. And I am sorry to inform you but there are no private quarters on this vessel. All crew members will sleep in the bunks of the shared habitation deck."

"Wait. So you're telling me, the only girl in the group, has to share my sleeping space with four men? That is unacceptable. I need my privacy."

"There is a bathstall on board that you may use for private purposes."

She facepalmed at the thought of sharing a space with everyone else with her mood shifting heavily towards aggravation.

"Fine! Whatever, let's just leave."

Everyone involved with the scientific team entered the ship and it began to depart. The ship was cramped and utilitarian, only having the bare minimum of what one needs for general living with comfort being an afterthought. The compartments that made up the interior were cramped, so much so that a giant like Sev had to bend over and almost crouch just to walk. She wondered how he was supposed to sleep if he could barely fit in the bunks.

She followed the ship's path until she found herself in the equally cramped bridge at the nose of the ship where she found Cetro in the pilot's chair and Cetro in the co-pilot's seat prepping the ship. She sat in a passenger seat and strapped in as the ship began to hover and took off.

Within minutes the rusty ship left the ring and soured through space towards its first destination Kazima. Due to Azula's last visit Proxly made it a rule that she was not allowed to use her firebending within the cities so Cetro brought the ship down to an open field far from civilization.

Once settled Azula found herself being strapped with a strange headset and adhesive pads all along her bare arms and legs by Lectro after being told to change into shorts and a sports bra so there would be no obstructions.

"I'm not used to showing this much skin and it's making me uncomfortable." She said as Lectro applied a few pads to her stomach.

"Science can make you feel that way sometimes."

"What is it that you are applying to me anyway?"

He finished with her stomach and began applying some along her spine, "These sensors will monitor the muscles and nerves in your body to pick up any activity that might be going on. The headset will monitor your brain functions. Right now we are going to observe your bending under a yellow star to simulate your home sun due to how similar they are to get a baseline for your bending." He finished with her back and handed her two more pads, "You want to do the chest?"

She snatched pads and applied them herself, "So what am I supposed to do? Just fire bend until you've gotten all the data you need?"

"That is exactly what I need you to do. But try and limit it to fire for now, we'll record your lightning after we get the basics. Just do what comes naturally to you."

"Yeah, show us how you beat Angara!" Sev hollered from his lounging spot at the base of a purple tree tipped with white cotton like vegetation.

Skeeve stood nearby, curious as he had yet to see her bending, "Yeah show us! Let's see what this fire business is all about."

"Alright, start whenever you're ready!" Lectro said then leaned over to the robot, "Make sure you're recording this."

Azula mentally prepared herself before beginning the basic breathing techniques then sending blasts of fire out followed up with leg sweeps coating the air in waves of sapphire.

Skeeve watched in awe as she moved between motions fluidly like a dance of destruction. He'd never seen anything like this and as he watched the gears in his mind began to go to work on how he could get her on his side.

Azula continued her routine incorporating flips and somersaults and ending it with a drop kick sending a wave of fire around her. An excellent display of the crane Phoenix form.

The crowd of three applauded her display.

"That was fantastic! To think such a skilled art form could exist from wielding one of the elements." Lectro complimented.

"I liked it when you did the flip." Sev said as casually as ever.

"Of course you all would think so. After all, I am the best fire bender on earth."

"Is that why your fire's blue?" Sev asked.

"That's right, when we got our initial scans back in the lab all of your fire was orange like a typical flame." Lectro followed up then scratched his chin as he began to theorize again, "Maybe it has something to do with age, possibly genetics?"

"The simple answer is I don't know. As far as I am aware I'm the only bender who has wielded blue flames." She stated proudly, "Now, did you get what you were looking for or should I dazzle you with another technique."

Lectro looked at his data pad, "Yes, we got some readings and… huh, that's interesting."

"What is?"

He flipped the screen to her, "The adhesive sensors picked up something my scans didn't." The picture on screen showed a digital reconstruction of Azula on display with the pads on her body and headset forming the basic shape of her firm with lines of green light going up and down her body between them that glowed brighter every time she fire bent, "These electrical impulses fire throughout your body every time you bend clearly acting as some type of energy source."

Azula observed, "They look like chi pathways."

"So this chi really is a tangible substance? Interesting."

She crossed her arms, "That's what I've been telling you this whole time."

"I wonder if any blockage can occur that could stop the bending process."

Azula's mind immediately went to chi blocking and by extension Ty Lee. She didn't want to reveal any information that could be used against her but Lectro's science could reveal chi blocking as it revealed her chi paths. She might as well tell them as a way to earn their trust.

"There is. Chi blocking is a fighting style that targets the body's pressure points through quick strikes."

"Really? So if I were to strike one of these pressure points what would happen?"

"Well for starters I would break your nose." She threatened to discourage any curious thoughts he may have, "And if you did then not only would my bending be temporarily disabled but whatever part of my body you strike will become as limp as a wet noodle."

"Speaking from experience, princess?" Skeeve asked.

She shot a glare his way causing him to lose his lax attitude, she hated being reminded of what happened at the Boiling Rock.

"Well then, that seems like a test for another day." Lectro interrupted, "Now that I've got some good readings for your fire, let's see that lightning trick!"

Sev and Skeeve perked up at the sound of that.

"Very well. You're going to want to give me some space."

After backing away a safe distance from them she breathed in deeply to settle her mind as she began the swinging motions of her arms generating a crackling spark with the tips of two fingers and further charging it with the tips of her other hand.

Lectro looked on in pure astonishment, Sev was just as impressed, shaded lenses appeared over his eyes from the frame surrounding them as the light she immited was too bright for his liking with Skeeve stepping behind the giant to shield him from any danger.

With a quick strike Azula sent the blast of lightning towards the sky. The crackling thunderous boom echoing around the savanna with the sounds of birds and insects chirping being silenced and any animal nearby being frightened off.

She eased out of her stance, "How was that?"

"That was excellent!" Lectro cried out, "Very few species in the galaxy are capable of producing and weaponizing natural electrical currents from within the bodies, but even those that do can't produce a blast of that caliber!"

"To think Angara tanked that and survived." Sev said retracting the shaded lenses.

Skeeve had a look of terror written all over his narrow face from what he had witnessed, "All that came from one little girl?" Teenagers are irresponsible enough as is but to see one with so much destructive capability frightened him to no end, he would definitely need to stay on her good side.

Azula only smirked, reveling in their praise, "Thank you, thank you. You're all too kind."

Her praise was interrupted when Cetro ran out the ship with a blaster rifle in hand, "What was that?! Are we under attack?!"

"Easy old timer. It was just the firespitter showing off." Sev said.

Cetro directed his four eyes to Azula with an incredulous expression, "That was you? Sounded like a bomb went off right outside the ship!"

"Well lightning isn't exactly quiet." She said dismissively, "So what do your scans say about that?"

Lectro looked over his data pad, "Got a lot of good readings. There's a lot of activity with your chi paths, especially in the stomach area when you pass lightning over it."

"That doesn't surprise me. The stomach is called the sea of chi, by passing lightning through it you can make it more powerful."

Cetro put his weapon down as he folded both sets of arms, "To think there's a whole population of people that can do that. Makes me want to avoid your planet like the plague."

"We have many firebenders but the secret to bending lightning is reserved for the royal family so you'd only be dealing with three of us." She said smugly then remembered her father can no longer bend, "Two of us… actually." She corrected, then shook the thought out of her head, "Will that be all for these tests?"

"One last test and we can move on to collecting DNA samples and moving on to our next destination. I want to examine your plasma manipulation."

"Oh, so you're going to shoot at me? Very well, I can't promise you'll fare well after though." Azula took on a fighting stance in preparation.

"Wow, wow, wow. No. Nobody is shooting anybody." Lectro reassured her.

"I'll shoot her." Cetro volunteered with a smirk.

"NO!"

"Then how are we going to do this?" She asked, annoyed.

"Sev! Come here." Sev did as instructed, "So, Sev is going to shoot that tree over there…" He pointed to another purple puffball tree.

"Alright let's do this." Sev smirked, unholstering his sidearm.

"Hold it itchy fingers!" Lectro said before he could start shooting, "He is going to purposely miss every shot. Your job, Azula, is to try and redirect the bolts into the tree."

"Sounds simple enough." She commented.

"And it's a safe and efficient way to test that ability. Let's begin!"

Cetro began making his way back to the ship, "While y'all are doing that I'm gonna prep the ship for launch."

Sev aimed his weapon at the tree making sure to offset it then fired. Azula flexed her hand out to grab it and felt the heat of the fast moving bolt in her grasp however she couldn't stop it, it almost felt like it was going to pull her with it. With a quick swing of her hand she tried redirecting it however it only moved further away from its target.

Sev fired again and she moved to take control once more, still finding it difficult to steer it.

With another shot fired she sent a jab and managed to pull it closer managing to graze the tree this time.

Sev fired again before she was ready, and again and again and so on until Azula kicked his metal leg, a kick that probably didn't register to the giant, "Slow down! You're not giving me enough time to react."

"Alright, alright, princess. No need to get violent." He said.

"Actually I think I've got enough data." Lectro said.

"What? But I didn't even get to hit the target!" She complained.

"The objective was to acquire data. Striking the target was only meant to center your ability, private Azula." B3 answered.

"We'll have plenty of time to practice your plasma bending later. So let's get some more samples." Lectro reached into his bag and pulled out a syringe.

Azula rolled her eyes, she was looking forward to practicing her plasma bending and very tired of being poked with needles.

They all reentered the ship and Cetro took off into the atmosphere. Azula sat in the center compartment with Lectro and B3 at her side as they instructed her to maintain a steady flame between her hands. The headset and adhesive sensors are still on her body. Lectro insisted that he be allowed to get readings on her chi as they leave a planet to test Azula's theory while Sev took over as copilot.

As the ship broke atmosphere and entered space her blue flame faded to orange and became much weaker, just as the Mystic had said.

"Well Azula, your theory might hold some water." Lectro said as he monitored his data pad, "Your chi pathways are showing less activity as we get further from the planet."

"I told you." She said keeping her eyes on the flame to maintain her focus.

Cetro's voice came over the intercom, "Everybody brace yourselves. We're about to make a jump."

"Great! Azula, maintain that flame as long as possible."

Once the ship was in the needed position the space before it swirled and distorted like paint being smeared before the ship darted in.

The effects were immediately felt by Azula as the fire went out. She could not feel the warmth of her inner fire any longer, just like before.

Lectro watched the readings on his data pad and was astonished when the dim glow of her chi paths went out like a light, "Wow. I didn't think the effects would be that instant. How do you feel?"

"Cold." A shiver ran up her spine and she remembered just how much her current clothes were exposing, "May I change back into my previous clothes and get these devices off of me?"

"Keep the pads on but you can put your jumpsuit back on. Our next destination isn't that far away."

She pulled off the headset and tossed it to B3 who failed to catch it, "Where is our next destination?"

"The next planet is known as Gafko within the Serellan system." B3 answered as clinically as ever, "It currently orbits a red dwarf star."

Azula raised a brow, never hearing the phrase before, "Red dwarf?"

"It's essentially a smaller and cooler star compared to the yellow stars you're used to." Lectro explained, "We'll start off with stars on the lower end of the power spectrum and work our way up, however for now we'll only be going over the basic four color stars; browns, reds, yellows and whites. We'll leave neutron stars and pulsars for another day."

She didn't ever think of the possibilities for so many stars to exist and to think that each kind could have an effect on her bending could be limitless. She was excited to find out what she was capable of however she masked it behind stoic indifference. She'd rather come across as apathetic than show any kind of weakness by being overly emotional.

*****

Their ship exited extra dimensional space and with it Azula felt the energy of the sun return to her although now at a much weaker intensity.

"How do you feel now?" Lectro asked her.

"I can feel the sun… but…"

"Buuuut?" Lectro awaited an answer fully invested in her status.

"It's so weak. It's there but… if a normal star felt like a bonfire then this one is a candle."

"Interesting." Lectro recorded this information then looked over the data the sensors were reporting, "Your chi paths are showing some activity but at a significantly lower level. Try producing a flame."

Azula tried to summon a flame but nothing came from it. She could clearly feel the spark within her however it was as if someone had put a barrier between her and it.

She gave up, "Nothing."

Lectro murmured slightly disappointed, "Well we still have planet side to look forward to."

The ship descended down into the planet. The terrain was black and rocky with jagged outcrops jutting out in the distance like claws reaching out to scrape the sky with no signs of plant life yet the air was breathable. The sky was pink and the sun shined just as brightly to Azula as it did on earth.

She felt a little more strength come back to her now that she was back on solid earth but it still felt off.

Lectro got himself set up with his data pad and B3 recording, "Whenever you're ready!"

"Yeah, dazzle us with your fireworks!" Sev shouted.

"Whatever the outcome, I'll be sure to impress." She declared before sending a jab only to produce a flimsy spark that could barely constitute as a firecracker.

Everyone who had seen what she produced before were stunned in silence unimpressed except for Sev who hollered and clapped as if it didn't change at all.

"Wooo! That's what I'm talking about! You bend that fire!"

She couldn't tell if he was doing that just to mock her or if he was trying to make her feel better but she ignored his praise and continued to bend only to continue producing small sparks like a child just learning they can bend.

Without the full flare of her flames her routine lost all its edge, making her look more like some wannabe fire bender then the deadly prodigy she was.

She promptly stopped realizing that this was going nowhere, "I don't think I like red dwarfs."

"I did say they were weaker than yellow stars so this outcome should've been expected." Lectro logged the information away, "Try producing as big a flame as possible."

She brought her hands together and used all of her focus to produce a spark small enough to be a candle.

"That's it?" Lectro asked.

"Yes that's it!" She snapped at him.

Skeeve brought out a cigarette and his lighter, "Well, that was fun while it lasted."

As he lit the cigarette Lectro had an idea and snatched the lighter out of his hand, "Hey!"

"I need to borrow this real quick." He ran up to Azula, sparking it before her, "See if you can manipulate this."

She extinguished her flame and made a grabbing motion. The flame followed into her hand moving, expanding and simmering to her command as if she had her bending back.

"So you can't produce a sufficient amount of fire on your own but can manipulate pre existing flames. Fascinating stuff!" Lectro said quickly as he jotted down in his notes.

Azula did not find it as fascinating, "This severely limits my bending. How am I supposed to fight if I can't make my own fire?" She punctuated by sending the flame out into a fireball punch, unable to follow up with another attack.

"Looks like you're gonna have to adapt to blasters then." Sev said.

She sulked at that. She didn't adapt as quickly as she thought to learning to use one properly and after the embarrassing display My'Rell put her through she wasn't too keen on another lesson.

"Speaking of blasters. Why don't we try the blaster test once more?"

Sev pulled out his blaster and took aim at a rock outcropping and fired. Azula tried to catch the beams but this time her grasp on them faltered as it felt as though she was catching heavy stones being thrown that threatened to pull her with them. She could barely even manage to shift their direction.

After a few shots they stopped as it was clear that she was having difficulty. They moved on to the Lightning test. She swung her arms in the familiar motion several times but sparks had yet to appear at her fingertips, she could feel it there like she's at the cusp of obtaining it but it slips out of her grasp.

Skeeve and Sev watched her continue her routine with a cigarette in hand as Skeeve sat on a rock with a bored expression spread over his face and Sev standing next to him yawning.

"Hey doc, I don't think her little dance is doing anything. How much longer do we have to be here?" Skeeve asked, puffing out a cloud of smoke.

"Hold on. She's got something charging up." Lectro responded as he studied her chi paths, seeing them glowing.

Azula continued swinging her arms yet again, beads of sweat forming over her face as this was the longest time she'd ever had to charge her lightning until sparks finally formed at her fingertips and she sent the blast at a rock formation out in the distance.

The blast was small and just barely made the rock crumble with a minimal explosion, it was by far the most pathetic display of lightning she has ever seen.

"That was it?!" She said in dissatisfaction.

"I think that was a brilliant display." Lectro assured.

Azula shot a glare his way, "I've had enough of this place. Do you have enough data or not?" Azula asked, completely fed up.

"Just about. I guess we can move on to sample collecting." Lectro began to pack his things and pulled out the syringe gun.

*****

Now back on the ship and in extragalactic space they were on their way to the next destination that would take a few hours to reach. Now she just needed to find something to occupy her time. Lectro was occupied with logging in and analyzing his data to pay her any mind with B3 providing any assistance when needed, Cetro decided he was going to nap in the bridge until they arrived at their destination so that leaves Sev and Skeeve.

"Sev!" Azula called out from the habitation deck, "Where are you?"

"I'm coming!" He called back from the bridge.

The sound of shuffling came from the bridge as Sev awkwardly waddled into the common area standing on the metal caps of his leg stumps, his prosthetics missing. Without his legs he stood almost at eye level with her and the jarring proportional difference it caused made Azula stare at him in a long and awkward silence, especially with the big dumb grin he wore.

"You look foolish."

"Thank you." He stated proudly.

"That wasn't- nevermind."

"So what you need me for?"

"I'm bored and we have time before our next stop. What are you doing?"

"Me and Skeeve are gonna play cards in the cargo hold. You in?" He waddled past her.

After watching him navigate without the use of legs that had knees she decided to follow where she found herself sitting around a crate being used as a makeshift table as all three played cards, Azula and Skeeve sitting on other crates while Sev stood on his leg stumps. She was much less interested in learning how to play the game but more interested in learning more about the two individuals in her presence.

She felt her stomach twist a bit and held her side feeling slightly nauseous.

"You alright firespitter?" Sev asked.

"Is it possible to feel motion sickness in extragalactic space?"

"Yeah, space sickness. Everybody that travels the stars goes through it, especially if you aren't used to space travel."

Azula focused on the cards with wavy spiral symbols in her hands to keep her mind off her queasy stomach.

"So sparky," Skeeve began as he looked over his cards, "How you holding up with those powers?"

She narrowed her eyes at him in a sideways glance, "My name is Azula."

"Alright, my bad. Just thought since the big man here called you firespitter you wouldn't mind another nickname."

"Sev earned his right to call me that after fighting together when your previous employer attacked us." she shuffled her cards putting them down, "And yes, I am doing well. Just because I don't have my bending for now doesn't mean I'm not a threat."

Sev chuckled as he tossed a card down, "Why is it that everything out of your mouth sounds like a veiled threat?"

"That's just how I speak."

"You sound like you're plotting to slit my throat in my sleep." Skeeve added.

"I can't help that I project such strength in my words." She said, holding her chin up high in self satisfaction.

Skeeve rolled his eyes at her. She sounded so much like the imperial pendaren's he has met that he was groan inducing, but he didn't dare do so after witnessing her power.

"Just like Angara." Sev said, tossing down a card.

Azula's temperament soured at the mention of the Ke'Kuvon princess, "Don't compare me to that woman."

"Speaking of Angara, what was up with her in the hangar earlier today?" Skeeve asked.

Sev let out a sigh as he reshuffled his cards, "I don't know. I don't get what her deal is with you firespitter. She's lost fights before even with people in the storm but she's never been obsessed with wanting to kill that person like she does with you."

"I guess losing to a teenager was just too much for her fragile ego to handle." Azula said as she looked over her cards and put them down not wishing to play but observe instead. It was easy to figure out that Sev didn't know who Angara truly was so she made no attempt to hint at any of it.

"Eh, could be. As far as I know she's only ever dueled people either her own age or older." Sev said, throwing down a card and shifting the conversation to the other member of their trio, "So Skeeve. How are you getting along with the crew? Asking as a fellow absorbed crew member of another crew dumb enough to take on the SeCore."

Skeeve looked up and shrugged his shoulders, "It's not bad. Better than my introduction to the Death's Head. I was absorbed into their crew after the smuggler crew I was with got attacked by pirates and left for dead. Duritax found us and gave us the option to work for him or stay in space and die. There wasn't much of a choice with him."

"My'Rell didn't give you much of a choice either." Azula added.

"True, but she allowed us to leave after we got to civilized space. Duritax didn't, he believed saving people made them in debt to him until the day they died."

Sev drew a card from the stack, "I heard Duritax was a rough bastard to work under. Couldn't imagine working under him."

"Trust me, he was. There was no pleasing that man, the only one that could was probably Courtix."

"Of course daddy would probably be less demanding of his son." Sev commented as he drew another card.

Skeeve laughed, "Just because Courtix's dad was in charge didn't mean Duritax was easy on him, if anything he was harder on him than anyone else. That's why Courtix is so brutally efficient."

"Have you ever met this Courtix?" Azula asked as she added her cards to the deck forfeiting the game.

"I spoke with him once, he wasn't pleasant." Skeeve remembered his towering frame and the quick threat he threw at him that Skeeve took as a sign to never speak to him again. That only reminded him that the client wants him to coordinate with said beast of a man.

"I imagine someone with the monocor of the butcher of Axelon four wouldn't be fun to talk with." Sev said.

"Quite the ominous title. What happened on Axelon four to give him that name?"

Skeeve let out a sharp breath as he reshuffled his cards, "Trust me kid, the less you know about what happened on Axelon four the better. Duritax didn't sanction what he did and it's the reason he kept his son on a tight leash."

"And now that I killed him there's no one to keep him in check."

Sev threw down a card, "So when can we expect an attack from him?"

Skeeve furrowed his brow at the mention of that and his long ears drooped slightly, "Hard to say. He might be on his way right now to attack or he could be building up what's left of the Death's Head. Strategy was never his strong suit."

Azula noticed the subtle movement in his ears, the quick second dart in his eyes, slight flair in his nostrils and twitch of his whiskers. He may not be human but Azula could recognize the tics of a liar. She made no attempt to dispute him and instead chose to watch in silence as he drew another card quickly.

Sev threw down another card, "Which means some point in the near future. Guess we have that to look forward to." he said sarcastically.

"I'm sure My'Rell can take him." Skeeve said as he threw down another card, "Like I said, he's not big on strategy."

"What about the former Death's Head members within our group now?" Azula asked with a raised brow and an accusatory look in her eye, "Will any of them help Courtix?"

The veiled accusation wasn't lost on Skeeve. He didn't react to it and instead acted as if it wasn't there, "You won't find anyone who joined you with a positive opinion on Courtix. Duritax never had any love for deserters and members who get absorbed into other crews and Courtix's opinions are similar, if not worse. He'd butcher anyone who joined the Storm." He didn't lie with his explanation as both heads of the Death's Head truly hated those who left the organization but he made sure to emphasize it to hide any incrimination against him.

Sev huffed out a loud sigh, "This talk of Courtix is getting depressing, let's switch it up. What's your favorite Grav ball team, Skeeve?"

Skeeve was appreciative of the change in subject and happy to talk about sports, "I'm a fan of the Goviden sparrows."

"Ew, they suck." Sev laughed.

"They're better than the Ace's. Did you see that game last night? They almost had it in the bag but fumbled so hard." Skeeve chortled.

Both of them continued their conversation on sports but Azula remained silent. Her gaze focused on Skeeve not being able to shake the slight twitch in his body language when speaking of Courtix's attack. She could be paranoid as Skeeve is an alien and his body language could be different to humans however she couldn't shake the feeling of apprehension.

After several hours in extragalactic space they arrived at their next destination Ginza. It was the main reason Cetro volunteered his ship, Ginza was a trading hub orbiting the dim light of a brown dwarf. The light from the weak sun was so little that the planet was in a state of perpetual night and its surface a frigid wasteland covered in thick layers of snow and ice. The only places habitable on this planet were the domed cities that dot the surface covering the bustling cityscapes under a roof of thick steel and glass to shield it from the unforgiving cold while still allowing a view of the stars.

Cetro brought the ship down to the spaceport sitting just outside one of the domed cities, landing in one of the hangars alongside dozens of other ships.

The first thing Azula felt was her inner flame being so weak it felt like a feeble match along with another chill running up her spine. It almost felt like her firebending wasn't there at all.

"How do you feel now Azula?" Lectro asked from his seat.

She was about to answer but the next thing she felt was her stomach threatening to spew and she held her mouth as she sprinted to the bathstall.

"Huh. It would seem that brown dwarfs cause nausea in the subject." Lectro said aloud as he typed.

"Or it could be a case of space sickness." Sev said as he reattached his legs.

In the bath stall Azula finished emptying her stomach and is trying her best to make herself look dignified. She doesn't know if it is the effects of the brown dwarf or just space sickness. It didn't help that the weak energy from the sun she felt made her inner flame feel like the spark of a match with its absence sending shivers down her body.

She looked at herself in the mirror pushing her severed hair strands out of her face and noticed that her skin looked as though it was glowing. Her whole body seemed to glow as if her body was made of fire itself. She looked at her hands seeing the strange glow coating every inch of skin then noticed a glowing handprint on the edge of the sink where it was.

"Lectro!" She called out, reentering the main cabin and stopping in her tracks when her eyes landed on the rest of the crew.

Just like her, Lectro, Cetro, Skeeve and Sev were glowing like lanterns.

"What's wrong?" Lectro asked.

She scrunched her brows in confusion, "I think this sun is making me hallucinate."

"Welp, congrats Lectro. We broke her." Cetro said uncaringly as he walked past her to the cargo bay.

"What do you mean hallucinating?" Lectro asked, concern present in his voice as he ran to her and began looking her over.

"Everyone is glowing. You, Sev, even me." She tried not to panic as she explained. She already hallucinates enough as is, she doesn't need a sun to make it more prominent.

"Glowing how?"

"Glowing as in, you all look like there's a fire beneath your skin." She looked at Sev again and noticed only portions of his body were glowing, "Partially for Sev at least."

Lectro narrowed his eyes as his analytical thoughts took over and he brought Azula closer to the cyborg, "Point to the parts of Sev that are glowing."

She poked to his face that was glowing brightly then his chest and the bare shoulder of his left arm, "All of his metal parts don't glow or not as brightly."

"That tickles." The cyborg taunted.

"Shut up Sev."

"Skeeve and I, we're glowing all over right?"

"That's right."

Lectro called B3 over, "Is B3 glowing as well?"

To Azula the robot looked the same as she had always seen him but noticed that as Lectro set his hand on its head a glowing handprint was left behind, "The only thing glowing on him is whatever was on your hand."

Sev and Skeeve looked at her in confusion while an inquisitive smile formed on Lectro.

"Yeah I think you need to get your eyes checked there princess because there's nothing on the robot's head." Skeeve said after looking over B3.

"Dr. Lectro currently has no foreign substance capable of producing a glow effect on either of his hands." B3 stated.

"Sev, you can switch your vision to infrared, right?" Lectro suddenly asked.

"Yeah." Sev's maroon eyes then began to glow a bright pink and he looked down at the robot, "Hey would you look at that. There is a handprint on B3."

Lectro clapped his hands and cheered to himself, "I knew it! You have thermal vision!"

Azula twisted her face in confusion, "Thermal what?"

"Thermal vision! You can see heat, the handprint you're talking about is residual body heat left behind by me when I touched B3." Lectro practically cheered at this discovery.

"Why is that? How does this even happen?"

"I don't know, that's why we need to conduct some tests and see to what extent the brown dwarfs' effects are." He ran to grab his bag of belongings and scientific equipment, "Where's the headset? We probably need to reapply the adhesive sensors."

Cetro reentered the cabin, "Hope you ain't doing those tests here, doc? Because right now I need the ship for all the supplies that's gonna be coming on and I don't want her lighting any more fires while we're here."

Lectro looked annoyed, "That's right, I guess we'll have to find some place in town to do our tests."

They disembarked from the vessel and the first thing Azula noticed was the biting cold. The outside temperature in the tundra may have been below freezing but inside the hangar, despite its warmer temperatures, was still unpleasant.

The space port was one massive hangar where dozens of ships came and went with massive doors on the ceilings and walls covered in a transparent shield to keep the cold out.

To everyone else it looked like any other facility they had been in but Azula had a different experience. Every creature visible was glowing, some brighter than others or their clothes obscured their body heat. The engines of ships were glowing brightly as they were active, heat given off by them almost looked like waves of smoke. Fresh hand and finger prints were visible on objects and anything else that generated heat was clearly stuck out to her.

It was disorienting to her somewhat as everything else appeared normally.

"Hey firespitter, you alright?" Sev asked.

Azula rubbed her eyes, "It's just a little overwhelming is all."

"I just hope we can find a place to do our tests. This city is a little dense."

As they discussed where to go Sev scanned the other ships taking in the sites until one ship caught his eye making him stop in his tracks and cursed loud enough for the others to hear, "Guys, we got a problem."

Azula sighed, "What is it now?"

Sev pointed to the ship. It was a long angular black starship much larger than their vessel and more heavily armed with its most distinctive feature being a bright yellow sun emblem painted on its side.

Lectro tensed up at the sight of it, "Oh no, Golden Sun's."

"Golden sun's?" Azula repeated, "Who are they, another rival mercenary group?"

"Worse. Syndicate."

Chapter Text

Azula observed the black vessel and its sun emblem. A syndicate held the entirety of Kazima hostage and it was considered a small one at that. She couldn't help but think of what the implications of this ship being here are.

Cetro appeared behind them with a data pad in hand, "That doesn't surprise me." He said with wariness in his voice, "The local crime family works under them."

"Are they a small group like the one that had Kazima?" Azula asked, she never took her eyes off this potential threat.

"Quite the opposite. The Gold Sun syndicate is the apex predator out here. They own a good chunk of planets in frontier space, got deep pockets and practically run the criminal underworld."

"They wouldn't take Ginza though, right?" Lectro asked with nervousness creeping into his voice.

"They probably could, but like I said the local crime family does business with them."

"Knowing ol Euretta, she'd probably find some excuse to take the place." Skeeve said.

Azula noticed the name mentioned, "Euretta? Who is that?"

Skeeve's brow raised to his forehead, "You haven't heard of Euretta Sareno yet? She's only the scariest woman in the known galaxy and head of the Gold Sun's. She's got spies everywhere and owns most of the pirates out here, nothing happens out here without her knowing about it. They even say she's got a bounty on her head so high it would make anyone richer than the Pendaren emperor."

Cetro rolled his eyes, "You're exaggerating Skiv. Her bounty ain't that high."

"Skeeve." He grumbled to himself under his breath.

"And what is the Crimson Storm's relationship with Euretta's Gold Sun's?" Azula directed her question to Cetro.

"I would also like to know that." Skeeve said now worried as to why they reacted the way they did when seeing the ship.

Lectro scratched the back of his head sucking in some air as if he was trying to find the right words, "Let's just say the Storm has a bit of a rocky relationship with the Gold Sun's."

"And by rocky he means down right atrocious." Sev finished before going into detail, "We did some contracts against the Sun's a few years back and we gave them such a good fight that Euretta herself tried to buy out My'Rell and absorb the Crimson Storm."

"How did the Captain take her offer?" Azula asked.

Cetro let out a hearty belly chuckle as he answered, "I remember that, My'Rell told her she could take her offer and shove it where her gold sun doesn't shine."

Skeeve's expectant look turned to an expression of pure horror, "Wait, wait, wait. You're telling me I'm part of a crew that is on Euretta-I burn down entire family trees for fun-Sareno's hit list?"

"You're over exaggerating her reach, Skeevy boy. She's powerful but she ain't no Pendaren emperor powerful." Sev downplayed.

"She's the empress of the criminal underworld!" Skeeve looked as though he was going to have a panic attack.

"Ease up Skeevy boy. It's only one ship and it's a big city. Hopefully we won't run into its crew while we're here."

"If y'all are going into town, keep an eye out for any Gold Sun's, you see anyone wearing black and gold or have a sun emblem on them, you walk the other way. Don't talk to any of them, if they ask you for directions just point them away from you and get out of there and especially make sure they don't know you're Crimson Storm." Cetro warned with the most serious tone Azula has ever heard him with, "That goes double for you sparky." He pointed to Azula, "Now y'all get going while I get our cargo and don't draw attention to yourselves." He went back to the ship as a dock worker approached.

"Well, guess all that is left is to find somewhere we can do our tests." Lectro said.

"Searching local omni-net connections for suitable locations." B3 said.

"Yeah good luck finding a place here. These Ginza cities are dense, finding space to do anything like fire bending is gonna be a pain." Skeeve said, taking out a cigarette, "But I've been here a few times so maybe I could help find a spot for you guys."

"You ain't going anywhere Skiv!" Cetro shouted, "I brought you here for a reason and it's to help load in all our stuff, now get moving!"

"Guess the four of us will just have to manage, later Skeeve." Sev said, already walking off the platform.

"But-but I…"

"Move it Skiv!"

*****

The four of them took a train transport to the main city that gave them a clear view of the dark frigid wasteland outside. The only light source being the bustling cityscape that came from the dome and various spot lights. Heat sources such as generators stuck out clearly to Azula in the darkness of the outside. She looked to the night sky and saw the source of her new found power hanging overhead.

The brown dwarfs looked like a campfire in the sky, its light so dim it could only illuminate the space around it. Such a strange phenomenon to her. It was difficult for her to comprehend the idea that such a sun could exist, but then again if someone told her a week ago that life existed past earth's sky she would have dismissed them as insane.

The train ride between the spaceport and the dome was short with their transport entering the city. Once inside Azula's new found thermal vision was assaulted by an almost blinding array of neon lights that lined the edges of just about every building.

Unlike Kazima's Horizon city this domed city was much denser with tall skyscrapers covered in neon and holographic signs huddled together almost built on top of one another, air vehicles darted past following invisible roads in the sky, multi level walkways acted as roads for foot traffic that was just as densely populated as everywhere else with hundreds of citizens marching through them like swarms of ants.

They exited the train station once in the city proper and began to trek on foot. The amount of heat sources were in such abundance that it was almost blinding to Azula. The combined body heat of the dozens of citizens and heating units that kept the space habitable made everything glow, from the people to even the very air around them. Everything just looked like a messy oil painting of glowing oranges, reds, whites and purples to Azula's eyes, so much so that she needed to squint hard in order to see anything.

"B3, have you found any locations that fit our needs yet?" Lectro asked the robot.

"I have identified several locations that fit the parameters of our experiment, many of which are located in the industrial district."

"Great! Maybe we can find an old warehouse to practice in."

"The last time I was in an abandoned warehouse I was assaulted by a group of Ke'Kuvon youths." Azula said as she rubbed her eyes in an attempt to clear her vision.

"You alright?" Sev asked.

"It's difficult to see."

"I imagine so, the city is kept fairly warm." Lectro looked at her eyes for any changes, "There are many species in the galaxy that see in the infrared spectrum who also find it difficult to see in environments like this. They usually wear visors to help with that. Maybe we can buy one at a local shop."

"Please because this is becoming a headache." She swatted his hand away when he tried opening her eye further.

"If you require assistance in navigation you may grasp my manipulator and I will lead you." B3 said while offering his metal claw to her.

Azula crossed her arms while delivering a scolding look at the machine whose cold body stuck out in the sea of heat, "I don't need hand-holding trash can."

"My designation is B3."

"But given how densely populated this city is, it is quite easy for someone to get lost even without their vision being impaired." Lectro added.

Azula rolled her eyes and grabbed the robot's hand, "Fine, just lead the way."

"Where are we going then?" Sev asked as he towered over everyone in the crowd.

"The industrial district!" Lectro announced excitedly and began marching forward.

"The industrial district is located in the opposite direction, Dr. Lectro." B3 corrected.

Lectro corrected his heading, "I knew that. Why don't you lead the way B3?"

They traversed through the crowd made up of a dozen different species being sure to stick together. Azula held onto B3's claw tightly. Warm bodies glowing brightly passed her by and making her wince at their intensity. Every face she saw was a glowing blur of orange light that muddled the features, so much so that she was actually glad that B3 offered a hand to steer her as she didn't think she'd be able to direct herself accordingly.

Not only did the glow of the warm bodies affect her vision but her body seemed to detect the presence of heat easily and the vast amounts of it surrounding her was overstimulating and it didn't help that this place was as populated as the outer ring of Ba Sing Se.

To try and focus herself she looking up away from the people and tries to admire the architectural miracles of this city and gaze through the transparent ceiling. It helped that she was able to see clearly but her heat detection didn't help.

After traversing the many walkways and stairways bathed in neon light they found themselves just above the more seedy lower levels of the city. The streets started to look dirtier, derelict buildings sat at the sides of walkways, strange graffiti covered the walls of buildings, vehicles that were stripped of parts sat in place left to rust, the sound of sirens from the local law enforcement could be heard from a distance and homeless aliens littered the corners of walkways with their appendages outstretched to those who walked by begging for money.

Lectro looked around cautiously, "Uh… B3, are you sure we are going the right way?"

"Affirmative. This is the most optimal route to the industrial district."

"I'm sure it is, but don't you think you should have taken us down a route that wasn't so sketchy?"

"I may have some difficulty seeing but even I can tell that you led us down a decrepit dump. It almost looks like I'm walking down Ba Sing Se's outer ring all over again." Azula added.

She glanced down an alley and noticed the wall of a building with a large golden sun painted across it, the same sun on the black ship along with some loitering aliens dressed in black and gold.

"Apologies for the less than desirable location, however the industrial district is located on the lower levels and ninety-five percent of the lower levels of the city resemble what you are seeing now." B3 explained.

"So there's a chance we can get mugged while we are down here? Great. That's just great." Lectro said then coward at the sight of a group of troubled youths stealing a hover module to a parked hover car.

"Relax, once they catch a glimpse at me any mugger will think twice." Sev proudly said as he continued to tower over a vast majority of passers-by.

"Unless the mugger is another Dretta." Lectro commented.

"How many other Dretta you know are packed full of sacrilegious cybernetics?"

It was at this point Azula began to zone out while they continued to converse. She focused more on just maintaining a heading but in her focus she failed to notice someone approaching her.

A short alien with a round head, three horns jutting out of his forehead and a beard approached, giving her a crooked smile filled with missing teeth, "Want some red sand?" He held up a small vial of a powdery red substance, "First one's free."

Before she could react Sev's giant metal hand came between them, "Get your drugs out of her face old man!"

The alien scurried off at the sight of the towering cyborg.

"They're peddling red sand here?" Lectro said as he took a defensive position in front of Azula, "I thought the local crime family made their money on black market tech."

"Guess they're expanding their business." Sev scanned for any other drug dealers.

"But isn't red sand a gold sun drug?"

"You all said the local crime family works for the Gold Sun's, correct?" Azula asked as B3 led her down some stairs.

"The Codello's?" Sev responded, "Yeah they're partners."

"So what are the odds that this Codello family would allow them to sell their drugs here?"

"Unlikely. The Codello's may work for the Sun's but they wouldn't agree to selling their drugs. The Codello's like sticking to their tech market and aren't fond of sand dealing." Sev said before spotting another person selling red sand, "But it is pretty weird seeing sand dealers here."

"I say leave the politics of dealing drugs to the syndicates." Lectro said, directing them to a service elevator that began taking them down further, "We are here for scientific purposes. Drugs and the inner workings of crime groups are not our priority here. Right now we should focus on finding a secluded location that won't draw attention."

"Easier said than done doc. You see how packed this city is? Everybody is practically in each other's personal space." Sev said, crossing his arms.

"I doubt it will be as populated in the industrial district."

"I hope so." Azula added as she watched their descent from the elevator window, "Less heat given off by these peasants means I can see properly."

"I have located a setting that meets said parameters." B3 said.

"Great, just lead the way and we can finally get down to business."

The group found themselves standing before an old food processing plant fallen into ruin covered in graffiti, broken windows, rust, cracks along its walls and various hazard signs.

Lectro eyed the building with concern for its structural integrity, "This place doesn't look very safe."

"If you are not satisfied with this location then I can find a new destination." B3 followed up.

"It's fine, this will probably be the best we can do." Sev said, already making his way to the fence.

"I don't see the problem." Azula said, crossing her arms as she observed the dilapidated structure, "It's quiet, it's secluded and nobody will bother us. I think your trash can did a good job finding this place."

"My designation is B3." The robot corrected her again.

The sound of a chain snapping caught their attention as Sev used his superior strength to pull the fence gate open, kicking the chain used to secure it aside.

"Alright, let's go loiter on private property." He said with a grin as he went further into the facility, Azula following close behind.

Lectro turned to his robot, "B3, why was this place shut down?"

"Searching local omni-net records… facility was closed due to structural integrity concerns."

"And you're sure this place is safe?"

"Affirmative. Only two deaths from structural integrity have been confirmed."

"Two?!"

Azula's impatient voice interrupted them, "Are you two coming or what?!"

They entered the facility after Sev brute strengthed his way through several locked doors. The building was filled with machinery meant for food processing, however a thick layer of dust coated them like a blanket from years, or even decades, of inactivity. Broken glass, dirt and grime littered the floors, sliding doors were stuck open mid slide, graffiti covered the walls, all of which Azula could not read but was sure it was made up of nothing but profanity, and the air was cool which made the warm bodies of scurrying vermin more apparent. The darkness was more apparent to them compared to the bright neon lights that laced every structure and the building moaned as if it was struggling to stay up.

B3 led the way with his built in light until Sev kicked a locked sliding door off its hinges to the empty warehouse.

"This looks like a good spot." Lectro said fishing for his equipment.

"Try not to burn the building down on our heads, firespitter." Sev said touching some old equipment and accidentally knocking things over sending metallic echoes throughout the building.

She scoffed, pushing hair out of her face, "I barely feel the energy within me to even spark a torch."

"From your weakened state under the red dwarf I theorize your powers are going to be weaker." Lectro presented the headset to her.

She sighed in annoyance at the thought of that, "So which test do we do first?"

"First things first, let's start with just summoning a spark."

She stood up straight and did her breathing exercises and attempted to summon a flame and failed but noticed her hands began to glow even brighter. She let him know of this discovery.

Lectro looked intrigued and ordered B3 to measure the temperature of her hands.

"The temperature of Private Azula's hands has risen several degrees higher than her normal body temperature."

"My readings show that your chi paths, though having a much weaker flow, seem to be gathering in your hands. Perhaps instead of fire bending you are capable of bending your own body heat."

Azula did find this somewhat interesting but it didn't sound like body heat bending would help her in any way, "This sounds like the most useless form of fire bending possible."

"But what if it's not just your own body heat?" Sev asked as he sat down on one of the old machines, "What if you can bend other people's body heat? You know, burn them up from the inside out."

Lectro scratched his chin as his scientific mind went to work, "Almost like an artificially induced fever." Lectro then rolled up his sleeve, "Azula! I need you to bend me!"

Her face scrunched up in confusion at his choice of words, "Excuse me?"

"Bend my body heat! For science."

B3 moved between them, "Warning. This is an unsafe test in an uncontrolled environment. The possibility of injury is high."

It was remarkable how fast Lectro was able to switch from a nervous and paranoid coward to a reckless thrill seeker when it came to scientific discovery. It was a trait Azula found strangely admirable.

"It's fine, we've got it under control."

"She's gonna burn you alive doc." Sev warned in a not so serious manner, "Why not just use me? I could take a beating better than you can."

"A limb is the best way to test and all of yours are made of cold metal."

"Sevran's left shoulder still has enough organic tissue to be suitable for testing." B3 interrupted, "I still highly suggest we not perform this test."

"I don't mind. Not like I'm doing much anyway." Sev approached and kneeled down to her height, "Come on firespitter. Cook me alive!"

"Alright, but don't blame me if you are burned." She held both hands over his bare shoulder and focused on trying to warm it and in doing so it began glowing brightly almost like a torch.

"Oof, that's hot." Sev said nonchalantly, "Kinda soothing too, almost like I'm getting a heated massage."

"Very interesting stuff." Lectro commented.

"I think I can go higher." Azula said with a smirk as she wondered just what kind of damage she could do.

"I would not recommend increasing the temperature any higher than it currently is." B3 warned.

"I agree. Try seeing if you can cool it down."

She then thought about how a fire bender would cool a roaring flame and applied the same principle. She saw that his once brightly glowing shoulder was dimming down until it was barely glowing at all and almost looked normal.

A chill was sent down Sev's body, "That's cold. Arm is feeling a little stiff actually." He began rotating his shoulder a bit.

Lectro recorded this with enthusiasm while smirking at this new found power. Perhaps this ability isn't as useless as she imagined.

"Let's try the pre existing flame test." Lectro suggested.

B3 approached with a small panel opening up, summoning a small. Azula swayed her hand trying to feel a connection to the flame and she did feel it however the small flame felt overwhelming like trying to keep a thrashing animal down with only one hand. It was too much for her and her arm shook trying to contain it until she let go.

"I can't. It was like holding onto the reins of a raging komodo rhino."

"Hm… perhaps the higher the temperature the harder it is to control. Heat isn't as hot as fire but it's definitely not cold so maybe it's some sort of middle ground that you can access."

She crossed her arms, "But why? Why the heat vision and why only heat?"

"Brown dwarfs are incredibly weak sun's. Your body is obviously more accustomed to a hotter star. My current theory is that because the brown dwarf is so weak your bending has become almost nonexistent so your body may be trying to compensate by enhancing other senses like the body losing one of its prime senses and enhancing the rest. Or it could also be that the sun has reverted your bending to a more primitive state."

"Is there anything weaker than a brown dwarf?"

"A black dwarf but I think being around that would be the same as having no sun at all. Let's try the blaster test next and the lightning."

Sev fired his blaster at a barren wall and Azula couldn't manipulate the beams at all, like the torch the beams were too strong and unruly to control.

They moved on to the lightning. She took her stance and swayed her arms trying to summon the sparks of the cold fire but after swaying her arms for what felt like an hour no sparks would appear. Lectro closely monitored her chi paths and found no change.

He leaned over to his robot that watched her closely, "Are you picking up anything B3?"

"Negative."

"As I thought. How's your vision so far?"

Azula dropped the lightning technique looking at him seeing that he was still glowing unchanged, "Still glowing. I'm stuck here with no bending and the most useless fire related skill is all I have."

"I wouldn't say that. Thermal vision can be very useful. You could see things that are invisible to most." Lectro assured her.

"Yeah, you know how good of a tracker you could be?" Sev said.

"Private Azula's new found ability may not be as useful as you suggest, weapon's specialist Sevran." B3 stated, "Planets that orbit a brown dwarf are not capable of sustaining life through natural means nor environments suitable for tracking."

"So it is useless then? Great." She rubbed her eyes feeling drained, "So far this whole experience has shown nothing of worth from this experience."

"All data is useful data. Without this experiment we wouldn't know anything about your Chi paths or that your powers are indeed affected by the type of sun you are under."

She groaned and took the headpiece off, "Are we finished? I'm getting tired."

"Just need to get another DNA sample from you and we can leave this creepy place."

"Fine, just make it quick so-" She stopped when she stepped over an old rusted plate only for it to break under her weight and fell through the floor and landed on a pile of rubble.

She looked up to see she fell two stories through a hole that was poorly concealed with the only light being from above.

"Holy crap! Azula are you alright!" Lectro called out.

She pulled herself up grasping her rear to soothe the pain, "I'm fine! Your trash can picked a terrible spot to test!"

"Didn't you approve of it though?"

She growled, "Just get me out of here!"

Sev poked his head through, "Just stay put, firespitter! We'll figure something out!"

Sev looked to his two companions, "So what should we do?"

"B3! You picked the place so please tell me you have some kind of layout for this place!" Lectro said to his robot in clear panic of the situation.

"I do indeed have knowledge of this building's layout." B3 projected a holographic image of the building and the structure beneath them, "Private Azula has fallen into the lower levels of this building. There are many paths she can take in order to exit the lower levels, the most direct route being directly before her; take the third right, second left, another left and a right."

"Okay, Azula all you have to do is-"

"Third right, second left, another left and a right! I heard everything, wait for me on the other end!" She began marching down the path.

Azula traveled down the dark and decrepit corridor. Despite there being no light she found her thermal vision coming in handy as she could see everything clearly outlined to her with the only bright heat being herself and the vermin scurrying around.

She scoffed as she walked and didn't realize just how far the corridor went. She was hoping this trip would reveal new abilities for her bending, like maybe make lightning generation easier and less time consuming or perhaps give her the ability to combustion bend but no, heat bending sounded somewhat useful but it lacked the raw power she was accustomed to. All she has learned is that under certain suns she cannot produce her own flames and that on others all she can do is see heat, and it didn't help that in a crowd her new found sensitivity to heat overstimulated her senses. She couldn't help but think just how underwhelming this experience was.

"I would say this trip was quite enlightening."

Azula looked behind her to see the shape of her mother standing there. She did not glow, further proving that she was just a figment of her imagination.

She pinched her nose in frustration, "I really hope these new types of suns make you appear more often."

"Perhaps or perhaps not. Only time will tell daughter." Ursa said.

Azula raised a finger to the apparition ready to say something only to stop herself knowing full well that she would be talking to no one and instead turned to continue her trek out of the tunnels.

"This trip did tell you that your bending is limited in certain environments. That could be useful." Ursa said walking beside her while holding a warm smile as if the apparition was trying to be supportive.

"Shut up figment of my imagination taking the form of the person I hate most in this world." She responded bitterly.

"When you say this world do you mean Ginza or maybe the mortal world in general? Would that entail that you have a better liking of me on other worlds then? Like Kazima for example, although you weren't keen on seeing me there, perhaps on that rocky world we visited you would like me better." Ursa sounded amused trying to add some light hearted banter to brighten the mood.

Azula only groaned louder and quickened her pace hoping to get ahead of her mother.

"Remember the machine said the third-"

"I KNOW!" Azula's shouts echoed throughout the cavern, "Why? Why are you here now?"

Ursa's signature somber expression returned, "I only want to help you Azula."

"I don't need your help! What help can you offer me? You're just a hallucination."

She continued walking and came across the first right looking down the derelict tunnel only to find Ursa standing there.

"Perhaps you simply just don't want to be alone and I'm here to provide companionship."

She scoffed and continued down her path, "I'm better off alone."

She went past the second right, seeing Ursa once more standing there waiting for her, "Then why do I keep appearing when you are alone?"

"To torment me with your lies, that's why." She rounded the third right and again Ursa stood there with her hands in her sleeves waiting for her.

"When have I ever lied to you?"

Azula gave her a cold glare, "You already know." She stormed past the apparition in a hurry, "If you're going to keep appearing then stay silent!"

The vision of Ursa followed closely behind, "If that is what you wish."

Azula didn't trust this illusion to keep its word so she pulled out her communicator and called Lectro.

"Azula! Hey! Is everything alright down there?"

"Peachy. I just made the third right. How far until my next turn?"

"You've got a ways to go, B3 says you've got a couple meters until you see it. Speaking of seeing, how's your vision down there?"

Ursa leaned in a bit, "Oh! You should tell him how well you can see in the dark now."

"Shut up!" Azula shouted back at the vision.

"Okay. Okay. You fell down a hole and don't feel like talking science. I get it. You don't have to be rude about it." Lectro responded, misinterpreting her words.

"No I- forget it! I can see very well down here without a light if that's what you are asking."

"So my new theory is correct, fascinating!"

"I'm glad all it took was me falling in a hole for you to find that out." She said sarcastically.

Sev's jovial voice interrupted, "Hey firespitter! You see anything weird down there?"

She couldn't help but steal a glance at the vision of her mother walking beside her, "No. Why?"

"Well there's a local legend that says a bunch of creatures got loose from a zoo and live in the bowls of this city and wanted to confirm."

"And you're telling me this now!?"

"Cool your jets there, firespitter. Just an urban legend. You can handle it even if it's real."

"Sev! I swear I am throwing a fireball at your head the moment my fire bending returns!"

Lectro's voice came back on, "Don't listen to him he's just messing with you. Listen when you exit the tunnels we'll…" static interference began to break up his voice.

"Lectro? Hey! Lectro!" She shook her device trying to get it to work clearly.

"Sig-zzzz-losing-zzzz-go-zzzz-" the signal was fully lost and she could only hear static.

"Damn it!" She cursed, closing the device and continuing her trek.

"You should be nicer to your friends. They're only trying to help you." Ursa said softly.

"We are not friends! Just temporary allies."

"An allie can still be a friend. Everyone could use one."

"I don't need friends. All they do is betray you."

"Only if you give them a reason too. Take Chani for example, you're already planting seeds of betrayal with her."

"Oh really? Enlighten me then mother. How have I done that?"

"Sharing our belongings with each other as a sign of friendship. We both know how much of a lie that is, you just wanted to wear her jewelry."

"I was going to give her something in return. It's not my fault she rejected it." Azula said, admiring Chani's beautiful bracelet against her glowing wrist before scowling at the serpent bracelet.

"You're taking advantage of her kindness, like you do everyone else."

"The world isn't kind. Kindness means you're weak and when you're we-"

"When you're weak the strong trample over you. Yes, we've heard this song and dance countless times before from your father time and time again." The vision finished with clear annoyance, "Did you ever stop and think that it could be a virtue and not a weakness?"

She stopped to face her mother, "I'm sorry but didn't you say you were here to help me? How is talking about feelings and friendship helping me in this situation?"

"I am not sure, after all I am an extension of your mind." Ursa reached out to touch her affectionately only for Azula to pull away as if a red hot poker was coming.

"You are not my mother." Azula stormed past the vision, "You want to stick around, fine. Maybe I could use you as a way to bounce ideas off of."

A smile adorned Ursa's face, "That sounds interesting. What would you like to talk about?"

"My plan to take over the Crimson Storm."

Ursa's smile faltered, "Oh… that.

"Yes. What are your thoughts on it?"

"I think you should forget this plan and focus more on living your life."

"Double down, got it. Thank you for your input, illusion." Azula said quickly.

"But that's the opposite of what I suggested!" Ursa said as she ran back to her side.

"If it's the opposite of what you want then it's the correct path."

"Azula, there is so much that can go wrong with this plan of yours. There is so much we don't know of the universe outside our home." Ursa almost sounded desperate to dissuade her.

"That's why it is a long term plan you idiot. Learn as much as we can of this greater galaxy and the powers that be, then strike when the opportunity presents itself."

"Neutral Jing then. I must say I didn't expect you to implement such an earth Kingdom way of thinking."

"I'd much rather take the more direct fire bender approach, however being direct hasn't been very fruitful as of late."

"And how long will this plan take?" Ursa sounded weary when asking almost as if by asking she'd be endorsing it.

"Months, possibly years. I need to know everything I can before striking or it could be disastrous."

"The safest bet may be not striking at all. Your luck as of late hasn't proven to be very reliable."

Azula scowled at the illusion, "Then what do you suggest I do? Spend the rest of my life as some space peasant? Settle down with some seven eyed, six limbed creature that only speaks in incomprehensible gibberish?" She then gave her a mocking laugh, "I could even go back home to get father's blessing from his prison cell! Maybe even invite Zuko, the Avatar and their friends to the wedding!"

Ursa covered her mouth as she giggled, "I don't think the real me would approve of a creature like that to be your husband but if that's what makes you happy."

Azula scoffed, "What would make me happy is to take back what is rightfully mine."

They made the left turn, the tunnel now being filled with the sound of wet footsteps as Azula walked through the puddles of water that coated the floor.

Ursa sighed a sad and tired breath, "Power. Is that all you care about?"

"Power is all that matters."

"Really, and what has power done for you?" Ursa challenged.

"Power has made me strong. Made me feared. I was on top of the world, I was untouchable."

"It was your crutch. Power was all you had and when you lost it you had nothing else to fall back on. No one else."

Azula had no rebuttal for this and instead quickened her pace as if she was trying to get away from the subject.

"What did power do for your father?" Ursa challenged again, her voice becoming firmer and seemed to echo throughout the tunnels, "He was the most powerful man on earth and look where it got him. It made him cruel, heartless, egotistical, nothing was ever enough for him. The Avatar stripped him of his bending! His throne taken by the son he mutilated and tossed in a cell to rot for the rest of his life!"

Azula couldn't stand to listen to this any longer so she covered her ears and her brisk walk turned into a jog.

Ursa appeared before her on the far side of the tunnel, "Your father has nothing Azula! You have nothing, but unlike him you were given the opportunity for a new life, twice!"

Azula squeezed her eyes shut as she ran past the illusion.

"Zuko gave you a second chance when he took you out of the asylum to find me and you squandered it!" Ursa's voice took on an accusatory tone with a righteous fury that thundered like an angered spirit, "And by some miracle you were given a third chance when that ship crashed! Don't throw it away for something that will ultimately destroy you Azula!"

Her jog turned into a full on sprint through the tunnel making the final turn until she saw the light of the tunnels end.

She dashed out of the into the lower levels of the industrial sector. Her breath was panicked, her limbs shaking and causing her to drop to her knees in a tired state. Her face felt wet and when wiping her face she found tears staining her cheeks.

A frustration burned within her at this weakness so she violently wiped the tears away and attempted to steady her breathing to try and regain the dignity she still had left.

Her communicator buzzed, making her jump in surprise. She collected herself before answering it.

"What?!"

Lectro's voice came through "Azula! We're almost to where the exit should be. We're taking a service elevator down to that level. Where are you now?"

"I-I just got out of the tunnel."

"Good, stay there and we'll come to you."

After hanging up she remained there for a bit. She could still feel her mother's presence in the tunnel, she dared not look into it in fear that her mother would speak again, trying to corrupt her mind with lies like she always does.

She doesn't know why she even bothered to engage in conversation with that illusion. Of course it would try to sabotage her grand plan to retake her throne, if anything she now wants to double down further on it just to spite her. She calmed herself further, she needed a clear mind, the plan needed to be perfect. There was no room for screw ups because almost isn't good enough.

It didn't take long for the others to arrive and catch up with her.

Lectro ran to her side, "I'm glad we got here quickly! What's wrong?"

She glared at him, "Nothing is wrong with me."

"We were able to detect a spike in your stress levels while you were in the lower levels through the adhesive sensors still on your body." B3 answered.

"Yeah they said it was like you were having a panic attack." Sev said as he studied the entrance to the tunnels for danger, a hand hovering over his weapon.

She had forgotten that the sensors were still attached and didn't know they'd be able to pick something like that up. She couldn't appear weak to them, she needed to come up with a lie that would satisfy them.

"I-uh… don't like dark and… cramped places." She mentally scolded herself for how pathetic that sounded and didn't think they would believe her. She'll have to sell it better, "They remind me of the… prison cell my brother put me in before I escaped him."

"Well I guess anyone would develop claustrophobia from something like that." Lectro said.

"Your brother sounds like a prick." Sev commented.

They believed her, relief washed over her. Not only did she manage to hide what was truly causing her stress but managed to make Zuko look bad in the process.

"We should get out of this place and meet back up with Cetro." The scientist concluded.

Azula and the others took a public transport to the location Cetro had told them to meet where they found both him and Skeeve waiting at a street corner.

"Bout time. What, y'all get lost on the way?" Cetro asked impatiently.

"Have you seen how big this place is? It puts Horizon city to shame." Lectro responded.

"Why are we here again?" Azula asked impatiently.

"I've got a business transaction to make with an old buddy of mine, Kanzo. He's the local crime lord." Cetro explained before walking down the street and beckoning them to follow.

"Your friend is a Codello?" Lectro asked in bewilderment.

"Yup, he and I go way back."

"How far?"

Cetro scratched his scaled chin with one of his lower arms as he thought, "Since… about grade school I'd say."

"Geez, didn't think you knew the Codello's since time began." Sev chortled.

"Shut it lumix. I'm only two hundred and thirty three, I'm not that old."

That information felt almost like a slap to the face to Azula. She could tell Cetro was old by the crotchety attitude he had that was common for elders to develop; however, to hear that he was over two hundred years old was not something she expected.

To think there were still Airbenders flying around during Cetro's youth.

Skeeve could care less about how old the head engineer was and was more interested in his friendship with the local crime lord, "Wow, so you and the local crime lord grew up together? So does that mean you are a Codello as well?"

"Same species but I'm not part of the family. Used to work for them in their chop shops when I was young but left that life for something more legitimate with the Pendaren's. Back before they became power hungry maniacs. But I stayed in contact with Kanzo and now he runs everything here, so good for me."

Azula rolled her eyes at the notion of friendship, especially with a criminal. Their relationship was a betrayal waiting to happen, all it would take is for someone to make his supposed friend an offer good enough to make him willing to plant a knife in his back.

"What about the Gold Sun's?" She asked while allowing B3 to escort her again, "Surely his business with them won't affect our stay here, will it?"

"It shouldn't. He's never had any love for Euretta or her Sun's and only conducts business with them because the head of the family works for her. He won't rat us out to them."

Azula decided she knew enough of Cetro's history and shifted the focus on to the present, "So what business do you have with your old friend?"

"He's in charge of the black market here and specializes in illegal tech. I've got a purchase on some hardware that'll make our two generators pumping energy in our very special device run a whole lot smoother."

"You mean the fabricator?" Lectro asked.

Cetro grabbed the scientist's muzzle, shushing him harshly, "Shut your trap lizard! We already got enough problems with Death's Head! You really want someone else out here hearing about that and start coming after us?" He let go of him and continued walking, "It should go without saying, don't mention our special device to anyone. Kanzo is a good friend but he's also a businessman and sometimes that business can outweigh friendship."

The rest of their short trip continued in silence until they reached the club that sat at the top of a skyscraper. Azula and her group took an elevator to reach it and once in doors they had to traverse several lavish corridors until they reached the entrance where two tall brawny guards stood.

Cetro was about to enter but one of the guards stepped before him, "The club is closed for renovations today, come back another time."

Cetro glared at him, "I'm here to do business with the owner. He's expecting me."

"We have not been informed of any business transactions scheduled for today."

"Listen buddy, I don't like to play this card but your boss and I are old friends and he said he'd meet me today."

The guard grimaced at him before reaching to a cybernetic implant on the side of his head and began speaking, "Boss, I've got an old Kestridon here who says he knows you. Says he's got business scheduled for today." There was a long pause as the boss spoke back. He turned back to the much shorter alien before him, "Name?"

Cetro's irritation became more visible, "Cetro, I come here every other week. Y'all should know me by now!"

The guard's amphibious face tightened in annoyance as he relayed the information back, "Boss says he's talking to someone now, but he'll see you. Grab yourself a drink while you wait."

"That's what I thought." Cetro grumbled to himself some more as the other guard opened the door for them before stopping them as B3 began to enter.

"No robots are allowed in the club." The other guard said.

"That's never been an issue before." Cetro barked back.

"New policy."

Cetro was about to respond with another rude comment but the robot in question interjected sensing conflict escalating, "It is all right. My functions would not be conducive in a nightclub setting. I will remain here and patiently wait for your return. Please do not trouble yourself for my sake."

Cetro grumbled some more before accepting this, "Fine! I swear I'm giving your boss an earful while I'm here!" He stormed into the corridor telling everyone else to follow.

"Enjoy the club… sir." There was an edge of hostility in the guards voice that Azula narrowed in on.

Something about that whole exchange seemed wrong, she just couldn't put her finger on it.

Once inside they were met with a decadent open room with white floors and walls with an organic architecture, a second level overlooking tge vacant dance floor and lavish decor. However the club was vacant, all the lights were on as a renovation crew were busy tearing apart the place and making replacements.

Cetro looked around, his scaled brow furrowing in disgust at the new improvements that were being installed, it was all so gaudy, "What the hell is he doing to this place? I thought he loved this club."

"Perhaps he got tired of looking at the same thing everyday and decided he needed a change in scenery." Azula said not really sure what to make of the new decorations.

"Yeah but he wouldn't change it to this style." Cetro looked around the room, his eyes darting back and forth, "Something's not right. I can feel it in my agnots."

Not really having a point of reference for that comment she asked in a taunting manner, "Did them not letting in the trash can upset you that badly?"

"Actually yes. If Kanzo wasn't in the business he would have gone to university for robotics. That man loves robots, trusts them more than people if you ask me."

Azula felt it as well and responded in a hushed whisper, "I had some kind of feeling that was the case. What is it?"

Cetro directed them to the bar as everyone else took seats elsewhere, "The bouncers. I didn't recognize them, not just that. The staff here," he motioned to all the workers, both renovation crew and club workers, "all new faces."

"Your friend doesn't make it a habit to fire his entire staff I take it?" Azula asked, her eyes darting around the room and her thermal vision letting her see patches of heat at the hips of many staff members, blasters no doubt.

"No, he doesn't like change." Cetro looked at the back of the bar seeing another Kestridon just like him only his scales were brown with dark striping and his mane of hair a jet black.

Cetro sighed in relief, "Finally, someone familiar. Hey Jakro! Been a long time."

The younger bartender turned to him, his four orange eyes widening and his body stiffening for a split second before the mask of a friendly bartender replaced it.

"Cetro! You old bastard." Jakro said, making his way to them, grabbing a bottle and a glass, "So… what brings you to Ginza?" He maintained a pleasant smile but his eyes continued to scan the room like prey searching for a predator.

"I've got some tech to buy, same as usual." Cetro responded before gesturing to the renovations, "What's all this about?"

Jakro began pouring him a drink and laughed nervously, "Oh you know… change. We've been… doing a lot of that lately."

Azula studied Jakro and noticed the heat in his face build up along with all four of his hands. She had heard that when people are nervous their faces would grow hot but now she could see it happen. She could see how it made his hands clammy and could even see his hot breath grow unsteady. He was afraid of something and It was more than clear to her now that something was seriously wrong.

"Jakro." Cetro said, focusing the younger man's attention on him, "Be real with me right now. What's going on?"

Jakro looked around again before leaning in closer and speaking in a lower volume, "You need to leave, right now. Take all your people and get off Ginza." He looked around again subtly, "It's not safe for you here."

"Why? What's going on?"

Jakro opened his mouth to answer but stopped himself as another bouncer approached, "The boss will see you know."

Cetro took another look at this bouncer and noticed he wore black and gold, "You know what, I think I may have come at a bad time. Maybe we can reschedule this for some other time." He said going to walk past him only for the bouncer to block his path with a thick muscular arm.

"He insists."

Cetro could tell that this was not a request, "Wait here kid. I'll be right back."

Cetro followed the bouncer up the stairs to the second level and as he did so every alarm in Azula's head was ringing telling her danger was present. It almost felt like she was in the den of a platypus bear.

She turned back to Jakro, surely he could provide some more necessary information that could help, but the man only looked at her with worry before saying, "I-I need to get back to work." He then drank the glass that was meant for Cetro in one gulp almost as if he needed it to get through the day.

The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end. She was in a trap, one the trappers didn't know she was in so far and every second brought them closer to noticing.

"You need to leave Azula." The voice came from the vision of her mother again who sat at a bar stool. She turned away as soon as she saw her.

"Why can't you just leave me alone?" She said to herself.

"Is that really what is so important right now? You heard what the bartender said. It's not safe for you or your friends here."

"They're not my friends." She scoffed as she began searching for an exit, "But you are right. I need to get out of here."

"What do you think it is?" Ursa asked.

She observed several of the thugs that hung around either watching the club for danger or chatting amongst themselves. All dressed professionally with a hint of jewelry here and there to show they were well paid, gold mostly.

"Hard to say. My guess is an internal power struggle and that Cetro's friend has been replaced with someone a little less friendly."

She walked past the mirage towards Sev and Lectro who admired a rather large fish tank that acted as a wall separating the dance floor and a lounge area.

Sev watched as a flat tear shaped blue fish with black stripes drifted by wondering if it made for good cooking.

Lectro admired a red and gold crustacean resting on coral, "You know a nightclub isn't the best place for a fish tank. All the noise and flashing lights will have a detrimental effect on their health along with causing a lot of unnecessary stress."

"Doesn't the captain have a fish tank on the SeCore?" Sev said watching a shimmering silver school pass by.

"A battleship is an even worse place for one!"

Azula approached the two, "Hey, you two, what are you doing?"

Lectro looked at another black fish covered in yellow spots, "Just criticizing the idea of having a fish tank in-"

"Yes that's fascinating and all, but we need to get out of here."

"Why?" Sev asked, "We just got here."

Azula moved closer to speak in a hushed tone, "This place isn't safe. No time to explain, we just have to go!"

"What about Cetro?" Lectro asked.

"Forget Cetro! We have the opportunity right now, let's not waste it." She went to leave only to be stopped by a metal hand on her shoulder.

"Hold it firespitter, if trouble is brewing we don't leave our own behind."

"Wait! Wait!" Lectro stepped between them, "What trouble are you talking about Azula?"

Before Azula could argue back Skeeve walked up from the bar with a purple bottle and glass, "Hey guy's, check this out! They've got Pendaren whiskey here. You have any idea how many planets embargo this stuff? And it's reasonably priced too! Either Cetro's friend is in bed with some imperials or he's stealing this stuff out from under their noses." He exclaimed excitedly as he poured himself a glass.

Azula snatched the glass out of his hand and poured the contents in a nearby plant to his sorrow, "Listen! I don't think Cetro's friend is running the show here. Somebody else is."

"Like who? The Codello family owns Ginza." Skeeve said, snatching his glass back.

As if on cue the renovation crew members finished installing the new holo projector, dimmed the lights and plugged it in where it displayed a titanic Gold Sun emblem over the exit, bathing the stark white room in yellow light.

The four of them looked on at the emblem in shock with Skeeve almost dropping his bottle.

Azula was right, Cetro's friend wasn't in charge anymore however she was wrong about it being internal politics and instead it was a hostile takeover.

Sev looked on and crossed his arms, "Well… crap."

*****

Cetro was led to the private office in the back of the second level, armed guards stood around the entire level as the renovation crew walked past carrying equipment. He could hear voices from beyond the sliding door of the main office.

"Four ships! Four ships carrying valuable cargo went missing in the past week!" The first voice said with a dry raspiness and clear irritation, "Find whatever or whoever is doing it, because if I get a call from the boss asking where they are again it's both of our heads!"

A lanky banana shaped headed alien walked out in a hurry. The bouncer gestured with his head to go in.

Cetro entered the room with the guard following him in. He found it to be unrecognizable to when he last saw it. Where there was once modest utilitarian furniture now sat lavish expensive leather chairs and couches, expensive trinkets decorated the bookshelf and walls and a giant Gold Sun flag sat on the wall where the self portrait of the previous owner once was. The only thing that he recognized was the modest desk that was currently being occupied by someone else. Someone Cetro didn't recognize.

The man sat laid back with his feet kicked up on the desk, he wore a mix of black and gold utility wear with a dash of expensive clothing such as his shiny gold toed pointed boots, buttoned down dress shirt and black dress jacket with a gold trim, several gold chains hung around his neck and expensive rings decorated his fingers. His skin was the color of sand, burgundy scales adorned his head that started from his nose and flared up into his forehead and continued down his back giving him the prickly appearance of a pine cone with pumpkin orange eyes.

He was a Chundari, a race that is considered one of the rarer species to see in the galaxy.

The man looked both tired and annoyed but once he noticed Cetro he put on a welcoming smile flashing his crooked teeth, "You must be Cetro. What can I do you for?" His voice had the dry rasp of the person shouting and he spoke with a thick accent.

Cetro narrowed his eyes in a scornful look, "Who the hell are you?"

The pointy headed man shook his head in exaggerated disappointment in himself as he spoke in a jovial manner, "Where oh where are my manners?" He stood and approached Cetro with a welcoming hand and a devilish grin, "Call me Slater. I'm the new owner of this fine establishment."

Cetro reluctantly shook his hand.

"Now, I understand the confusion Mr. Cetro. You come in here expecting to do business with good ol Kanzo only to be met with my ugly mug sitting at his desk and redecorating his club. Well… my club now." He spoke smoothly and confidently despite his rustic voice.

He gestured to one of the lavish chairs, "Sit, please. Any business you had with the previous owner can be done through me."

Cetro was weary of him but took the seat not wanting to cause any trouble, he didn't know what this man's temperament was, "You're Gold Sun. I thought Ginza was under Codello control. What happened to Kanzo?"

Slater sucked in some air as he raised his brows, "Oh boy. Well sorry to say this but Kanzo ain't here no more." He paced to the window overlooking the cityscape, "As you probably already know the Codello family works for us and has to pay a tribute tax to dear ol momma Euretta every now and again, just like all the other smaller groups under the sun. Kanzo though got a little too greedy, he's been taking a few units off the top of his payments and got caught with his hands in the cookie jar. The boss lady didn't take too kindly to that so she had him… removed. In other words, Ginza's under new management."

"I see." Cetro was all too aware as to what he meant by "remove" and didn't want to ask but had to confirm, "And Kanzo?"

Slater looked back at him and huffed out a weary breath, "Best not to think too hard about that. Wouldn't want to spoil the mood with the… grizzly details." He gave him another smile as he went back to his desk and brought over a case, "Now that we got that cleared up why don't we get down to business. Can I offer you a drink first?"

"No, I'm fine."

"Aw, don't be modest my friend. We all deserve a little pick me up every now and then. You know ma momma always said business is best done with a little bit of alcohol in the gut.'' Slater said, pouring two glasses and offering one.

Cetro only kept a hard expression, "I prefer to keep a sober mind when doing so."

"Suit yourself." Slater downed the offered drink.

Cetro wanted to get himself and his crew out of this place as soon as possible but there was a courtesy to these things. They were stuck in a horrible snake den and what's worse Cetro walked them right into it. His one saving grace was that Slater didn't seem to know that they were Crimson Storm, now he had to sit and stay focused on whatever deal Slater wanted to make, whether he got the part or not was irrelevant as long as it got them out of there. He cursed himself mentally for not calling Kanzo ahead of time.

Slater put the case down, opening it revealing a black and purple device, "One G-133 Pendaren computer processor. Streamlines processing power to any device you hook it up to, s'long as it's compatible of course. Now I ain't no computer wizard, more of a red sand dealer myself, but I know that this bad boy here is a godsend for whatever piece of tech you want it for. But very hard to find outside of imperial space and even harder to get yer hands on in the empire without the proper know-how. How much you willing to pay for her?"

"Kanzo and I agreed to three thousand units."

Slater pressed his lips together, "Three thousand, huh? That may have been fine and dandy with Kanzo, however we do things a little differently here. Five grand sounds more like the proper price that we would normally sell this for."

Cetro saw this as his chance to get out of there and took it, it would cost him this piece of valuable tech but it was not worth his life or the people under him, "I was promised I'd pay three grand. Nothing more, nothing less. That's my final offer, take it or leave it."

Slater frowned, "Like I said before. The Gold Sun's are in charge now, so we charge Gold Sun prices. I'm sure we can negotiate a fair price. How about four-ninety?"

"Sorry but we ain't willing to pay more than that."

"That coming from you or your boss?" Slater leaned back pulling a cigarette from his coat, "Tech like this is used for industrial and military grade equipment, stuff that requires access to those things." He tried sparking up the cigarette with a golden lighter, "I don't like to pry in people's personal life but from the look of ya I don't think you'd be making enough to be able to afford this thing on yer own meaning yer using company money." His lighter failed to produce a spark, "And you never said who it was yer working for. We typically like to know who it is we're doing business with." When the lighter refused to spark he cursed then flexed his index finger and a spark of electricity traveled up his finger and lit his cigarette.

He puffed out some smoke through his nose, "Sorry about that, need me some new lighting fluid. I prefer not to show off my little trick like that. Tends to catch people off guard."

The sight of that electrical current was enough for Cetro to conclude this meeting by standing up, "We're done here. Keep the chip, I'll find it cheaper someplace else."

Slater eyed him suspiciously as huffed some smoke and closed the case, "I'm sorry we couldn't come to an agreement Mr. Cetro. I'll escort you out."

"No need." Cetro said quickly making his way to the door that was blocked off by a bouncer whose tall muscular frame almost blocked all view of the exit.

Slader nodded for the man to move and Cetro pushed past him speed walking down the steps to the rest of his crew.

"We're leaving, let's go!" He ordered quickly as he marched to the door.

"Hope we can do business again in the future!" Slader's delighted voice echoed from the balcony as he watched them leave.

Once they were gone his friendly persona faded as he flatly ordered one of his men, "Find out who their work'n for."

Once they left the building the five of them piled into a hover taxi and flew directly back to the spaceport. Cetro marched down the corridors he was almost running with the rest doing their best to keep pace.

"You didn't think to contact your friend ahead of time just to make sure he wasn't murdered by a cartel?" Azula scolded Cetro as they walked.

"You think I don't know how bad this is?" He barked back, "Kanzo had always been able to stay on their good side, but I'm not really surprised he tried to steal from Euretta but his timing couldn't have been any worse."

"Wait! He tried to steal from Euretta herself?" Skeeve practically had a panic attack.

"Guess that explains all the red sand dealers we've been seeing." Sev said.

"How did this happen though? Don't we normally keep track of these sorts of things?" Lectro asked.

"This had to be recent."

Skeeve looked over his shoulder and scanned the crowd of people at the spaceport in clear paranoia, "You think they know? About us being Crimson Storm?"

Azula grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out of his frenzied paranoia, "They will if you don't keep your mouth shut and make it obvious."

"They don't know. That leader of theirs, Slader, had no clue when we spoke, but it's only a matter of time until they find out. We just need to make sure we're gone by then."

"Would they be able to prevent us from leaving the planet?" Azula asked as they entered an escalator.

"Probably. Sun's like to plant their own in all sorts of places."

Just as they were about to enter the shipyard several security officers stepped in their way.

A short green lizard man just like Lectro stepped forward, "Excuse me, I'm going to have to ask you all to come with us."

"What for? We haven't done anything?" Lectro responded.

"Yeah we're just headed back to our ship." Sev followed up.

"I understand, just a random inspection we do on various people throughout the space port."

Azula's thermal vision let her see his face heating up slightly, he was lying. The alarms rang in Azula's head once more as the men surrounded them. She could see a warm spot at all of their sides, they were armed. There was no doubt in her mind that these random security officers were probably working for the Sun's.

One of the guards grabbed her wrist and on instinct she pulled away and sent a roundhouse kick to his face sending him sprawling to the floor.

The other officers reached for their weapons. Sev used his large size and strength to his advantage by grabbing a guard in each hand and tossing them effortlessly at the others. Cetro sent his two right fists into the lead officer's stomach and tossed him aside.

The last officer pulled out his weapon and took aim at Azula. She quickly closed the distance and grabbed hold of his wrist directing the weapon away as a stun shot was fired. As she held his wrist and prevented him from breaking free the temperature in her hand and the flesh she held onto rose until smoke trickled out. The officer screamed in pain as he kicked her off him, his limp wrist now having a hand shaped burn.

She looked on in astonishment. She didn't think she would be capable of causing damage like this at her current power level.

The officer tried to fire at her again only to be hit by a stun blast from the weapon Cetro pulled from his opponents hand.

"To the ship now!"

They raced to the shipyard pushing past various aliens that happened to get in their way. An alarm soon went off and more security officers began to pour into the hangar.

"Oh no, we're not gonna make it, we're going to be stuck here!" Lectro panicked.

"Calculating all possible exit routes for our esc-" B3 was cut off when a small white metal device the size of a tea cup latched onto his body and a surge of electricity stopped his movements and caused him to fall over after his forced shut down.

Sev quickly grabbed the downed machine with another device being shot at him by a security guard; it latched onto his left arm and forced it to shut down and drop B3. Several more of the devices were shot onto his limbs until he was unable to move and he fell over after a stun blast collided with body.

"Sev!" Lectro called out only for a stun blast to hit his upper back that came from a catwalk.

Cetro was ready to counter but several stun blasts knocked him into unconsciousness.

Now it was just Azula and Skeeve. The security guards surrounded both of them with their weapons trained.

Skeeve immediately threw his hands in the air and shouted, "I surrender!"

Azula could only scoff at him as she raised her own arms up to comply.

"Officer's, this is all some kind of big misunderstanding!" Skeeve said as smoothly as he could, "Now why don't we put the blasters down and talk this out like civilized-" a stun blast to the chest silenced him.

Azula barely had time to react as a stun bolt was fired into her stomach sending an electric wave throughout her body making her go limp.

After being stunned into unconsciousness Azula was awoken with a slap to the face. She took in her surroundings seeing that she was seated in a chair with her hands bound behind her back in the middle of the empty club that used to belong to Cetro's friend, now empty of the renovation crew and only populated with Gold Sun thugs. The room is still being illuminated by the yellow light of the holo-projector.

The others were by her side secured in the same fashion with them being awoken in the same rude manner.

"What happened? Where are we? Are we dead?" Skeeve gasped out from her right as he darted his head around.

"No Skiv, we're not dead. At least not yet." Cetro answered, "Everyone alright?"

"No." Azula answered while stretching her body in an attempt to stretch the pain of being stunned away along with subtly testing the limits of her restraints, they were too tight to break free from, "I feel like I've been hit with lightning."

Sev rotated his head as he slowly regained feeling in the fleshy parts of his body, "Those EMP shots really did a number on me."

B3 remained turned off and faced down on the floor as if he had been tossed there.

One of the thugs backhanded Sev and ordered him to be quiet.

"Why don't you take these restraints off and try that again buddy?" He grinned back in a cocky manner then spat some purple blood on the thug's expensive shoes.

The thug jammed the electric end of a stun baton into his stomach.

"Sev, can you please not anger the guys who have us cuffed?" nervousness was present in Lectro's voice.

Azula looked around for an exit, so far the only one was the main entrance behind her and it was guarded by several thugs. She heard a commotion in the kitchen area to her right as folk music played loudly with someone singing along, the sounds of cooking present.

After one of the thugs notified whoever was in the kitchen of their presence a raspy voice called out in joy, "Right on time!"

Slater exited the kitchen, the sleeves to his buttoned up shirt rolled up and a steaming entree in hand. Azula noticed on his bare arms there were three metallic blue stripe-like protrusions on each side of his forearms. She wondered if they were some sort of cybernetic.

"Good to see y'all again!" He presented the platter before them, "Hungry? I tell ya, y'all have not lived till you've tried ma momma's recipe for fried Tiliga trout. The secret is to fry it just right so it's crispy but not dry."

Everyone remained silent from either fear or not wanting to indulge in idle chit chat.

"I could get a chef to cook this for me, maker knows I've got the money for it, but there's just a certain satisfaction of doing it yourself ya know. Sometimes getting yer hands dirty can be fun."

Everyone continued their silence.

"Aw come on y'all, don't be shy. Made plenty for everyone." He held the dish out to Skeeve, "Give it a whiff. Don't that-there fish just smell tantalizing?"

"Uh… y-yeah it does. I guess." Skeeve said nervously.

This short interaction let Azula know all she needed about this man's personality. He was a talker that loved the sound of his own voice and liked to drag conversations out either for his own pleasure or just because he can't help but go on tangents. His confident and casual demeanor along with his clothes being a mix of rugged and luxury wear suggested that he came from nothing and clawed his way out of the dirt into power and was eager to flaunt it.

"What do you want, Slater?" Cetro interrupted, already tired of this exchange, "Are you that mad that I didn't buy that part?"

Slater pulled the dish away and sat down at a nearby table where he began to dig in, "That? Oh nah. I'll find another buyer for that in no time. I brought y'all back here because I had no idea we had members of the infamous Crimson Storm in ma city, and I'm sure ya know the boss lady gave out orders to kill y'all on site." He took a bite from his fried dish, "Man this is some good food! Y'all sure ya don't want any? Might be your last."

"If you got orders to shoot on sight then why are we still alive?" Azula asked.

One of the thugs raised his hand to strike her for speaking without being addressed but froze when Slater raised a hand to allow it.

"That's a mighty fine question there…" he squinted his eyes as he took a closer look at her, "What are you supposed to be, some kinda pendaren mutant?"

She rolled her eyes at that.

"Anyway, the reason y'all are still breathing is because I've got a bit of an issue. You see, some ships carrying valuable and very illegal cargo, hand held lazy guns mostly, have been going missing as of late and the boss lady has been twisting ma arm about it. Next thing I know another one goes missing in our star system and several members of the Crimson Storm walk right in ma club. Y'all can't tell me that ain't no coincidence."

"That's exactly what that is! We only came to Ginza to pick up supplies and for me to see Kanzo. That's it." Cetro explained.

Slayer took another bite as he took his time to think up a response. No one dared to interrupt him, "And what am I supposed to do with that? Call up Euretta, tell her another ship's gone and that a few members of that merc group she really hates strolled up and I let them go because they said they had nothing to do with it? The boss lady ain't gonna like that one bit, no she won't."

He got up with a piece of fried fish in hand and spoke with his mouth full, "So my friends, where are ma ships?"

No one answered.

"Aw come on now fellas! I'm being nice right now, giving y'all the chance to come clean. I like being nice, nice makes everybody happy. Don't make me be nasty, I don't like being nasty. Things get messy when I'm nasty, ya know. Teeth start breaking, faces get bloody and my clothes get messy."

"Sorry buddy but we had nothing to do with your missing ships." Sev answered.

He stepped over to Sev, "Let's start with the child of material sin himself, Sevran! I've heard a big deal about you big boy. Gotta say though, thought you'd be taller." He said, craning his head up to the giant who was still taller than him even while sitting, "So you gonna tell me what I want to know or am I gonna haveta strip ya down for parts and feed what's left of ya to the local animal shelter?"

Sev kept a hard expression, if it wasn't for the EMP bolts placed on his limbs he'd have broken out of his restraints and tossed Slater through the nearest window, "Wasn't us. Pirates could have easily done it."

Slater chuckled, "Son, we own the pirates out here and any that ain't under our payroll ain't dumb enough to try it. Funny enough, it's actually our pirate ships that are go'n missing."

He turned his attention to Lectro next to him and sat down on the still deactivated B3, "What about you skinny? You look like a squealer. You tell me where ma ships are and I'll just let ya go."

Lectro looked nervous. He has clearly never been in a situation like this and it showed as his body shook and he fumbled over his words, "I-I w-would tell you if-if I knew good sir. B-but we're telling the truth. W-we had nothing to do with that."

Slater took another bite, "Nah, I ain't buying it. I feel like you ain't being honest with me skinny." He grabbed Lectro's face forcing him to look into his eyes.

"I'm telling the truth! I promise! The captain wouldn't even tell us any details about stuff like that if she was doing it!"

Slater let go of Lectro pondering his words as he finished his food, "That's right. Y'all are at the bottom of the totem pole. My'Rell wouldn't tell y'all anything, unless…" he turned to Cetro and took a few steps towards him, "I talk to someone who's in charge, like you Mr. Cetro. After all, we know you are the head engineer of that old battleship of hers and that you've got ties to the Codello family, I.e. Kanzo."

Cetro kept a stoney expression, "How do you know that?"

"Yer buddy Kanzo liked to keep a lot of records on people he does business with, and what we couldn't find out from that our bartender filled us in."

Cetro growled, "Jakro wouldn't sell me out like that!"

"Yer right. He wasn't really will'n to talk but after a few black eyes and a broken wrist he was singing like there was no tomorrow!" Slater said and grinned as casually as if he was talking about his dinner.

"You son of a- When I get my hands on you I'll-"

"Ah-Ah! I'd be nice to me if I was you. After all, I've got all y'all's lives in ma… somewhat greasy hands. Somebody get me a napkin." He ordered one of his men.

"You killed him! Didn't you?" Cetro accused, not even attempting to hide his anger as he tried to stand only for the thugs behind him to pull him back into his chair.

"Sorry to tell ya this old timer, but no. It wasn't me, and honestly it would have been a mercy if I had done it." He knelt down as if he was speaking to a child, "Ya see, Euretta came here herself to deal with this whole situation and ooooooweeee! I tell ya what, she held no punches!"

Cetro was so agitated the thugs had to hold him in place.

"Let me tell ya what she did to Kanzo. If I were the one to do it I would have just shot him and been done with it, but Euretta." He shook his head as he remembered, "That woman is something else, I tell ya. She had him, all his most loyal people and his family dragged out to one of the dry docks at the edge of the dome; stripped him down to his draws then doused him in the coldest water she could find under the dome, then she told him to take a walk outside during a blizzard."

Cetro's eyes widened in horror knowing the temperatures of Ginza's natural environment was in the negatives year around and even worse during a blizzard.

"Yeah, and she told him if he made it at least ten yards before his whole body froze over she'd spare his family."

"How far… HOW FAR DID HE MAKE IT!?" Cetro shouted, unable to restrain his fury.

Slater only stood back up with a sly smile, "I'll leave that up to yer imagination." He then grabbed Cetro's face quickly, holding it in a firm grasp as he spoke through gritted teeth in a gravelly aggressive tone completely losing the air of calm friendliness he presented, "Now you see what I've got breathing down ma neck. If these ships keep going missing on ma watch, who do you think Euretta is gonna make walk out into the blizzard next? So tell me Mr. Cetro, where are ma damn ships?"

Cetro spat on his face, "Like I said we don't know nothing?"

Slater wiped it away, "Alright, you wanna be difficult? Fine by me, in fact since I admire your dedication I'll let you wear one of ma chains."

Azula was confused by this odd gesture as she watched him remove one of his many garish gold chains and place it around Cetro's neck.

"It's a great honor to wear one of ma chains. Ya know how expensive these things are? Shame I'm gonna have to ruin this one."

Slater grabbed the golden pendant and the metallic blue stripes around his forearms contracted, generating sparks of yellow electricity from his forearms that traveled up the conductive metal around Cetro's neck delivering a painful shock throughout his body.

Cetro cried out in pain as Sev tried to force his non-functioning limbs into motion as both Lectro and Skeeve watched in horror.

"You're wasting your time you fool!" Azula said.

Slater's electric assault on Cetro ceased as he turned his piercing orange eyes to her.

He let go of the chain and sauntered over, "Oh really, little lady? Care to enlighten me on why that is?" He held a hand close to her cheek as if he was going to caress it before tensing up as electric energy ran between his fingers.

"Space is a big place after all, ships must go missing all of the time. It could have been any number of things." She pulled her face away as his crackling fingertips inched closer, "Blaming us won't get you your cargo back."

"Maybe, but I'm sure y'all would make for an excellent fall guy." he inched his hand closer, the peach fuzz of her face beginning to stand on end.

Lectro then remembered something the captain had said, "Wait! My'Rell said something about ships going missing in these parts before we left! Surely your ships aren't the only ones going missing too?"

Slater paused his hand just before his electric fingertips could make contact with her face. Slater did remember hearing reports of civilian freighters going missing as well.

"P-plus!" Skeeve added, hoping he could help get them out of this situation, "The SeCore is an old ship, probably centuries old! It wouldn't be able to keep up with any modern day ships you throw at it. So there'd be evidence from debris that it would be us."

Slater scoffed and pulled his electric hand away, "I ain't stupid. The SeCore is old but I know y'all have outfitted it with all the modern day gadgets and she wouldn't be up against any of our high end cruisers. What's missing are freighters, tugboats, small fighters. The SeCore could easily handle those."

"Maybe you guys just suck at keeping track of your stuff!" Sev mocked only to be met with a stun baton shoved into his stomach again.

"If he opens his mouth again, shoot him in whatever part of him that ain't metal!" Slater ordered as his impatience grew.

Things were escalating quickly. Azula needed more information in order to talk her way out, "When did your last ship go missing?"

"Two days ago. Why?"

"Two days ago the SeCore was sitting in a hangar undergoing repairs from a battle with Death's Head a couple days prior."

"What about the rest of your ships? That rust bucket ain't the only ship My'Rell has."

Cetro now somewhat recovered from his electric shock, breathed out a response, "All… all ships got recalled back… back to base."

"Really, and why is that now? You expecting us?"

"Courtix. We're…we're expecting an attack from Courtix."

Slater thought about this discovery for a moment, "Hold on now. I heard that ol man Duritax got blown to smithereens the other day and it put Courtix in a mood so fiery it would make a volcano jealous. That was y'all that did that?"

Slater scratched his chin as he returned to the table seeming to be somewhat swayed by this news, "Say I believe y'all. That still puts me back at square one, four missing ships and no solution to find them. Which means what am I gonna do with y'all?"

"How about you just let us leave and we forget this exchange ever happened. We could always throw in some cash for your trouble." Azula suggested. She hated how weak it made her look but Slater held all of the power here and pleasing him may be their only way out.

"Nah, this ain't the type of problem you can throw cash at."

"Then how about a trade?" Skeeve suggested.

Azula and the others looked at him knowing what he was suggesting. Skeeve hated that he had to throw this in and that the client would be angry with this but no job was worth his life.

"And what exactly do y'all have that's worth all four of yer lives?"

"Skiv! If you say a word to this bastard, I swear I will-" Cetro was silenced when one of the thugs punched his stomach.

Azula inched closer to him and whispered, "Hush up! This could be our only chance to get out of this!"

Slater gave Skeeve a look to continue, "We-uh, we recently got a piece of valuable tech that I'm sure the captain would be willing to trade for all of us to be returned, unharmed that is."

"What type of tech we talking about, stolen imperial tech?" Slater asked, returning to his meal.

"Better! A fabricator."

Slater paused while eating, his interest fully captured and he quickly disregarded his dinner.

"And where did you get this fabricator from, exactly?"

Azula answered when Skeeve couldn't provide the necessary information, "The Crimson Storm got it after clearing a pirate den, they were probably going to sell it for a lot of units, but if you speak with My'Rell the only thing you'd have to pay for is our lives. You might not find your ships but those can be replaced, hier new people and as for your lost cargo, the fabricator could just create what you need to replace it. No expense needed."

Slater leaned back in his chair scratching his chin deep in thought, "One of Kanzo's reports talked about a piece of lost tech like that that he was gonna buy off some pirates. That must have been it." He got up and began pacing as he thought aloud, "Euretta doesn't give a damn about the ship's or the crew, all she's worried about is the cargo. I could replace everything that was lost and then some! Hell! She'll probably even forget about this whole fiasco to begin with!" Slater's charming confidence returned as a wide grin formed on his face, "Ooooooweeee! Things are looking up for me!"

"My'Rell won't trade that thing for us!" Cetro barked.

"Oh I wouldn't be so sure ma friend. My'Rell's the sentimental type that actually gives a damn about her crew. I'm sure she'll oblige." He handed his dish to one of the thugs, "Wrap this in some foil and stick it in the fridge for me. Somebody get me ma jacket, take all them to ma ship. We're going to make a trade!"

"What the hell are you thinking kid?" Cetro said to Azula.

"Shush! I have a plan." she whispered back.

"Really?" he asked skeptically.

"Partially, I'm making it up as I go."

The thugs pulled them to their feet and began directing them to follow Slater while several had to lift Sev's body.

Chapter Text

Azula, Cetro, Skeeve and Lectro sat in the rear compartment of a windowless hover van while Sev and B3 were ungracefully tossed onto the floor with four of Slater's men sitting amongst them. Slater's personal extravagant air limo led the way through the air while the larger, more robust van followed behind.

They all sat in silence as the vehicle soured through the sky. Sev stared at the ceiling from his not so comfortable spot on the floor, "You know, you guys should clean the ceiling of this place. It's super dirty."

One of the thugs kicked his side, "Quiet!"

Azula looked over the four guards sitting at each corner of the compartment. Each one a different species and a wall of muscle who could easily overpower her and the others in their current state, all armed with a plasma blaster at their hip hidden by their suit jackets, only visible to her by the faint glow of its battery.

"So firespitter… How's that plan coming along?" Cetro asked under his breath.
"Still working on it." She looked at the thug next to her, noticing he was the bouncer at the club entrance with the cybernetic implant on his head. With her thermal vision she could see a faint glow emanating within it.

"Well whatever it is you better do it quick before-'' the thug next to Cetro elbowed him hard in his ribs telling him to keep quiet.

"Hey guys, how about we just comply for now, so we don't end up dying?" Skeeve said to them.

"They won't kill us, Skeevy boy." Sev said from the floor, "They need us alive to make this stupid trade."

One of the thugs revealed his weapon to them all as a final warning, "Alive, but no one said uninjured."

Everyone stayed silent. Azula stretched her back as a way to hide her positioning a hand to make a reaching motion for the heat source on the side of the cyborg thug's head.

She focused her energy on the heat source like she did on Sev's shoulder but the heat source remained the same. She focused harder and the source began to glow brighter. The thug shook his head as if a bug was in his face and tapped the metal implant in some vain attempt at cooling it down.

"What's wrong?" The thug across from him asked, prompting Azula to stop.

"It's nothing." He responded not wanting to let any weakness be known.

Azula leaned over to Cetro, "Get ready to attack."

Cetro saw the discomfort on the cyborg and had a vague understanding as to what she meant. He looked to the rest of the group and through subtle facial gestures he made them aware of what to expect.

Once settled back in she raised her hand discreetly feeling the heat source once more clenching it and watched as it began glowing brighter and brighter. The thug visibly began to grow more uncomfortable; his face twisted in discomfort, his brow began to sweat and he began to sway as if he was growing dizzy.

Once he grasped his head as if he was soothing a migraine the other thugs began to take notice.

"What's going on with you?" The thug across from them asked.

"Something's up with my cyberware."

The second thug got up and came closer to take a look. Once he was close enough Azula tensed her hand and poured all her energy into the heat source. The thug tensed up and cried out as the cyberware on his head exploded into a flurry of sparks and caught fire, taking the second thug by surprise.

Before he could recover she planted both feet into the distracted thug's hip, sending him back into his seat. The other two began to react. Cetro threw his weight into the one closest to him trying to pin him to the wall while Lectro spun in his seat and began kicking the thug next to him when he reached for his weapon.

As the large muscular man began to recover from the kick he lunged at Azula as she pulled her bound hands forward from beneath her legs and caught his fist attempting to twist it only to find that the man's limb was too strong for her to move. He grabbed her by the neck and pinned her to the wall instead.

Sev was tired of sitting helplessly so he looked for any way he could help but the bolts fixed on him prevented any movement but noticed Skeeve who tried to cower away from the action by diving to the floor hoping no one would notice, "Skeeve! Get these bolts off me!"

Skeeve quickly ducked away and began kicking the devices off the cyborgs limbs which was easier said than done as the magnets holding them in place were strong.

The three digit hand around Azula's throat tightened, cutting off access to air quickly. Her kicks to his solid chest did nothing to alleviate it. She focused all her energy in her bound hands remembering how she burned the security officer earlier. When she saw her hands glowing bright enough she grabbed his face and with the combination of her hands and his own body heat she burned his face as if a red hot piece of iron was making contact with him.

The thug screamed out in pain letting her go and grabbing his face in a vain attempt to soothe the pain.

Skeeve managed to kick the bolt off Sev's left leg and once the cyborg could feel his leg moving. He raised it and delivered a powerful kick to the burned thug sending him through compartment doors with enough force to break them open with the man plummeting down to the city from hundreds of feet in the air, the unconscious cyborg thug falling out with him.

The drivers took notice of the commotion with the passenger opening a small compartment door to see what was going on and was met with the thug closest to Lectro falling into him as the reptilian scientist continued to assault him with his feet.

The thug shook Lectro off and reached into his coat for his blaster again only for Cetro to throw a foot into his hand pinning it against his chest. The thug next to Cetro now had room to move and grabbed the engineer and threw him into the scientist as he went to face Azula.

He swung at her which she was easily able to sidestep and get behind him where she brought her cuffs over his v-shaped head and pulled them over his neck strangling him as they fell onto the floor over Sev's legs.

Cetro did everything he could to pin the last thug but his restrained arms meant he couldn't do much.

Lectro now recovered, saw the deactivated B3 still resting on the floor and kicked the restraining bolt off the robot and in a matter of seconds he was back online.

"Forced shut down deactivated. Recalibrating."

Lectro jumped to the opposite seat allowing Cetro more room to restrain his opponent, "B3! Activate defense protocol!"

"Defense protocol activated." The robot reoriented itself, its head swiveling to take in the situation around it and saw the passenger extend the barrel of a blaster pistol through the forward compartment towards Azula.

Reacting quickly, B3's tentacle arm shot out, reaching for the passengers arm and pulling him partially through and twisting his arm painfully away from his target. With his other arm B3 launched a balled up metal fist into the man's face sending him reeling back into the dash.

The last thug shook Cetro off and finally pulled out his weapon on B3. The robot's reaction time was quicker and in an instant B3 grabbed his gun arm and twisted it away from him painfully making the thug discharge his shot into the wall behind it. Unfortunately the wall the plasma bolt went through was directly behind the driver and went straight through his chest killing him instantly.

The driver now gone, he fell onto the controls with the vehicle swerving down ward throwing everyone in the back into the ceiling.

The sudden rocking throwing Azula and the thug she was attempting to strangle out the open door. The thug grabbed hold of one of the doors that was barely hanging on by its hinges while she grabbed onto his clothes as they dangled out of the now plummeting vehicle.

The passenger thug grabbed the controls pulling them up trying to regain control of the vehicle and rocking everyone in the back.

Skeeve managed to kick off enough restraining bolts to allow Sev to be able to move freely and pull the rest off himself after snapping the restraints on his wrists. Instead of helping the others deal with the last thug he pulled himself up to help Azula.

Azula held onto the thug's coat with as much strength she had as the winds hit her causing them both to flail like a flag. The flailing made her inadvertently look down to see that they were hundreds of stories in the air; vehicles rushing past at great speeds, streets were just blurred lines of neon and the realization that a fall from this height was more than a guaranteed fatality weighed heavily on her mind.

*****

Slater sat in the back of his sky limo with a self satisfied smile while smoking a cigar. Normally he would save them for special occasions but he felt like celebrating today.

"Ooooooweeee! I tell ya what! This fabricator is gon be ma ticket to getting in better grace's with the boss lady!" He laughed in a hardy manner to his two chauffeurs.

"Yes sir." They both said in agreement.

He took a long drag of his cigar enjoying its flavor, holding in the smoke before expelling it, "However, that's only gonna be a temporary band aid if our ships keep going missing." He then remembered the skinny reptilian scientist's excuse on other missing ships and thought how there may be truth to it and may prove prudent to investigate other sources, after all there could be clues, "Call somebody to look into other ships going missing in this system and neighboring ones. See if they can find any similarities."

The thug in the passenger seat acknowledged and began making a call.

Now Slater had to think about what he was going to say to the infamous leader of the Crimson Storm. He's never met nor seen My'Rell in person but from what he had gathered she was pragmatic and pragmatists were easy to smooth talk for him. Even the most stubborn imperial Pendaren's would give into his negotiations if he worded it logically enough, along with giving them a dash of flattery.

"Uh… sir?" The driver said as he looked at the screen for the rear view camera, "I think we have a situation with the van."

Slater's happy expression dropped. He pulled the expensive cigar out his mouth and turned to look out the rear window at the van carrying his prisoners and saw that it was swerving side to side before nose diving.

"What in the name of- TURN THIS THING AROUND!"

His limo swerved in the air, almost hitting another vehicle, before diving towards the van.

*****

Sev climbed to the back reaching over the dangling thug and pulled Azula back into the vehicle before sending a swift jab into the thug's face sending him falling, the door snapping off its last hinge.

B3 had his tentacle arm wrapped around the last thug's neck cutting the oxygen off to his brain and knocking him into unconsciousness.

"All present hostiles have been neutralized."

The vehicle swerved hard, sending everyone into the wall as it began dragging its bottom against the concrete and metal floor of one of the many walkways.

"Get these restraints off!" Cetro ordered the robot.

B3 complied using his blow torch to free both sets of his arms and immediately wrestled control of the vehicle away from the last thug in the passenger seat then kicked him out of the vehicle onto a walkway along with the dead driver.

Sev tossed the unconscious thug in their compartment out with them as Cetro redirected the vehicle back into the air, "What was this plan of your's supposed to be anyway kid?"

"I told you I was making it up as we went!" She said as she held her restraints to B3 who torched them off.

"So letting our enemy know about the fabricator was part of it?"

"That was just me reacting to Skeeve's blunder. I wouldn't have let them know we had it but it was keeping Slater from killing us."

Skeeve turned to her after Sev pulled his restraints apart, "My blunder? I saw a way to get us out of being electrocuted to death and took it!"

"And now a murderer knows we have a rare piece of equipment."

"Shut up both of you!" Cetro shouted, "We need to get back to the ship and…" he readjusted the side view mirror and saw Slater's limo speeding up behind them.

They all noticed the vehicle once it had rammed its nose into their back, smashing the other door.

"Oh crap we're dead!" Skeeve panicked, "Quick! Azula, shoot them with fire or something!"

"I can't fire bend under this sun you idiot!"

The thug in the passenger seat stuck his head out of the window with a blaster in hand and began firing into the compartment. Sev quickly stepped before the others holding out his left arm where a panel on the back of his hand opened projecting a tall glowing red shield that blocked every blast that came their way.

The metal plates of his right arm began shifting as his hand unhinged and folded as his forearm opened up to reveal three barrels that began spinning. He pointed his arm out an opening in the side of his shield and began firing plasma at a rapid rate striking the hood and part of the windshield.

Slater's vehicle almost instantly pulled away and ascended above them where it rammed them from above.

"Everybody! Hang tight!" Cetro shouted as he accelerated the van getting ahead of the limo.

Sev managed to keep himself firmly planted between the rear opening and the others to prevent them from falling out.

The van was fast however not as fast as Slater's limo who quickly caught back up next to them. The limo collided with the van pushing it closer to an upcoming skyscraper, its side scraping against its concrete and glass surface sending debris down below until it collided with the green neon lights.

Sev now having a vague understanding as to where their enemy is began shooting again through the vehicle's wall managing to pierce the door of the luxurious vehicle.

*****

Slater jumped to the floor as crimson bolts tore through his door, "The hell y'all doing? Get under them!" The driver did as instructed and got beneath the van.

Slater peered out the window with his own blaster in hand and began firing at the rear hover module keeping the vehicle afloat.

*****

A small explosion from the module rocked the van causing it to lose altitude.

Cetro struggled to maintain control of the vehicle as it descended, "Somebody take care of him before we crash!"

"I can't get a clear shot!" Sev responded.

Azula remembered how she overheated the thug's head and had an idea, "Let me try something!"

She instructed Sev to hold onto her as she leaned out the open back. With her thermal vision she could see the glow of the vehicle's engine. She also saw the glow from Slater's blaster as he continued to fire on them. She decided to test her ability further by reaching her hands out and focusing on his blaster. Within moments the weapon began glowing brighter until the cooling flaps opened to his surprise. She focused harder until the battery exploded in his hands forcing him back inside his vehicle.

Now confident in her skill with this ability she focused on the engine. It was tougher to raise its temperature as it was a much larger piece of equipment and the distance may be playing a part in it.

"Get me closer!" She shouted back to Cetro who reluctantly complied by hitting the limo.

Now closer she could feel the heat emanating from the vehicle more clearly and began raising its temperature quickly until it exploded, the limo swerved and crashed into a parked vehicle on a walkway.

With the danger gone Sev pulled her back into the van as it continued its descent.

*****

Slater kicked open the door as he stumbled out of the vehicle falling to his hands and knees as he tried to regain his sense of balance, his hand slightly burned by his blaster exploding so suddenly and violet blood trickling down the corner of his mouth.

One of his men also stumbled out bracing himself against the destroyed vehicle as the passenger lay unconscious on the driver seat airbag.

Slater looked over the damage to his limo. The front was completely totaled with it firmly lodged into the side of a taxi, its hood standing on end as fire and smoke engulfed the engine.

He stumbled to his henchmen, grabbing him by the collar and forcing him to look his way with righteous fury, "What the hell was that?! Why'd our engine give up on us like that?!"

"I-I don't know sir! I don't know what happened to it!" He pleaded seeing his boss raise his other hand that generated electric sparks.

Slater was furious but let him go as he turned back and watched as the damaged van descended down into the lower levels.

His face tightened in a snarl as he grabbed his underling again pulling him closer as he gave his next orders, "I want people at all the space ports, eyes and ears at every dry dock and airlock! Get everyone we can spare patrolling the lower levels and everyone we've got in the police department patrolling the skies! Nobody leaves this city without me hearing of it! Do you understand me?!"

The man shook his head and Slater let him go allowing him to follow his orders as he continued to stare off into the distance at the smoking van.

*****

The van continued its slow fall into the lower levels of the city. Cetro pulled up on its controls as hard as he could but their crash was unavoidable.

"Everyone hold onto something!" He shouted as he guided the van into a less than graceful crash landing into an open lot.

The van skidded across the pavement gradually slowing down until colliding to a halt into a wall smashing its nose.

Cetro punched the airbag that cushioned his impact until it deflated giving him room to move around, "Alright… who's not dead?" He coughed out.

Everyone in the cabin groaned as they recovered from being thrown around like rag dolls except for B3 who answered with, "All passengers are alive with minor injuries. I myself am fully functional."

Skeeve jumped out of the back first falling to his knees grasping his stomach, "Oh geez… I don't ever want to fly in a hover vehicle ever again." He put his hands over his mouth catching his lunch before it could leave him.

Azula jumped out of the back clutching a bleeding cut on her forehead trying to reorient herself, "Alright, we're free. What should our next move be?"

"I thought this was part of your big plan?" Cetro said, opening the door that fell off as he exited.

She sighed in exhaustion, "I said I was making it up as I went and it was to escape our captures, and what do you know! We escaped them and need a new plan!"

Sev climbed out and began scanning the skies for danger, "We should probably make one after we get off the streets."

Lectro appeared by their side, "He's right. They've probably got people around this area looking for us."

"So what should we do then?!" Skeeve asked.

"Well for starters we're gonna need some fire power." Sev said as he kicked his foot up against the wall before grabbing his prosthetic and spinning it around with the metal rib-like plating making up his calf opened presenting the group with several blasters within a small hidden compartment.

"Lucky for you all I know someone we can go too." Cetro said as he took one of them.

Azula raised a brow as she hid a blaster in her jumpsuit, "Please tell me they are alive this time."

"He's alive but has seen better days."

*****

Jakro stumbled out of his taxi and made his way to his apartment building in the middle levels of the city. His lower left arm was in a sling and his scaly face covered in bandages. He tried to keep the fact that he knew Cetro hidden but of course Slater would find out, he's much sharper than Jakro had anticipated.

He gave him all the information he wanted and was thankful that Slater didn't escalate this interaction any further, although he wished Slater would show him mercy and not do the gold chain punishment to keep him in line.

Jakro entered his apartment, a cramped little space fit for one. He didn't even want to think about what was going to happen to his old friend Cetro, he just wanted to take some pain medication and be done with the day. He just prayed he'd be shown mercy.

Just as he hit the switch to the light he felt cold metal being forced against the side of his head.

"Don't move." A female voice commanded, "Scream and you're also dead."

He glanced at his right to find Azula standing there with a blaster to his head.

"You? You're the girl that was with Cetro."

"That's right Jakro." Cetro's voice came from a seat in the living room, "I'd do what she says. She's got a nasty attitude."

"Cetro? Y-You're alive!" Jakro sounded relieved but the feeling left when he noticed Sev's towering form peaking through the kitchen area with Skeeve at his side along with Lectro and B3 occupying the corner of his living room, "How did you all get in my apartment?"

"You should lock the windows to your fire escape better." Cetro answered, gesturing to a smashed window and semi broken wall.

Sev chuckled as he brushed off some broken glass and plaster from his shoulder, "Sorry about that."

"You guys are here…so does that mean Slater…"

"No. I reckon he's still alive and pissed off right now about us wrecking his car and taking out some of his men. Probably has the whole city on lockdown."

There was a long silence that followed.

"Listen Cetro, I know that-" he moved forward as he spoke but was promptly cut off when Azula shoved the barrel of her weapon hard against his skull.

"Didn't I say don't move? Maybe a blast in your kneecap will teach you?"

His body stiffened at her threat.

"Hold it kid. Back off from him a little." Cetro ordered.

"This man sold you out and almost got us made into hostages." She shoved him with her gun again, "He's lucky I didn't kill him as soon as he came through the door!"

"Look at him, kid." Cetro marched over, indicating to Jakro's two black right eyes and the lesions on his snout and cheek, "He didn't have much of a choice.'' He pushed her gun away.

She narrowed her eyes at him and scoffed before claiming her own corner of the room.

He let out a tired and pained sigh, "What did they do to you Jakro?"

Jakro shook his head, "I tried not to tell them anything… I really did."

Azula scoffed again.

Cetro gestured for him to take a seat before speaking in a gentler tone, "I know, but you can make up for it. We need to get off Ginza but it looks like our ship is stuck in the space port and is gonna get scrapped for parts, and I don't know who else's left that can help us."

Jakro sighed, "I get that but I don't know if I can. Everyone who is left is keeping their heads down. I'll point you in the right direction but that's all I can do."

"Come on Jakro, you owe me after I got you out of that mess in Kilikiri."

"I know! But this is different, this is the Gold Sun's. If they find out I helped you, they'll toss me outside of the dome."

Cetro was then reminded of what happened to Kanzo, "You saw it didn't you, what happened to Kanzo?"

Jakro squeezed his eyes shut and looked away, "Yeah… Euretta made all of us watch."

Cetro needed to ask but was afraid of the answer he would receive, "How far did he get before… did his family…"

"He barely made it. His wife and kids are fine. They went back to the homeworld, the boss is arranging new identities and relocating them just in case Euretta ever changes her mind." Jakro explained, seeming a bit more relieved.

Cetro let out a breath of relief, "Good. That's good to hear. I'm sorry you had to witness that, it must have been awful."

"It was…"

Silence took over the room again as the overwhelming somber mood took over.

Cetro shook himself out of it and got to the point, "Slater. What can you tell me about him?"

Jakro scoffed, "You saw him yourself. Didn't you? He's a con man. Not super high ranking in the Sun's but he's high enough to speak with Euretta directly. He was in charge of red sand distribution in the outer sectors of Pendaren space before Euretta put him in charge of Ginza's tech market and brought some of his red sand business with him. Man has a way with words, and managed to talk a lot of our guys into working for him. Even got some of the police force that Kanzo's been trying to bribe for years on his payroll. In just a few weeks he's managed to turn Ginza into his own little kingdom and if anyone steps out of line he's quick to bring down the hammer." Jakro pulled the collar of his shirt down revealing the chain shaped burn marks around his neck.

The burns were even worse than Cetro's, they'll definitely leave a scar and warp the shape of his scales.

Cetro grimaced, unconsciously reaching for his own burns, "What he did to us… what he did to you was terrible."

Jakro's voice took on an edge, "Terrible? This is a mercy compared to what Euretta did… what she forced Kanzo's kids to watch! She almost made his wife run out of the dome with him!" Jakro's breath became more rapid as if he was reliving the whole experience, "For as bad as Slater is, he actually talked her down to sparing his wife and focusing her fury on him, in a bid to make her seem merciful!" Jakro got up and went to the window to calm his nerves, "What she did after was just as cruel."

That phrasing caught Azula's full attention, she had been listening intently the entire time but now she was fully invested in what he meant by that.

"W-what did she do after?" Skeeve asked nervously, not really sure if he wanted to know.

Jakro turned to them, "I'll show you."

He shuffled into the kitchen past Sev, whose large size forced him to sit on the floor, and went into his freezer, fishing out a box and returning to the living area. Everyone eyed him with concern, with Cetro being the first to voice his.

"Jakro, what is that?"

"Kanzo." He opened the box revealing a frozen severed three digit hand locked in a strained grasp. It was so stiff with such a rugged surface Azula almost thought it was a piece of a stone sculpture.

"Good lord man!" Lectro cried out, hand over his muzzle.

"What the hell!" Skeeve said realing away at the sight of it, "Why do you have his hand?"

"Once he was as stiff as a statue Euretta had him smashed to pieces, then gave everyone present a piece of him as a reminder of what happens when you cross her. She put the pieces in the hands of his kids herself, told them to always remember what their father did and the consequences of his actions." he shuddered at the memory of it.

Cetro took the box looking down at the petrified hand, his face tightening as anger and sadness washed over him. Its outstretched position looked as though its owner was in pain. His glared tightened.

"You damned fool… what were you thinking?" He said to the hand before closing the lid, unable to look at it any longer.

"His kids." Sev said, peering over them, "How young are they?"

Jakro looked up at the giant with a look of despair, "Too young."

"That's… that's horrible." Lectro said as if he could feel the pain of their loss.

"Yeah, this lines up with everything I've heard about Euretta." Skeeve said while pacing in order to try and clear his mind of the hand.

"Me and some of the others are trying to make a trip back to the homeworld to bury what's left of him." Jakro took the box back and went to go put it back in the freezer, "You know… being in the business I've seen and met a lot of bad people, but Euretta…" he paused as if he was afraid that what he would say next would summon her, "That woman… She's a monster."

That word, it grabbed Azula's attention fully. Eurette's actions were definitely something many would consider monstrous but to Azula they were a clear sign of strength. The woman he described had petrified him with fear, her shadow making him cower at the thought of her and possibly many others feeling similarly. This was true power, something she had, something she knew well, something she craved again. Whoever Euretta Sareno was, she was someone worthy of her respect.

"We all know that. Which is why we need help to get out of here." Cetro reaffirmed.

"If they find out I helped you…"

Azula stepped in, tired of this pointless back and forth, "Then we make it look like we forced you to help us."

"Forced him how?" Cetro asked, coming to the defense of his friend.

"However way is convincing enough to Slater."

"Would that even work? How would we do that?" Lectro asked.

Azula gave a cruel smile as she pats the blaster tucked in her jumpsuit, "I can think of one way."

"I would much rather you not shoot me!" Jackro said, backing away from her.

"Oh don't worry, it won't be lethal. Just a little shot in the leg and it will look like we tortured the information out of you." she suggested.

"Nobody is shooting anybody." Cetro interrupted fully against the idea.

Azula rolled her eyes, "Slater already knows that you two are acquaintances, he might even be on his way here now."

"Then I'll just have to leave town." Jakro declared, "This is the excuse I've been looking for to go back to the homeworld."

"Do you even have a way of getting off planet?"

"I've got some people in the industrial district that owe me some favors."

"Can one of those help us?" Azula folded her arms as she used her thermal vision to see if his body heat would reveal any lies.

"I can think of one. Kanzo had a smuggler that brought all his supplies to the city. They take passengers off planet for a pretty high price. They're a third party group so they have no allegiance to the Sun's. You can find their meeting place in the sewers in district twelve and if they agree to take you you'll go through an abandoned subway out of the city to their ship in an old geothermal plant."

"Great, we've got a plan then!" Skeeve said happily clasping his hands together.

"But you'll have to wait until at least tomorrow to see them. They got back from a job recently and usually take a few days to resupply and refuel. They should be ready by tomorrow."

Lectro sheepishly entered the conversation, "But we need to leave now, the Sun's are looking for us. Where are we supposed to hold out until then?"

Cetro scratched his chin as he paced, "I think I know a place we can stay."

"Whatever you all think of, I don't want to know. Just make sure you all don't get caught." Jakro warned.

Cetro nodded in agreement, he wouldn't want the Sun's to know where they would be staying if Slater decides to interrogate Jakro again and wouldn't want to give away his escape route if he or any of his crew where caught, "We all have our objectives now." he turned to his old friend, "I guess this is goodbye for now Jakro, stay safe out there." He held out his two right hands.

Jakro grabbed both hands with his own, "You as well.

They left the mid levels of the city and traversed back to the lower levels on foot doing everything they can to avoid being noticed.

Gold Sun gangsters patrolled the streets with lower level thugs prowling in small groups while others hovered overhead in hovercraft. Police were notably more active in the lower levels as they started arresting people who even remotely looked like Azula and her group.

They arrived at a multi story storage depot built next to an overpass with the sound of ground vehicles speeding overhead drowning out all other noise. The building looked worn and dilapidated with the orange neon lights that followed its edges flickering and a neon blue sign displaying its name at the very top with several of the letters either off or flickering.

Cetro approached the front desk where a portly purple creature with a head like that of a shrimp and a pair of tentacle arms protruding from his round body.

"Cetro." The creature croaked out unenthusiastically from his vertical mouth.

"Gorlao." Cetro said back just as equally unenthused before producing the unit card he planned on using to purchase tech with, "Safe house, no disturbances, all of us for everything on this card."

The creature didn't say anything and instead took the card and plugged it into his computer to observe the amount, "How long?"

"Just the night."

Gorlao put the card under the desk and produced a keycard, "Storage room three-eight-seven. Top floor."

Cetro nodded, taking the keycard leading the way to the room.

The safe house door was like that of a storage room and inside looked like one as well until Cetro looked around the back wall until he pulled a panel revealing a screen. Cetro pressed the key card against it with the wall sliding open revealing another door. When they entered they found that the safe house was a glorified spacious attic with old furniture covered in a thin layer of dust, the lights flickered and buzzed, cobwebs covered the corners of the room and clearly had not been maintained for quite some time.

"This place is… cozy?" Lectro said before coughing after fluffing a pillow that threw a cloud of dust into his face.

Sev turned on the holovid display watching the screen flicker on before becoming clear as he brought a fist down on the device, "Better than nothing."

Skeeve opened the fridge, "Nothing to eat."

Cetro went to inspect the entire room for anything suspicious. While he was doing that Azula approached Lectro as she had a question about their shared adversary that was nagging at her mind, "Lectro, I have something on my mind that I'm hoping you could answer."

"If it's something I am capable of answering I'll gladly help." He said as he wiped dust off a couch and subsequently began coughing.

"Slater, he generated lighting from his hands. How did he do that? From what I understand, bending doesn't exist anywhere else yet he was capable of it."

Lectro explained as he waved the dust out of the air, "Oh, well you see that's not bending. Or at least it's not anything like you are capable of. His ability to generate electricity comes from a completely explainable scientific source."

"That source being?"

"Well, he's a Chundari."

She gave him a blank expression, "That doesn't answer my question."

"Right, sorry. You remember how I mentioned that there are species capable of naturally generating electric energy?"

"Vaguely."

"Well the Chundari are one of them. You saw those blue stripe things on his arms right?"

"I did. They're the source of his power?"

"Yes, those are external organs that store energy from the body that the Chundari can use as a weapon by squeezing all that energy out like a wet sponge by contracting them. It's nothing as powerful as your lightning technique but I would advise not being stung by it."

"And are all Chundari capable of doing this?"

"From what I know, yes. It's a little hard to get into specifics about it as you don't really see a whole lot of Chundari outside their planet."

She raised a brow in slight confusion, "Why's that? An ability like that would make them excellent fighters and conquerors."

"That's because they've already been conquered. They weren't that advanced when the Pendaren Empire found them and claimed the planet. They made it a bureaucratic nightmare for them to leave. I guess they saw the potential in them being a conqueror race and decided to heavily restrict their movements."

Another piece of useful information regarding the empire that she'll have to store for later.

"I see. So we don't know the full extent of how Slater could use it in combat." She sighed in disappointment but was relieved that she knew something about it.

"I'm off to make a food run to the vending machines." Cetro announced, "Who's coming with me?"

Lectro volunteered with B3 following him as the other three stayed and made themselves comfortable.

Azula scowled at their dingy abode but it will have to do, she couldn't afford to be picky. Now that she was in a safe place she could feel the weight of the day wash over her and fatigue flooded her system made her feel somewhat dizzy and the stress of all she had gone through was causing a migraine to come on. She needed to rest, not sleep but maybe meditate to keep her mind sharp while resting her body the only problem being the space they were in provided very little privacy, save for the bath stall. She saw a ladder leading to an old vent that didn't seem functional but seemed to be an opening to the roof.

"I'm going to find a place to meditate. Don't disturb me unless it's an emergency." She made her way to the ladder.

"One thing before you go." Sev said, making his way to her, "I think we need to talk about something."

She rolled her eyes in annoyance, but made sure he didn't see that, "What do you want Sev?"

"You were pretty quick to suggest hurting the guy." Sev said.

"You mean Cetro's traitorous friend?"

Sev raised a brow at her choice of words, "Right…"

"He gave away information that got us captured."

"Being a little vindictive, don't you think?" Sev shifted his weight and crossed his arms, "The info was beaten out of him."

"He could have chosen to stay silent. If he was truly a loyal friend he would have died before giving anything away."

Sev didn't say anything to that.

"But this isn't what you want to talk about, is it?" she asked, sensing this.

"You wanted to leave Cetro behind back at the club. I've got a problem with that."

Azula really didn't have the mental energy for this conversation but she'll tough it out and get it over with.

"Really? He was in the dragon's den, there was nothing we could have done for him if he didn't walk out of there when he did and in case you forgot I informed you and the others of danger."

"And I appreciate that firespitter but we have a rule in the Crimson Storm. We don't leave our own behind, no matter what."

"And what would we have done? Fight an entire syndicate in their own territory?"

"If it came down to it, yeah."

She pinched the bridge of her nose trying to find any kind of logic to his argument but failed to do so, "That is the stupidest thing I have ever heard you say Sev. Doing so would have killed us all."

"We didn't have to go full guns blazing but you could have at least entertained the idea of saving him."

"Sometimes one must be sacrificed for the benefit of the rest." she argued back.

"Are you willing to be that sacrifice?"

She didn't have a response for this and instead remained silent.

"Listen Azula, trust is something I take very seriously. Without it a group like ours will fall apart. You can always trust me to rush into an inferno to get you or anyone else in our group out of trouble but I need to know if I can trust you to do the same for me and anyone else in the Storm." he extended a hand to her, "Can I trust you Azula?"

She looked at his metal hand, an extension of trust, and her face twisted in contempt at the very word. Rage filled her when she recalled all those she trusted and how it led to her current situation.

"Trust? Sev let me tell you something. Everyone I have ever put my trust in has betrayed me." She looked him in the eye as she tried to mask her rising fury, "My brother betrayed me and our nation when he aided our enemies and overthrew my father, my two best friends in the world stabbed me in the back to save him." her voice began to rise, "My mother betrayed me when she abandoned me! And my nation betrayed me when they welcomed my brother as the firelord!" She turned away from him and took several breaths to quiet her rage, "Trust has only ever led to betrayal, so if you want my trust you'll have to go above and beyond to earn it." She walked away and climbed the ladder outside, "And just so we're clear. I don't trust that any of you wouldn't leave me behind to save your own hides." she pulled the old vent free and slid it out of the way as she exited.

Sev only stood there watching her exit, his hand still outstretched as he contemplated her words. He didn't like her unwillingness to trust him despite him making it clear she could do so but he could understand her viewpoint. It made sense why she was so cold and distant to him and just about everyone else. After all, how does someone trust others when the people they trusted most betrayed them? It didn't help that they are still somewhat strangers, only knowing each other for a few days. For now the best he could do was give her time and some space and hopefully she'll come around to trusting him and everyone else in the Storm.

Sev ran his outstretched hand over his face realizing just how tired he was as well and decided a nap would do him good. He went to one of the four beds laid out along the far wall and claimed one for himself and shut his eyes. Skeeve on the other side of the room, who had been pretending to watch the holovid display was actually listening to every word uttered with his four long rodent ears. Once Sev began resting he looked to the opening Azula climbed out of and saw an opportunity. He'll give her some time to cool herself off before making any attempt to speak with her. He didn't know the full extent of what Azula's fire bending was capable of but he could tell she had something to do with the cyberware on that thug's head exploding along with the engine to Slater's limo doing the same.

She was a powerful weapon, one that could benefit him greatly but could also be his own downfall if he's not careful. While she is meditating he began to think to himself on what he could say to get her on his side.

*****

Azula found herself standing beneath the flickering blue neon sign that overlooked the building that bathed her in sky blue light. She was high up, high enough that it reminded her of the balcony in the royal palace but overhead the many walkways and other buildings sat much higher acting as a sort of ceiling blocking almost all view of the sky and bathing the lower levels in sickly neon green light and the holographic screens of build boards. The whole area was a seedy ghetto but the neon lights gave the environment a rustic unconventional beauty. The air was much cooler here without residual heat obstructing her view.

Now that she was finally alone she let out a long drawn out breath as she sat down. Mental fatigue was consuming her and the previous conversation with Sev only heightened it further. All day she had to be strong against adversity, to not come across as weak in the face of danger and in front of her associates, but it was draining. She scolded herself once more for allowing this to happen to herself. There were countless days at the royal palace where she had to project strength constantly so that she would remain ahead and so that her father would be proud of her and in those moments she would never feel so drained as she did now. It's just as she feared, she's losing her edge. Weakness is starting to set in and she knows just who the cause of it was. Her mother.

The vision in the old tunnel has to be when her mental struggle began. Her mother poisoned her mind and made her second guess herself, second guess her father. She is to blame for everything just like everything else wrong in her life.

She knelt down beneath the sign and closed her eyes focusing on her breathing. She needed to cleanse herself of these thoughts and this weakness. Tomorrow they needed to escape and failure was not an option, she needed to be at her sharpest, she needed mental clarity and needed to make sure that her mother didn't manifest again.

"Blaming mother as usual." Zuko's commanding voice came from her right.

She turned to meet it where she saw her brother within a giant neon red sign dressed in the royal fire nation robes and crown hairpiece in his topknot. The size of the sign made him look like a towering giant as he looked down on her with contempt.

"You can't accept the truth, so you have to blame her for it. Face it Azula, you're just as weak as me."

"I'm not weak!" She shouted back at the sign, "I'm not you! I was father's favorite! I am the prodigy that you wished you could be!"

The neon red Zuko continued to look down on her as she looked up at him in defiance.

"I am stronger than you'll ever be!"

"Oh yeah?" Another voice came from above where she saw a neon blue sign where Katara stood cross-armed looking down on her as if she were vermin, "If you're so strong then how come I, a lowly water peasant savage, beat you so easily."

Her already high indignation went higher at the sight of the water peasant. This being the first time she's manifested as a vision to her.

"You had Sozin's comet at your back but you couldn't even so much as leave a little burn on me. You even had to resort to a cheap shot to get your brother out of the way because you knew you couldn't beat him." Katara mocked with an expression that felt more at home with Azula than her.

"Guess you aren't the fancy prodigy after all, huh?" The voice came from the blind earthbender within a lime green sign along the side of a slow passing airship who sat in a lax position with her feet kicked up, "Can't see that you really aren't all that special. Funny how I can see it when I'm the blind one here." She laughed as she waved a hand over her milky eyes with a wide grin.

"Shut up!" Azula shouted, grasping her head, "You're not real! None of you are real!"

"Yeah I guess you're right." Sokka said from another light blue sign from the distance, "We might not be real but everything we say is. Ain't that right Suki?"

The Kyoshi warrior in question agreed from a bright white sign on the opposite building, "That's right Sokka. It doesn't matter if we're real or not, all that matters is that you are the weak one and always have been. Always wearing that strength of yours like a theater mask, trying to hide what's really there." Suki mocked while fanning herself.

"And you know what happens to the weak." Zuko said.

The next voice came from behind and sent shivers down her spine, it was thunderous and shook her to the very core as a thousand voices spoke as one, "The strong trample over you."

She slowly turned around and saw that silhouette of the Avatar towering over her like a mountain, the neon blue light that washed her no longer came from the sign but from the glow of his eyes and arrow tattoos. Never had he looked so terrifying to her as if he could crush her like she was an ant. He had taken her father from her, his power, his strength and now his sights were set on her with him extending a giant shadowy hand towards her.

She turned away holding her head, "This isn't real! None of it is real!" She reaffirmed herself, "They aren't here. They can't imprison you. It's impossible for them to even be here." Her breath began to calm down.

These hallucinations were beginning to consume her life, appearing so frequently that they are bound to get in the way of her quest and worse let the others in the Storm know of her faulty mental state. She needed to regain control, she raced through her mind to find anything to center herself, like her father. Ozai was a pillar of unparalleled strength, he was the most powerful firebender in the world and her master. He would know what to do as he was one of the most successful fire lords to ever live.

"Is this what you have become?" her Father's voice snapped her back to reality and she found him standing at her side, his domineering presence making everything else seem miniscule.

"A sniveling child? What happened to the conquered Ba Sing Se? The slayer of the Avatar?"

She didn't look at him, she knew he wasn't really there but still she could not face him.

"Look at me Azula!" His biting words made her jump and obeyed his command, "Are you a weakling?" His expression tightened into a scowl expecting an answer.

"No." She said meekly.

"Are you a peasant? Say it louder!" He commanded.

"No!"

"Are you going to cower and let these lies your mother has spread keep you from doing what must be done?"

"No I will not!"

"Will you allow yourself to become as pathetic as Zuko!?"

"I will not be Zuko!"

"Then prove it to me! Pick yourself up and be done with this pathetic display. Get off this pathetic excuse of a city and take what is rightfully yours! You are my daughter, the rightful heir to the fire nation."

His words gave her strength, made her remember who she is and this strength vanquished the mocking voices of Zuko and his pathetic friends leaving only her and Ozai alone on the roof.

Ozai was pleased with her display, "Good. I always knew you had the strength within you Azula. Remember who raised you, who taught you how to be strong. Always remember that and not only will you have the world…" he placed a hand on her shoulder, one of the very few forms of physical affirmations he ever showed her, and gestured to the neon cityscape, "... but the universe itself."

He was right. All of this could be hers, the universe could be hers, "Thank you father, I'm grateful that you-" she turned to him only to be met with nothing. She forgot he wasn't really there. At least the illusion of him gave her some piece of mind.

She just had to remember who she is and she will get through any challenge life throws at her.

She went back to meditating, closed her eyes and breathed deeply focusing her mind on the sounds of vehicles flying by on the overpass below, hover vehicles flying through the air, sirens in the distance, strange music being played loudly, voices from entercoms and the sound of people below. Meditation was having the intended effect as she could feel her body and mind coming to peace, until she felt a presence next to her.

Without opening her eyes she rudely said, "What do you want?"

"Sorry, didn't mean to bug you with your meditation thing." The voice of Skeeve said.

"Then why are you here Skiv?"

He rolled his eyes before correcting her, "Skeeve."

"I know."

He ignored that comment, "Listen, I just want to let you know that despite what the others may say I believe you made the right call back at the club."

She opened one eye to him, "Really? So you had no qualms with leaving Cetro behind?"

"It's like you said, there would have been nothing we could have done to save him." He produced a cigarette and lighter, "Now I would have been just as sad as the next person if we did have to do that." He lied, having no positive feelings for Cetro, "But best to keep our own skins intact if that's all we can do. Am I right?"

Her mouth curved slightly at that.

"Don't let the big man rope you in on that whole, we're a team stuff. He's a tower of cyber muscle and gadgets so he'd actually be able to survive fighting the syndicate unlike us. From what I've experienced all that team stuff is just a bunch of crap the strong say to keep us weak grunts in line." He puffed out a cloud of smoke.

She snapped at him, "Don't put me in the same boat as you!"

"Why not? You don't have your powers right now, like it or not you and I are in the same boat.

She rolled her eyes, "I ask again. What do you want?"

He took a long drag from his cigarette, "The Gold Sun's are looking for us. It's not looking good, the others they're naive. They've been living under the protection of a former imperial with a powerful old ship, loading their heads with imperial propaganda. The Sun's are brutal, things are gonna get messy and if things hit the fan…"

"Let me guess, jump ship and join the Sun's, or jump ship and go through the rest of the universe as a traveling pair?" she finished before he could continue.

"I'm just throwing out some options, you've got to admit your powers are useful." He took another puff before flicking the cigarette off the edge, "Do you really want to be a pawn for My'Rell?"

"I'm no one's pawn. It doesn't matter who comes for us, I will crush them. I've done it before and I'll do it again." she stated, "Now leave me alone. I'm trying to meditate."

Skeeve gave her a ponderous look as he took in that information, "The Crimson Storm's a good gig for now but My'Rell's got enemies, powerful enemies. Sooner or later she's gonna get hers, best not to go down with her." He left her and went back inside.

She focused back on her meditation but she recalled everything she knew of Euretta Sareno. She sounds like the worst enemy anyone could make and now she is on her hit list by association and this whole fiasco she was in may even add to Euretta's contempt of the Storm. She just hopes she doesn't meet Euretta, at least not before she takes over the Storm.

Chapter Text

Azula sat on the floor of the safe house performing a full split as she stretched her legs while grabbing her foot. She needed to make sure she was nice and limber just in case they ran into the Sun's again.

Sev and Skeeve watched as she performed this feat that seemed to defy anatomy, at least for them.

"Wow, she's bendy." Skeeve commented as the stretch made him feel like his legs would cramp up by looking at it.

"Yeah, that's super weird." Sev said, feeling a similar pain in the organic parts of his legs, "Is that normal for humans or is it just a her thing?"

"Who knows, humans are weird. They're like discount Pendarens."

"She can shoot fire and lightning out of her hands. I think Pendarens are discount humans."

Azula could hear this conversation loud and clear but didn't pay it any mind and chose to focus on her stretches. Although it was a novel thing to hear them wonder about the abilities of her people.

"That's got to be painful tho, right?" Sev asked.

"Clearly not if she's still doing it."

She grinned as they admired her superior flexibility, it feels like nothing can bother her now.

"That or she's just a masochist."

She immediately lost her smile at the implication.

"Gross." Sev followed up.

"Do you two not have anything better to do other than gawk and make rude comments?" She rudely responded, "And no I am neither in pain nor am I a masochist!" She got out of the stretch with ease and shifted into another equally difficult looking stretch.

"Nope." Sev yawned, "The holovid display barely works, so we're watching your freakshow stretches."

Azula snorted at that, "Please. What you are seeing is nothing. If you want a real freakshow you should see my old underling Ty Lee, she could bend at angles that made me wonder if she had bones."

"That's weird. You're people are weird." Skeeve said.

"Say's the rat man." she responded.

"That's racist."

Cetro appeared in their corner, "Alright you band of idiots. Grab your crap and let's get ready to go."

"Good morning to you as well, Cetro." Azula responded flatly while getting out of her stretch, "Do we have a route to our destination?"

"Yeah, the doc's bot has the route Jackro gave us. It's a little along the way from here so we need to be covert."

B3 rove up to them, "I have tapped into local police frequencies as requested and have found that patrols are being spread out into surrounding sectors. The probability of detection by law enforcement is forty-five percent."

"What about the Sun's?" Sev asked.

"No data available on Gold Sun movements. Detection from them estimated to be-"

"Bad, got it."

Lectro returned to them from the roof opening, "Guy's we need to hurry, I just saw some Gold Sun air vehicles land."

"That's our queue to leave."

They all left the safe house and made their way through the crowded streets weaving through hordes of countless aliens and with it came the heat blindness that overwhelmed Azula's senses.

"This is hell." She stated flatly as she squinted her eyes.

"Sorry Azula. Can't really be helped at a time like this." Lectro apologized, "To think we came out here just to see how the star affects you and look how much of a mess that became."

"Perhaps we should thoroughly investigate the locations we plan on visiting in the future to avoid this." Azula directed to Cetro who only grumbled in response.

"Well while we are here, why don't we try to thoroughly learn how the brown dwarf affects you? Like… would you consider this an adequate amount of heat to handle or too much?"

Azula groaned, "I really don't want to focus on this right now."

"Yeah I figured."

As she was being led by B3 once again Skeeve handed her a pair of blue lensed glasses.

"What is this?"

"Thermal glasses."

"And where did you get these?"

"Don't worry about it." he grinned as a sleeping homeless alien awoke and groaned when his vision was assaulted by the amount of heat around him.

She didn't question his method of gathering these spectacles, especially after putting them on and finding herself being able to see just as she was able to normally but with a blue tint. Clearly another attempt to sway her opinions of him in her favor.

"Thank you."

"No problem, princess."

"You're being too obvious."

"About what?"

"You know what."

He snorted at that before leaning in so no one else could hear, "You give any more thought to what I had to say?"

She did, it was fumbling around in her head the whole time she was meditating. It would be prudent to have a backup in case My'Rell caught on to her plan, the only problem is she didn't want that back up to be with Skeeve. Sure he could be useful as he is a well of knowledge for how things work out here but his cow towing to her was more heavy handed than she could tolerate, he stank of cigarettes, and he was too much of a conversationalist in times where she would enjoy silence that she might end up strangling him, but what bothers her the most is that she can tell he knows more about things than he is letting on thus showing he'd lie to her to keep her in line.

"Maybe. We'll see how things play out." She walked ahead letting him know this conversation was over.

Skeeve lost his smile of false sweetness. He should have known it would take more than one conversation to convince her.

They reached an artificial lake where simple boats owned by the poorer denizens of the lower levels were used to get goods through the waterways for cheap. Cetro leads the way to a dock worker and his small boat.

"Hey, you by any chance know of a smuggler by the name Tsundal?"

The tall bird-like creature turned to them and narrowed his beady eyes to the group, "Depends on who's asking."

"People looking to get smuggled."

"Then yeah, I know him and I can take you to him. For a price."

"Of course." Cetro turned to the group, "Okay so… I'm a little strapped for cash right now and what money I do have on me is to pay the smuggler. So if you've got any units, now's the time to whip it out."

Sev scratched the back of his head, "Yeah… I'm kinda broke right now on account of some tech I bought the other day."

Cetro looked at Skeeve, "Don't look at me. The whole reason I'm a merc to begin with is because I don't have a whole lot."

Cetro eyed Lectro, "I don't have cash on me right now, but I can get some from a bank."

"Too risky. How much do you think the bot is worth?"

Lectro wrapped his arms around B3 in defense, "We're not selling B3! He holds too much valuable scientific data!"

Cetro didn't even bother with Azula knowing she had nothing. She on the other hand wasn't willing to pass up the chance to get out of here so easily and remembered Chani's bracelet still wrapped around her wrist. It must be worth something.

"What about this?" She handed the silver bracelet to the old engineer.

"Ain't that Chani's?" Sev said, recognizing it.

"How would you know?"

"Because I got that for her at a pawn shop as a last minute birthday present."

"I can get her another one." She waved off.

"One cheap bracelet for all of us ain't gonna be enough." Cetro stated.

Skeeve cleared his throat, "I think I can sweeten the deal enough for that." He held out a hand for the bracelet, "May I?"

Cetro was hesitant to just go with whatever idea Skeeve had but was out of options so he allowed it.

"Excuse me good sir, I have our payment for this ride." Skeeve presented the piece of jewelry.

"A bracelet? That'll be good for one of you, maybe even two depending on what it's worth." The bird creature deadpanned.

"Sir, do you not see the wealth that is sitting right before your eyes? This right here is a one of a kind silver chain lined with some of the finest gems from the planet Ziltra worn by the princess to its empire!" Skeeve presented in an overly dramatic fashion leading to Cetro face palming.

The dock worker didn't look convinced, "You're full of crap. Why would you have some princess's bracelet?"

Skeeve looked around in an exaggerated manner as if he was looking for danger before inching closer and lowering his voice, "I see you're not convinced, so I might as well tell you the truth. We are traveling with said princess." He gestured to Azula.

"Her?" He narrowed his eyes as he studied Azula, "She doesn't look like royalty."

Azula's brow twitched at that comment.

"Not royalty? Take another look at her eminence! Standing erect with chest puffed out to exude confidence fit for a future monarch, chin held up high and proud, and that look in her eye!"

She decided to play along with Skeeve's game by discarding the thermal glasses and giving the dock worker a peak into her golden eyes, and it didn't hurt to show off her superiority to this low born creature.

"Those are the eyes of someone capable of ruling a powerful nation!"

The dock worker seemed to be somewhat more convinced.

Skeeve continued to ham up his performance, "You see we are her retainers and we were sent here on a mission of diplomacy, unfortunately that didn't go as planned and now her eminence is forced to degrade herself by posing as one of the members of the peasantry in order to find a discreet means of escaping the planet and in doing so is forcing herself to part with one of her people's most sacred treasures passed down from generation to generation and worth thousands of units, and all yours if you provide us passage to this Tsundal."

The dock worker still seemed skeptical, "How do I know you all aren't just making it up?"

Skeeve was about to answer only for Azula to do so herself. She thought it time to show a true master of lying at work, "I grow tired of this exchange. So allow me to speak instead of my incompetent advisor here." She snatched the bracelet from Skeeve's hands and grabbed the boatman's placing it in his grasp herself, "Good sir, please accept this gift from my gracious empire and if you provide safe passage I'll be sure to inform my father of the brave and noble boatman who helped us." she said in a noble and sophisticated manner as she too hammed up her performance, "My father would be so grateful to you, so much so that he'd reward you handsomely."

Any doubts the dock worker had were dashed away by her regal demeanor and was now more than willing to help, "How handsomely?"

Azula glanced upwards seeing a large airship passing by, "How much do you think that ship weighs?"

The boatman's eyes widened before a wide smile grew, "Get in."

They all gathered into the small boat. Cetro padded Skeeve on the shoulder and said, "Good job Skeeve."

He couldn't help but wear a self satisfied smile now that he did something that made the stubborn old engineer remember his name.

The boatman motored them across the canal, unbeknownst to the group a red sand dealer making a deal noticed the group gathering into the boat watching it fairy them. The dealer pulled out his personal device where its screen displayed the photos of the individuals he saw that his boss Slater wanted and began to make a call.

*****

Slater sat at his desk holding an ice bag over a bruise on his head from the crash as he looked over the images of the members of the Crimson Storm that escaped him, captured by security cameras in and around his club. He wanted to burn their likeness into his mind.

He focused on Azula's picture, studying her as he remembered during his entire interrogation of their group; she was the only one that remained calm and collected; no emotional outbursts and didn't cower in fear. He remembered the look in her eyes, there was a commanding presence behind them, one drenched in superiority. He recognized that look in those that looked down on him in his youth. It was a look one could never forget.

His second in command; a short, squat creature with a compact body, glossy black eyes, and quills sticking out of his head, stood before him updating him on the search.

"We've had our people comb through the entirety of sectors eleven through fifteen of the industrial sector and haven't found any traces of them. There's been no sign of them at any of the ports or dry docks. They're most likely trying to lay low until they can figure out a way to escape. I would recommend expanding our search to other districts of the lower and middle levels."

"Do it, and make sure you forward these pics to all our informants on the upper levels as well." He tossed the data pad onto the desk as he swiveled his chair to meet his gaze.

"Right away."

"Also, get in touch with our friend Jakro. I'm sure he can point us in the right direction his old buddy will take."

"Actually sir, we've been trying to contact him for the past few hours. He hasn't been answering our calls."

Slater grumbled to himself, he should have figured the man he practically tortured wouldn't want to answer any calls, "Send somebody by his place and do what you think is necessary to get him to comply."

"Of course." his second waited to receive the data pad but Slater continued to study it focusing on Azula.

"Sir?"

Slader rubbed his chin as he studied her picture, "I've got a feeling about this one." he pointed to Azula.

"The girl?"

"Yeah, like something in ma gut is telling me to watch out for her."

His second narrowed his eyes, "Hope I'm not being too bold boss, but she's just some kid. Probably a street rat they plucked out of some ghetto to haul boxes."

"Nah, she ain't from the streets. I can tell you that. She don't got the look or the attitude; she's educated, smart and has some negotiation skills."

His second raised a quilled brow, "How can you tell?"

Slater chuckled, tossing the table to him, "Simple, I'm a people person."

His second nodded in agreement, "Is there anything else you need, sir?"

"Yeah, how goes our cross referencing on our missing ships?"

"We're still sifting through reports. I'll update you if we find any connections."

"While that's pending, focus all your efforts into finding these Crimson bastards. I want them found by tomorrow. If worst comes to worst I want to have some bodies to pin our missing ships on and get the boss lady off ma back."

"Of course." His second nodded then left after being dismissed.

His second's com's device sounded off prompting him to answer it and after a brief exchange he hung up, turning back to Slater.

"Boss. Just got a call from one of our sand dealers in sector twelve with a positive ID on the targets."

"Well hot damn!" Slater cried out in excitement and throwing the ice bag over his shoulder, "Looks like the universe is smilie'n on me today! Where they at?"

"They were spotted being ferried across the lake. We know of a smuggler with a storehouse in the sewers in that area."

"That's where they're head'n." Slater thought for a moment on how to deal with this situation, "Mobilize a strike team- No! Two teams. I don't want to take chances with a behemoth like Sev stomp'n about."

"Should I organize a third one just in case?"

"Ya know, that's what I like about you, Slick. Always got yer head in the game, think'n three steps ahead and make'n sure to have a plan for the long term." Slater said quickly while patting his second's shoulder enthusiastically.

"Just doing my job, sir." He responded in a deadpan manner.

Slater took his jacket and left with his second following. He wanted to see to this personally, that way when he finally does catch them he can punish them in person for what they did to his limo.

*****

They arrived at a sewer opening with the bird man sailing them in and dropping them off at an old walkway before sailing off, not without letting Azula know his name and where to find him for the award she promised.

"So… the empire of Ziltra. That a real place or…"

Skeeve laughed, "No. I made that up on the spot. Honestly I didn't think he was gonna fall for it." He laughed some more, wiping a tear from his eye, "What an idiot. Am I right?"

"I think it was Azula's bit that really sold it." Lectro laughed with him, "It does help that she actually is a princess."

"Let's just hope we're long gone before that idiot remembers he's got more than one brain cell." Cetro said before lightly kicking B3's leg, "Lead the way bot."

B3 illuminated the way with his built-in flashlight, "This sewage tunnel will lead to the necessary route to our rendezvous with the smuggler."

"If he's even there." Skeeve commented.

"Shut it Skiv." Cetro said, making sure to get his name wrong this time and not wanting to hear anything negative regarding their escape.

B3 led the way through the dank and dark tunnel with conversation being minimal. Azula didn't bother wearing her thermal glasses as the tunnel air was cool enough to not affect her vision along with its blue tint making things even darker than her surroundings. She would just use her thermal vision to follow her warm bodied companions even though the darkness didn't hinder her sight.

"Uh…" Skeeve groaned as he held his snout, "This place is reeking havoc on my nose."

"What do you expect? We're traveling through a sewer." Azula said as the smell of raw sewage made her face scrunch up.

"Yeah well my nose is a lot stronger than yours. So why is a smuggler hiding out in a sewer rather than in a dock or a space port?"

"That is a good question. This doesn't seem like a place people who regularly travel space would be found in." Lectro said.

"A lot of criminals like to hang out in the sewers." Cetro answered while fishing out his own flashlight, "It's pretty easy to hide from the law down here, a lot of abandoned passageways makes this place into one huge maze. It's typical for criminals to gather in chambers down here."

"Speaking from experience?" Sev jabbed as he switched his eyes to nightvision.

Cetro grumbled, "I've made a few questionable purchases from questionable people down here."

Azula chuckled a bit at that, "It's funny. You said you left this life behind for something better but it seems this life isn't done with you yet."

He grumbled further in annoyance.

"Working for the Copello's sounded like a good gig." Skeeve commented, almost gagging at the smell, "Why leave it all behind to work for the Pendarens?"

He sighed heavily, "I won't lie, the life was cushy and full of riches but I had too many close calls. Kanzo and I used to have a pretty big group of friends, all part of the gang life, but as the years went on our luck began running out." Old painful memories began playing in his head, "I've attended too many of their funerals until it was just me, Kanzo and Jakro… well… me and Jackro now. I saw the writing on the wall and knew I had to get out while I still could; got a job fixing machinery at a Pendaren shipyard, got scouted out by some officers who offered me a place on a ship, ended up on the SeCore and the rest is history."

"Simple self preservation then." Azula deduced.

"Not just that. I had a son to look after and it would've been nice to keep him from looking up to a criminal."

"And yet here you are coming to meet a criminal." Azula said.

"Mercenary work is more legit than what I used to do!" He barked back.

"How's that kid of yours anyway?" Sev asked.

"Hardly a kid anymore. He's old enough to have his own family, if he'd stop wasting his time trying to be like me."

"I'd probably be more honored to have my kid wanting to be like me." Skeeve said to himself.

"What was that?" Cetro barked.

"Nothing! Just complaining about the smell is all."

Azula rolled her eyes at his attempt to save himself with a lie. It wasn't that hard to make a convincing lie.

As Skeeve inhaled again absorbing the stench of the sewers he caught the scent of something else. It almost smelt like smoke but with a sweetness to it like the various spices used for recreational smoking. His nose twitched some more as the scent got stronger.

"Guys, I think I can smell something."

"Yes, we all smell the raw sewage." Azula said blankly.

"Not that! I smell spice." He sniffed the air again picking up other scents, "Along with other stuff like… food and… fuel." His dual sets of ears swiveled forward, "I can also hear people talking."

"We're close then." Cetro said as he walked ahead of the group.

They rounded a corner and found a steel door. Cetro was the first to approach and hammered his two left fists against it.

After a few moments an eye slit slid open with a pair of orange eyes looking down on them, "What do you want?" A thick voice said quickly.

"You Tsundal?" Cetro asked.

"You looking to get something smuggled or buy something?"

"I need to get myself and my crew here off Ginza and I was told you could do such a thing. Under the radar." Cetro made sure to flash a card meant for currency in his field of view.

The eye slit closed quickly and was followed by the sounds of various locks being undone before swinging open. The creature behind the door was large and dark green with a gourd shaped body, long arms that almost touched the floor, a pair of stubby legs and a small head with a short trunk in place of a mouth, "Captain Tsundal's in the back."

They were allowed entry with the thug eyeing them suspiciously with his amber colored gaze being especially hard on Azula. She didn't like the extra focus on her when Sev seemed like the most dangerous of their group but was really only given a passing glance. She couldn't help but feel like things were going to go wrong.

They entered a large room that seemed to have been a repurposed boiler room with dozens of shelves holding a vast array of materials ranging from vehicle components, fuel tanks, storage bins containing perishable items and other goods. Smuggled hover cars sat in place next to storage tanks under catwalk's connecting both ends of the upper level.

The walk to find the captain did not take long as the creature led them to the back area where they saw the presumed captain speaking to another gourd shaped alien on a lower platform next to a large hover skiff.

"Captain! Customers!" The creature hollard.

The captain peered up to them. He was a short alien with a tall pointed head, wrinkly flat face attached to a hunched over body, "I'm coming!" Tsundal shouted back in an irritated fashion that reminded Azula of Cetro.

What she wasn't expecting was to watch this smaller creature steadily float up gracefully like a leaf in the wind. Once he was on ground level with them Azula saw that the captain had no legs but in their place was a mechanical chair with several small hover modules at its base being controlled by a joystick.

"Welcome! Welcome! You come to me to have something smuggled, yes? Or are you here to buy some things from our store room?"

"Jakro pointed us to you. Said you can get things on and off world without a problem."

"Ahhh, yes! The Codello bookkeeper. Always came to me for tech smuggling. Good man, shame what happened to his employer."

There was a noticeable twitch to Cetro's brow at the mention of that but he brushed it aside to focus on what truly mattered, "Right… Anyway, he tells me that you take a few days to get your ship in order for the next job. Is it ready now?"

"Just need to get a few more things loaded on our skiff and we be ready for transport." The small alien waved half-heartedly, "So what is it that you want smuggled?"

"Us, and we need to be gone yesterday."

The captain looked over their group, being sure to scan each and every one of them as best he could with his one good eye until they landed on Azula and his expression twisted in disgust.

Azula could feel the malice in his stare and felt the familiar feeling that something was going to go wrong again.

"I charge extra for living cargo."

Cetro sighed knowing whatever he was going to pay was going to put a dent in his bank account, "How much per person?"

"Ten thousand each, not including the robot."

Everyone's eyes went wide, no one's were wider than Cetro, "That's Fifty thousand units total!"

"Forty." The captain corrected, "Forty thousand I take you and all of them wherever you want. Not her." He pointed a boney finger to Azula.

"What? Why? I haven't done anything to you." she said as the urge to light this entire storeroom on fire swelled within her.

The captain scowled, "Not what you did individually, but for what your people have done, Pendaren!" He thrust the joystick forward, floating to her and maintaining an elevated position over her, "I don't do business with Pendarens, whether you are with the empire or not."

"Except there's one problem with that. I'm not a Pendaren! Do you see horns poking out of my head?" She shouted back at the creature pointing at the absent defining features.

Cetro stepped in, "Listen, she's with us. It's a package deal, either you take all of us or you get nothing."

"Then I choose nothing. Goodbye now." he began to float away.

"Wait! Wait! Wait!" Lectro jumped in, "She isn't a Pendaren, and I have scientific sources to prove it. Her species just happens to closely resemble them, that's all. Tell him B3."

The robot swiveled to meet the Tsundal's gaze, "Based on DNA analysis of private Azula there are notable biological differences, such as the subjects blood being iron based rather than copper-"

"Bah! If it walks like Pendaren, talks like Pendaren, looks like Pendaren then it is Pendaren in my eyes."

Sev stepped up managing to stand over the floating creature, "Buddy she's just a kid. Can't you just make an exception?"

The old smuggler let out a bitter humorless laugh that devolved into a coughing fit, "An exception? The Pendaren's made no exceptions when they came to my home! Claiming it was theirs by right and deporting my people!" He hovered closer until he was eye level to the cyborg, "And they made no exception when they took my legs from me! I don't care if she's but a child, if it were up to me I would throw her and the rest of her kind outside the dome and watch them freeze!"

"Look! I'll pay for all of us and extra for her!" Cetro hollered letting out all frustration from this trip loose.

The smuggler scoffed, lowering himself to Cetro's level, "This isn't about the money Kestridon. It is the principle, their kind has been living at the top for too long! It's about time they experience the hardship and suffering they've wrought."

Things were beginning to escalate quickly as Cetro stopped holding back his frustration and began arguing aggressively with the hoverchair bound alien with everyone else jumping into support. It was only a matter of time before blasters would be pulled out and this exchange would end with a shoot out.

Skeeve could see this about to happen and quickly stuck two fingers in his mouth and whistled loudly forcing the argument to stop.

Now all eyes were on him and he chose to revel in it, "Now I know things aren't playing out like everyone would like but we're all adults here. Meaning we have the ability to reason and maybe strike a deal."

Tsundal groaned, "I am not letting that Pendaren on my ship!"

"And I ain't leaving one of us behind!" Cetro barked back.

"Both very compelling arguments, but let's try and reach a compromise." Skeeve turned to the smuggler, "Now I get why you don't want our young friend here on your ship, I really do. In fact I think the empire is in need of a good kick in the ass myself. And you'd be right not to want her." He walked to Azula's side, "I mean look at her; that stiff authoritarian posture, that condescending glare, that prim and proper face that makes it clear she's never had to even think about the little guy's like us."

Every word he said was like a dagger stabbing at her patience that was making it difficult to not want to strangle him. She grabbed his shoulder pulling him closer so he could hear her hushed whisper, "What in Agni's name do you think you are doing?"

"Getting you on that ship." He whispered back before shaking himself free of her grasp, "But my friend I present to you a unique opportunity. As you can see she is clearly high born with no regard for common folk like us, despite her physical deformity, you have the chance to show her what it's like being at the bottom. No, not the bottom but below it. You need physical labor done on your ship, get her to do it, scrub the toilets, chew your food for you. Push her around like the empire pushed you around, within reason of course and just until we reach our destination. After that you'll be about fifty thousand units richer and you'll never have to see us again. Sounds fair, right?"

He couldn't have been serious, he wouldn't. Azula thought to herself. Skeeve had essentially tried to sell her off as this filthy creature's personal servant, not even a servant but a slave, for the trip. There's no way he would go for it though, his hatred for Pendarens would outweigh any idea of taking up this offer… right?

Tsundal rubbed his chin as he seriously contemplated this offer, "What planet you wish to travel to?"

"Kazima."

He thought about this a little longer, "And I can order her to do anything?"

"Within reason!" Cetro reiterated, fully on board with the plan.

"You can't be serious!" Azula said back in disbelief.

"We don't leave our own behind, kid and this seems to be the only way. Take one for the team."

"I will not degrade myself by being this creature's whipping girl!"

"Sometimes sacrifices need to be made, kid. Be happy that it's just your dignity and not a limb."

Before Azula could retaliate Tsundal swiveled around and announced his decision, "Very well, forty thousand for all of you, five hundred for the robot and your pet Pendaren can join so long as she does the hard work on board."

"Deal." Cetro said before any objection could be made, "We pay half now and half when we get there."

"Very well. Before we go I need to pack in some extra cargo." He turned to Azula, "Pendaren girl, I have job for you while transaction is being made!"

She growled, "I am not your-"

Cetro grabbed her and pulled her aside, "Listen Abzul! This is our only way out so you will shut your trap, do everything that cripple tells you to do and you will do it with a damn smile! You will not do or say anything that will jeopardize that I swear to whatever pathetic primitive excuse for a god you believe in I will peel the skin off your scalp, rip your fingers off one by one, light you on fire and dance until daylight finally comes to this forsaken popsicle of a planet! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME!" He said in an unhinged rant that would probably make Ozai wince as he fully let out all his frustrations that radiated so much rage Azula swore she could feel his blood pressure rising and felt that objecting to it may actually make him act on his overly exaggerated threat. Finding another smuggler would take too long and they may run into a similar problem if they aren't caught by Slater's men first.

"Very well… what's my first task?"

Some time later Azula would find herself struggling to push a hover cart loaded with heavy metal barrels up the ramp of the skiff. They were forcing her to load up the last of their cargo onto their transport and are most likely going to make her load it into their ship as well.

She felt humiliated, not because she was doing tasks fit for a measly peasant, although that was something that will never not get under her skin, but because she was now a glorified work horse.

"Come on Pendaren girl! We don't have all day!" Tsundal shouted.

"For the last time, I'm not a Pendaren!" She shouted back before finally getting the cart onto the skiff.

"Whatever you say Pendaren!" The smuggler turned away and went back to speaking with one of his crew as Azula growled while making a strangling motion behind his back.

Cetro sat in the skiff with the others tapping his foot anxiously. He was fine making Azula into a temporary servant but at the rate they're going it's becoming a hindrance. It's only a matter of time until the Sun's track them down and he's worried that the smuggler is enjoying this game a little too much, "I'm gonna go help her."

"The captain's gonna be mad if you help out his new toy." Skeeve warned.

Cetro scoffed, "He can work her to the bone while on the ship. Right now we just need to leave."

Lectro paced about nervously, "How long do you think it'll take for the Sun's to track us down?"

"The probability of us being spotted while navigating the city is high." B3 added.

"Which is why I want us on that ship already!" Cetro said before getting up to speak with the captain, "How long is this going to take? We need to be out of here as soon as possible."

"You think you my only customer? I have other things that need delivering, I can't help that you showed up while we were loading cargo."

"Is there any way you could speed things up?"

"Well that depends on how fast your little Pendaren works."

He face palmed, "Then all of us will help out."

"You said I can work the Pendaren girl as hard as I want and that is what I am doing. Don't need you spoiling that."

"Well now it's starting to impede what we paid you to do!"

*****

As they continued to argue outside the storehouse a team of tactically dressed men armed with military grade plasma rifles crept down the sewers. They were the Gold Sun's extraction team used for lethal operations involving extractions, assault or extermination. Slater had ordered them in the field as they specialize in combat within tight enclosed spaces and their advanced training would give them a better edge against the titan that was Sev who could easily overpower the run of the mill thug.

The display within their domed helmets gave them a direct route to their objective thanks to old maps of the sewer system Kanzo kept logged away that informed them of component rooms and alternate routes.

"Alpha team in position outside of entrance, getting ready to plant charges." The team leader reported.

A second team took an alternate route that led to a component room where one ripped open a breaker door and grabbed hold of the wires supplying power to the large room.

One of the members within the component room tossed a spider shaped device into an air vent and began remote controlling it to crawl through the vents until it exited through an opening and crawled along the ceiling peering down at the escaped Crimson Storm members and smugglers as it's operator monitored everything it saw through and holographic screen from his wrist.

"This is Beta team leader, we have located the target area and have a positive ID on the targets."

Slater's voice came over the leader's communicator, "Beautiful! That's why I love having you boys around. Yer quick and thorough. Need more of y'all."

The leader ignored the added comments from his employer, "Rules of engagement before we operate, sir?"

Slater now within an armored vehicle above ground looking over the shoulder of the extraction team operator at the many screens displaying the feeds of each trooper's helmet cameras, "I want at least two of them alive. If yer gonna kill any of them kill Sevran, he's the reason I'm sending y'all."

"And the smugglers?"

"Kill em. We got plenty of other people willing to move stuff for us."

"Understood." The leader gave the signal to cut the power and informed the Alpha team to begin the operation.

A quick snip of a wire was enough to completely shut off all power to the room plunging everything within it into darkness.

*****

Azula dropped a heavy box to the floor, shattering its fragile contents, as all the lights to the room went off. Everyone else looked around in confusion.

"What happened to the lights?" Skeeve asked.

The captain growled in frustration, "Damn breaker went out again!" He began barking orders to his two crew mates while the rest tried to find their bearings.

The hairs on Azula's neck stood on end. Her intuition was telling her something was amiss, too many bad luck experiences made her on edge to these sorts of things and given her current circumstance she can't rule this out as being a sign that danger was close.

Skeeve sniffed the air and picked up a scent. One that he recognized from his time within Death's Head. A faint spicy smell coming from the main door. His ears swiveled in that direction trying to hone in on something.

Azula took notice of the rodent aliens' odd behavior, "What's wrong?"

He didn't answer, instead he focused all four ears on the direction of the door until he heard a faint click. He then realized what it was and turned on his heel, "They found us!"

Before anyone could react an explosion blew the steel door off its hinges, sending it flying into a stack of storage crates with the Alpha team rushing in. The visors switched to night vision giving them an edge against their blinded targets.

"Everybody on the Skiff, now!" The captain ordered.

They all piled into the now hovering vehicle, the only light source now being its head lights, but found the large double door leading to the abandoned subway was stuck closed without power.

"We're stuck!" One of the smugglers said as he looked over the panel for the door.

Cetro turned the flashlight to his communicator to the captain, "Is there any way we can get that door open without power?"

"Of course not! That thing can only open with electricity!"

B3 rolled up between them, "If I may. My battery capacity is at eighty three percent, I am willing to give up a portion of my energy to assist in this matter."

"Wait, would a robot's battery even be enough to open that thing?" Skeeve asked in a panic as he heard footsteps getting closer.

Cetro cracked all four sets of knuckles, "I can do it, it'll take a lot of the bot's power but it's doable. I just need time."

"Unfortunately that's not what we have a lot of." Azula warned as a second explosion from another entrance went off and more boots could be heard entering the facility.

"Sev, I'm gonna need you to start busting some heads." Cetro ordered before leaping out of the Skiff.

Sev only grinned as his scarlet eyes flashed pink to infrared and he cracked his metal knuckles, "Can do." he turned to Azula, "Hey firespitter, you want in on this action?"

She pulled out her blaster making sure to set it to lethal as they both made their way to the main warehouse, "Gladly." She couldn't help but smirk at the suggestion, she's been pent up with more than enough resentment and is more than glad to let it out, "So what's the plan? Or are we just making it up as we go, like last time?"

Sev grinned, "But that's where all the fun comes from."

Azula only gave him an annoyed look.

With his augmented hearing Sev was able to detect the footsteps approaching, "Sounds like a squad of armed assault units, a lot of them too. I suggest we try a hit and run."

"Hit and run?"

"It's a tactic Gax and I like to use. Run and gun taking out as many as we can and staying mobile. Keep the pressure high and don't let them catch their breath or corner you." He explained as his arm shifted into its blaster configuration.

It sounded like his plan was to cause as much chaos and mayhem as possible. It was a reckless plan but one that fit Sev's motif easily.

"Better idea. How about you draw their fire while I take them out from a safe distance?"

"Boo, you're no fun."

*****

The door team steadily marched through the pitch blackness with their weapons trained for anything that could jump out. They continued through the rows of shells making sure to cover every corner of the room.

"No sign of targets." The team leader reported, "Spider droid, report target location."

The spider droid crawled along the ceiling in search of their targets. Sev noticed the bright red eye on the ceiling as it crawled towards the skiff. He grabbed one of the smuggler's goods on the nearest racks and threw it at the small bot smashing it upon impact.

The leader halted in place raising a fist signaling the others to stop, "Just lost contact with spider droid. Hostiles might be in the area. Secure the perimeter!"

They all separated and looked over every detail of the large room. Sev peaked over the edge of a shelf making note of how many individuals were present. He quietly got behind one of the racks waiting for several of them to get close before using his augmented strength to push it over. The troopers couldn't react in time as the rack came down crushing three of them and colliding with the others making them fall like dominoes and filling the air with the sounds of crashing metal disorientating the rest.

Sev jumped out from behind cover and uppercutted one of the smaller troopers, sending him flying into the air before firing and hitting two more.

"Contact! Contact!" The troopers began firing a barrage at Sev as he sprinted through the storehouse using the still intact racks as cover before sliding out of it grabbing an empty pallet and launching it at another trooper then firing at another. He grabbed a smaller trooper, raising him in the air and using them as a shield as he took cover again before throwing him aside.

Azula hung back hiding in the shadows as she watched Sev wreak havoc on their opponents. It was her turn to cause some chaos of her own.

She hid behind a stack of crates finding several troopers close by. She reached out a hand feeling for the body heat of the trooper and began to lower it drastically causing his body heat to plummet, his glowing body slowly growing fainter. The man began to stumble to his knees as weakness took over his body as it shivered uncontrollably and he began to become sleepy.

*****

Slater noticed one of the troopers movements becoming sluggish as he stumbled, "What's go'n on over here?"

The operator radioed the trooper "Alpha six, what is your status?"

"C-cold… I'm so…" the trooper fell forward into unconsciousness.

The operator looked into his suit's built in sensors, "That's weird." he commented prompting Slater to ask what was wrong, "His vitals are saying he's suffering from hypothermia."

"Hypothermia? Ain't those uniforms layered for insulation and whatnot?" Slater questioned.

"It must be a malfunction, sir."

Slater couldn't help but feel as though that wasn't the case.

*****

Azula focused her attention to one of the other troopers taking cover behind a parked vehicle and focused on raising their body temperature. She found that it was much easier to raise it than lower them and after a few moments the trooper fell over from heat exhaustion.

The other trooper saw this and went to aid him.

This time she focused on the faint glow of his side arm slowly raising its temperature until the trooper began to feel a burning sensation on his hip. As he went to remove the pistol Azula increased its temperature significantly until its battery caught fire and began spewing sparks.

The trooper panicked as he threw the weapon aside and it exploded. Before he could recover Azula had appeared behind him and fired a blast killing him instantly before moving on.

*****

As the fight in the storeroom raged on Slater watched as many troopers were dropping like flies under some mysterious circumstances. Many passed out from heat stroke while others were succumbing to a strange case of hypothermia despite the room temperature being quite temperate.

"What's go'n on here?" Slater questioned impatiently.

"I-I don't know, sir. I can't make sense of any of this."

"Could it be some kind of weapon they have?" Slater's second asked.

"At this point it might be."

Slater would normally chalk this down to incompetence but there were too many occurrences of this to be that and he highly doubts that this is a coincidence.

He watched one of the helmet cams fire at Sev only to inexplicably explode in their hands knocking him unconscious, but as he fell he landed in a position were his camera was looking at Azula hiding behind a rack with a hand outstretched and just as she made a motion with her hand another trooper close by passed out from heat exhaustion.

"It's her!" Slater snatched the headset off the operator and began barking orders, "All units there's a second target hiding out in behind the shelves! Take her out now!"

*****

The ones that noticed her began firing, forcing her to sprint to keep out of their line of fire all the while she returned with her own finding that it was indeed much harder to hit them while moving. She hid behind a shipping container as shots raddled behind her, now she had to remember what My'Rell taught her when using a blaster. She peaked out when hearing the hiss of a rifle overheating and with her arms locked and feet kept firmly planted she returned fire managing to hit one.

Azula now lost the element of surprise but that was fine with her, she was formidable enough without her bending and now that she has a better understanding of what she was dealing with she would adapt.

She ran out of cover towards the racks with five troopers giving chase. She managed to escape their sight and climbed the shelves, from her vantage point she began to calculate which one to pick off first and her escape route as they passed below.

She took aim and fired, hitting the one farthest away from the group in the back before leaping overhead to the other rack. The troopers heard her and turned their weapons firing blindly. The base of the racks were not meant to withstand blaster fire as they passed through them like a stone being thrown through paper forcing her to stay mobile and firing whenever she could. She used her athleticism to maneuver through the levels of racks with ease, being sure to knock over anything that could be a distraction for them.

She went to fire again only to be met by the hiss of her weapon overheating, the heat escaping looked like dragon fire through her thermal vision. She had no time to wait for it to cool so she tossed it aside as she hopped down gracefully and turned her eyes to a barrel full of rebar wires.

Slater was more than impressed with Sev's pure brute strength, he was a powerhouse and that demanded respect. Part of him hoped he survived this ordeal so that maybe he could try and recruit him to the Sun's.

He shifted his focus to the Alpha team leader as they pursued their target.

He radioed the team leader, "Alpha team leader, what's go'n on over there?"

The team leader replied in a gruff disoriented voice as he recovered from being hit in the head with a fallen wine bottle, "The second target is in the racks! We can't keep track of them!"

"Keep them distracted while Beta team goes for the rest."

"Yes si-" the team leader was cut off as his feed showed him falling flat on his face.

"Alpha team leader! Do you copy? Hey! What's happening? Someone talk to me!"

*****

Azula stood over the body of the team leader with a rebar wire in hand and swung at the knee of one of her opponents making him scream out in pain as he fell to the ground firing his weapon in the air.

She quickly turned to the closest one sidestepping his blasts and jammed the end of the wire into his chest before upper cutting him with the opposite end.

The last one still standing spun around to face her only to be met with a hard swing to the head that shattered his visor and knocked him unconscious.

The one who was struck in the leg pulled himself up and took aim. Azula noticed and duct out of the way by splitting her legs narrowly avoiding the blasts that instead collided with the trooper behind her.

She swept his legs out from under him and before he could react she swung the rebar across his helmeted face sending shards of his visor across the floor.

The leader had finally recovered from the blow to his head and saw his men incapacitated and like the others he went on the offensive. Azula spun out of the way of his fire and with a downward swing she knocked the rifle out of his hands. She tried to swing the opposite end of the rebar at his face but the team leader grabbed hold of the pole and used his size and strength to force her against the shelf, pushing the wire against her neck. It took all of her strength to keep it from digging into her throat.

She sent her knee at his side to try and free herself but his densely padded armor protected him from her blows. As he pressed the rebar further against her with his upper arms one of his lower ones reached for his sidearm. She couldn't do anything but press it away from her but if she didn't do something it would mean certain death. She let one hand free from her grip allowing the rebar wire to be pressed against her throat and cut off her oxygen so she could grab hold of his wrist keeping him from pointing it at her. He pressed the bar further into her throat hoping to knock her unconscious but her grip never loosened and in the process she raised the temperature in her hand and in her opponent.

In a split second the fabric around his wrist caught fire causing him to drop his side arm and backed away crying out as he attempted to put it out. Now gasping in a sharp breath Azula recovered and swung the rebar as hard as she could, smashing his visor and exposing his four eyes to the pure blackness of the store room. He couldn't see anything at all with the only visibility being provided by the flashes of plasma fire from his comrades that was accompanied by the sounds of conflict.

He could see nothing in this pitch black room and worse yet couldn't see the girl he was fighting but he knew she could see him. He began panting as fear overtook him, it wasn't until he felt himself back into something that he turned and found Azula standing before him, he could only make out her shape from the red light of the blaster fire that made her look like a devil, it paralyzed him in fear, fear that Azula reveled in and made her feel on top of the world again. All it took was one hard downward swing to take him out indefinitely.

*****

"We lost all connection to Alpha team leader." the operator informed Slater as they watched his helmet cam turn to static.

Slater looked at the screen in contemplation after witnessing the entire battle from the camera's of the other troopers. He went to the camera computer replaying the team leaders footage and paused at the last image. It was of Azula bringing the rebar wire down on his head all with what looked like a deranged smile on her face.

"What info do we have on this girl?"

"Not much." His second answered while going over the info on his personal device, "Azula; age sixteen, unregistered species from Kazima, was arrested for assault on a train and evading arrest. That's all we could find from our contacts in the system."

His gaze still fixed on the girl's gleeful smile as she inflicted pain, "That all, huh?" He turned his focus back on the mission, "Beta team, locate the rest of them quickly."

"Roger that. Traversing the catwalk now."

*****

Sev grabbed hold of another trooper and threw him at another similar in size to him before punching his helmet then grabbing the man and tossing him at the last of the team.

He heard more footsteps from above and saw a group of more troopers traversing second level towards the others.

"Fire spitter! More above us!" Sev called out.

She could see the warm bodies making their way through the catwalk at the far end of the storhouse.

"I see them." She grabbed hold of one of the fallen plasma rifles and made her way up a stairwell, "Distract them!"

Sev summoned his blaster again and drew their attention away with a barrage of plasma with them returning fire.

Azula assumed the lessons My'Rell taught her on blasters transferred to the rifle, only she didn't expect the recoil to be so much greater but managed to hit one of them from behind.

As they turned their attention to her Sev decided he needed more fire power. The panels of his left arm split open with a miniature cannon to his grenade launcher peeking out and he fired at the base of the second level, crumbling the catwalk's support separating the team leader and the rest of the group.

Some were still in a position to continue their objective and pushed forward while the team leader and his group offered suppressing fire against Sev and her.

Azula could see them and saw that she could intercept. She just needs to get past the group on the catwalk. Before they could react Azula charged, firing and taking out several of them until the weapon overheated in which she threw it at the remaining trooper, a smaller creature as tall as a child. She grabbed the smaller alien and threw him over the edge then roundhouse kicked the leader out of the way.

Sev went to fire another grenade until one of the recovering alpha team members tried to tackle him and lost his mark with the grenade zooming over their heads and towards a group of starship fuel drums.

The explosion generated was massive and lit the entire space in a fiery blaze. The shockwave shook the room, throwing several of the troopers off the railing, generating cracks along the walls and ceiling with a portion of it crumbling down, destabilizing the catwalk.

*****

The shockwave rumbled and threw Cetro and the others off balance.

"What are they doing in there? You better reimburse me for everything that is damaged!" The smuggler captain demanded.

"You'll be lucky if you can get anything back from the Sun's once this is all over!" Cetro barked back as he cut the plug of the door power cord off then taped it to the severed end of B3's power transfer cable.

Unfortunately B3's power transfer cable wasn't compatible with the door's power outlet but Cetro's engineering prowess came up with the idea of switching the plugs to compensate.

He plugged the newly made cord in and told the robot to begin power transfer with the door slowly sliding open.

"Door's good! Lectro call Sev and get them back here!"

*****

Sev pushed himself out from under a rack that fell on him after the explosion, "Gah… That sucked, gonna be feeling that in the morning." His eyes flashed indicating he was receiving a message on his internal com link.

"What's up?"

Lectro's voice came through, "Sev! Cetro got the door open! Get yourself and Azula back here so we can leave!"

"Gotcha, heading back."

*****

The surviving members pulled themselves up, knocking themselves out of their daze and assessing the situation. The store room was a mess to say the least with the far corner of the room collapsed burying a good portion of the space in rubble and the resulting fire illuminating the space making the extraction team's night vision useless. There were only a handful of them left with the rest of Beta Team unconscious, dead or buried under rubble.

The grinding sound of a metal door sliding open caught their attention.

"They're attempting to escape! You three push forward, the rest secure the area!" One of them commanded with them splitting up.

The four that remained observed the area around them, checking the status of the wounded and searching for any signs of their adversaries. One of them noticed some movement beneath some rubble and went to investigate, kicking away some of the debris until he found Azula lying face down with her legs pinned by the fallen catwalk.

"Beta team to operator, we have one of the targets in custody."

*****

Skeeve kept a look out while the door continued to open with a blaster in hand. He shook nervously from the sounds of destruction he heard. It sounded like a war zone, he knew it would be loud and destructive but not to this level and wondered if he made the right decision to side with the client against the Storm. He prayed that that didn't come back to bite him.

His ears perked up when he heard the sounds of three sets of feet coming their way, "Hey guys, someone is coming!" He was met with blaster fire from three troopers and he took cover behind a crate.

Everyone took cover as soon as the red bolts flew through the air as they advanced until the solid frame of Sev shoulder bashed one out of the way, kicked another into a rack and shot the last with a scatter shot rifle that he picked up on the way.

"Finally! I thought the whole city was coming down back there!" Skeeve said.

"That explosion wasn't my fault… mostly." Sev said as he pulled the pump back and allowed the heat to escape the battery.

"Let's just get out of here while we still can!" Cetro hopped onto the skiff.

"Hold on!" Lectro said, "Where's Azula?"

Sev looked around them, "Wait, she's not here yet?"

"You idiot! You didn't make sure she was with you when you came back?" Cetro growled.

"Hey! I assumed she could get here on her own after seeing what she was capable of without her bending!" He argued back before turning back to the fire's of the store room and began marching back, "If I ain't back in two minutes take off without me."

"Wait, you're going back?" Skeeve asked incredulously.

"Crimson Storm doesn't leave our own behind." Sev picked up speed as she jogged to her last known position.

*****

When Azula awoke from her daze her head was spinning, she tasted blood, her eyes were very sensitive to light, her ears were ringing and felt a great weight on her legs.

That explosion was something she didn't plan on happening in such an enclosed space and now it had her pinned. Her injuries were minor and was slowly regaining her senses, enough so that she could see the four remaining troopers standing over her.

She immediately tried pulling herself free but the combined weight of the rubble and catwalk kept her in place. She saw a blaster within reach however as soon as she extended a hand one of the troopers kicked it away and the but of a rifle was slammed in between her shoulder blades.

"Don't move!" The one that struck her ordered as he kneeled on her back as he attempted to bind her hands while another stood over her weapon trained on her.

She struggled against his grasp desperately trying to escape and grabbed the ankle of the other one. Her heat bending caused his pant leg to catch fire throwing him off balance as he tried to extinguish the fire.

The two others in the distance came to aid him after witnessing this.

"How'd she do that?" One of them asked.

The other pointed his gun to her, "This one is clearly too dangerous. We should just kill her now."

Slater's voice came through his headset, "Kill her and I'll throw yer ass outside the dome naked during a blizzard! I want this one alive."

"But sir-"

"But nothing! Secure her and get the others!"

"Right sir." The trooper reluctantly complied.

Azula screamed and cursed at them as her arms were forcibly held against her back while the trooper retrieved a pair of cuffs.

What went wrong? She finally had control of the situation. She was powerful and feared again, so why? Why was she still the one being bound and caged again? It was like the universe itself was against her, and with no sign of Sev or the others she assumed they had left her behind.

She couldn't blame them either, it was the most logical thing to do. She was now dead weight after all and would only put them in more danger if they did come. But a part of her still resented them as Sev said that they didn't leave their own behind yet here she was, left behind like always. Just like how her mother left her behind for her new better family, how Zuko left her behind for his friends, how her own friends left her behind for Zuko and just like how her father left her behind to burn the Earth kingdom without her. It almost made her want to cry.

As the trooper was beginning to cuff her a green blast of energy collided with his chest knocking him back and pulling Azula out of her despair. Sev charged through the flames with a battle cry as he shot the other two and struck the last one once his weapon overheated.

"Sev?" She said, baffled that he was still here, "W-what are you…"

"Like I said firespitter. We don't leave our own behind." He tossed his weapon aside as he grabbed the catwalk and effortlessly lifted it up with one hand, freeing her.

"Can you walk?"

She pulled herself up and tested her weight on each foot, "I'm fine." She said before almost falling off balance.

"Need me to carry you?"

"I said I'm fine!" she snapped.

She tried to get her mind back on track while still in a daze.

Unbeknownst to both of them one of the unconscious Beta team members regained consciousness and got up from being buried under rubble. Half of his visor was broken exposing one red eye that saw his two targets, Sev's back turned to him, a perfect opportunity to strike. He lost his blasters in the explosion however he unsheathed a combat knife from his chest plate and began hobbling his way to them.

Azula's eyes were readjusting to the light and the added heat of the fire was now throwing her thermal vision off, so much so that the fire camouflaged the warm body of the approaching trooper.

Before Sev could notice, the trooper was right behind him and plunged his knife into his side in the part still made of flesh. The pain alerted him right away and he swung at the man only to miss as he fell.

As much of an armored tank Sev was, his greatest weakness was the parts of him that were still made of flesh. Even with armored clothing over them there were still bits that could be exploited.

He lay on the ground clutching his side as purple blood began to leak and the trooper loomed overhead ready to strike again. Azula could barely see them but could see enough to guess where they were and grabbed one of the fallen rifles and fired a reckless barrage managing to hit them.

She tossed the weapon aside and rushed to his side, "Sev! Are you alright?"

He winced as he stood back up, "Yeah… it's gonna take more than a little poke in the side to take me down… ow… that does hurt a little. We should get going, door's open and Cetro's getting impatient."

He shot her a grin despite the pain he was in.

She agreed, and they both traveled back to the skiff together as the room's oxygen levels were being consumed by the fire.

*****

Slater stared at the blank screens of all the members of both Alpha and Beta with mixed emotions. Two extraction teams had been completely wiped out by only two people. He was impressed but also unbelievably angry.

The operator sat there nervously as he was afraid that anything he said would set Slater off but knew he couldn't stay quite forever, "Uh… Sir, Omega team is still on standby. Should We deploy them?"

Slater took a deep breath as he clenched his spark ridden hands before answering in a calm tone, "No. Let'em go for now. We know where the smuggler's ship is parked, right?" He directed his question to his second.

"We do sir."

"Good. Then let's go pay it a visit."

*****

Once they had gotten back to the Skiff they departed with Sev using his grenade launcher to collapse the tunnel behind them. They were home free now with the Skiff gliding through the sewers.

Everyone was exhausted by the ordeal, none more so than Sev and Azula. She only had minor injuries but Sev sat there clenching his side from the stab wound as Lectro and B3 took a look at it.

"All this armor and yet you still found some way to get injured." Lectro said as he used his jacket to apply pressure.

Sev hissed in pain, "Don't start sounding like Bevel, always scolding me after missions."

"She does it because you're always in her medical bay! Starting to think most of this cyberware isn't there because of "self improvement" and more so as a consequence of your recklessness."

"Little bit of both actually."

Lectro rolled his eyes at that and continued to apply pressure, "I can't stop the bleeding. The wound is pretty deep."

Cetro addressed the captain, "Don't you have a first aid kit?"

The captain sneered, "We did, back in our destroyed storehouse!"

Cetro only grunted in response before going to his crew.

Azula looked at Sev's wound seeing that it wasn't getting better and Lectro's jacket wasn't enough to soak up the blood, what's worse is he got it by saving her. Many have gotten hurt defending her over the years and she never felt anything for them as they were doing their duty of protecting their princess yet being a princess meant nothing to Sev and she was still just a stranger to him but still put himself in harm's way for her. She guesses there was some truth in what he said then.

"Step aside Lectro." She said as she approached, "Let me try something."

"You have medical experience?" He asked as he got out of her way.

"No, but I know how to cauterize a wound." In truth she's never done this but figured it wouldn't be hard, it was just burning flesh, "You might want to bite down on something. This is going to hurt."

"I can take it. I've got a pretty high tolerance to pain." He grinned.

She focused her energy into her hands until they were glowing brightly through her thermal vision and also began heating the area around the wound on Sev's side. She pressed both hands against it with the hiss of searing flesh being audible. Sev took it pretty well, only groaning slightly at the pain. Sev did have a high tolerance for pain after all.

"That was stupid, you know." She said, keeping her focus on the wound, "You should have just left me behind."

She pulled her hands away and inspected the cauterization.

"Like I said before, we don't leave our own behind." He held a hand out to her in another attempt at establishing trust.

She looked at the hand contemplating if she should take it but instead turned away, "J-Just shut up and focus on getting better you idiot!"

She marched to the far end of the Skiff. Sev chuckled, she may not have taken his hand but he could tell that he was starting to chip away at the hard shell she was hiding behind and knew she had too much pride to accept him just yet, at least out loud.

Chapter Text

The skiff soured through the sewers and passed into the abandoned subway system gliding by derelict trains and stations. It was here that Azula was able to feel the biting cold beyond the dome and she could see icicles forming on the ceiling suggesting this area wasn't properly sealed off from the outside.

"Hope none of you are too bothered by the cold? There's a couple leaks here and there." Tsundal said.

"We're not actually going outside in the cold right?" Skeeve asked as he began to shiver.

"Course not! What do you think, I'm crazy? Subway connects to old geothermal transport tunnels. We don't have to set one foot out in the tundra."

Cetro took his word for it and shifted his focus to the injured member of their party, "How you holding up."

Sev shifted his weight a little with his face twisting in pain before being masked by a cheeky grin, "Just a scratch. I've survived worse." He then indicated with his prosthetic leg.

"That knife wound was still pretty deep. I suggest you not move around so much until we get you back to Bevel." Lectro cautioned him.

Cetro ran a hand over his head in a tired fashion, "Great, our tank is out of commission leaving you as our soul power house, Abzul." He said to Azula.

"Azula." she corrected again.

"Ain't that what I said?" Cetro disregarded this and went back to the smuggler, "Please tell me your ship is ready to launch."

Tsundal sneered at him, "I radioed ahead and informed the rest of my crew to begin launch preparations. All we have to do is load up and we should be good to go."

"This time we'll all load it up so we can get out of here before the sun's eventually find us."

"Fine. Do whatever you want."

"Thank the maker, I'm ready to get out of this place." Lectro said warily.

"We're not out of the woods yet. We still have to actually get off Ginza and hope they don't chase us all the way back to Kazima."

After several more minutes of traversing the subways they found a tunnel that led them out of the city into an old geothermal plant.

It was a sizable structure built into the side of a large rock outcropping. The outside of the building was decrepit and falling apart with frost covering almost every nook and cranny with icicles formed on every surface as the facility was partially buried in snow. Its long dead chimneys resemble stone ruins that almost blend into the rock outcropping. The interior was lived in but contrasted greatly with the rustic exterior with well maintained floors and hallways, fluorescent lights and heating that kept the overall environment cozy. The pipes and machinery that belong to the buildings originally purpose were caked in a layer of dust.

The skiff soured through the wide open corridors until it reached a large hangar where a large yellow rustic wedged shaped ship sat with its rear cargo bay door open and waiting to receive them with a member of the crew coming to meet them.

He was a yellow skinned Ke'Kuvon with a thick dark blue stripe tattooed over his eyes splitting his face, "About time you showed up! Ship is fueled and ready to go when you say." he stopped when he noticed the others, "Who are they? Is that a Pendaren? Are we smuggling them now?"

"Not a Pendaren." Azula scoffed back.

Tsundal hovered past him, "We discuss this later. Gold Sun's hit the storehouse and are probably on their way over. Get the doors open and the supplies on board now."

The Ke'Kuvon followed his order and shouted for the other crew mates to follow, "Get those doors open! We launch in ten minutes!"

A crew man ran to the door controls and attempted to open the doors but were unresponsive.

"Door's stuck!"

"What do you mean the door's stuck?" Skeeve said exasperated.

"Meaning the door is stuck! There's probably ice lodged somewhere."

Cetro pinched his brow, "It's just one thing after another. Isn't it? Abzul, use whatever power's you've got to melt that ice, Lectro go with her. Sev, Skiv and I will stay here and get everything loaded up."

"So much for not having to go outside." She sighed tiredly.

"Don't worry, I'm sure it's not as bad out there as everyone makes it out to be." Lectro said optimistically before finding himself shivering violently with his teeth chattering despite being wrapped in layers of warm clothing as he walked with Azula dressed in a similar manner.

"Okay I was wrong. It is that bad!" Lectro shouted over the howling winds who didn't respond and focused on the task at hand.

It was pitch black outside, the only lights being the flood lamps outside the facility along the catwalk and the glow of the domed city. The biting winds howled as they threatened to throw her off balance which didn't sit well with the pair as they traversed a shaky and rusted walkway that seemed to shake with every gust of the wind.

Even in her insulated clothing she could still feel the chill of this frozen wasteland and wondered why anyone would want to settle on such a frigid wasteland.

They were directed to the massive double doors by one of Tsundal's men where they could clearly see a thick sheet of ice covering one of the corners.

"Here it is. Don't know what you guys plan on doing." their guide said before leaving them.

Azula looked at the thick crust of ice in disdain, "How am I supposed to dethaw that?"

"That is a very good question." Lectro followed up, "How did you increase the temperatures in Slater's engine?"

"I just saw something glowing and focused my energy on that."

"Then there's your answer. Look for something glowing and increase its temperature without making it explode. Please don't make it explode."

"Easier said than done. I still don't know the limits of this ability."

She removed her thermal glasses and almost felt as though her eyeballs would freeze over after a frigid gust of wind blew her way but bore through it. Squinting her eyes she could see faint glowing within the frame of the door that took the form of coils of light crisscrossing, clearly energy running through wires. The sheets of ice seemed to dampen her view of the extent of the glowing network but it was just enough to help her.

She outstretched her arms reaching out with her bending, feeling the warm energy within the door and focused on making it grow hotter. The process was arduous to say the least as the energy was faint and felt like it would slip away like hanging on to something while the hand was coated in slime. To regain control she focused on her breathing, finding that like all firebending techniques the breath was key.

With each breath the door grew hotter and the ice covering the door was beginning to dampen. It would take awhile for it to fully melt but hopefully she can weaken it enough for it to crumble away.

It took almost an hour for her to melt away a good portion of the ice with her having to take a break. The process felt as though it was sapping the heat from her own body to achieve her goal and all she felt was cold.

Lectro took notice, "Are you alright? You look tired."

"I am." She looked at the ice sheet as it was drenched and dripping with several bits of it crumbling, "I think I weakened it enough. The door should be able to break the rest off."

"Great! Then let's get out of the freezing cold."

As they left she looked out into the horizon at the domed city. It was a marvelous spectacle and quite literally the only thing worth looking at in the tundra, she noticed movement from the sky. After closer inspection with her thermal vision she could see the heat of thrusters and when they were close enough she could see the shape of four ships, the same type of ship she saw in the hangar when they had arrived.

Before she could do anything a series of torpedoes was launched and made their way to the structure colliding with the door and exploding in a fiery blaze. The shockwave threw them back and destabilized the platform. She climbed up the platform like a ladder reaching the edge until it snapped with Lectro diving to catch her hand before she could plummet to the lower levels and pulled her up.

"Of all the times they could show up!" Lectro said as another explosion rocked the building sending icicles plummeting down.

"I'm starting to believe I wasn't really born lucky!" Azula said, picking herself up and running with Lectro to the door back inside.

*****

On one of the small police cruisers following the Gold Sun gunships Slater stood over the pilot watching his screen.

Slater's second, Slick, approached him, "We've scanned the structure and found a single freighter parked inside the northern hangar."

"Good." He pressed the button for the coms, "Gunships, which one of y'all has a fully charged laz gun?"

"Gunship three, our laz gun is fully charged and ready to fire."

"Take out the ship."

"Are you sure about using the laz gun sir?" Slick asked, unsure of this decision, "I thought we wanted to catch them alive. Don't you think that's a little overkill?"

"Strike teams didn't work so now we bust out the big guns."

*****

Explosions rocked the building with lights flickered and dust falling from above.

"We have to launch now!" Azula shouted, throwing the insulated clothing off.

"Tell me something I don't know!" Cetro said, as he helped Sev up off a bench with Skeeve and B3 at his side.

Tsundal floated by barking orders as the doors finally began shifting open, "Hey! Crimson Storm! Hurry up and get on board, we are leaving now! So unless you all want to stay get go-"

A bright red beam of light cut through the hangar door carving through the ship like a blade through butter resulting in an explosion that engulfed Tsundal with the shockwave throwing them back.

Azula recovered from the blast and saw the ship, their only hope, was slashed in half and on fire with the hangar door melted open letting in the biting winds as the surviving crew members tried to save themselves.

Skeeve dropped to his knees with his hands on his head as he looked on in horror at what had happened, "T-the ship… how… how are we gonna…"

"The tunnel!" Cetro shouted focusing not on what just happened and more on what he can do, "Get back to the tunnel now!"

They ran back further into the building as the ceiling began to collapse with the surviving crew having the same idea.

Through the crumbling mess that came down around them they reached the lower levels where several spare skiffs waited. Some of the surviving members took a skiff and sped off ahead of them. As they jumped in their own skiff a laz gun blast cut through the tunnel collapsing it behind the earlier skiff cutting off their escape.

"Ah no! How do we get out of here?" Skeeve panicked.

Cracks spread through the ceiling from the blast with the rest of the tunnel coming down around them.

*****

The gunships circled around the geothermal plant showering it with plasma and collapsing the building.

Slater watched the destruction unfold, "Alright, cease fire. I think we've done enough."

"Are you certain that anyone is still alive down there?" Slick asked.

"Only one way to find out. Get a search team down there, if you gotta scrape their brains out and stick it in a jar then that's what we do. If not… well, guess we're gonna have to get that fabricator the hard way."

"I would suggest getting this done quickly sir." The pilot said, "Forecasts are saying a blizzard is coming soon."

"Then I guess we better get to it." Slater dismissed.

"Right sir." Slick said going to make a call only for his device to ring.

Slater supposed it was a shame that his targets were undoubtedly dead and that My'Rell might not be willing to trade the fabricator for what he could scrape up of her crew from the ruble so now has to figure out how he's going to brute force his way into getting it from her.

"Sir, we've got a problem." Slick said.

"What is it now?"

"Our red sand shipment just went missing in the system."

Slater snapped his head to him, "What! Another one? How long ago was it?"

"An hour ago."

"Damn it! Euretta is already on ma case, this is only gonna piss her off even more." He considered what to do next, "Have the investigation teams found any connections with our ships and civilian ones?"

"Yes sir, they've reported that all ships that had gone missing in the past few months that stayed in contact with stations, planets or individuals all said that they had picked up a distress signal and went to investigate only to never be heard from again. This matches all of our ships that made periodic reports with most of them saying that they were responding to such. It would seem that our culprit may be luring ships into a trap with a phony distress call."

Slater scratched his chin as he took this in. There is nothing more terrifying to a space traveler than being marooned in open space with limited oxygen and supplies. A distress call would be the only form of salvation and even then the vastness of space didn't guarantee that anyone would hear it. All space travelers knew of the importance of this with it being an unspoken rule by many to answer every distress call heard and it was seen as a great taboo to weaponize it with not even the most vile of pirates would stoop to such a level.

"Get ma ship ready for launch and call in some of our gunships patrolling the system, I got an idea. It's about time we nip this in the bud."

"What about the Crimson Storm?"

"I'll leave that to you Slick. Find them or what's left of them while I take care of this." Slater ordered as he contacted one of the other cruisers to pick him up and take him to his ship.

*****

Azula's head was spinning as she regained her senses where she found herself under some rubble that she pushed off her legs. Thankfully she wasn't seriously injured but was covered in dirt and even more scratches than she already was. The tunnel had collapsed almost completely with the end leading to the city blocked off by melted stone and metal while the way back to the upper levels had also collapsed leaving them in a ruined pocket that was barely managing to stay up and not crush them, it was a miracle that they weren't dead already.

She looked around, finding the rest of the group getting each other out of the ruble but relatively okay.

"Hey firespitter." She turned around to see Sev trapped beneath a piece of the ceiling managing to hold one end up with one arm, "Help me out, I can't pull myself out and hold this up at the same time."

She went to his side without thinking and used as much strength she could muster to hold up the large chunk of debris while Sev pulled himself out. He struggled getting out, no doubt from the stab wound but as he tugged he felt his foot was caught on something.

"What's taking so long?" Azula asked, struggling to keep the stone debris up.

"My foot's caught on something." He answered as he yanked again and with it the sound of metal tearing and wires snapping came as he got free and pulled himself away just as Azula's arms gave out.

His right prosthetic was missing its foot now with sparks shooting out where it once sat, "Crap. Gax is gonna throw a fit when he sees this."

The ceiling stirred as chunks began falling again and support beams buckled under the weight.

"Hey!" Cetro called out as he pulled some stones away from the wall revealing a somewhat intact emergency exit, "This way! Hurry!"

They all made their way to the exit as quickly as they could with Sev limping to keep up until the cavern fully collapsed behind them. They ascended a long flight of stairs until they climbed their way out into the tundra where they saw the smaller cruisers begin landing, dropping off teams of armed troops who then began sweeping the area.

Gold Sun ships sored through the air covering the wreckage in search lights, the geothermal plant was completely destroyed and covered in a vast fire that illuminated the darkness of Ginza, the tunnel to the city collapsed, ship demolished, Tsundal dead along with a majority of his crew or lost with Azula and her allies now stuck outside the dome in the freezing wasteland.

"Oh no… no no no no. We are screwed!" Skeeve said in a defeated voice as he paced around frantically.

"Hold on! Let's not panic. W-we just need to figure something else out." Lectro tried to calm him down only for the rodent man to retaliate.

"NOT PANIC?! Our one way ticket out of here got blown to pieces, we're surrounded by Gold Suns and we're stuck out in the freezing cold! I don't know about you but I think this is the perfect time to panic!"

Cetro sat down in a piece of rubble exhausted, "I'm gonna be honest with y'all… I've got nothing. So if any of you have any crazy suggestions or ideas, I'm all ears."

"I would suggest finding cover first." B3 stated, "Enemy forces are in large numbers and I am detecting an incoming blizzard from the west."

"Great! Now we have to worry about turning into a frozen statue just like your good old pal Kanzo!" Skeeve said to Cetro who in response rose from his seat and stood over Skeeve.

"You've got something you want to say, Skiv?"

"Yeah I do! This whole mess could have been avoided if you had just checked in with your pal beforehand and made sure he wasn't dead before we showed up! And my name is not Skiv, it's Skeeve!" He then shoved Cetro.

The older engineer didn't take that too well and grabbed him by the collar with his top set of hands and hoisted Skeeve into the air.

"You really think this was all my fault? Who was it that blabbed to them about the fabricator, huh?"

"Guys! Fighting isn't going to help us!" Lectro pleaded as both he and B3 got in between them and tried to stop the fight.

Azula rolled her eyes at the sight before her. Typical for a weak willed group to begin fighting amongst themselves after a few setbacks. Instead of watching the exchange of insults she approached Sev who was uncharacteristically quiet as he held a hand over the metal plate that was his ear with his eyes flashing teal in deep concentration.

"Hey! What are you up to?"

His eyes went back to normal, "Listening in on their coms, might as well see if I can pick up something."

"Anything of note?"

"Yeah, apparently another one of their ships went missing and Slater is going out to investigate it."

"He's leaving the planet?"

"Yeah, putting his second in charge of finding us."

The gears in Azula's head began to turn as a plan formed. She turned to the rest of the group, seeing that Lectro was struggling to keep Cetro at bay while B3 held Skeeve away with ease.

"HEY!" She shouted, taking all of their attention, "I have a plan."

Cetro relaxed, pushing Lectro off him, "Alright kid. I'm desperate enough to hear it."

"Sev's been listening in on them and another ship has gone missing."

"And we should care… why?" Skeeve asked.

"Slater is going to investigate it himself, meaning he's leaving the planet on his own ship."

Lectro's eyes widened as he connected the dots, "Wait a minute. You're not suggesting…"

"Exactly that." She answered before he could finish, "We're taking his ship."

Both Lectro and Skeeve stared wide eyed and slack jawed.

"That's suicide!" Skeeve stated.

"It's our only option! At least the one with the best chance of success."

"It's a bad idea though!"

"Of course it's a bad idea! I would have liked to get out of this frozen hell by any other means but do you see any way of doing that?" No one had a response to that, "If we can take his ship then we are home free. It will not be easy but at least there will be a chance."

"I say let's go for it." Sev said, "It'd be nice to go on the offensive for once and I'd love to have the chance of exchanging some words with Slater." he then cracked his metal knuckles as if to punctuate his statement.

"We're gonna die if we do this." Cetro said then took one last look at the destruction around him, the oncoming blizzard and the distance to the city, "But, if I'm gonna die it might as well be swinging. Let's take that ship."

Lectro followed up although his confidence wasn't up to par with the rest, "Since the most accomplished members of our group are going with it I guess that means I'm with you as well… even if the idea makes me want to curl up into a fetal position and cry."

All that was left was Skeeve who only looked at them incredulously, "You're crazy if you think you can actually do this!"

"You're welcome to stay behind Skiv. But that means you'll be the one they torture for information when they catch you." Cetro added.

"You mean if?"

Cetro took a step closer using his added height to loom over him, "What makes you think there's an if?"

Skeeve's ears lowered realizing the truth in that statement, "All right fine. But how do we get to his ship?"

"I've got a good idea." Sev then pointed to one of the small police cruisers that had landed.

*****

Slick stood over the shoulder of the operator looking over the helmet cams of the extraction team's going through the wreckage with one of the surviving team leaders of the previous sewer teams accompanying them as he held an ice bag over a bandaged gash on his head.

"You really expect there to be survivors?" the commander asked.

"No, but the boss wants us to be thorough." Slick responded.

"I don't see how he expects us to find them before this blizzard hits."

"Questioning the boss is above my pay grade."

The commander rolled his four eyes, "Like we're going to find anything, it's not like they're going to come walking up to us."

"Funny you should say that actually." A voice from behind grabbed all of their attention where they saw Sev shutting the rear door behind him with a smirk.

*****

Azula and the others watched as the vehicle shook fiercely with the muffled sounds of a struggle being silenced by the howls of the wind until it ceased with Sev opening the door and giving them the thumbs up to enter. After pulling the three bloodied and bruised individuals they dumped their unconscious forms into a pile of rubble, quickly booted up the engines and took off leaving the powerplant behind. As they took to the sky the cloudy wall of frost and snow overtook what was left of the powerplant snuffing out the flames and coating the area in a blanket of snow and had the added benefit of scrambling radio signals, keeping anyone from noticing the vanished shuttle or calling and letting others know if they noticed.

Minutes later their shuttle landed in the civilian dry dock Sev directed them to after listening in on where Slater was just before the blizzard hit where they left it behind and made their way to the hangar where Slater's ship is being held.

They entered through the top level of the space and looked down to see the crime lord's ship. It was a long and thin ship whose sleek shiny obsidian black paneling gave it a powerful and dramatic smooth shape, the bridge extended out from the mid section overlooking the pointed nose with its smooth edges looking like it was sculpted on rather then built, tall vertical wings folded near its rear with large twin engines stacked above each other at its rear and a gold sun insignia painted in shimmering gold on its sides. Its silhouette reminded Azula of an empire class fire navy vessel as it was the same size and similar shape.

Azula could tell it was a luxury vessel rather than one built for battle which made her wonder what he was planning on doing with such a ship if he were to go after whoever the culprit was.

Sev whistled in admiration of the impressive ship, "That's one fine looking ship."

"And expensive too!" Lectro commented, "You have to own a fortune just to have something like this."

Cetro snorted looking at the lavish ship in contempt, "Figured he'd own a star yacht."

"At least we'll be traveling in style." Azula commented, "So, do any of you know how to fly this thing?"

"I could but,something this big is gonna require someone being in engineering." Cetro commented.

"I could fly it." Skeeve said, "Back in the Death's Head we would always salvage and repurpose old ships we'd find in pirate dens or buy from second hand ship dealers. They'd always make us low level grunts fly them back to base. I flew a few older models of star yachts before so this shouldn't be too different."

"You're positive you can fly this back to base?" Azula asked critically wondering if he was simply lying to make himself look useful.

Skeeve smirked, "Does a flying Kelbin crap in the woods?"

Azula only gave him a blank stare having nothing to go by with that response.

Skeeve sighed, "Yes… That means yes."

"Then just say that."

Lectro looked down at the many people in the hangar noticing the large number of Gold Sun soldiers outfitted with even more tactical gear than the extraction team marching into the ship's rear cargo bay, "How are we supposed to get in? There's like a hundred people in this place!"

Azula looked about the hangar, noticing the various amounts of hangar staff dressed in dull gray uniforms running about, "There are a lot of people. It's going to be difficult to be able to sneak on board without drawing attention."

"Hey guy's check it out!" Lectro pointed to the cargo that was being loaded into the ship's rear cargo hold, "Isn't that from our ship?"

"Yeah that is!" Cetro snarled, "What are they doing with our cargo?!"

An idea came to Azula, "I know how to get on the ship."

They all discreetly made their way to ground level where they took a separate door that led to a loading area where another large truck-like vehicle sat with their cargo resting in its bed. The various workers in the area were too busy offloading the supply crates to notice them sneak by but this also made it impossible for them to get into the vehicle and hide amongst the crates. Until Sev managed to knock over a stack of fuel cells to draw their attention away long enough.

They managed to find several crates to hide in with the next hover loader coming to collect them.

"This is actually working! I can't believe it!" Skeeve said with a bit of hope returning to his voice as he sat pressed up against the crate wall with Sev sitting in between him and Azula. The crate was large enough for them to fit but still small enough that Sev had to remove his legs to fit comfortably and even still was pressing his two companions against the walls.

"Shut up! It won't work if they hear their cargo talking."

Everything was going smoothly as they were coming onto the ship, until Slater appeared before them prompting the driver to hit the brakes hard as he strutted by speaking to the ship's pilot, a small four foot tall alien with stubby legs.

"Why did we stop?" Skeeve whispered.

Azula ignored him and pressed her ear against the wall listening in where she heard Slater's distinct accent.

"I want to be ready to launch within the hour. Load up all the goods that we found in that Crimson Storm ship into ma cargo bay. I want us look'n like a sweet treat on holiday when they find us."

The pilot struggled to keep up with Slater's confident and quick stride, "Wouldn't it be more reasonable to put the supplies on a more armored ship rather than your personal yacht?"

"Bait needs to look good. Bait with a whole lotta guns is bait that sets off alarms. If we're gonna catch these guys then we need to be alluring."

"I'm just concerned that this plan might be a bit…"

"Dangerous?" Slater cut off with a smirk, "Yeah it is, if you want to get things done ya gotta get yer hands dirty, but don't you worry ma dear pilot. We gon have a good and well armed escort to jump them once we snag them. Our gunships are gonna light up the sky." He then looked at the load that housed the Crimson Storm members, "Cut it after this one. Can't be look'n too good, that also sets off alarms." He then dismissed them to continue.

As they continued up the ramp out of hearing distance Azula spoke, "He's using his own ship as bait?

"And now we are on said bait. Are we really sure we want to take it?"

"Too late to back out now. We just need to take it before he executes his plan."

After being stored in the corner of the cargo hold the non essential personnel began to filter out and were replaced with the tactically equipped Gold Sun members.

The plan to board had been a success with the sleek ship levitating out through the ceiling entrance, its wings unfolding into obtuse angles and extending as it soared through the blizzard with ease until leaving Ginza's stratosphere being accompanied by several gunships.

Azula immediately felt the effects of leaving the planet with her removing her thermal glasses finding the glow of warm objects becoming fainter.

She waited for a while before leaving the crate first as her smaller and more nimble form made sneaking easier. The cargo hold was wide and spacious with a second level, crates were neatly stacked and sorted in rows clinging to the ground through magnetic locks with some of the load being Slater's personal cargo such as an expensive looking hover car and what looked to be containers of red sand. However the most dangerous aspect about the cargo hold was that it was crawling with heavily armed gold sun troopers. Thankfully none of them noticed her exiting or sneaking around as she made her way to a smaller crate.

She unlocked the top of it where Cetro jumped out taking a gasp of air, "I could barely breath in there!"

"Hush up! There are guards everywhere!" She whisper yelled at him, "We got in. Now what?"

"First we get rid of the cavalry here." He gestured around them as he pulled them behind cover when a trooper walked by overhead.

"Any ideas on how that's possible?"

Cetro scanned the area and saw a panel on the far wall, "Lock yourself in and hang on to something."

*****

Slater sat in the captain's chair admiring the panoramic view of the bridge as his four bridge staff worked with his two bodyguards standing behind him.

The communications officer alerted him, "Sir, I've got a signal being broadcasted five hundred kilometers from our position. No audio, just a simple message on repeat."

"What's the message?"

"Ship damaged. Pirates. Low on fuel and supplies. Send help, please." The officer read aloud.

Slater looked over the shoulder of the navigator, "Any other ships in the area?"

"Negative sir, just the one vessel." The navigator answered.

"Can we tell what type of ship it is?"

"We've got an image but from this range its resolution is poor quality. We'll have to get closer for a detailed scan."

"Let's see it."

A blurred out gray blob appeared on the main viewing screen that was indecipherable.

"Alright, we'll play their game. Send a message back saying we'll pick them up. Signal the others to follow but stay out of scanning range and keep their reactors on low power. We don't want to spook them, ya hear." He ordered going back to his chair, "Also alert the strike team, tell them to be ready for a possible boarding."

*****

"All hands to battle stations. Target is within range. Strike team is ordered to take their assigned positions. Be prepared for the possibility of being boarded." The announcer said as emergency red lights flashed.

Azula looked on at the flashing lights as strike team members got into position around the cargo hold as she and Cetro tried to stay hidden behind a stack of crates.

"We need to hurry, he's enacting his plan."

"I heard the entercom kid, I'm not deaf." Cetro said as he worked on getting access to the panel.

"Meaning hurry it up! The last thing we need right now is to get caught up with whomever is stealing ships."

"Almost got it… and… there we go! I've got access."

"Hey! Who are you?" One of the troopers shouted, spotting them with his weapon drawn.

They froze with their hands in the air.

"Cetro, if you're going to do something, do it now." Azula said to him as others began to take notice.

Cetro grabbed hold of a nearby ladder and pulled Azula close, "Hang on kid!"

With a quick press of a button the doors to the cargo hold opened with the resulting decompression sucking out the strike team and anything not secure out into space.

The pull was so great Azula felt as though she was in the middle of a cyclone. If it hadn't been for Cetro shielding her with his own body she would have been sucked out. Cetro used all his strength to get himself closer to the panel and closed the door just as quickly and repressurised the room.

It only took a few seconds but they managed to get rid of an entire strike team with the large open space only being filled by them and the cargo. With the room now empty of hostiles the others came out of their hiding spot.

"Holy crap! That actually worked!" Skeeve said surprised.

"Yeah but now they know we're here." Cetro informed taking out his blaster, "That looked like a good chunk of them but there's probably more throughout the ship. We need to secure the engine room and the bridge. Sev will escort me and the bot to engineering. Azula, you get Lectro and Skeeve to the bridge. Take out anyone who gets in your way. Got it?

Sev smirked as his arm transformed into a blaster, "With pleasure."

Azula smirked as well, "This will be hectic but we might as well have some fun."

*****

Slater sat in anticipation as his ship got closer with the resolution of the image slowly getting better. His anticipation was interrupted when the ship suddenly stirred with turbulence and the bridge was flooded with emergency lights.

"Sir! There was a sudden decompression in the cargo bay!" The pilot reported.

"All personnel were sucked out into space!" The copilot followed up.

"What!" Slater shouted jumping out of his seat, "What the hell happened?"

"Someone opened the cargo bay without permission." The copilot answered as he frantically typed away at his monitor pulling up the security footage, "Sir! We have intruders on board!"

The footage went to the main screen showing the Crimson Storm members separating.

Slater gritted his teeth in fury as electricity danced around his tightened fist. He was finally able to find the culprit to his missing ship problem only to have a separate problem interfere.

"How's the target?"

"They don't seem to have noticed anything sir."

"Get whoever's left on them now!"

*****

Azula jogged down the corridor, blaster drawn, as the alarm sounded off and bathed the prestin white walls in flashing red lights with Lectro and Skeeve following close behind.

They rounded a corner where they found a pair of remaining troopers running to intercept them with Azula managing to blast one in the shoulder before he could raise his rifle to her then shot the other in the thigh sending him on his knees. Not wanting the fight to drag on she leapt onto the one with the wounded shoulder wrapping her legs around his domed helmet and used her momentum to throw him to the ground then fired into the other one's chest before turning the weapon onto the one trapped in her grasp and rolling free.

"Keep going!" She barked at the scientist and engineer as she continued her trek.

Skeeve and Lectro ran past the bodies in shock at how ruthlessly efficient she was without her bending.

*****

The small engineering team of the ship continued their work tirelessly despite the alarm going off and continued their focus on making the ship function until the sound of blaster fire caught everyone's attention were they saw Cetro standing at the main entrance of the engineering room as he held a smoking blaster to the ceiling with Sev and B3 at his sides.

"Scuse me everyone! But if I could direct your attention to me I'd like to inform you all that your services are no longer needed. So if you could kindly get out of my engineering room in an organized and timely manner to the closest escape pods or I could have my big friend here rip you to pieces and dump what's left of you out the airlock."

Sev grabbed the head of a nearby service robot and pulled it off effortlessly to prove Cetro's point with all of them staring in fear.

"WELL GET TOO IT!" Cetro shouted before firing in the air again.

The engineering team quickly ran out for the escape pods.

Sev Let out a groan of disappointment, "That was way easier than I thought it would be."

"What did you expect? This is a pleasure ship, of course the engineers here aren't going to be the fighting kind like us." Cetro said, making his way to the main console and ordering B3 to connect to it.

Sev took a position behind the main entrance keeping watch as Cetro worked, "Keep me covered, I'm gonna cut off all connection to the bridge so they can't shut us out by causing a full system reboot. Then we're gonna make an extra dimensional jump out of here."

"To where?"

"No clue, can't put coordinates from here, need the bridge for that, but this is just to get us out of here so we don't get caught up with whoever Slater's after."

Sev gave him a strange look, "I'm all for danger and risks, but a blind extra dimensional jump? Ain't that suicide?"

"That's why it's gonna be a small jump, so we don't end up in uncharted territory."

As Cetro was continuing his work several gangsters and two troopers appeared down the hall and began firing at Sev who hid behind the door and returned fire.

"How long you think that's gonna take?"

"Not long but not quick either."

*****

"I've got a question." Skeeve said as they went up a short flight of stairs, "Since this is Slater's ship won't he be at the bridge with all his big security guys?"

Azula halted at an intersection signaling them to stop and hug the wall as three more strike team members ran past them towards engineering.

"He has a point you know?" Lectro commented.

"You let me worry about that. Focus on your own tasks." She barked back.

She led them through a door into a grand open atrium filled with luxurious furniture, decorative plants and what seemed to be a metal statue of abstract art on display on the second level with the ceiling entirely being made up of transparent material presenting a splendid view of the starry night sky.

On the second level a gangster spotted Azula and began firing at her and called out alerting the others of her presence.

*****

Cetro locked the two axillary doors into the engine room on the top in order to filter the enemy towards the main entrance for a better defense as B3 continued to break through security, "Come on, robot, give me some good news!" Cetro said as a yellow bolt zipped past his head after returning to the main level.

"Security measures breach is at seventy seven percent." B3 reported.

Cetro went to Sev's side, joining him in repelling enemy fire.

"This more up your ally?" He said to the giant.

"Definitely more exciting!" Sev responded as he narrowly dodged a plasma bolt, "How do you think the others are doing?"

"The bridge is probably the most secure place to be right now but I don't doubt the kid will be able to handle it. That is if she's as good as you say she is."

"Trust me. She'll get it done."

"Fire wall breached. Reboot control accessible." B3 reported.

Cetro wasted no time getting back to the console and initiated a system wide reboot. The power went out all over the ship with the lights going dark, engines cutting out and controls to the bridge going dark before slowly coming back on moments later.

*****

"Pilot!" Slater shouted from his captain's chair, "What's going on with my ship?"

"Someone just rebooted the system! We don't have control of the ship!"

"Sir!" The communications officer said, "The enemy ship has ceased its distress transmission."

Slater focused back on the blurred image of the enemy ship now in distress that his target might have noticed their predicament and might be sensing his trap.

"Sir! The other ships are trying to contact us and are changing position!"

"I told them to maintain radio silence!" He growled as he made his way to the communications station overlooking the screens there.

"They must have noticed our systems going out!"

"Tell them to maintain their heading and stick to the plan!"

"I can't sir! The communications terminal hasn't fully come back online yet!"

Slater noticed the navigation screen came back online and showed the gunships having broken formation and were heading towards his ship to investigate, coming within scanning range of the targeted vessel.

"No. No. No…" Slater repeated as everything was spiraling out of control and he ran to the other stations trying to find some way of regaining control of the situation.

"Sir! I'm detecting an extra dimensional jump from the enemy ship!" The copilot announced.

His eyes widened in shock and desperation. The enemy knows it's a trap and is trying to escape. His gaze shot to the screen where the pixelated image opened a distortion in space and disappeared before his very eyes.

"W-we lost the target… sir." The copilot said nervously as Slater stared blankly at the screen in a silent rage.

The room was silent as no one wanted to say anything in fear of how Slater would react. He took a deep inhale of air through the nose before launching his electric fist into one of the screens, cracking it.

He heard the sound of blaster fire outside the door into the atrium and turned to leave.

"You two." He pointed to his two bodyguards as he pulled out his personal blaster, "With me. We're going hunting. The rest of you get everything back online and trace that jump point." He spoke in an eerily calm and restrained voice.

*****

Azula continued to take cover from the blaster fire barrage. She peaked out and fired, managing to hit one of the three thugs and making him fall through the glass railing on the second level. Her aim was getting better with each battle.

On the third level of the atrium the door to the bridge opened with Slater's bodyguards exiting first with blasters in hand as they joined the fire fight with Slater appearing close behind. Azula noticed him and had an idea.

"Wait here, I'm going to draw them away!"

"Are you sure about that? We're in space and your bending is getting weaker." Lectro pointed out.

Azula smirked, "Is a turtle duck's rear water tight?" She reached out with her heat bending causing one of the thugs' blasters to overheat and explode, setting his clothes on fire as he too fell from the railing grabbing Slater's attention. She dove out of cover taking pot shots at the crime lord with his bodyguards shielding him with their bodies.

He noticed her running across the atrium remembering her ferocity in the sewers.

"After her! That one is more dangerous than she looks!" he ordered as they ran down the u-shaped stairs.

With the danger now gone, Lectro and Skeeve were alone in the atrium free to access the bridge.

Lectro looked down the hall in worry, "I really hope she knows what she's doing."

Skeeve followed him up the stairs but couldn't help but ask aloud, "What the heck is a turtle duck?"

*****

Azula sprinted down the corridor sliding behind a corner as bolts flew past her. As she returned fire two more strike team members appeared from the opposite end of the intersection and forced her to continue moving until she found herself back in the cargo hold this time on the second level. Before going any further she hugged the side of the door and waited for one of her pursuers to appear.

The pursuing trooper hopped out of the doorway where she fired at his side several times before wrestling the rifle out of his hands and using it to fire down the hallway.

One of the thugs flanked her through one of the other entrances forcing her to keep moving and when doing so ran into another flanking thug who picked her up effortlessly and threw her over the railing and onto the hood of the hover car.

She rolled off and took cover behind the vehicle as the plasma bolts came.

Slater entered the room with his bodyguards and smirked as he watched the teenager taking cover, "What's wrong little girl? Where's all that fight you had in the sewers?" He taunted as he fired at her himself, nearly grazing her head.

Annoyed with his taunts she jumped out and fired at him forcing him to take shelter.

The four that accompanied the crime lord descended with one thug jumping at her side grabbing hold of the rifle and pulling it out of her grasp before attempting to land a blow to her face only for her to pull away and push kicked him.

He lunged at her wrapping his hands around her neck attempting to strangle her. She grabbed his hands and used her heat bending to burn them.

As he jumped back in pain the remaining trooper fired at her. She grabbed the burned man using him as a shield before kicking him at the trooper. She caused his rifle to explode in a fiery blaze disorientating him long enough for her to roll over the car hood towards one of the bodyguards kicking his weapon away then swiping his feet out from under him before running behind a stack of crates right into the swinging fist of the other bodyguard. She caught his arm and sent him face first into the crate before snapping his wrist and kicking him away.

As she recovered to keep moving she found the barrel of Slater's blaster in her face. She instinctively sent a blow towards his face only for him to catch her by the wrist and deliver a surge of electricity throughout her body before kicking her away.

"Come on Azula, don't disappoint me now! Ya got my attention so make it interesting." He raised the weapon to her again.

She quickly made the weapon overheat in his hands.

"You're just full of surprises ain't ya?" Both of his hands sparked with electricity as he approached.

Azula's thermal vision wasn't as strong as it was on the planet but she could clearly see the glow in his arms and was ready to exploit this weakness. She extended her own hands reaching out with her bending as his electric ones came for her. He froze in place as he felt the electrical organs in his arms growing hotter. He had no idea what to do now, he tried extinguishing his electric charge but when doing so the heat continued to rise to unbearable levels.

The ship's system finally fully came back online with Cetro working at the console and jumping to other sections of the engine room. He finally got everything ready to make a jump as Sev continued to hold back the troopers.

Cetro returned to the main console, "Alright! Get ready for a jump!" He then pulled a lever and in moments the ship created a distortion and entered extra dimensional space before the other Gold Sun ships had a chance to dock.

The ship rocked as it made an unprepared jump that shook everyone. Azula felt the loss of her heat bending immediately along with her thermal vision returning to normal at the worst possible time. She had Slater in her grasp, literally, and was about to take him out permanently only to bendingless and at the Chundari's mercy.

Before she could do anything else the strike team member struck her in the back of the head with what was left of his rifle while the two bodyguards grabbed her by her arms and forced her in a kneeling position.

Slater now recovered from feeling the strength of her heat bending marched up to her, "That's some neat party trick ya got there kid. Put the fear of the maker in ma soul, I tell you what." He then kneeled down at eye level to her, "So, what was the plan here, Azula? Steal ma ship and run on back home to mama My'Rell, huh? Real stupid plan if ya ask me, but I've got to commend you on make'n it this far." She only gave him a look of defiance as he grabbed her face and forced her to look at him, "Ya got cocky though. Did you really think a little ol thing like you could take us all on by your lonesome?"

She gave him a defiant grin, "Yeah… I did. At least long enough to keep you busy."

Slater let out a laugh, "Gotta admire that confidence. But that's right, you ain't alone. I got so worked up on catching you and yer freaky exploding trick I almost forgot about yer buddies, but I ain't too worried I still got people on board that can make short work of them."

"What happened to keeping us alive in order to make the trade?" Azula mocked.

"Ya know, I really did want to keep ya'll alive so I could get that fabricator the nice and easy way but after this little fiasco… ruining ma plan, hijacking ma ship, throwing out ma strike team and kill'n ma men! I ain't playin nice no more. I'm gonna tear yer friends limb from limb, mail em back to My'Rell in a series of packages so she knows that I mean business when I come for that fabricator! But for you, I think I'll take ya to Eurette and let her decide on what she wants to do with you, and let me tell ya, there ain't no end to her creativity." he then snapped his fingers to the trooper, "Knife!"

The trooper unsheathed his combat knife and gave it to him, "But before I send ya to the bosslady ya know I've gotta get my licks in. Why don't we start with that pretty little nose of yer's." A twisted sadistic grin came over his features as he grabbed Azula by the chin and began to bring the knife closer to her face as she struggled to fight his bodyguard's grip.

*****

The four members of the bridge stood against the wall with their hands raised over their heads as Lectro stood before them with a blaster raised, "Now I just want to let you guy's know, I am not a violent person. I abhor violence as a man of science, so I need you to understand that this is not personal. We are doing this strictly out of self defense." He reassured them all.

"Doc, you don't have to apologize to the guys who work for the man trying to kill us." Skeeve said as he worked the pilot's console.

"I can't help it, I've never taken people hostage before."

Skeeve ignored this as he worked, "Can't believe Cetro did a blind jump. What if we hit a planet?"

"That's not how extra dimensional travel works. There's no physical objects for us to collide with."

"Yeah yeah." Skeeve brushed off, "Looks like it's only a short jump, we should be exiting back into real space right about…" The ship exited the tunnel of endless color into real space with the sudden exit almost throwing everyone off balance due to it being an unconventional jump.

*****

The sudden turbulence threw everyone in the cargo bay off balance. With the abrupt entrance into the new star system. Azula felt the rush of power return to her from a yellow star. As her opponents got back to their feet she made a sweeping kick towards Slater and sent a wave of fire hitting his sleeve making him fall back in surprise as he patted it out. She broke free from the grasp of his bodyguards sending fireballs into both of them as she rolled back onto her feet and sent waves of fire into the strike team member who was more protected by his tactical gear.

Slater jumped for a blaster and fired at her but Azula quickly swayed her arms to deflect the blasts around her with the last one being sent into the chest of the final strike team trooper killing him.

Slater halted his fire realizing that his blasts weren't effective but kept his weapon trained on her while he studied her stance trying to figure out what had just happened. Slater had been angry with how things were turning out but the reveal of fire bending put a crooked smile of delight and curiosity on his face as if he was a child being presented candy.

"Well… ain't that something?" he lowered his weapon and pointed at her, "You've been holding out on me! Where was that before?"

"Surrender your ship now and maybe I'll let you walk free." Azula commanded.

Slater laughed, "You really think a little fire is gonna-"

She shot a fireball at his feet.

"Do you really want to test me right now Slater?"

Slater's smirk never left his face with gleeful defiance appearing in his gaze as he tossed the blaster aside and peeled his burned jacket off, "Ya know what? I think I do. I want to see what this is all about." The blue striped organs on his arms contracted, sending golden lightning up and down his arms, "Why don't we settle this the good ol fashion way? Little bare knuckle action." He hammered his knuckles together, generating sparks, "Yer fire against ma electricity? Winner gets ma ship. What do ya say?"

"You're really going to try and fight me head on?" Azula said almost in disbelief.

"Why not? I like me a good scuffle every now and again." He cracked his knuckles.

There was no fear in his eyes, he knew that if she accepted his challenge there was a chance that he could die, but that didn't scare him instead it seemed to only invigorate him further as he wanted to test his mettle against a truly worthy opponent.

Azula welcomed the challenge as she too was itching for a worthy fight to prove her own superiority, "Alright, you better not disappoint me Slater."

Chapter Text

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.

Chapter Text

Azula sat in her bunk writing in her journal, one of the very few items Azula brought with her when leaving earth and has been what has kept her grounded.

"It has been almost a week since my abduction from earth and I find myself still being surprised by what I continue to witness out here. My bending seems to take on different properties under the influence of different stars, something no fire bender could have ever predicted. However the experiment to see the limits of my bending was interrupted thanks to a run in with a group known as the Gold Sun syndicate.

This group is no run of the mill crime organization, as from what I can tell they hold major influence across the galaxy and have close ties with the Pendaren Empire. Allying myself with them could be very beneficial for myself in the long run, however the more I hear about this group's leader, Euretta Sareno, the more I am uncertain this alliance will be mutually beneficial. For the time being I'll keep Slater's card on hand as insurance, although that leads to a new problem. I need to learn the common tongue, it is quite frustrating being forced to wear this uncomfortable ear piece for long periods of time just so I can understand what everyone is saying, same goes for having to drag that talking box around with me as well. I've already lost one and it was a pain to speak with anyone.

The visions still plague me and they don't seem to be going anywhere for the foreseeable future. My only solace being the visions of father. Perhaps he represents the part of my mind keeping me focused on what I need to do in order to keep what's left of my sanity. Mother still won't go away."

She quickly dated the note, blowing the ink dry before hiding Slater's business card within its pages. She pulled a loose panel from the wall and hid the journal amongst the wires.

She found this little hiding spot while surveying the room her first night and it was an excellent place for her to hide it. They were able to translate her spoken language for the translators in a matter of weeks so it wouldn't take them long to translate her writings and the last thing she needs is for her journal filled with incriminating information to fall in the hands of the Crimson Storm.

She couldn't let anyone know of the possibility she could switch over to the side of the Gold Sun, lest it cause her trouble in the future.

The door slid open as Chani entered their room prompting Azula to put the panel back in a hurry.

Her alien roommate let out a tired yawn as she threw some paperwork onto the desk and stretched before jumping in surprise when she noticed her, "Azula! How have you been?"

"Decent now that I don't have to worry about being chased by Golden Sun's."

"Oh, that explains all the talk I've been hearing about that yacht parked outside. I'm glad you made it back safe and sound, those syndicate people can be ruthless."

"Oh I know. I received first hand experience, but I have proven to be more ruthless than them." She proudly said, leaping off her bunk, "There's also something I wish to speak to you about." She grabbed the jewelry box she plundered, "While on Ginza I was forced to part with the bracelet you so kindly let me borrow, so to make up for that I thought I should share something with you."

She opened the box with Chani's large eyes growing wider at the display in shock.

"Take your pick of whatever you want and I'll keep the rest." Azula said with a fake smile that anyone who truly knew her would have seen through.

"They're so beautiful. You didn't have to do this." She said, pulling out and admiring an amethyst necklace.

"Nonsense! It's just as I said, friends share our belongings with one another."

Chani threw her arms around her, embracing her in a tight hug, "I knew we would become good friends!"

"Of… course. That's what… friends are for." The amphibious skin made Azula shudder a bit making her have to regain her composure to keep the friendly act up.

She pulled away from the hug, "I also wanted to ask you something."

"Of course, anything."

"Well you see, I've had to rely on these translators in order to communicate properly and even then I still can't read or write the common language."

"You want me to teach you primary? Of course! I'd love to." Chani finished for her.

"Great! We can start today, I have the day off."

"Oh, not right now though. I'm just dropping off some things before going to the surface with my brother and Sev. You should come with us."

"For what purpose?"

"Just to get out of the station and spend some time on the ground, breathing real air and feeling real ground beneath our feet."

Azula scrunched her face, it sounded like a waste of time and she'd rather spend it sharpening her skills, "Maybe some other time. I need to train."

"What no, you've spent just about all of your time doing nothing but work and fight. Come into town with us, see the sights. Have a little fun."

"I did see the sights last time and they led me straight into a Ke'Kuvon camp and then a jail cell."

"This time will be different. We'll stick to downtown and stay out of the slums."

"No really, I think I'll-" she clenched her stomach and covered her mouth as a wave of nausea took over.

"Are you alright?" Chani asked, coming to her aid.

"Space sickness… it's been coming and going for a while now."

"Oh I see, a good home remedy for space sickness is hrandi fruit. A few slices should be able to help."

"Hrandi fruit? Got it." Azula said as she felt herself about to heave and ran out of the room.

"We'll be in hangar bay four if you change your mind! Oh and for the hrandi fruit…" Chani called out, however Azula didn't catch the last portion. She was more focused on not getting sick.

Azula wanders around the station looking for the medical bay before she hurls her dinner. She finally did find it only to find that Dr. Bevel was currently busy with surgery for someone who had broken their hands, most likely the person Skeeve replaced, and had to settle for waiting for one of the other medical staff to help.

She had to sit in agony, her stomach felt like a pair of hands was twisting and squeezing it like trying to wring out a wet towel.

"What's wrong with you?" The ever so blunt voice of Angara came from her side. She stood there now dressed in casual wear with a bloodied bandage wrapped around her hand.

"Space sickness." She replied just as bluntly, "What happened to you?"

"Cut myself while sharpening one of my knives."

Azula thought that maybe putting Angara down will make her feel better, "So clumsy with your own weapons? And here I thought you were a master-" She felt her stomach lurch and caught her mouth fearing for the worst.

"You blow chunks on me I swear I'll give you a real reason to be in the medical bay!"

Azula managed to save herself this time, "I'm really not in the mood to argue with you right now, so if you wouldn't mind pointing me in the direction of some hrandi fruit I would really appreciate it!"

Angara chuckled with a satisfied grin at seeing her in such a sorry state, "Oh you mean this hrandi fruit?" she said grabbing the last fruit from a trey meant for anyone to grab. It looked like a bulb of garlic the size of an apple that was white and covered in green and blue spots.

"Great, hand it over." Azula reached for it only for Angara to pull away.

"Ah-Ah! I'm feeling a bit space sick myself, maybe I should eat this so I can feel better. I might be willing to part with one or two slices of this if you give me a good reason to."

"How about I don't torch you alive?! That should be a good enough reason." Azula practically roared.

"Think you can fire bend without puking your guts out?" Angara challenged.

"Why don't we give it a try?"

"Maybe later pup, I don't have time to deal with you now." She shoved her out the way.

"Running away? Too scared to face a master duelist?" She taunted prompting the Ke'Kuvon to snap in her direction, ready to throw a fist but stopped herself.

"You know what? You ain't worth it pup. I'm going back to the planet to enjoy my day off and I don't need you ruining that again."

"That wouldn't happen to be with Sev and Chani would it?"

"Yeah, so what? Wait, don't tell me you're tagging along!"

"Chani invited me, I declined of course but perhaps I could come along to pawn off my new trinkets. Hopefully I won't get sick all over you on the way there, unless you hand over that fruit."

Angara growled, "Damn it Chani. Gax should really talk to his sister about inviting people out of the blue." She grimaced before tossing the fruit, "Just take the damn thing!"

"Pleasure doing business with you as always." She said smugly as she caught it.

"Whatever, just make sure you eat the whole thing or it won't do anything." Angara scoffed as she walked away.

Now with what she came for she figured out how to properly eat it, splitting it open revealing green citrus innards. She ate a piece, finding it tasted sweet, almost like cherries, all the while failing to notice the devious smirk on Angara's face. After all, she left out a very important detail about hrandi fruit.

*****

Lectro sat within his quarters as he watched B3 sit in his charging station with My'Rell at his side reading over a report he had written up regarding his recordings on Azula's bending and Chani trying to convince him to accompany her and the others.

"Why not?" She whined.

"Because I have a slew of data to analyze."

"It'll only be for one day and besides you've been cooped up in here ever since you got back. It's making your inner thalm's color change into a dreary blue."

"Well I like my dreary blue thalm, thank you very much. B3, how are we on data transfer?"

"Forty two percent." the robot said from his charging station.

Chani pouted, "Captain! Can't you make him get out of his room?"

My'Rell never took her eyes off what she read as she answered, "I told him he had the day off, if this is how he chooses to spend it then that's his prerogative."

She pouted some more.

"Thermal vision? Interesting, maybe we can utilize her as a recon scout in brown dwarf systems." My'Rell commented putting the data pad down, "Red dwarfs might be an issue for her bending, so we might have to steer her away from those if we can."

Lectro typed away at his computer, "I just wished we could have been able to go to more star systems. But no, the Gold Sun's had to ruin that."

"And now they have Ginza, meaning we'll have to get our supplies someplace else." She sighed heavily cursing Euretta and saying her silent condolences to Cetro's friend. Knowing he's going to throw himself into his work to keep his mind off it despite her telling him to take some time off, she'll probably have to end up ordering him to do so.

"A good way to forget about that would be to come and hang out with us." Chani commented.

"Why do you insist on bugging me? Can't you see I have important things to do?"

"Error. Data transfer interrupted." B3 announced.

Lectro looked at his computer only to find that it had frozen, "Son of a- piece of junk! I am long overdue for an upgrade."

"Well you've got plenty of stuff you got from that star yacht. Why don't you pawn it off and get a new one?" My'Rell suggested.

"That's right! That would be a good excuse to get out of the station and liven up your spirit!" Chani agreed.

B3 beeped, "Do not worry doctor. I will continue the data transfer in your absence."

The scientist sighed dramatically, "Fine, I'll go to the surface with you. But only to buy a new computer."

Chani cheered in triumph before wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace.

A knock at the door caught their attention with Lectro telling whoever it was to enter.

Azula came into the room plopping the last bit of the hrandi fruit in her mouth before greeting them all, "Lectro, I was hoping to hear anything new about my bending."

"I would love to tell you but unfortunately I can't due to a technical error!" He said in frustration as he closed his computer down.

"It's a sign from the outer world that you need to get out more." Chani said sweetly.

"I get out plenty."

My'Rell deadpanned, "Lectro, your idea of a day off is you sitting in front of a computer and analyzing data."

"When you do what you love for a living you never work a day in your life." He retorted.

Chani turned to Azula, "How are you feeling? Did you find some hrandi fruit for your stomach?"

"I did and I'm actually feeling a lot better."

"Great! So now will you join us?"

"I'd still rather stay here and train." Azula responded flatly to Chani's dismay.

"Hold on." My'Rell interrupted, "Azula, what have you done since you joined up with us?"

Azula raised a brow to the question trying to find any hidden meaning behind it, "I began learning the ins and outs of working here, got into a fight with Angara that led to being chased by laugh cats, arrested and narrowly escaped the clutches of a crime lord."

"And you did all of this in less than a week. Take some time off, don't think about training or doing any kind of work. Go hang out with Chani and friends and try to unwind a little."

"With all do respect, captain, sharpening my skills is how I unwind."

My'Rell rolled her eyes, "Good lord, it's like I'm talking to Cetro all over again. If you keep this work ethic up you'll only burn yourself out."

"Ma'am, the only reason I am as good as I am is because of my work ethic." She argued back with a subtle hint of authority to her voice.

My'Rell sensed this authority as a challenge, "Alright, I didn't want to do this but you leave me no choice. Private Azula, as your commanding officer I order you to take the day off and relax. Oh, and go do it with Chani and her group." She then returned to reading the tablet.

Azula looked at her incredulously, "Are you really going to order me into taking a day off?"

"It's either that or I could order you to empty the septic tanks."

Before Azula could even formulate a response she found herself in Chani's embrace once more, "Yay! You can come with us and do some shopping, we can go to the Horizon city zoo and the carnival at the beach!"

All of these things sounded like hindrances but she had to respect the authority of My'Rell no matter how much she hates it.

A sudden sharp pain in her stomach pushed her out of the hug, it wasn't a queasy nausea she was feeling before.

"What's wrong?" My'Rell asked seeing Azula's sudden discomfort.

She grunted as her stomach made a strange gurgling noise, "I don't think that hrandi fruit agrees with my stomach all too well."

"How much of it did you eat?" Lectro asked.

"All of it."

All three of her companions gasped and gave her a look of shock.

"Oh you poor thing." My'Rell said, pity visible in her expression.

"Why? What's going on?" Azula's voice started to take on a menacing tone, "Was it poisonous?"

"No! No! Of course not. I would have never suggested it if it was." Chani stated.

"Then what's the problem?"

"Well… uh… there's no easy way to say this but…" Lectro fumbled his words as he scratched his head trying to figure out what to say, "Okay well… the juices found in hrandi fruit are great for solving issues like nausea but they are very high in soluble fibers, things that species with your type of digestive system can't digest very well, so when you eat a lot of it, those fibers tend to… build up and basically…" Lectro was very hesitant to continue fearing how Azula would react.

"Meaning?" She pushed him to continue.

Lectro paused for a long while before turning to his robot, "B3 you want to explain this?"

"Certainly sir. The high concentration of soluble fibers will cause an effect within the digestive tract similar to that of a laxative."

Azula's eyes went wide as the room was plunged into silence.

"Laxative… as in…"

"Yup." Lectro confirmed slowly backing away just in case fire began to spew out.

Azula's eye twitched as the vein in her forehead began to pound in fury as her teeth grinded, "Angara." The name left her lips dripping with venom, "She said to eat the whole thing or it wouldn't work!"

My'Rell rubbed her forehead exasperated, "Of course she would do that."

Azula began to pace, "Maybe it won't work. I mean… I-I feel fine. I feel better than fine! Perhaps it doesn't have that effect on me?" She said no longer feeling her guts churning.

"I mean… it's a possibility." Lectro said, although his tone betrayed his words.

"Then there's a chance. My luck has always been high so it'll definitely help me in this situation, I was born lucky after all." She kept a self assured smile believing she would get through this with no problem, until a sharp pain in her stomach returned, almost making her double over.

"I guess not lucky enough." My'Rell said under her breath, "Bathroom is down the hall to the right."

Before Azula could say anything she bolted out of the room.

"I'm going to make sure she's all right!" Chani said going after her.

Once they were gone the room was plunged into another long awkward silence until Lectro spoke to the Captain, "And those two are going to be working together?"

"Seriously reconsidering it now." She put the tablet aside, "I'm going to go find Angara before she immolates her." My'Rell left the scientist and robot alone.

"Shall I arrange for a sample to be collected, doctor?" The robot asked.

"I wouldn't."

*****

Sev walked around the hangar testing out the mobility of his new foot with Gax at his side. They had just loaded Sev's large six wheeled truck into the cargo bay of their ride to the surface and were waiting on the rest of their party.

Sev did some quick kicks and stomped, feeling satisfied with its range of motion, "Feels just like the old one."

"CHUNGATA GA EEN!"

"Yes, you always do good work my little slimy friend."

Gax gave him a crooked smile and two thumbs up in response.

Angara came to their side, fire extinguisher in hand.

"Hand's all patched up and I'm ready to go." She said leaning against the shuttle.

"What's the fire extinguisher for?"

"Self defense."

Sev's metal brow scrunched, "Against what?"

Angara let a mischievous smile spread, "Let's just say, a very angry firespitter is gonna show up at some point."

Sev shook his head, "What did you do?"

"Nothing bad. I promise." She defended with a false innocence.

"I doubt that." Sev crossed his arms.

"Angara!" My'Rell said approaching her, "A word please."

The Ke'Kuvon princess rolled her eyes as both Sev and gax teased her.

"Ooooo, you're in trouble." Sev taunted.

"Shut it!" Angara addressed the captain pretending she didn't know why she was there, "My'Rell! What can I do for you?"

"Hrandi fruit, huh?"

"Tastes great but I'm not feeling space sickness right now. Why? Do you need some?" My'Rell only stared her down with a neutral expression, one only a disappointed parent would use.

"Did you tell Azula to eat the entire thing without mentioning what would happen if she did?"

Angara looked away knowing My'Rell would see through any lie, "Maybe…"

Sev and Gax gasped with the cyborg saying, "That is just evil." while Gax shook his head and tsked.

Angara growled, "It was just a little bit of hazing, that's all! And… maybe a tiny bit of payback for the hangover."

"The hangover you gave yourself?" My'Rell deadpanned, "Last time I checked she didn't pull your mouth open and poured the Mi'beck down your throat."

Angara opened her mouth to say something but knew that My'Rell was right and only growled in frustration.

"So mature, Angara. Truly you are a paragon of acting like an adult." Sev sarcastically commented.

"Do you want me to hit you with this fire extinguisher!"

My'Rell ran a hand through her hair trying to destress a bit while dealing with adults that like to act like children, "Whatever it is it ends here! No more pranks, no more hazing and no more anything that'll make the princess torch the place."

She rolled her eyes from being scolded, "Alright My'Rell, I've had my fun so I'll play nice. Just be sure you tell the pup about that."

Sev cleared his throat, "You know if you actually sat down and talked to her instead of being the angry little maniac you are, you'd probably see that you two have a whole lot in common."

Angara snorted, "Oh yeah, like what?"

"Well for starters you're both stubborn as all hell, you are both scary when mad and are both great fighters."

"I still don't see it." She said stubbornly.

"Now you're just being a baby."

"GRESHA KIRARI!"

"You said it buddy. Huge baby."

She scoffed, "Whatever. I'm nothing like that pup."

"Well you better get ready because when she finds you she's gonna-"

"ANGARA!" Azula screamed as she entered the space.

"Aaaaand there's the inferno… good luck." Sev and Gax took several steps back as Azula approached.

Azula marched towards her with heavy footsteps, her eyes locked on target, steam rising from her head, her face a bright shade of red as spurts of fire shot out of her nose with each exhale like a deranged bull. Chani and Lectro trailing behind her in a vain attempt to calm her down.

"Azula! Your inner thalm is at critical levels of red, very not good for your mental being or your soul." Chani struggled to keep pace, "If we could just take a few deep breaths and repeat a calming mantra then maybe we could-"

"I AM CALM!"

Lectro was next to try and calm her, "Azula, getting upset over something as immature as this is beneath someone of your status." He tried a more diplomatic approach, "This whole hrandi fruit business is nothing more than just a little prank many senior staff do as a little hazing ritual for new comers. From what I hear pendarens in the imperial navy do it all the time."

His pleas fell on deaf ears as Azula pushed him out of the way.

"You gonna step in, captain?" Angara asked.

My'Rell sighed as she stepped aside, "I'll let her get some of that rage out and get involved when it gets too hairy."

Angara brought the extinguisher up to defend herself, "Hold it pup! Any closer and I'm shooting."

Azula paused a few feet away with her furious gaze still locked on the Ke'Kuvon, her fists clenched so tightly that her already pale knuckles seemed to glow white as they shook in intense fury.

She was silent for a while as it took every ounce of her being to keep herself from burning the station to the ground and keeping her dignity.

"I have… NEVER been so… thoroughly humiliated before in my entire life! Zuko, arguably the person I hate more than anything in the entire universe has NEVER sparked the amount of HATRED I feel for you in this very moment then he has in my entire SIXTEEN YEARS OF LIVING!"

"Glad to see I made an impression." Angara sneered.

"YOU'RE NOT HELPING!" Lectro shouted.

"I will NEVER forgive this and I will NEVER forget it! Do you hear me?!"

"Good, call this payback. Now we're even."

"Even?" Azula let out a humorless laugh that bordered on being unhinged, "I don't play to get even." She stomped forward into Angara's personal space, "I play to win!"

Azula may have been shorter than her but she wouldn't allow that to make her look weak as she stared defiantly up at Angara who met her with an equally intense gaze.

"Alright pup, you want war then you got it!"

"ALRIGHT, LISTEN YOU TWO!" My'Rell interrupted, "This whole song and dance of yours has gotten old, like it or not you two have to exist in the same space and we all don't want to have to deal with this every time you cross paths, so instead of acting like a bunch of petty children fighting on the playground, act your age and settle things like adults! Without violence, without name calling or I'll be forced to discipline you like children, understand!" She emphasized her point with a loud cracking of her belt, letting the two princesses imagine what she had meant by that, "Do I make myself clear?"

"Yeah what she said!" Sev said now even further away and hiding behind the shuttle with Gax.

They both agreed to her orders.

"Good. Now hug it out, you two."

"What?!" Angara questioned.

"Why?" Azula followed up.

"You fight like children so you'll resolve things like children. Oh and don't even try crushing the other's spine or burning the other's rear."

They both looked at each other with their own expression of disgust, "Do we really-"

My'Rell cracked her belt like a whip once more echoing loudly in the hangar, her eyes holding a hard imposing look that could rival Ozai's and spoke through gritted teeth, "Hug. It. Out."

They swallowed their pride and awkwardly embraced each other. All the while they could hear the childish snickering of Sev and Gax in the background, Chani being happy that this ended well and taking a commemorative picture and Lectro who could still feel the tension between them.

"Spoiled brat!" Angara whispered into her ear.

"Savage peasant!" Azula whispered back.

They both quickly pulled away from each other acting as if they had hugged a rotting corpse, "See, now was that so bad?" My'Rell asked warmly as if she didn't give them the most fear inducing gaze either of them had ever seen, "Now you two go down there and have some fun. Also stay out of trouble, I mean it this time."

They awkwardly got into the shuttle and within a few minutes it departed for the planet's surface landing in Horizon city with the group taking Sev's truck.

Sev drove the vehicle down the highway with Chani and Gax seated in the front passenger seats with the ladder sticking his head out the window like an excited animal while Azula sat in the back seat with the rest of the group.

"This is fun? Right, you guys?" Chani asked looking to the back seat to find both princesses sulking as they stared out the windows while Lectro sat awkwardly between them feeling every little drop of resentment each had for the other.

"Yeah… fun. So, what's on the agenda today?" He asked.

Chani was more than excited to explain, "I was thinking we should start today off with a shopping spree at the outlet downtown."

"Pawn off Slater's crap." Sev added.

"Yes, I believe there's a pawnshop there. Then I thought we could go to the zoo, they've got some new exhibits, and then end the day at the carnival by the beach!"

Azula grunted in annoyance, "Wastes of time." she repeated under her breath.

Angara heard this and wanted to make a comment but remembered My'Rell's command to get along and forced the need to say anything back down and instead chose to focus on something else, "Sev, turn up the thrasher."

Sev's head bobbed to the energetic beat, "You got it!"

Azula winced at the sound of a rift from the electronic string instrument that was present in all thrasher songs that was followed by vicious screaming lyrics, "Honestly, you call this music? It just sounds like noise."

Sev chuckled, "Thrasher ain't just noise, firespitter. Thrasher is the music of nonconformity. It's about passion; truth, rebellion, it's about-"

"This song is about getting high and stabbing law enforcement." Azula deadpanned after listening to its vulgar lyrics.

Sev paused trying to find the right words to respond, "It's metaphorical. You just wouldn't get it firespitter, thrasher is all about anti-establishment and you…"

"Are the establishment where I come from?" She finished for him.

"Yeah, but given how you're in the grunge with us, maybe it'll rub off on you and you'll become a little rebel."

"I suppose I could chop off my arms and have them replaced with big unwieldy metal fists." She said sarcastically.

"If you're ever interested, me and Gax will hook you up."

Azula rolled her eyes. Like she would ever willingly give up any of her body parts that could have a serious effect on her bending.

It didn't seem like the growling distorted sounds of thrasher music didn't have an effect on the others making her the minority. Even the bubbly feminine Chani didn't seem bothered by the obscene songs. She didn't seem like the type to actively listen to this but more like someone who is used to hearing it.

"So, our first stop is the outlet, right?" Angara changed the subject.

"Yes, after that the zoo is pretty much within walking distance."

"Let me contact someone to meet us there, they've got my helmet." Angara said, pulling out a transmitter.

"In the meantime can we listen to something else? This poor excuse for music is giving me a headache." Azula said, covering her ears as another wave of growly screams came.

"It'll grow on you firespitter, just watch. But I guess I'll comply with the demands of the princess." Sev said changing the station.

The next station played a more mellow and upbeat song with lyrics that were easier to listen to about partying with friends.

"Oh I love this song!" Chani said and began singing along with it.

As she sang along Sev soon joined in along with Gax, Lectro and even Angara after she sent her message, although it was only because she wanted to annoy her. Azula was now trapped inside this vehicle forced to listen to this horribly offkey sing along to a sappy happy song. The universe truly did enjoy torturing her.

She covered her ears looking out the window to try and find something else to focus on with Ozai's face appearing in the window's reflection, "Bear through it Azula. Do not waste this opportunity to gain their trust."

"Trust is for fools." She stated.

"And you are surrounded by fools. Use it to your advantage."

*****

They arrived in the shopping district, it was a large open multi level area filled with shops of all kinds. It was much more organized and clean then the market area in the ghettos on the city's outskirts, with its colorful architecture, countless holographic signs and open park area covered in lush vegetation giving off the impression that it was a safer environment for people to spend their hard earned money.

"Hang on guy's, I gotta meet someone real quick." Angara said before walking off.

Azula watched as she left them and went to a street corner where she saw two familiar faces. The young Ke'Kuvon thug Tyto standing next to the ever mysterious Mystic sitting with a vast array of trinkets before him. Normally Azula wouldn't care about whatever company Angara met with however the Mystic and his connection with the outer world drew her attention, she still had many questions for him.

Tyto stood there on the sidewalk ringing a bell to catch the attention of passers by as he spoke in a less than enthusiastic voice that suggested he wanted to be anywhere else but there, "Come get a one of a kind magic talisman to protect you or your loved one from evil spirits! Dirt cheap! Magic charms for sale! Come and get some magic charms! They'll save your hairline and help you find love!"

"These charms are not made to save a receding hairline." The Mystic corrected him.

"They don't know that though."

"HEY TYTO!" Angara shouted inches from his face after sneaking up to him and sending the teenager screaming to the floor.

"Why!? Why would you do that!?"

"Told you I was coming. How are you going to be a hunter if you can't see little ol me sneaking up on you?" She bowed her head and greeted the Mystic.

"That's not funny, big sis!" he said, pulling himself up.

She flicked his forehead, "Not your sis. Let me guess, your uncle is making you help out the Mystic after the trouble you caused?"

Tyto rolled his eyes, "Uncle thought it would teach me some important life lesson or something."

"Mischief is the nature of youth, however mischief left to its own devices can fester into greater troubles. Guidance of the elders can quell a child's trouble seeking nature." The Mystic said cryptically.

Tyto gave her a flat look, "This is what I've been dealing with all day."

"Serves you right for putting your cousins in trouble again." Angara said, flicking his forehead again.

"Yeah whatever! So, you deal with that blue fire breathing psycho yet?"

"Blue fire breathing psycho is still alive, thank you." Azula said, appearing at his side.

Tyto screamed out in even greater fright before hiding behind Angara. The Ke'Kuvon princess didn't know what annoyed her more, the fact that Azula decided to bother her or that Azula elicited an even greater fear response in Tyto than she did.

"What is she doing here?!"

"Clearly to piss me off. What do you want, pup?"

"Nothing with you. You're Mystic however I would like to speak to. Alone preferably."

Angara growled, "Screw off. He's busy."

She glanced at the various wears that look as though they hadn't moved since being placed, "Doesn't seem so, not a lot of customers today from what I can tell."

The Mystic raised a spindally hand before Angara could bark back, "There is always time for friendly words."

She scoffed before walking off, "Fine, let's go Tyto."

"Right behind you big sis!" he scampered off after grabbing a metal box.

Now alone the Mystic addressed her, "You seem well, Serpent of Blue."

"I am well, thank you for noticing." she said not really thankful in the slightest, only really saying it to get pleasantries out of the way.

"You've been on a journey since last we met. A dangerous one."

"I assume the outer world told you of this?"

He took a deep inhale from his pipe and puffed out a cloud of blue smoke, "They speak of your encounter with the Opulent Fox, a dangerous foe. One that will appear in your future."

She figured the Opulent Fox must be his way of referring to Slater.

"Has the pendant brought you good fortune?" He asked, gesturing to the serpent bracelet still around her wrist.

"If I'm being honest, I completely forgot this was still here. It's done a lousy job." The thought of the hrandi fruit came to mind.

"Some things that may seem unlucky may lead to roads that are. Do not be too quick to dismiss the unfortunate events of today."

She rolled her eyes at his overly dramatic use of words and refocused the conversation, "So they can tell you the future?" she asked, a bit skeptical.

"The voices share tidbits of possibilities, but I do not believe that is your main reason for wanting to speak."

"It could be one, but for now I have a different question for these voices of yours."

"The voices of the outerworld are open to you. I will interpret their will and answer to the best of my ability."

She had many questions however there was one that rattled in her head for a while, "Can the voices tell me about my father, Fire Lord Ozai? I wish to know of his status."

"Very well." The Mystic lowered his head and grew as still as a statue for a few minutes before stirring back to life, "He still remains on the world of the bridge, caged by the scarred brother. But the fires of ambition still burn within him."

Azula let out a breath that she didn't realize she was keeping in almost as if she was relieved to hear that last part, "So he hasn't given up. Good."

"Is there anyone else you wish to know the whereabouts of?"

She thought for a moment, as much as she didn't care for Zuko she couldn't pass up the opportunity to use the Mystic's abilities to keep tabs on him, "What is my idiot of a brother doing right now?"

The Mystic went still again and returned even quicker than before, "The Scarred Brother governs the nation of fire."

She was somewhat annoyed that he didn't go into specifics but took the information.

"What of your mother? Do you wish to know of her?"

The mask of calmness Azula wore cracked at the mention of her mother, "No."

"Are you certain? Would it not be prudent to face the one who haunts your mind?"

Her voice took on a threatening edge, "Perhaps another time."

"Very well, what else do you ask of the Outer world?"

"I want to know of any threats that will come in the near future." Truthfully she wanted to know the outcome of her entire plan but given how the outer world would shut itself off she didn't want to waste her time with something far into the future and focus more on the threat that is Courtix.

The Mystic murmured to himself as he took another drag from his pipe, "A storm of vengeance and rage drifts towards you. A son who was robbed of a father seeks retribution and will leave a trail of destruction in his wake. Take caution, Serpent of Blue, and be wary of those who speak with a false tongue."

"False tongue?"

"You should be familiar with this, Serpent of Blue. Have you not spoken to many using a false tongue?"

She clearly knew what he meant and chose to ignore that comment, "When will he come?"

"Soon…"

"Could you be any more vague?"

"This is all that the outer world will share."

"I guess asking for specifics is out of the question." She sighed in discontent.

Leave it to the spirit world to be as ambiguous as possible when it comes to fortune telling. Was it too much for the spirits to be direct?

"Hey firespitter! You coming or what?" Sev called out to her.

"Your friends call to you, Serpent of Blue. Perhaps you should join them and enjoy the calm before the storm."

She snorted, turning back to her group seeing them smiling and laughing amongst each other. The sight reminded her of the time she, Ty Lee, Mai and Zuko burned down that house on ember island two years ago. The thought of it left a dull ache in her chest. It was a fond memory, the last time she and everyone she truly cared about were happy. The last time she felt happy.

She pushed these feelings down and the memory out of her mind wanting the heart ache to stop. They were her pawns that she would discard when they were no longer useful.

"They are not my friends. Just a bunch of fools trying to distract themselves and me with trivial little things."

The Mystic let out an old croaky chuckle from the back of his throat, "One cannot be too rigid as you are. Our time amongst the universe is short, Serpent of Blue. Embrace the role of a fool for a day, and enjoy these trivial little things when they occur, they often have the greatest impacts on our lives."

She scoffed as she stood back up reiterating her feelings, "Colleagues, not friends."

She returned to the group with Sev being the first to speak with her, "Was that homeless guy bothering you?"

"No, he's just a delusional old man."

*****

Angara stood in the alleyway between two shops with Tyto. He handed her a box, "Here's your helmet. The armorer replaced the visor with reinforced glass so even if you get shot in the face again it shouldn't melt all the way through. Also, he says, don't get shot in the face again."

Angara pulled the helmet out to inspect and found that it looked almost brand new with a fine polish. She was grateful that her mother's helmet was back to being in good shape, "Tell him thanks and that I owe him one."

"Can do." He said holding a hand out expectantly.

"What, you want a high five?"

"No, my courier fee."

"Courier fee? HA! That's rich." She laughed and ruffled his hair with him slapping her away.

"Come on big sis, I'm trying to make an honest living here."

She flicked his forehead, "Not your sis, and this coming from the boy who used his two kid cousins to pickpocket people. They're not here rummaging through people's pockets right now, are they?"

"Of course not. They're back at camp doing chores with my aunt while I'm stuck here helping the Mystic sell his junk."

"You reap what you sow, dummy."

"Whatever." He waved her off, "So, why's the fire girl still alive?"

Angara rolled her eyes knowing she was going to get this question eventually, "Because I don't have a good reason to kill her yet."

"Don't have a reason? Sis, she knows who you are, I think that's plenty of reason if you ask me."

"Have you also forgotten that she and I work for My'Rell and that she doesn't approve of employees killing each other. Besides, I'm keeping an eye on her."

Tyto gave her a skeptical look, "Word around the camp was that you were supposed to kill her in her sleep. What happened to that?"

Angara snarled at him then grabbed and yanked his ear hard, "I don't have to explain myself to you! So why don't you worry about hauling the Mystic's junk around and I'll worry about my issues?"

"Okay! Okay! Just don't tear off my ear!" She let him go, "Just make sure that psycho stays away from me!"

"What, you scared of her?"

"Yeah I am! She shoots fire and lightning out of her hands! That's not normal, Pendarens shouldn't do that but she does."

"She's not a Pendaren dummy, and don't worry, if she gives you trouble I'll put her in her place." She corrected already making her way out of the alleyway.

Tyto scoffed, muttering under his breath, "Yeah right."

She snapped her head back at him with a glare, "What was that?"

Tyto realized his mistake and immediately tried to back peddle, "Oh uh… nothing."

"No, you said something so out with it!"

"Uh… the Mystic is calling me back to help him with something through that psychic thing he does. Y-You know. Gotta go! He's uh… surprisingly impatient." He fumbled trying desperately to get out of there only for Angara to grab him by the caller and yank him back into a headlock.

"He can wait, now why don't you tell your big sis what's on your mind?" She said in a way that was supposed to be friendly and inviting but ended up sounding like a threat.

"I thought you didn't like being called big sis?" He struggled to break free only for her arm to tighten around his neck.

"Spill it brat!" she began dragging her knuckles against his head making him cry out in pain.

"OKAY OKAY! JUST LET ME GO!" She did, letting him get back on his feet, "It's just… well… you said you'd take care of her back on the train, then you showed up to camp with her and then you fought her only for her to beat you. I guess I just thought she was someone you can't beat."

"I BEAT HER ON THE TRAIN DAMN IT!" Angara shouted, making him jump back.

"I didn't see that tho."

She growled some more.

"Anyway, I really should get going." Tyto quickly left as Angara fumed allowing her to return to the group.

*****

After visiting the local pawn shop and gaining some spending money the group separated with Lectro going to find a new computer with Sev and Gax tagging along with him. Chani insisted that the girls get together to bond through shopping with both princesses being apathetic to the idea but soldiered on.

Azula found herself dragged into one of the many clothing shops by Chani perusing the wears. Azula stood by Chani's side holding various outfits the pink girl had picked out for her.

"This one matches your inner thalm so much!" She said holding out a deep red top and adding it to the pile, "This one is in season now." She added a chrome colored reflective vest, "And this could tie so many things together!" She excitedly added hot pink pants.

"I appreciate your willingness to help me shop, but…" Chani added an obnoxiously bright yellow jacket to the pile, "Don't you think this is a little much? I don't even think I have enough money for half of these."

"We're just trying a few things on and seeing what works."

Azula took a glance at the large stack she was carrying, "Yeah… a few things."

"I think we have enough. Let's try them on!" Chani pushed her towards the changing rooms where she helped her in creating her outfits.

"Oh this should be good." Angara commented as she put away a spike studded leather jacket.

The first outfit had Azula dressed in a metallic chrome colored coat, white top, baggy metallic pants, platform shoes and a pair of large blue sunglasses.

"What do you think? The chrome look is really popular in wealthy circles." Chani asked.

Angara squinted her eyes in distaste at how obnoxiously eye catching it was, "That outfit is so loud I need earplugs to look at it."

Azula observed her appearance in the mirror, "I can see the appeal, but I don't think this is me."

The next outfit saw her wearing a bright blue crop top sweater with extremely long shoulder pads, a green top, black trousers so baggy she felt she was wearing a parachute and open toed heels that made her stand a few inches taller.

"What about this outfit? Long shoulder pads are the big fashion statement now."

Azula stared at her reflection observing the outrageous clothing with a critical look, "I look ridiculous."

Angara didn't hide her opinions about it as she laughed loudly, "There's something we can agree on!" She flicked one of the pads.

"There's no way I could possibly fight in this outfit. These pants are so loose I feel like I might trip over them and these polls on my shoulders limit my movements by a lot." Azula said while trying to stretch.

"Ideally you wouldn't be fighting in this outfit though." Chani said as Azula attempted another action move only to strike Angara in the eye with one of the shoulder pads that was followed by a string of long curses.

"I think we should try something else."

Azula stepped out of the dressing room once more clad in a pink sweater with a fuzzy white cowl and an opening that left her midriff exposed, a teal skirt and white wedge heels.

"This one definitely looks good on you! This outfit is all the hot styles right now!" Chani beamed with excitement.

"Yeah, you look like every other preppy teenage girl." Angara responded.

Azula didn't share in Chani's excitement finding the outfit to be garish. It honestly looked like something Chani would wear. She noticed that her sweater had an extra pair of sleeves dangling under her arms, clearly indicating that this was meant for a four armed species.

"I think you picked the wrong sweater for me. I only have two arms."

"Right now girls your age are wearing shirts with extra sleeves and tying them behind them, it's a big trend right now." Chani commented as she tied the extra sleeves behind her into a neat bow, "So what do you think?"

After turning around and getting a good look at the outfit from every angle and giving her her answer, "No. Just… no."

"You don't like it?" Chani asked, slightly hurt by her blunt words.

"No. All of these outfits so far have made me look like a clown." Azula began removing the various accessories.

"Alright fine! Azula, what do you want to wear?" Chani sulked.

"Something that isn't ridiculous, for starters. Perhaps something regal."

Angara snorted, "Sorry pup, but regal isn't in our price range."

"Fine, then something practical… and maybe a little less colorful. I feel like a rainbow vomited all over me."

"Then why don't you pick something for her, Angara?" Chani suggested.

"Why would I do that?"

"I refuse!" Azula said after stepping back into the changing booth.

"Oh come on. You two seem like you would have similar tastes in fashion. Why not give it a try? Think of it as some way you two can bond without violence."

Azula poked her head out from behind the curtain, "After the little hrandi fruit incident I can't trust anything she does that could be in my benefit!"

Angara couldn't help but chuckle at how she was able to manage that, "Oh come on pup, you're still mad about that? That's all in the past now." The mischievous grin she held told Azula otherwise, "Besides, My'Rell told us to get along. So I'll take pity on you and help your primitive tasteless self find some style."

Azula only gave her a deadpanned look at the back handed compliment, but supposed the Ke'Kuvon princess may actually be able to help given she had a preference for outfits with practicality in mind, "You swear you won't make me look like a clown?"

"I swear, princess." she said with a mocking tone.

"Swear on your honor as a Ke'Kuvon warrior."

Angara's brow twitched at that, "Fine, I swear on my honor as a Ke'Kuvon warrior that I, Angara, will not dress you up like a clown. There, happy?"

"Very." She went back into the booth before shouting her next command, "Now go get me something to wear, preferably something red!"

Suddenly being ordered around like she was a servant made Angara regret wanting to help her.

After gathering the necessary garb she returned, tossing them into the booth.

"Is this a jacket or a pin cushion?" Azula asked from behind the curtain.

"Just put it on pup!"

Azula stepped out now clad in a heavy black leather jacket covered in metal spikes along its shoulders, a bright red shirt with an incomprehensible scribbled graphic covering it, pants covered in a red splatter pattern with torn holes and spiked combat boots.

"Hang on, one more thing." Angara said before pulling the ribbon from Azula's topknot and letting her hair flow free, "There we go, now you look somewhat decent, just got to slap some dark makeup on you and it'll be complete." Angara said pleased with her choice in attire.

"Well… it matches your aggression." Chani said not knowing how else to compliment her, "What are your thoughts?"

Azula took a look in the mirror and began her harsh criticism, "You didn't make me look like a clown at least, instead you made me look like some common thug."

"You don't like it?" Angara asked, almost offended.

"Not in the slightest."

"Are you serious? I give you gold and this is how you repay me!"

"Gold is stretching it. More like very rusty copper." Azula inspected her torn pants, "I should have known you would have made me look like an idiot! I mean look, you couldn't even get me a pair of pants that weren't ripped."

"Those rips are on purpose!" She defended, "They're supposed to make you look tough, like you just got out of a scuffle!"

The realization for Azula kicked in that Angara was being serious with her claims and was genuine in believing her idea of fashion was good.

"Are you saying that you would actually wear this garb?"

"Yes I would! As a matter of fact, give me that jacket! It's too good for you anyway!"

"Take it. Let's see what other questionable choices you've given me."

She stepped out of the booth now wearing a dark red sweater that left her shoulders exposed, dark short skirt and shoes, all splattered with skull shaped markings.

"Skirts aren't really my thing but I figured why not give it a shot with you." Angara said.

"Aw! You look so cute!" Chani followed up.

Azula held onto the edge of the skirt as if she was trying to hold it down with her face slightly red from embarrassment, "I-it's too drafty… and I-I don't like how exposed this makes me feel…"

"Should've figured, but I see where you're coming from. Don't much care for skirts unless it's plated and attached to my armor." Angara said before tossing her another outfit, "If you don't like this last one then you're on your own."

After one last change of clothes she exited the booth now in a plain red tank top, black pants that seemed to be made of some elastic leather, sporty shoes and a black crop top jacket with the sleeves rolled up.

"Please tell me you're happy with this because I'm getting tired of playing dress up." Angara said.

She tested her movements finding she had excellent flexibility. The design itself wasn't anything flashy but at the very least she didn't look ridiculous or like a thug. She seemed like any other commoner.

"Congratulations, you managed to pick an outfit I don't hate. I actually quite like it."

"Thank the outer world because if you didn't I would probably strangle you with a shirt or something."

"You look really sporty, like you're ready to take on the galaxy!" Chani cheered on, "Right Angara?"

"Meh… she looks passable."

The nicer girl pouted, "Would it kill you to say something genuinely nice to her?"

"Honestly, it probably would."

*****

With her new clothes now purchased Azula wore it out visiting a menagerie of other stores until Chani seemed mostly satisfied with her shopping and thought it was a good time to find the boys.

"I think today was a great day for us! We were able to find some great deals and everything." She declared with a big grin as she swung her bags around as she walked, "Did you guys have fun?"

"It was fun, I suppose. It has been a long while since I was able to spend the day shopping, even if most of it was questioning why anyone would wear some things." Azula admitted while holding an uncharacteristically humble amount of bags.

"It was alright." Angara grunted only having a single bag, "Most of those places didn't have anything my style."

"Except for that jacket that you could probably use as a weapon."

"Yeah, because it looks awesome on me."

Azula rolled her eyes, "To each their own, I guess."

"Aw, look at you two actually having a civil discussion for once." Chani teased with both princesses making a noise of disgust.

They turned a corner and almost ran into a parked police vehicle. On the hood of the vehicle a teenage alien was pressed against it as the head of planetary security himself, Proxly, applied a pair of cuffs to his wrists.

"This is police brutality! You hear, police brutality!" The teenager shouted.

"Really, it's considered police brutality to arrest shoplifters, huh?" Proxly asked in a snarky manner.

"I didn't do nothing! You can't prove anything!"

"So you didn't get caught stuffing this here unpurchased communicator into your book bag?" Proxly held out a small box with said item.

"Uh… that's not mine." the teens' disposition changed, "You can't prove I did anything!"

"We have video evidence of you shoplifting, so save it. Get him out of here." He then shoved the boy towards one of the other officers as he lit up a cigarette and noticed Azula and her companions, "Well, well, well. If it isn't the Crimson Storm's finest. Not shoplifting like this one are you? I only ask since I know you two like breaking my laws."

"Sorry to disappoint, officer, but all my purchases are legal. I even have the recipes if you would like to view them." Azula said sassily, holding out one of her bags to him. She didn't forget how rude he was the last time they spoke.

"Careful pup, the dirty cop here might plant some evidence." Angara sassed as well, "So what's the head of security doing down here arresting kids? Thought you would be sitting at a desk filing papers. Not grunt work." Angara scoffed.

"I do that as well, but being cooped up in an office dulls your skills. I need to keep myself sharp for whenever you lot finally get out of line and the governor brings the hammer down." He said pleased with himself as he watched the hover car leave with the arrested teen.

"And your answer is to try and relive the glory days of arresting petty criminals and harassing onlookers? Bravo, I'm very impressed." Azula said while giving him a sarcastic clap.

He bent down to her level, "Better watch it little girl. I still got my eye on you. You may be a kid but as you just witnessed I won't hesitate to throw the book at you."

"Unless the bribe is big enough." Angara muttered loud enough for him to hear.

All three of them continued to glare at each other like rival predators fighting for territory until Chani cleared her throat making her presence known to him, "Excuse me sir, but if you don't mind, we are just on a simple shopping trip and have done nothing wrong in the eyes of the law. We are not suspects in any case so your questioning and harassment of us is unwarranted, so I kindly ask that you be on your way and let us continue to enjoy our day." She spoke formally as she looked up at him, her diminutive stature making her look like a child compared to the seven foot tall monstrosity that was Proxly but she stood erect with confidence not allowing him to intimidate her.

He sent a scornful gaze her way, "And you are?"

"A concerned citizen who is afraid that an officer of Kazima's law is getting too comfortable with his position and could be abusing his power. Sir."

Proxly growled, turning back to his vehicle in annoyance, "Stay out of trouble. And remember this. I'm always watching." His vehicle ascended and joined the air traffic leaving the three of them alone.

After he left Chani exhaled dramatically falling to her knees as all of the bravado left her, "That was scary. I thought he was gonna try and arrest me."

"I have to say though, I'm impressed that you even managed to say anything that would upset that ego." Azula admitted.

"My brother always says, the best way to be brave is to look like you are. But someone had to say something." She got up and brushed herself off, "That was the first time I met him and My'Rell was right, he's a bully."

"One of these days he's gonna push his luck too far and find an even bigger bully that'll put him down." Angara spat, "Hopefully it'll be either me or the captain. Let's find the others and get a move on."

The trio found the rest of their group within the tech store gathered around a computer.

"This is a nice portable computer, and it's at an affordable price." Lectro said, pondering the device.

"Then buy it." Sev said.

"But… my current one is still running pretty good."

"Then don't buy it."

"However…"

Gax screamed out in frustration, pulling at his head fins while muttering to himself.

"What is he-"

"Violence. He's threatening violence if you don't make up your mind soon." Sev deadpanned as the three girls arrived.

"What are you three up too?" Azula asked, looking at the device sitting on a display table.

"Waiting for the doc to decide if he's buying something or not. Nice new look by the way, firespitter."

"This thing costs a lot, okay! I'm just weighing the pros and cons." Lectro argued back, "Although, I think I did see this same computer on the omni-net for a cheaper price."

"Then buy it on the omni-net." Angara suggested.

"But shipping costs will jack up the price and then I have to wait for it to show up and this one is right here."

"Doc, I'm about to start threatening violence if you don't make up your mind soon." Sev said.

Azula remembered hearing about the omni-net several times and has yet to receive any explanation of it. Now may be a good time to get one if it requires these devices.

"Tell me, what is the omni-net?"

They all looked at her in surprise with Sev being the first to speak, "No one tell you what that is yet?"

"I asked Cetro while we were cleaning mines and he said something along the lines of, "ask someone else I don't have time to explain every little thing to you." she said doing her best impression of the grouchy engineer.

"Of course he'd pawn that off to someone else." Lectro said, "Well now is the perfect time to explain that, given that we are in a computer store." He drew her attention to the device before them, "So, think of the omni-net as a digital realm of information that can only be accessed by devices such as this that are able to connect to it. With a proper connection you can access just about any type of information you want, send messages across the galaxy or see anything you want that others have uploaded."

"So what you're saying is that by accessing this omni-net I have a treasure trove of information at my disposal and can speak to anyone in the universe?"

"So long as they have a connection, yeah."

"So these device's send the signals we use to communicate across the universe like a high speed messenger hawk. That is quite fascinating."

"Well not exactly. Our communicators use different kinds of signals. Signals like that can travel through space at high speeds but due to just how massive the universe is it will take years if not centuries for it to travel from here across the other end of the galaxy."

"Then how are you able to communicate? What's the point of communicating with someone across the universe if the message only gets to them years after I die?"

"That's the neat part! Tell me, how do we get from point A to point B when traveling through space?"

Azula crossed her arms slightly annoyed that he was being as indirect as possible, "Extra dimensional space."

"Exactly. Extra dimensional space and it can send more than just ships across the universe at faster than light speeds. You see in each and every device meant to connect to the omni-net there is a component called a distortion generator that creates a microscopic rift into extra dimensional space that sends and receives signals through, meaning we have instantaneous communication no matter where in the universe you go. Well, so long as you can receive them."

"So the omni-net exists partially within our space and partially in extra dimensional space." She concluded.

"Yup."

"Look at that, you blew her primitive mind." Angara commented, "Can we go now?"

"Hang on! I still haven't decided if I'm going to buy it or not." Lectro said.

"Buy it." Azula commanded, "I'd like to learn how to use this device and I'd like to have the latest and greatest hardware."

"Wait, but isn't this about me getting a new computer?"

Azula looked at him with a smile that would have looked sweet and innocent on any other person but on Azula was meant to portray that anything she requested was non-negotiable lest she feel the need to get ugly, "Buy it."

Lectro now feeling he was under the gaze of a predator decided that it was probably best he oblige, "O-okay… I-I guess buying it here and now is a better option."

With the computer purchased the group left the shopping district and went to their next destination, a large gate with a statue of some strange animal displayed in the center of a fountain. Azula looked up at the large sign displayed above it, completely unable to read it.

"What is this place supposed to be?"

"This is the Horizon City zoo and aquarium." Chani answered.

It's been some time since Azula visited a zoo. The last one she saw was in Ba Sing Se when she took a tour after overthrowing the Earth King. She had heard the Avatar built it and was curious and she needed something to do with Ty Lee while Zuko and Mai caught up. She supposed she was also curious as to what the fauna of the galaxy was like, especially from a safer distance than her first experience.

"Hey guys check it out. They're taking scans of guests." Sev pointed out.

"Oh! We should take one! It'll be nice to have a souvenir." Chani said excitedly as she went for it.

"Isn't that what gift shops are for?" Angara said less enthusiastically.

"Oh come on, a commemorative scanner isn't going to kill you." Lectro said following her.

Azula followed them to this scanning machine where she saw an alien family of four standing together posing on a platform as two rectangular machines rotated around them.

Before Azula could ask what this device was she found herself pulled into it by Chani.

"Everyone smile and remain still." The machine's operator said before activating it.

Azula did not smile as the two machines spun around them in a perfect circle, "What even was that?"

Her question was answered once they reached another machine nearby. Within a glass compartment they could see several gray statues being made in a similar way to the fabricator functioned with several arms appearing and spraying paint on them. After several minutes out came six miniature statues of all of them posing on the platform in surprising detail despite it being only large enough to fit in the palm of Azula's hand.

"Crap, I think I blinked." Lectro complained seeing that his figurine's eyes were closed.

"GARRAH KA MEEN!" Gax said mischievously.

"You are not using that for target practice!" His sister snapped at him.

Azula admired her own figurine standing in the center of the group, seeing once again in awe at how much detail it captured, almost as if they had been frozen and shrunken down, "So it's like a fabricator, only it prints souvenirs?"

"Kinda sort of." Sev responded.

"Except it only uses plastic and wax." Lectro finished.

"Now we all have a fun souvenir to remember this day. Now let's go see the animals. I heard they've got a new exhibit for gas giant creatures." Chani beamed as she led the group.

The zoo was larger than any Azula had ever visited, large enough to accompany a small village, with long walkways snaking between exhibits of Kazima's diverse array of wildlife and exhibits of creatures from other worlds. They saw great beasts of the wilds from the six legged rhinos the Ke'Kuvon mounted to well fed laugh cats that lounged about on rock outcroppings, toured the aquariums that housed dozens of strange fish within lavender colored water, walked through tunnels where low gravity dwelling balloon like creatures from gas giants drifted like jellyfish, they participated in attractions to feed large long necked and humped backed herbivores from platforms and visited the petting zoo were both Azula and Angara laughed at local children getting chased by the animals for pestering them.

What Azula saw was mostly local wildlife with her noticing that all animals native to Kazima had six limbs which made her speculate that the tharks from the Ke'Kuvon camp must have been brought over from another planet, likely Tunbani.

As much as Azula would prefer to train, she had to admit that she was having some fun in learning about this strange planet and wonder about the ecosystems of others. It also made her realize she hadn't had a true break from action since she had escaped from Zuko into the forgetful valley. In all that time she had been constantly looking over her shoulder, plotting, managing incompetent underlings and trying to survive. Before that she was locked up like a caged animal, similar to how these beasts are except they seemed to be satisfied with their living situation. For now she'll enjoy this time away from peril.

She separated from the group wanting to take a break from their shenanigans and looking down into a pen where several large reptile-like creatures sat in a mud pit with skin that resembled stone. She tossed a nut from the bag she had purchased at a vending machine at one of the creatures hoping they would react and do something only to be disappointed.

"Why are you standing here alone and not with the others?" The hallucination of Ozai demanded as if he were the real thing, "The whole point of wasting your time here is to gain their trust."

She sighed, tossing another nut at the creatures, "I am doing that. I have been doing that since I got here. I just need a break."

His brow tightened, "Did you take a break when learning the dancing fire ferret form, or when you learned how to bend lightning? What about when you chased the Avatar? You don't take breaks, you've always powered through it until you've gotten what you wanted. Now is the time to continue the plan, the sooner you manage to establish trust the sooner we can overthrow Zuko."

"I know that! I already have Sev and Lectro in the palm of my hand, it won't take long to get the rest." She argued back. Normally she would never so much as raise her tone to her father in fear of how he would react, however knowing that this wasn't really him emboldened her to be able to speak more firmly to him.

"The walking tank and the scientist will be useful in the future but you should focus your efforts on the frog siblings. The sister is a financial advisor and as you've seen money makes the world go round. She could put the Crimson Storm's entire treasury in your pocket and she's far too trusting. It'll be almost too easy to manipulate her. As for the brother…" Ozai glanced back at Gax hanging off Sev's shoulder swatting at a bug in his face before shooting a long tongue out and eating it, "Honestly I can't tell what goes on in that one's head but I'm sure there's a purpose he can serve."

"You're forgetting one. Angara."

Ozai's expression tightened, "Yes. The troublesome princess."

"She won't be swayed so easily." Azula threw another nut at the head of a sleeping animal.

"She's not entirely unable to be manipulated; however she already seems suspicious of you. You should just kill her at the earliest opportunity."

"If only it were so easy. She's the best bounty hunter in the Storm and I need to learn how to be one if I am to be useful."

Ozai stroked his beard in thought, "That is an annoying prospect. Are you even sure she is capable of being a teacher? What if she just treats you like an errand girl the entire time?"

"Then I'll remind her who she's dealing with." Azula punctuated by snapping her fingers and summoning a small blue flame.

"So quick to choose violence?" Ursa said now at Azula's left, "Did the captain not order you two to get along?"

"She humiliated her in front of her pawns! Such an act against our family deserves no lesser punishment!"

"Oh I haven't forgotten. I just need to find an even worse humiliation for her." Azula tossed another nut.

"You also humiliated her twice already, or do you not remember how you made her admit her loss to you in front of the others. It seems she's willing to forgo that one now that she was able to do that trick with the fruit. There shouldn't be any more trouble unless you cause it, Azula."

Azula groaned, "As much as I appreciate the pep talk, having both of you here defeats the purpose of being alone."

She tossed another nut at the head of another creature with it stirring awake. It looked into the direction of the sun before opening its five pronged mouth displaying its vibrant purple coloration. This weird transformation made it resemble a large fleshy flower and made her wonder what its purpose was.

"You know you're not supposed to feed the animals right?" Angara said, appearing at her side.

Azula only rolled her eyes, "Just wanting them to do something. Although, I don't suppose you know what… that is?"

Angara looked over at the fleshy, purple flower creature, seeing several others mimicking its behavior, "Back at the camp we call them flower lips. They're cold blooded, in order to warm up they use that mouth of theirs like a solar panel to soak up the sun's energy."

"I was being sarcastic. Although that is rather interesting. I didn't think you would actually know that."

"All Ke'Kuvon hunters need to know how to survive in the wilderness, one of the basics of that is knowing about the beasts around you, like how these things use their flowery faces as traps for smaller animals that like to drink nectar."

"Fascinating." Azula said in a disinterested tone.

"So pup. You… uh… got a favorite animal or something?" She said awkwardly as if she was forcing herself to speak.

Azula turned to her with a raised brow. She couldn't help but wonder why Angara of all people would be trying to start a friendly conversation with her. Especially one as mundane as that.

"What?" Angara barked, not liking her accusatory stare.

She studied Angara hoping to find some kind of hint of deceit for some prank, "What do you want?"

"To know what your favorite animal is?"

"No, what do you really want?"

Angara growled before forcing herself to speak, "I'm attempting to be… friendlier to you. We're going to work together and I'd rather not have the urge to gouge your eyes out every time I see you."

"Is that some kind of apology for the hrandi fruit trick?" She asked, still incredibly angry about that.

"Do you apologize for giving me that hangover?"

"You did that to yourself."

"You did it in an indirect way!"

"You should have been the responsible adult and not fall for such obvious bait."

Angara growled further, fighting the urge to toss her into the enclosure, before calming herself with a deep breath, "Like you said before, we don't have to like each other, we just have to not be hostile towards each other."

Azula let out a chuckle, "Funny how you come around now that I know your little secret."

Angara snarled further, "I'm not just doing it for that. The Captain wants us to get along so I'm complying with orders."

Azula only remained silent and ignored her.

Angara quickly changed the subject, "My favorite animal has to be the black canyon Adler. It's a big flying creature from Tunbani. We used to see them flying through the skies all the time with these huge wings that had all these neat patterns on them. We rode them all the time when I was little…" A hint of sorrow overtook her expression, "But now I guess they're all gone."

Azula said nothing.

Angara scoffed, annoyed that she was being ignored after sharing a small part of herself and went to rejoin the group as they discussed the new aviary exhibit.

"Coexistence is possible Azula, perhaps if you got closer you'd be able to become good friends." Ursa said.

"I agree." Ozai responded.

Her brow raised in confusion at hearing that the hallucination of her father agreed with her mother, "Why would you ever agree with her?"

"Think about it, Azula. If you can become friendly with her, she'll lower her guard around you, inadvertently revealing her weaknesses to exploit. Case in point, her favorite animal."

"How does her favorite animal reveal anything?"

"It's a creature that reminds her of a home she cannot go back to. They're creatures that can be ridden therefore she has happy memories riding them and given how close these Ke'Kuvon are with one another she probably rides them with friends or family who are long dead." Ozai explained eloquently, "Don't you see, she's homesick, she longs for something that she can never have again. You can use this against her, taunt her with the fact that there was nothing she could do as a princess to save her people and that there is nothing she can do for them now. Or you could use this information to uplift her, make her see her true worth as a princess and rally her people to become a furious fighting force under you. Because of her honor she will be indebted to you, she will have no choice but to follow you."

The idea was a great one, after all Angara would make a more useful tool if she followed her instead of being dead.

"Do not listen to your father, his words are poison! He's trying to turn obvious facts into pointless schemes." Ursa urged her.

Ozai glared at Ursa, "I am making her aware of any opportunities to get ahead of Angara, she still poses the greatest threat to the plan. What have you done for her? All your words have ever achieved was to confuse her, lead her astray from her destiny!"

"Enough!" Azula said, "Both of you are giving me a headache. I swear you two never argued this much when I was younger."

"Who's to say we didn't." Ursa responded solemnly, "You've always been a perceptive child, you knew there was no love in our marriage."

"Not even for your daughter." Azula let slip out.

"You know I love you Azula."

Ozai chuckled, "There she goes lying once more. I'd say you picked it up from her but then again she wasn't really there for you in your formative years like I was."

Unconsciously Azula found herself moving closer to the apparition of her father glaring daggers at her mother, "He was there when you never were."

The weight of those words came down on her. They made her remember how true they were. Whenever Azula did anything great Ozai was there to let her know, whenever she failed at something he was there to set her straight and when she was upset and in need of guidance his words were the ones that drove her forward, not Ursa's.

"Hey pup!" A hand coming down on her shoulder brought her back to reality making her cry out in surprise.

Angara stood by her side with a brow raised in confused suspicion, "We've been calling you like crazy! You coming with us to the aviary or not?"

"R-right. Let's go." She rushed past her and rejoined the others all the while Angara eyed her suspiciously.

The aviary was a large series of domes connected together that housed a lush forested environment that was sectioned off into separate enclosures for various species of flying creatures. In the opening area the flying creatures were small and allowed to walk freely and interact with the guests. The birds of this planet weren't even birds but instead four winged rodents whose long incisor teeth jutted out of their mouths resembled beaks. Various flying creatures soured around them as they traversed the path with Chani and Lectro stopping multiple times to collect pictures with their communicators with some of them perching onto Sev much to Gax's dismay. Angara and Azula stuck to the back of the group admiring the animals from a distance.

They followed the path that led to the enclosures that housed the more predatory creatures that flew through Kazima's sky that weren't meant to interact with due to their more aggressive temperament and long talons. The path continued to the upper levels of the aviary where they had to traverse catwalks encased in cages. Clearly something much larger was meant for this section.

"This place is new. I don't remember the aviary having this section open." Sev said as he looked through the bars searching for whatever it was that was meant to be housed here.

Lectro walked ahead of them with a map in hand, "Says here on the guide it was just recently finished and is supposed to have… wait that can't be right."

"What?" Angara said, "Don't tell me you led us somewhere we're not supposed to be."

"No it's not that it's just what's housed here is supposed to be extinct."

"What is?" Azula questioned.

Her question was answered when a sound like a fog horn came from above and a large shadow passed overhead.

They were all stunned by the sudden noise, none more so than Angara who rushed to the nearby viewing platform, her eyes widened in disbelief.

The creature that startled them glided down to a rock outcropping to rest. It was a large avian beast with long leathery wings that folded up neatly by its side, a long forked tail like that of a swallow, short clawed legs that had a sturdy grip on the rocks beneath it, a long billed head held up by an equally long neck and was black in coloration along its dorsal side. It was a majestic creature that was large enough to allow for someone to ride along its back but despite its great size it had a gentle demeanor.

"I can't believe it." Angara said in astonishment.

After studying the animals appearance, and by Angara's reaction, Azula quickly deduced what it was, "Wait, that isn't a-"

"Black Canyon Adler." Angara finished as another one landed on top of the catwalk with its weight shaking the cage as it peeked down on them curiously.

"I don't get it, how are they here?"

Sev looked at a plaque reading it aloud, "After the destruction of Tunbani it was believed that the Black Canyon Adler had gone extinct with the rest of Tunbani's wildlife. However thirteen Black Canyon Adler's were rescued from extinction thanks to the efforts of the Intergalactic Wildlife Preservation Society who managed to keep these Adler's in an off world zoo for study. It is the hope of the Society to preserve this marvelous species through breeding programs with other rescued populations and cloning so that the Adler may continue to roam the skies."

The Adler above them squawked loudly leaping off and glided down through the forested environment being joined by several others. The one on the outcropping preened itself flashing the group with its striking sky blue underbelly covered speckles and stripes in darker shades of blue and purple.

Angara was at a loss for words at the sight of these creatures, completely transfixed by their beauty believing she'd never see it again so much so she didn't even notice Azula by her side.

"I thought they were gone forever… that I would never hear their calls or see their belly patterns again…" A tear ran down her face as the one before them flapped its wings and dove down to join the rest, "You know that last time I rode one I was probably around your age, pup, maybe younger. Back on Tunbani, I had just earned my tattoos and to celebrate Kowari took me to the Adler stables of the great plains and let me ride one on my own for the first time." A serene smile came over her as the memories returned, "I remember it like it was yesterday, I almost fell off like three times. We flew across the golden fields and forgot that we were at war. Nothing else mattered but just seeing how far, fast and high we could go. I… haven't felt like that since I was a child."

Azula didn't know why she was telling her this, Angara probably didn't know either but perhaps seeing these creatures brought so many feelings that she just needed to express it to someone, anyone, and she just happened to be there.

She didn't like hearing sappy stories like this, they always made her feel strange and uncomfortable. She would always just say something mean to anyone who told them to her just to dissuade them from doing so in the future and she wanted to do that now but something about Angara's revelation kept her from doing so. Maybe they are more similar than she had thought as Azula has had many moments where she misses her home greatly, so much so that she couldn't bring herself to sour the moment of someone else who felt the same.

"Dragons…" She then said, catching Angara's attention, "Dragons are my favorite animal. They are great and powerful beasts that represent the element of fire. It was said that the first fire benders learned how to bend from them. Some of the greatest firebenders were even able to tame them and would fly across the world on their backs with them breathing fire down on any who would dare go against them."

Angara wiped the tear, finally noticing it, "Must be nice to have one of those things to fly around in." She said with no hint of malice.

"Maybe it would be, if any were still around." Azula bowed her head as it was the one thing she believes the fire nation should be shameful for, "Dragons have been extinct for over a hundred years now. My great grandfather Sozin started the tradition of hunting them for sport. I understood why he did it, power is everything and if you can display yours by slaying the beasts that are fire then you yourself are the master of it, but it has always felt… wrong to me. Especially since Sozin owned his own dragon." She went back to admiring the Adlers as they flew around them, the beating of their wings sounding like drums, "Unlike your Adler's, I've never seen one before, not alive that is and I never will."

"Wow… that's just depressing." Angara said not really knowing how to react.

Azula just shrugged her shoulders, "It's nothing, the dragons were becoming a problem to my people anyway. It was said at the start of the war a hundred years ago all dragons suddenly began to grow aggressive towards my people. They started burning down villages, eating livestock and striking at their owners. It had become a necessity to hunt them." She remembered all the lessons her private tutor told her about in her younger years that justified their extinction.

"Besides, I may never see a dragon but I have seen things no human has ever seen before." She said looking up through the aviary at Kazima's ring, "I've spoken with aliens, rode in ships that sail through stars and got to see these Adler's that were thought to be extinct. Seems like a fair trade off if you ask me."

Angara looked back at the animals, "Guess that's one way of looking at things."

This moment of peace made Azula aware of just how tired she was of their back and forth arguments and perhaps making peace is the best option, for now at least, "I suppose burying the hatchet between us would be best. But if you ever do anything like the hrandi fruit thing again I swear I will not hesitate to blab about your little secret!"

Angara exhaled a chuckle, "Okay. Can't think of anything worse than the hrandi fruit anyway."

Azula was relieved to hear that.

They remained silent as their group continued to admire these animals and go through the rest of the zoo. They saw all of the animals present within the span of a few hours and were ready for the next event. The Horizon City carnival.

Chapter Text

The group had arrived at the Horizon City Carnival located on the beach. The line to get tickets was long so Sev, Chani and Lectro agreed to stand in line while Azula and the rest waited at a local arcade.

Azula stood at the controls of a fighting game, her eyes glued to the screen with manic glee as she mashed the buttons and made her digital character throw a relentless assault to her opponent, stunning them in place and giving them no hope of recovery. With a final uppercut she demolished the last of her opponent's health bar with alien symbols meaning victory appearing on her screen and defeat flashing on the screen of her opponent's machine.

"Ha! Once again I am undefeated!" She shouted in elation before looking over to face her victim, "Tell me peasant, how does it feel to know that you will forever be a mark of shame in your family's history?!"

Her opponent, a small alien child that resembled a newt, looked up at her with large glossy eyes that began to water with his lips quivering as he started to cry.

The child's older sister appeared soothing him and scorned her, "What is wrong with you? He's only five!" She then escorted the boy out.

"You're only encouraging his weakness by coddling him!" she shouted back as they left before turning her attention back to the machine, "Well, that was fun. Who's next?"

The other players in the area shied away not wanting anything to do with her after witnessing her unsportsmanlike behavior that only fed her ego, "Come now, is no one brave enough to face the mighty princess Azula?"

"Congrats on beating a small child in a game of Street Brawler. You must be so proud." Angara said as she clapped sarcastically.

"I am. Thank you. I just need to humble and remind those under me that there will always be someone better." She said in a self aggrandizing way.

"You stunlocked him into the corner and wailed on him till you won. That's not being better, that's using cheap amateur tricks to win a fight."

"In a fight it's best to use any strategy you can to achieve victory." She argued back.

"You do realize this is an arcade game right? And its main purpose is to have fun, not fixate on winning, right?"

"Life is one big competition. No matter how big or small, everything determines a winner or loser, and I intend on being the winner. Besides, you can have fun while winning."

Angara only rolled her eyes.

"You're welcome to take a shot at stealing my victory streak." Azula said, still high on her win against several children.

"I don't really like Street Brawler, so no. But you know who's really good at this game? Gax. Why don't you try taking a shot at a master?"

"Alright, fine. Where is the little toad?"

Gax stood at a claw machine carefully trying to catch a cute pink plushie for his sister only for it to slip out of the machine's claws. He cursed while pounding the glass in protest before an idea came to mind. He looked over his shoulders making sure the coast was clear before jumping down to the prize slot, opening it and sliding his long tongue up into the compartment and carefully grasping his target.

"Gax!" Angara shouted prompting him to panic and pretend he wasn't doing anything despite his tongue still stuck in the slot door.

"The pup here needs some bullying. Show her what a real master is like!"

He swiftly pulled his tongue free with the now acquired plushie and made his way to the opposing machine. They both selected their characters, Azula stuck with the large muscled red fighter because he looked to be the strongest while Gax selected a slimmer green snake man.

The match started with Azula going to rush in an attempt to corner him however Gax's character whipped at hers with his tail giving him a greater reach that kept her at bay before lunging at her and striking her character with a series of combos that made her fly through the air and would continue to hit her with upward strikes keeping her in the air all the while hitting her with a taunt before finishing her off with one last combo.

The screen flashed with bright red words with a deep gutterly voice saying, "FINISH HIM!"

Gax's character grabbed hers and ripped them in half in a brutal display of pixelated cartoon violence that was then followed by the announcer saying, "TOTAL CARNAGE!"

Azula sat there with her mouth agape at how quickly Gax managed to defeat her along with the brutal execution of her character, that she didn't even know could be done, all while he laughed and danced victoriously.

"You're right pup. Life is fun when you're winning." Angara taunted.

She side eyed her, "You weren't the one playing."

"This feels like a win to me."

She disregarded Angara's comment, "I demand a rematch!"

Just then Sev entered the arcade with tickets in hand, "Got the tickets, let's get to it guys!"

"CHUN PACHI!" Gax announced leaving the game with no intention of following Azula's request.

"Hey! wait a minute! I said I demand a rematch!"

Gax turned to her and shrugged his shoulders before saying, "WOMP WOMP!" before walking off.

"Quite being a sore loser, pup. Carnival is calling to us." Angara said, passing her by.

Azula half-heartedly followed the group still wanting that rematch and observed the carnival around them. Rides of various shapes and sizes sat around them with lines of people following their length with others weaving through them with food from stalls or prizes from game booths in hand.

"Hey firespitter!" Sev called out as he made his way to her from a food stall, "You hungry? They had a discount on fresh javro's." he held out a large golden brown grub like creature that was covered in some sort of sauce wrapped in foil. The main thing that caught her attention was that the creature was still alive with its pincers opening and closing rapidly.

She looked at the supposed food item with disgust, "Does it have to be alive?"

"Yeah, once these things bite the dust their meat starts to decay fast so you gotta eat them fresh." He said with a mouthful after biting the head off of his own, "Make sure you bite the head and chew it up quickly because these things bite back and they bite hard. Trust me I'm speaking from experience."

The giant grub that was held before her hissed loudly letting its discontent be known, "Sev, I appreciate the offer, but I am not eating that thing."

"Suit yourself. Hey Angara, you want this?"

"Yeah I do, I'm starving." she then bit its head off chewing it up quickly causing Azula to gag at the sight of it. Any semblance of an appetite she may have had was gone.

"Those things can't be good for you." Lectro commented.

"What should we do first? The lines for the attractions aren't that long today." Chani said.

"GUT BUSTER!" Gax shouted catching Azula off guard with how it was the only thing that left his mouth that she could understand.

"Nah, we need to do the tower drop first." Sev responded.

Azula observed the various rides around them, seeing that many were lower tech than what she had seen before and a bit rusted, looking as though they could fall apart at a moment's notice.

"Are these attractions even safe to be on?"

"Don't worry, firespitter. This place has been operating for decades without incident. Everything here is completely safe." Sev said.

A rollercoaster passed overhead and with a screw coming loose landing before Azula's feet not giving her any confidence in his words.

"Why don't we just steer clear of this particular ride?" Lectro suggested.

They were interrupted by Chani who excitedly pointed to a ride with a smaller line, "Guy's! Let's go on this one!"

The ride itself was a cart-like contraption resting at the radius of a circular arena attached to a metal arm in the center. The line for it was truly not very long as they didn't need to wait. The vehicle could only house up to four people with Azula taking the front seat with Chani while Lectro was pushed behind them by Gax. Sev and Angara opted to hang back to finish their meals.

"Why do I have to come along?" Lectro asked as he locked in his seatbelt.

"Because you're a stick in the mud who needs some thrills." Chani responded.

Azula looked around the contraption trying to ascertain its function as the compartment began to lift off the ground, "So, what is it that this-" the cart suddenly accelerated as it spun around the arena, the speed of which forced her back against the seat as she gripped the arm rest holding on for dear life while Chani and her brother threw their arms in the air crying out in glee. Lectro cried out in terror as the ride elicited memories of the car chase on Ginza.

She gripped the seat hard as the ride continued to spin, feeling the speed push her against the seat as it moved faster until slowing down to a steady halt.

They exited the ride feeling dizzy with Chani and Gax high on the adrenaline rush while Azula and Lectro weren't so enthusiastic.

"Ya'll have fun?" Sev asked, delighted by seeing their dizzy forms.

Azula stabilized herself on the nearest object, "It felt as though I was being shot through a cannon."

"That's not even the worst of it pup." Angara chuckled.

Azula was dragged around the amusement park, forced to partake in various rides such as tower drops, compartments that were launched into the air, hover roller coasters, bumper vehicles, and various spinning rides. All of which wore her out.

After taking part in the various adrenaline inducing rides the group walked amongst the stalls filled with games meant to win various prizes.

"What ride should we try next?" Chani asked the group.

"Maybe we can ease up on them for a while. Lunch is threatening to come back the way it came." Lectro said, holding his stomach and mouth.

"I think we just about went on all of them." Sev said.

"CHAKARI GA RAHITA!"

"You're right brother! We should try the house of mirrors!" Chani translated.

"I don't know about that. Those mirror hallways are kinda cramped for guys like me." Sev said.

"If you plan on going to that one then leave me out of it." Azula said.

Given that the first manifestation of her hallucinations was in front of a mirror, the idea of being trapped in a maze made of them sounded like torture to her.

"I think I want a break from the rides for a while." Angara said.

Sev agreed, "Yeah, let's try winning some prizes instead! I feel like schooling this clown in a few games." He pointed to Gax.

Gax raised his slimy brow to him as he issued a challenge, "GASHI WA KRAKI NA?!"

"Yeah! I know I can win more prizes than you, and I can do it without the use of my augmentations."

"OH! SHAASH GARINIA KO SHARI?!"

"Yes I will put money on that ya little turd!" Sev sassed back as the two best friends ran to one of the booths like children.

Chani saw a booth with a mystical fortune teller present, "That person over there is doing thalm readings! I wonder what the future holds for me."

"Sounds like a scam if you ask me." Lectro said.

Chani gasped at him, "The outer world is no scam! Maybe if you had a little faith your inner thalm would take on a more pleasant color."

"I'm just saying fortune tellers are like professional liars. They just tell you what you want to hear."

"Alright, then let's hear what they have to say about your fortunes." Chani wrapped her arms around his and dragged him towards the fortune teller as he protested leaving Azula and Angara alone.

They both scowled at each other.

"It seems the outer world really wants us to hang out." Angara droned.

Azula answered back with an unenthusiastic, "Hurray."

They separated to the various booths with Azula and Angara waiting their turn to partake in a shooting game. It was very similar to the holographic targets on board the station's shooting range only this one had more family friendly decor littered with holographic cartoon characters flying across what looked to be a space pirate themed backdrop.

Angara grabbed herself one of the electric blasters, spinning it around in her hand like a sharpshooter, "Bet I can get a higher score than you, pup."

Azula tested out the aim of hers, "Don't celebrate too early. I've been getting better with these as of late."

"Think you're a sharpshooter like My'Rell?"

"Not quite, but she has given me a few pointers." Azula punctuated by firing at a moving target managing to hit it.

Angara scoffed, "Lucky shot." She quickly drew her toy weapon blasting three targets with pinpoint accuracy while shooting a smug grin at her opponent.

Azula grimaced at her cockyness as she took aim and fired, managing to take out four targets.

This escalated in the two princesses doing everything they can to one up each other and score the most points. Azula managed to keep pace however it was clear by the various trick shots Angara was showing off and by how easily she was able to hit the more difficult targets that she still had a lot to learn when it came to gunplay.

Ultimately Angara won due to her many years experience handling a blaster, managed to score the highest and won a giant egg shaped stuffed creature as large as her torso.

Azula sulked at the loss quietly as they exited the booth, "You only won because you have more experience than I do."

"Daaawww! Is da widdle pwimative baby mad because she didn't get a pwize?" Angara teased back with a babying tone.

Azula only huffed as they walked.

"You know, pup, if you learn to lighten up you'd be able to have more fun."

She scoffed, "I don't need to lighten up in order to have fun! I'm perfectly fun as I am now."

Angara gave her a mocking laugh as she turned to her with her giant stuffed animal blocking her view as she spoke and gestured through it, "Pup, you're wound up tighter than an industrial compressed spring. I can practically feel the tension coming off you right now."

"Why do you care?"

"I don't, you're just killing my vibe."

Azula rolled her eyes as they reached the edge of the pier and sulked.

"If you want we can go at it again and you can try to win yourself a stuffed… whatever this thing is. I think it's supposed to be a cartoon character or something."

"No, I'm done with these stupid games."

"Come on, pup. Come get your ass whooped again." Angara said holding the stuffed toy closer to her and adopting an exaggerated cartoon voice that fit the toy and poked at her with its stumpy arms, "Is da fire pwincess scared that she's gonna keep losing to whittle ol me?"

She didn't react to her teasing and chose to remain silent.

"Huh?" Angara poked her in the arm.

Azula continued to ignore her knowing she would get bored eventually.

"Huh?" Angara poked her again in the shoulder.

Azula still refused to give her the satisfaction of a reaction.

"Huh?" Angara poked her in the face.

Something in Azula snapped and she grabbed the toy then threw it into the water.

Angara lost her playful energy and only looked on in discontent, "Smooth pup. Real smooth."

"You shouldn't have had it so close to my face."

Angara rolled her eyes as she thought of how to get it back before the waves took it out to sea, "You're a real sore loser. You know that?"

"That wasn't me being a sore loser! That was you being an annoyance!"

"And here I thought you were going to honor our little truce." Angara said as she ripped a loose board from the dock and attempted to guide the stuffed animal back with it.

"I was honoring it. You were the one who provoked me!"

"That was just some light teasing! I literally do that all the time to Sev and Gax all that time and they don't throw my stuff into the ocean! Well… Sev doesn't at least."

"Really? That's your idea of friendship?"

"Yes! I know you and I aren't exactly friends but that's what they do, mess with each other. Didn't any of yours ever mess with you?"

"No. My former friends knew their place and that it would be unwise to provoke me."

Angara managed to pull the floating plush close enough for her to grab, "Can you even call that a friendship? At this point why even have any?"

Azula didn't answer that but it wasn't entirely true, after all she did allow Mai to get away with many of her sarcastic remarks, many of which would have been severely reprimanded if spoken by any other.

"What went on in my personal life on earth is none of your business." she said annoyed, "Where are the others? I'm ready to move on."

Angara rang the water out of it, "Just relax, they're probably still playing games. We'll just wait for them."

Azula groaned, "Who knows how long that will take."

"By the outer world, just shut up and relax! You're making me anxious."

She rolled her eyes, "I can't help it. I was raised to be diligent, to always be ready for surprises and to complete any tasks that needed to be done as soon as possible. It's not in my nature to just sit around and do nothing."

"And what are you gonna do instead? Make plans on how you're gonna take over your planet?"

That is exactly what she planned on doing but she wasn't willing to admit that and instead gave her a list of other things, "There are dozens of things that I need to do. For instance, learning to speak without the use of these translation devices that hurt my ears and are a chore to carry around, understanding technology that is far beyond my understanding and learning about everything else that goes on in the galaxy. There is so much for me to learn and if I am to adapt I need to understand it all as quickly as possible."

The Ke'Kuvon shook her head, "You sound just like My'Rell when she gets worked up. Always going on and on about how to fix and plan around every little problem she can think of. And she wonders why she doesn't sleep well."

That wasn't something Azula ever considered about their leader. My'Rell seemed so calm and in control at all times that is was difficult to imagine her letting anxiety get to her or as an insomniac.

"Really? I never would have guessed she was like that."

"You have no idea. Getting My'Rell to relax is like trying to saw through wood with a dull blade. Shaul tells her to take a vacation all the tiem but she's always got some excuse to not go on one. That woman's a workaholic. The way she acts it's like she's planning to take on the whole empire."

"Well this Courtix character has been running amok on everyone's mind and given what I've heard of him he's not an opponent to take lightly."

"Don't remind me. He's probably gonna show up at the worst time imaginable, which is why I ought to knock My'Rell out myself just so she can be well rested enough to deal with him."

It was here Azula realized something and wished to be clarified, "I've noticed something. You dislike Pendarens, for very justifiable reasons, yet you seem to harbor no ill will towards My'Rell. Why is that?"

Angara finished ringing out the plush, "Trust me, when we first met I had nothing but ill will for her. After all, we met on the worst day of my race's existence. Honestly thought she saved us just so she could give us false hope and space us all personally, we weren't expecting her to go awol, and all she asked in return was that some of us work with her to build up the Crimson Storm."

Azula watched the sun set off in the eastern horizon, "I can't help but notice that there aren't any other Ke'Kuvon around."

"Kowari and some of the others pitched in to get the storm afloat but once that was done they left feeling their obligation was done. I stuck around mostly because My'Rell was able to figure out who I really was and didn't want her blabbing about it to the Empire just in case she ever changed her mind. Plus, at the time I felt I had a duty to uphold by helping the woman that turned her back on her own nation for us, after all none of us would be here if she hadn't helped us. Still took a while for me to not want to shoot her and all the other Pendarens in the crew, but after hanging around her for a while I saw that she's not like most of those imperial types that constantly look down on us, "lesser races." She actually cares about others and isn't brainwashed like most of her kind. Can't say the same for some of the others. Well… maybe except for Serrin I guess."

"Who?"

"Another bounty hunter."

"You don't feel those duties now?" She refocused the conversation not wanting to go on another tangent.

Angara's expression tightened once more, "Drop it pup. I mean it this time."

"Oh come now, Angara. We're both of royal descent, I'm probably the only one in the universe who can relate to you right now. I'm sure you have some royal grievances you'd like to share." Azula saw this as an opportunity to gain Angara's trust once more and pounced on it.

"I'm not royalty anymore and you are the last person I'd ever want to share my personal feelings with."

"Not even a little? I'm hurt." Azula teased, "And quit it with that defeatist talk. Not royalty, you are! You should own it. Being royalty is the pinnacle of society that one must be lucky to be born in or have to claw tooth and nail to achieve. Where's your fire, your anger? I've seen it directed towards me and I must admit you are quite a terrifying foe, and that's not something I admit lightly. If I were you I'd be mustering every ounce of strength I can get to return to the fight and take revenge on the empire."

Angara only gave her a hard stare and a cold response, "You don't know me pup. You don't know what I've been through."

"Maybe not, but as sickening as it is for me to say this, I do believe you are better than just sitting out here on the sidelines pretending to be nobody."

Angara said nothing and instead stared off into the horizon pondering Azula's words.

"Besides, as a princess you shouldn't have to live in such squalor. I mean really living in a spaceship in one of the SeCore's hangers? That's no way for one of royal blood to live." Azula continued on however it seemed to have less to do with Angara and more to do with her own personal grievances of not living the luxurious life she once knew, "For instance; I would claim the most comfortable room on the station for myself, like the ship I just so happened to take from Slater, then I would also have over a dozen servants at my beck and call…" She continued on a tirade of her personal complaints about living as a peasant that caused Angara to zone out halfway through, until she spotted the others on their way all the while Azula was still going on about her list of princessly demands while occasionally bringing up Angara's princessly status.

Not wanting the others to suspect her royal origin Angara did the only sensible thing she could think of, firmly plant her boot in Azula's rear and kicked her off the dock.

She resurfaced in surprise and anger, "WHAT IN AGNI'S NAME IS WRONG WITH YOU?!"

The others came by their side seeing everything with Chani being the first to say something, "Angara! Why did you do that?"

"She had a bug on her butt… got it." Angara lied, unfazed by what she did.

"I think you could've handled that differently." Lectro said.

"And here I thought you two were starting to get along." Sev said as Gax laughed hysterically.

Chani helped pull Azula back up now seething as steam began to rise on her, "You think you're real funny, don't you?"

"Like I said pup, you had a huge bug on ya and I just reacted. Sorry." She wasn't really sorry and Azula knew it.

Sev placed a hand on her shoulder, "The important thing now is that she's sorry. Ain't that right Angara?"

She shrugged her shoulders, not really caring.

"And now that you've said you're sorry I feel that now I have to say it to you as well."

Angara raised a tattooed brow, "Why?"

"For this." Sev quickly grabbed both of her arms, "Firespitter! Quick, grab her legs!"

"Wait! Sev, what are you doing?!" She panicked as he lifted her.

A devilish grin spread across her face once she realized what he was doing and quickly ran to her as she began kicking her feet until she was able to wrap her arms around both legs and successfully fight back against her struggling.

"Don't you guys dare!" Angara warned.

"On three!" Sev grinned.

"I'm serious! If you guys throw me in I'm gonna…"

"One!" Sev said.

"Chani! Lectro! Do something!"

Lectro couldn't hide the smile this image was generating, "I think this is kinda earned. Don't you think Chani?"

"Right!" Chani agreed as she pulled out her communicator and started recording, "This will make a fun memory!"

"Two!" Azula said.

"At least empty my pockets first!"

"Three!" both Sev and Azula shouted.

"Wait, empty my pockets! EMPTY MY POCKETS!" Angara screamed as they threw her into the water.

She resurfaced being met with the laughs of the group with none laughing harder than Azula, "Okay fine, I guess I deserved that."

"More than you know." Azula said.

After being pulled out of the water both princesses stood in a drying station, an open booth that shot hot air at them in all directions as a convenient way for beach goers to get dry quickly. They waited there to get dry before heading back to the space port until Sev returned to them with a flier.

"Hey guy's, check this out! Someone was handing out fliers for a party down at an old warehouse not too far away from here." He handed them the flier.

"A party in a warehouse?" Azula questioned, "Clearly it's not a good one if it takes place there."

"That's where you're wrong, fire spitter. Underground parties are the best kind." Sev responded.

"Yeah, this ain't your stuffy rich people type of party. This is a rave, something that'll probably blow your mind." Angara said, taking the flier as she stepped out of the booth.

Chani peaked over the Ke'Kuvon's shoulder, "I've been to some of these parties before, they're really fun! We should go, it'll be a fun way to end the day!"

"It sounds more like an illegal get together between low lives." Azula said.

"I have to agree, this does sound kinda sketchy." Lectro added with Gax repeating what he said in a childish mocking way.

"Fine, then you guys can sit in the truck while we have fun. Might be best anyway, I don't think the pup could handle it."

Azula narrowed her eyes to her, "I just survived being trapped on a planet without my bending from a ruthless crime lord. A party is child's play."

"I just don't see you as the raving type. What, with that gigantic stick up your rear."

"I do not have a giant stick up my rear! Right Sev?"

Sev looked away scratching the back of his head, "Firespitter, that stick is so long I can grab it and wave you around like a flag." he deadpanned, earning him a kick to the leg from Azula.

"Have you ever even been to a party before?" Angara questioned.

Azula scoffed, stepping out of her booth now trying to calm her frizzy hair, "Of course I have! As princess I was expected to attend many formal gatherings with other members of the nobility."

"No, I don't mean one of your so-called, "formal get togethers" where all you do is stand around looking high and mighty. I mean a real party with music, dancing and people having a good time."

She searched her memories with her last vacation to Ember island coming to mind, "Once. My brother and I, along with my former friends, pretended to be commoners and attended a house party. We ended up burning it to the ground."

"Dang, partied so hard you burnt the place down? Didn't think you had it in ya firespitter!" Sev laughed, patting her on the back.

"Yes, that's just how fun I am." Azula lied trying to boost her own confidence as memories of her attempts at flirting came to mind making her feel less enthusiastic about attending what her companions' definition of a party was.

"Alright, since you're so confident let's get to it."

"Yeah, party time!" Sev cheered with Gax as they jumped back in the truck.

"Just don't cramp our style, pup." Angara said as she rebraided her hair.

"You took the words right out of my mouth. And stop calling me pup!"

They all entered Sev's truck excited for the party, all except Lectro who was still against the idea.

They left the carnival and arrived at the old warehouse just as night fell, finding it was packed with other vehicles of those attending. Before entering, Azula could hear the rhythmic beats of music and see the flashing lights from every opening.

Inside the warehouse it was loud, louder than any interior space should be, with a crowd of young people of various species dancing to the fast paced electronic beats, ethereal lyrics and synthetic noises that passed for music. Lights that were crudely put up flashed and changed color reacting to the music as a DJ stood in a raised platform surrounded by speakers in the back operating a strange array of equipment to control the party. She was expecting something informal however this was far away from what she thought.

"Still think you can handle this?" Angara asked smugly.

Azula held her chin up, "It's not what I expected, but I can adapt. Shall we?" She followed the rest in as they intermingled into the crowd and started moving to the beat.

Chani seemed to fit right in as she danced with the other party goers easily with her brother following suit in his own manic way, Sev showed off his own surprisingly coordinated moves while minding the crowd so he didn't accidentally club anyone with his heavy limbs and Angara had more subdued movements easing into the atmosphere. Azula stood awkwardly at the sidelines unable to pierce the wall of people. She tried politely to ask them to move aside before demanding they move shortly after but the music drowned out her voice and her audio translater wasn't loud enough to alert them of her presence. Instead of making a scene she resigned herself to sticking to the edge of the crowd.

She didn't know what to do and she couldn't try and mimic what others were doing as no one person moved the same. It was all too hectic, wild and unorderly with her personal space being invaded constantly as aliens of various shapes and sizes bumped into her not paying attention to their surroundings like a troop of hog monkeys acting out in excitement. She had been taught many things by many great artisans and masters, however the art of dancing was not one of them. Paired with the loud music and blinding lights that made it difficult to find the others she was quickly becoming overstimulated and had to pull herself away.

When exiting to the sidelines that were more vacant and saw that Lectro was hanging there as well so she decided to join him just so she wasn't alone with all of these strangers.

"You're not going to dance?" Lectro asked, trying to make some small talk.

"We don't really dance in the fire nation."

"I'm not much of a dancer myself. I generally prefer to stay away from such loud and crowded spaces, but it seems like we got dragged here anyways."

"Indeed."

They stayed quiet for a little while longer before Lectro broke the silence once more, "So, did you have a good day?"

She shrugged her shoulders, "I suppose. It wasn't the worst day ever. I could have been arrested again."

"Thankfully that didn't happen. I'm also glad you and Angara are somewhat getting along, minus her kicking you off the pier."

"I got her back so we're fine. So is this what most people in space consider fun?"

"For some I guess. I'm more of an indoorsy analytical person."

Chani exited the crowd with Angara as the song died down, "There you guys are! I was wondering where you went."

"Thought you said you could handle this pup?" Angara asked smugly.

"I can! I just… partied too hard and needed to rest for a bit." She quickly lied, Angara was not convinced.

A deep heavy bass signaled the start of another song.

"Oh! I love this song!" Chani grabbed Lectro's hands, "Come on, let's dance!"

Lectro's body stiffened as he tried to prevent himself from being pulled onto the dance floor, "B-but I don't know how to dance!"

"You don't have to know, just do it!" She laughed as she successfully pulled him along and grabbed Azula's as well, "You too."

"No it's fine Chani I-"

She felt Angara's hands land on her shoulders, "C'mon pup. You're a party animal right? Show us your moves!" She quickly shoved Azula before she could protest.

Azula could only groan as she was dragged onto the dance floor with Sev and Gax moving to the beat. Lectro danced awkwardly with Chani trying to match her movements in an awkward manner but as the music went up in pace and he received more encouragement from Chani his confidence grew and he slowly began to dance in a way that made him look ridiculous but he didn't seem to care and was just having fun.

Azula didn't follow suit and instead stood uncomfortably.

"You're gonna dance or what pup?" Angara asked crudely.

"I'm dancing! See?" She stuttered as she began bobbing and swaying to the beat in a very stiff manner.

Angara only gave her look of pity as if she was watching a sick little animal struggling to walk, "Look pup, I know I give you a lot of crap, but if you're that uncomfortable you can just go hang out in the truck. You don't have to force yourself to be here."

Azula gave her an indignant glare, "What makes you think I'm forcing myself to be here?!"

"I mean… have you seen yourself dance?"

"What's wrong with how I dance?" She was completely oblivious to her clumsy and unrefined movements.

Angara didn't answer, not that she didn't want to, but if she was honest to her it would have felt like kicking someone while they're already down.

Azula didn't like the pitying look Angara gave her and abruptly stopped, "Okay fine! I admit it! I don't know how to dance! Go ahead, make your jokes and laugh!"

"I would if it wasn't so sad."

That response only made her angrier.

Angara sighed and eased out of her dance, "Guess you need some lessons. Just follow my lead."

"I don't need your help, I can figure it out for myself." Azula said stubbornly.

"Okay fine. Embarrass yourself further, I don't really care." Angara shot back, going back to enjoying her night.

"Okay fine! Just take the lead already!" Azula quickly said feeling self conscious after hearing Angara's critiques.

Angara moved her hips to the beat followed by the swaying of her shoulders with simple foot movements.

"Try and keep it simple, you're not looking to be the center of attention." Angara instructed as her pace quickened with the music.

"How is my footwork? When do I focus on my legs or arms?" Azula asked.

Angara rolled her eyes, "You're thinking about it too hard! It's not rocket science. Don't think, just do!"

"What do you mean just do?"

"Do I have to spell it out for you? You're too stiff! Loosen up, follow the music. Do what feels right."

Azula sighed as she copied her. As she mimicked every movement she couldn't help but feel embarrassed, embarrassed that the most feared warrior of the fire nation was moving in an uncoordinated way, something her father would have reprimanded harshly, "This is stupid, I look ridiculous."

"Don't think about it, just do it." Angara repeated.

"Easier said then-"

"DON'T THINK JUST DO!"

"OKAY! STOP SHOUTING AT ME!"

Azula stopped arguing and made another attempt, this time closing her eyes remembering what she said about doing what felt right. Not thinking, just doing.

The beat was energetic so it would dictate her pace, the synthetic melody caught the movements of her shoulders with her arms following suit, and the digital bass sending sound waves reverberating through her body made her feel disconnected from the world around her as the music took her over. Before she knew it she was flowing with it like everyone else caught in a trance of lively youthful bliss.

"Now you're doing it, pup!" The sound of Angara's encouragement briefly snapped her out of it, allowing her to see she was matching with the Ke'Kuvons movements well.

She felt more confident and danced harder not wanting to be outdone by her. Angara sensed the challenge and with a smirk went even harder. Both princesses let the music seize them as they let loose with the rest of their group matching them as they enjoyed the evening dancing the night away. Angara was so absorbed in the dance that she felt restrained by her braid choosing to undo it, letting her maroon hair flow untamed as she flung it around.

"Undo yours!" Angara cheered.

"Why?"

"It feels great! What's the point of having hair that long if you don't throw it around?"

She wanted to argue back and explain how a topknot was a sign of a fire bender's pride and status but knew that she would be rudely interrupted if she did, but she did think about it. It was expected for a fire bender to keep their hair up at all times for all to see throughout the day and only be let down in personal settings, however she was no longer in the fire nation. She was not bound by the strict societal laws of her home, no one here would judge her or even bat an eye in her direction if she were to let it loose.

Reluctantly she abided by Angara's request undoing the ribbon, thankfully she didn't bring her hair piece this time so as to not get robbed again and made undoing her hair much easier, letting it flow freely once more, "There, happy?"

"I will be when you cut loose!" Angara said as she headbanged, "Come on! Fling those locks around like a maniac!"

Azula didn't have anything to say back but decided to follow her lead and threw her head throwing her hair around like she was waving a flag around proudly. It felt liberating as if all tension within her was being thrown out of her body and she couldn't help but smile and laugh without a care in the world. She felt something she had never felt before, like she could breathe easy, the weight of responsibility lifted from her shoulders, the worry of maintaining her composure was gone, schemes and plans for the future weren't important and the best part, her mind was silent. No intrusive voices telling her what to do next or trying to manipulate her. This feeling was new and alien to her, like she had taken a breath of invigorating fresh air for the first time after spending her whole life breathing in smog. She felt at peace, she felt free.

Sev momentarily paused his dance once he saw the two princesses dancing together with barely a hint of malice for one another, "Hey look at that, they're actually getting along."

Chani couldn't help but smile as she continued her dance, "I knew those two would get along eventually."

"I wonder how long it'll last."

Chani lightly slapped his side, "Don't say that! This is the start of a beautiful friendship!"

This didn't last long as the music was suddenly cut off as the doors were kicked open revealing Proxly and his band of law enforcers as he made a declaration, "This party ends here! You are all trespassing on private property and in violation of Horizon city's noise curfew laws!"

The first reaction anyone had was to flee. What was once a room filled with dancing youths devolved into a stampede as people pushed each other out of the way trying to avoid the officers that began arresting the party goers. The DJ even abandoned his equipment to escape out an old window.

"Wait, so this was an illegal party after all?" Azula asked as Angara grabbed her by the arm and pulled her away.

"Time to go! I'm not getting arrested again!"

"How are we getting out of here? They're blocking the main entrance?" Lectro cried as his anxiety took over.

Sev looked around and locked onto a particularly weak looking wall, "I've got an idea!"

Before anyone could ask he charged into the wall using his mass to smash through it with ease with the others following before law enforcement could notice.

They ran back to his truck piling in and taking off as more hovering police cars arrived. In the chaos of fleeing party goers they managed to escape without catching any attention and made their way back to the spaceport taking the shuttle back to the station.

Back on the station the group found themselves in the galley enjoying a late dinner. It wasn't as crowded at this time with only a few other members of the storm hanging about and none were as lively as this group.

"So your first thought was to just run through a wall?" Azula asked as she tied her hair up into a ponytail.

"You had a better idea?" Sev responded by stuffing his face with food.

"No, but I don't think that would have been my first option."

"If I had my armor I would have jettisoned my way out of there." Angara said, "The rest of you would have been on your own."

"CHAGATA KA RAKA!" Gax said while punching the air.

"Brother, Proxly would have eaten you if you even tried that on him." Chani said.

"I'm just glad we got out of there before he caught us. I'm pretty sure My'Rell wouldn't be too happy bailing all six of us out." Lectro added.

"She was super mad at just bailing me and the pup out last time, so she'd probably blow a gasket." Angara laughed.

"You know I really wished you would stop calling me that." Azula said, annoyed.

"Too bad, I'm already used to it." Angara said before biting into what looked like a purple chicken leg.

"You could just use my name."

"I like pup better. Pup." She said smugly before taking another bite.

"I think it sounds cute." Chani beamed.

"Cute isn't a word I would describe the Azula." Sev said, "You know she only calls you that because you don't like it."

"True." Angara confirmed.

"Why don't you come up with something for her? I have a feeling you are pretty good at coming up with nicknames." Lectro suggested.

"You think I haven't tried? She just takes any insult I throw at her. Not like Zuko who screams and shouts over any little comment I make." She reminisced.

"Something tells me you were an annoying little brat to him." Angara chuckled.

Azula laughed, "That is an accusation I cannot dispute. But I just couldn't help it, he made it so easy." Reminiscing on how she would tease poor Zuko brought a nostalgic smile to her, from the times she'd blame Zuko for all the bad things she did while making herself out as a pure little angel to embarrassing him with her exemplary firebending skills. Good memories.

"The one thing that never fails to rile him up is when I would call him Zuzu. Oh, he hated that. Always made me think he was going to burn something down every time I even breathed the name. Good times." The memory of their Agni Kai reared its ugly head causing her to lose her smile.

"Think he'd still get mad if you called him that now?" Lectro asked.

"Undoubtedly so. Although now I'd have more than an annoying nickname to say to him. Damn traitor." She quickly downed her drink.

Sensing Azula's change in attitude Angara decided it was probably best to steer the conversation away from her brother, "You said you fought in a war pup. Got any good war stories?"

"I only fought in the final year of it but I managed to gain some stories from my experience."

"That's right, you conquered a city, right? How'd you manage that?" Sev said leaning in with interest along with Gax who was just as interested.

"I suppose I could share how I conquered the Earth Kingdom capital." She said smugly, "It started with me overseeing our first attempt to breach the walls with a giant drill. It was probably as big as the SeCore."

Lectro's interest was caught, "Really? So your people managed to construct a massive structure despite your primitive status! Tell me, what was it powered by?"

"From what I understand coal and steam engines."

"Fascinating! A steam engine to power such a structure must have taken years- no decades to complete."

"Yes and thousands in taxes that ended up getting flushed down the drain. It was destroyed due to an… unforeseen factor." She groaned at the thought of the Avatar, "The drill, though great in concept, took a colossal amount of resources to make and power it, a colossal amount of manpower only for it to end as a colossal failure. So I took it upon myself to infiltrate the city."

"GASH KA RAMI NAMINA?!"

"Gax is asking why you didn't send spies in the first place." Sev said.

"We sent countless spies over the years, yet we never heard back from any of them and I quickly found the reason why, Dai Li agents. Elite earth benders that where the secret police keeping order within those walls. Nothing happened without them knowing about it and guess who was in charge of the city instead of the king? The timing of my arrival couldn't have been any more perfect. The leader of the Dai Li had been deposed once his king wisened up to his scheming and was in chian's. Needless to say he wasn't very happy with where he was and was willing to aid me in my plans. In the end I managed to get Ba Sing Se's greatest protectors to hand me the city on a silver platter."

"I get it, you took advantage of the infighting. Smart." Sev said.

"Can't imagine this alliance lasted long?" Angara said.

"No. After we overthrew the king the head of the Dai Li immediately tried to betray me except I was a bit more persuasive with his men than he was and they saw me as an even greater leader."

Chani was genuinely impressed, "Oh wow. Maybe we should get you to negotiate contracts for us. Charisma like that could really help us."

"What happened after you took the city?" Lectro pressed.

"After we took Ba Sing Se the war was practically over. I came home a war hero and all that was left was to clean up the remaining resistance forces and counter a feeble little invasion I managed to learn about. There were still the northern water tribes that needed to be dealt with but I'm sure they would have submitted once we put a little more pressure on them."

The way she had worded that last response sent a wave of caution down the others as it sounded very similar to what an imperial Pendaren would say. Angara in particular arched her brow as if an alarm had gone off. The mention of small resisting forces being crushed by a larger enemy brought up her own old memories. Dark memories of hardship, pain and loss.

"I have to say, that was fascinating to hear about, particularly the drill!" Lectro continued his enthusiastic praise with Azula proudly soaking it in, completely oblivious of how the others reacted.

Angara washed her meal down and slammed the cup hard, cutting off the praise, "Just out of curiosity, what was this war being fought over?" She asked with a hard and determined look.

The look was apparent to Azula, it was one of a challenge, one she didn't appreciate but answered truthfully as she had nothing to hide regarding that question.

"One hundred years ago my great grandfather had a vision of a united world. We are the pinnacle of civilization on earth and he wished to share our greatness to the rest of the world so that all four nations could live as one. The other nations wanted to reject this gift in favor of stagnation. We just needed to show them the errors of their ways."

Angara's face tightened as her voice took on an edge, "So you thought your way of doing things was the best way and tried to enforce it on everyone else? Just like the Pendarens." The accusation was clear and the light friendly atmosphere of the table quickly faded away, "What happens when people just want to live the way they want instead?"

Azula's brow tightened as she answered back with her own edge, "Our way is the way of progress. It's the only way. If they want to obstruct our path then it's their own fault if they get trampled."

Angara growled, "Spoken like a true Pendaren."

Both princesses began to glare daggers at one another with the tension at the table beginning to grow before Lectro decided to step in, "Now hang on! Let's not go throwing accusations around like that. Every species has a history with empires expanding and what not. These are just universal concepts."

Angara ignored him, "Couldn't help but notice you said the four nations but you only talk about fighting two of them. What happened to the third one? Did they push the hardest against you or were they just the first to be stuck under your boot?"

Chani tried to butt in as well, trying to bring back the friendly atmosphere from before, "Come on guys, we were having a really good time. Let's not fight."

"The air nomads posed the greatest threat to us. We had to get rid of them!" Azula spat back ignoring Chani's plea's.

Angara scoffed, "You couldn't control them so you killed them all! Just like how the Pendarens tried to do with my people! I guess I shouldn't be surprised that evil like them can develop on primitive worlds too."

Azula slammed her hands on the table as she rose from her seat, "Don't try to compare your squabble with the Pendarens with the conflict of my world! It's not the same!"

"It is the same! You're trying to micromanage and subjugate people who don't want you shoving your ideal down their throats, saying that you're the arbiters of how things should be done when you're just a bunch of narcissists who think the universe revolves around them!"

"My people brought order and innovation everywhere we went! It's not my fault they couldn't see the good we were doing for them!"

"Did they ask for your help? No, they probably didn't, so instead of acting like a controlling parent you should just leave people be! Order isn't something that can be imposed by others!"

Azula was growing tired of being on the receiving end of Angara's words and decided to end this with her own remark that she guarantees will end the conversation, "If a nation has the power to spread and share its greatness with those inferior to them then that's their right! Perhaps if the Ke'Kuvon king knew his place and heeded the will of a superior power then maybe his own brother wouldn't have had to stab him in the back!"

Angara exploded with rage standing up so fast that her seat flew out from under her, "YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY ANYTHING!" Sev jumped in front of her as she rounded the corner of the table like she was going to pounce on her like a berserk animal, "YOU DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT! YOU DON'T KNOW PAIN, THE SUFFERING THAT NIGHT CAUSED ALL OF US!" Tears welled up in her eyes that housed an unrelenting fury unlike any Azula had ever seen before; a mix of anger, sadness and pain that cut her deep to her core. Pain she could not share the true extent of with anyone present and Azula knew this.

"Okay! I think dinner time is over! How about we turn in for the night?" Sev grabbed Angara and began pulling her away as she continued screaming obscenities and graphically detailed threats with Chani following attempting to calm her down.

Azula smirked, she finally managed to say something to trigger a decent response from her. It may have been a low blow but at least it put her in her place for now. The others at the table were not as enthused as they sat there awkwardly.

Lectro drummed his fingers for a bit before breaking the silence nervously, "Well… uh… I think that's enough excitement for me today. B3's probably got all that data transferred by now so I think I'll go and see that… night everyone." He quickly ran out of there before anything could keep him there any longer.

Gax sighed, making a remark that Azula couldn't understand before waddling off on his own.

Azula was alone, all the people he was having a good time with left her behind and it left a strange feeling in her, like a big empty pit appeared in her chest. She should feel happy to put Angara in her place, however her happiness faded quickly. The silence was deafening. She couldn't stand sitting alone so she went back to her quarters all the while thinking about this strange feeling. She always felt better after insulting someone, especially as deeply as she did now, so why didn't she feel any better?

She decided not to dwell on it and instead sat in bed writing in her journal recording the events of the day.

*****

"I believe I may have managed to establish some trust between myself and my group within the Crimson Storm, however I think it may have been all for nothing all because of that stupid brutish woman Angara. I swear she manages to make any form of enjoyment fade away, she's worse than Zuko sometimes.

To think that things actually started out quite decently when our trip to the planet started. I found myself having fun with the little group I found myself in. Clothes shopping was a bit of a pain as most of what is considered fashionable out here is downright hideous on earth, but the experience wasn't so bad.

I found the zoo trip to be enlightening. The various oddities that place called animals was very entertaining, I wonder how much chaos they would bring if one were to set them free. I was a bit mixed on the Carnival though. Some of the rides were entertaining however some were stress inducing. It was especially annoying having that wretch Angara kicking me off the pier but I was able to toss her in thanks to Sev so I suppose things turned out great in the end.

And the "Rave" as they called it, that we visited was more fun than I had anticipated. Who would have known that dancing around to music that was entirely too loud would have been such a liberating experience. I guess I see why so many fire nation youths began starting illegal dance parties towards the end of the war.

Everything had been going great, until dinner time. They asked me about the war, so I told them the goal of the fire nation, but Angara didn't seem to like my response. She accused both me and the fire nation of being like the Pendarens like it was a cardinal sin to be the dominant power.

The empire is the dominant force so why shouldn't I admire their strength, of course a weakling like Angara would be jealous of such a power and others like it. I made sure she knew it with a rather sharp response that made her throw a temper tantrum like Zuko.

However… I felt strange afterwards. I felt no satisfaction from what I said, and I don't understand why. I finally managed to put that brute Angara down, yet why do I not feel good about it?

Angara is my rival, one who had just humiliated me in the worst way imaginable earlier today. I shouldn't feel anything but elation that I hit a nerve, but it feels… hollow. Do I feel bad about what I said? No that can't be. Feeling bad for someone is beneath me and I'm sure if given the chance she would say something similar."

*****

She looked at the small statue she got of herself and the rest of the group at the zoo, staring at her neutral expression in the center of the group as the rest of them stood around her in various poses and smiling, except for Angara who also held a neutral expression.

Despite how things ended up at dinner she had to admit, she had fun today, it was the most fun she's ever experienced in her entire life, and she was somewhat sad about how things turned out.

She shook her head of these thoughts as she tossed the statue aside. She was too tired to deal with this, physically from the dancing and running along with mentally from dinner. She'll just sleep the night away and try to forget what happened.

*****

My'Rell walked the hallways of the newly acquired star yacht with Cetro as members of the engineering team assessed the structural integrity and stripping it of all nonessential equipment.

"I must say it is quite impressive that you all managed to take this ship without suffering any casualties." She said as two engineers cleared their tools out of her way.

"I count the stress it caused me as a casualty." Cetro said as he stepped out of the way of two engineers dragging some thick cables.

"How are you holding up by the way? I know you and Kanzo were close."

His four eyes darted away as he didn't want to look her in the eye when discussing such a thing, "I'm holding up as best as I can. Can't say I'm surprised though. He always did like to play with fire. I just need to get back to work."

"Are you sure about that? Why not take some time off? So you can mourn properly."

Cetro grumbled, "Now you're starting to sound like my son. I appreciate the sentiment, captain, but the last thing an old man like me needs is to be alone with his thoughts regarding mortality. I'll mourn my own way and that's by staying busy."

My'Rell sighed tiredly knowing she wasn't going to change his mind, "If that's what you want."

"Besides, you need someone who's worked this overly priced hunk of junk to tell you its worth." He changed the subject as they entered the atrium, "If you want my opinion, I say we should gut it. Salvage everything we can and sell the rest."

"What can you tell me about its performance?"

"This thing is decently sized, has a cargo bay that almost spans the entire length from nose to engine; she's fast too, faster than any ship this size should be, good fuel storage so she'll be running for a good long while before refueling and has one hell of a scanning range."

My'Rell nodded liking everything she's heard, "Why am I sensing a, "but" coming?"

"She's brittle. This thing was not built for combat; it only has two self-defense turrets, that are both broken by the way, shield capacity ain't nothing to speak highly of, hull might as well be made of paper and it's filled to the brim with redundant crap." He traveled up the steps and pointed to the abstract statue that acted as the centerpiece, "I mean look at this thing! What's the use of having this stupid thing here?"

My'Rell folded her arms and observed the looped artifact closely, "I believe it's to make the space look nicer."

"Well it's getting disassembled and used as material for the fabricator!" He leaned over the railing and barked some orders towards a few engineers, "Hey! Melt this thing down and put it with the fabricator pile!"

They entered the bar area as the alcohol was being taken for the galley and they took a seat at one of the tables.

"I'm not too sure we should scrap it just yet." My'Rell said, grabbing a bottle from a crate as one of the crew members walked by, "We have been looking for a new recon vessel for a while and based on what you just told me this thing sounds like a perfect fit. Think you can fix it up, put some bulk on it so it can take a hit and maybe install some heavier weapons?" She signaled one of the crew mates to bring them two glasses.

Cetro scratched his chin as he thought about it, "With the fabricator repairing it would be a whole lot cheaper than buying a brand-new ship. I can improvise something, but it won't be pretty."

"If you can make it functional then that's all that matters. Get rid of all non-essentials like the pool, the on-board sauna and use up the guest rooms if you have too."

"Jacuzzi too?"

My'Rell thought about it long and hard as she poured herself a drink, "Get rid of all non-essentials except the Jacuzzi. I might want to try that out at some point."

"Noted." Cetro said before downing the glass she poured for him only to recoil in disgust, "Pendaren whiskey? I don't know how you can drink this stuff."

My'Rell down her glass, "Reminds me of home."

"I think I'll stick with squig."

My'Rell poured herself another glass, "Also, before I forget, tell me about this distress call anomaly the Gold Sun's tried to blame on us."

"Right, that. Someone or something out there is luring people in with fake distress calls. Sun's lost a few ships to it and they'd probably lose this one if we didn't cut the feed and give away their trap. Sensors didn't get much of it before it disappeared."

My'Rell took this information in trying to decipher the mystery behind it but had too little information to work with, "That is concerning to say the least. I'll get with Shaul and Suldon to put out a warning to all our ships about false distress calls. Hopefully whoever it was wised-up and decided to stop that." She downed another drink, "One more thing. How was Azula during this whole mess? Didn't behave suspicious in any way?"

"No. If anything, that girl was the reason we got out of there in the first place. It was her idea to take the yacht when my plan failed. She's a little rotten brat but when things took a turn for the worst she kept a cool head, was adaptable and was able to handle her own in a fight. Then again I don't think the Sun's were expecting to get blasted in the face with fire. She even managed to hold her own against Slater down in the cargo hold."

"Guess that explains why it's a huge mess down there." My'Rell commented.

"If you want, we've got her whole fight with him recorded on the ship's security log, although it cuts out towards the end. Probably damage from when we went through that gas giant."

"I'll check it out later. I've got a billion other things to do, one of which is finding a job to send her on."

Her communicator buzzed as a call came in from her second that she answered, "Hello Shaul, what have you got for me?"

His voice came through on speaker, "I've been searching through our requests for a beginner level job as requested and I believe I've found one. Sending you the information."

She read the request on her screen quickly, "Hm… this'll do perfectly."

Chapter Text

A young girl runs through a royal palace frightened as the sounds of conflict and blaster fire rang all around her. Her vision was slightly obscured as she wore her mother's crimson helmet that was too big for her head but not enough to hide the fallen forms of royal guards and the enemies storming her home. An explosion at the corner of a corridor went off sending several guards flying back as their enemy flew by with their jetpacks maneuvering around the returning fire.

The young girl picked herself up and ran down another corridor as the fighting became more intense. She bolted for her father's study knowing that she would be safe at his side. She pushed the door open shouting for her father only to stop in her tracks.

Before her was her father's still body face down in the center of his study, a burning wound on his back and standing over him was the girl's uncle, a blaster in his hand with the barrel still smoking. She froze in place as overwhelming horror took her, hyperventilating as she tried to process the sight before her.

The murderer finally took notice of her presence, extending a hand to her, "Angara… please…"

The eight year old girl screamed.

*****

Angara screamed as she shot up in a cold sweat. She looked around herself frantically, finding herself in the quarters of her ship. She held her face in her hands as she calmed herself down, she rubbed her eyes finding that they were drenched in tears and growled in frustration. She felt weak and powerless just like she did back then.

It wasn't uncommon for her to have nightmares, but it was rare for her to relive these particular memories. Undoubtedly because of what Azula had said stirred them up after years of suppression. She wanted to ring Azula's neck for what she said, she had no right to bring up what happened to her father especially in front of the others. Azula knew what she was doing when she said that and Angara knew she played into getting the reaction Azula wanted, making her hatred for her grow stronger.

She looked at the bright red helmet that rested on a shelf staring at her, reminding Angara of her mother and making her long for her company.

Her communicator buzzed, breaking her out of her train of thought, swiping the device and rudely answering it, "What!?"

My'Rell's voice came through, "Come to my office, I've got a job for you and Azula."

Angara sighed knowing she has to deal with Azula again but grabbed a change of clothes and left as ordered.

*****

Azula stood by as Cetro held a metal sheet over a hole along the side of the SeCore as they stood on a floating platform.

"Alright blow torch, start welding." He ordered.

"This is a gross misuse of my bending, you know." Azula sassed.

"I didn't ask for your opinion, blow torch. I asked for your ability to weld. So, start welding." Cetro sassed back.

"Why can't you use an actual blow torch?"

"Because said blow torch is broken, now quit complaining and get to welding, blow torch! My arms are getting tired!"

Azula scoffed and grumbled under her breath, "My name is not blow torch!"

She put on the welding mask and produced a flame from her fingertips and began welding as instructed until the sheet was completely attached over the hole and they moved on to another hole.

"Alright blow torch, last hole to patch up then we're done with exterior damage."

"I AM NOT A BLOW TORCH!" She shouted loud enough to echo throughout the hangar.

"What's got you acting like me every day?" Cetro asked unfazed by the outburst.

"I'm always in a sour mood."

"Yeah, but usually you keep it bottled up like me."

Azula sighed a tired sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose, "It's that aggravating Angara again. She's just so… GRRRAAAAGGGHHHH!" She growled out strangling the air.

"Oh yeah, I heard about the hrandi fruit incident." He started laughing, "Classic! You know hrandi fruit got banned in the imperial navy because of-"

"I DON'T CARE AND I NEVER WANT TO TALK ABOUT THAT DAMN FRUIT EVER AGAIN!"

That outburst was enough to silence the engineer.

"I just want to weld that mouth of hers shut! She thinks she knows me and my people, saying that my nation is like the empire!"

Cetro rolled his eyes, "Look kid, don't let that little turd get in your head like that. She's just being a brat because she doesn't know how to deal with her anger." He got the last sheet of metal ready, "And don't let the Ke'Kuvon make you think they're the paragons in that whole conflict either. Just because they lost their planet they like to play the victim card every chance they get when they've been going around the galaxy making even more victims than the Empire did to them."

"Oh? You don't think what happened to their homeworld was a problem?" She asked with a raised brow.

Cetro stopped what he was doing and gave her an old tired look, a look of someone who had witnessed horrible things, "It was overkill, what the empire did, but it's a tragedy the Ke'Kuvon brought on themselves. Don't get me wrong, I feel for them, I really do. But I've seen the aftermath of their raids back in their glory days. The victims they left behind."

Azula crossed her arms as she looked out at the hanger, "Figures I was only getting part of the story. The Ke'Kuvon didn't seem that virtuous anyway."

"They're not." He said, crossing his lower set of arms as he fiddled with a tool with his top pair, "Just remember this kid, the galaxy isn't black and white. Both sides have skeletons in their closets, it just so happens the empire has a lot more of them and unfortunately Tunbani is now one of them. They can play the victim all they want but don't let Angara, Kowari or any other Ke'Kuvon make you believe they're blameless in all this."

"What about Turan? How does his betrayal fit into all of this?"

Cetro just shrugged his shoulders, "How should I know the reasoning behind what kin killers do? Maybe Angara's uncle thought he could run the show better than his brother, maybe not. I don't know and I don't care to know."

"I suppose you're right, still it's irritating that-" She caught herself realizing something, "Wait! You called Turan her uncle. You know that Angara is-"

"A spoiled rotten princess like you? Yeah. I was there when we saved her ass from Tunbani, and I know that you know. By the way, shut your mouth about that. The last thing any of us needs is a Pendaren dreadnought or her uncle showing up at our doorstep."

"Noted."

The intercom system suddenly came on, "Private Azula, please report to the captain's office immediately."

"What did you do this time?" Cetro asked sarcastically.

"I may have said something a little… hurtful to Angara in response to last night."

Cetro just rolled his eyes as he went to the platform controls, "You sure you're not Angara from some alternate timeline?"

*****

Azula arrived at the captain's office who was going over the documents on her tablet with Angara already present.

"Morning sunshine. Take a seat, this'll be quick."

Azula looked at the seat before her desk next to Angara who locked eyes with her seeing how she would react to her presence after what she had said last night. Angara only growled at her before looking away.

"Just waiting on one more and we can get started." My'Rell said with someone else entering.

He was a kestradont just like Cetro. His scales were white, the thick mane of hair around the neck was a deep shade of navy blue.

"Here as requested, captain." He said in a timid manner.

"Good, everyone is here. Azula this is Dalk, one of our tech specialists." My'Rell quickly introduced.

The younger kestradont extended a hand to her, "Nice to officially meet you, and thanks for making sure my father came home safely."

She shook his hand and on closer inspection saw that he looked remarkably similar to Cetro, only less wrinkly and didn't have a permanent scowl spread across his face. Clearly this was the son he spoke of.

"May I ask the reason for our presence?" She asked

My'Rell switched the data from a tablet to a holographic display presenting the information to them both, "I've got a job that I think will be good for the both of you."

Azula's eyes lit up. Finally, a chance to show off her skills and make herself useful.

"This is a simple snatch and grab job. Our client is a scientist named Natsuvan, whose science project was hijacked by his boss and is being carted off to an information broker to find a buyer on the black market. He wants us to steal back his project before his boss can sell it."

"That's it?" Azula asked, "It sounds almost too easy."

"You say that now but we'll see how you think once you are on the job." My'Rell moved on, going into further detail displaying an image of a human looking alien man with a bulbous forehead, small deep-set eyes, and nonexistent nose dressed in formal business wear, "His boss, Mr. Nobidan, has the target in a miniature cryogenic stasis pod hidden within a luggage and is on his way to the tropical moon of Kilikiri. He'll be taking a cruise ship to the broker's destination. We will be boarding said cruise ship and your job will be to steal the case before the ship arrives at its destination."

"What's in the cryopod?" Angara asked, looking over the details on the hologram.

"Don't know. When asked the client said it was on a need-to-know basis and that we didn't need to know. The only thing he did say is that it isn't a weapon and that the target is biological in origin meaning whatever it is has to stay in cryostasis, so no peeking at what's inside." She turned to Dalk, "Any opinions Dalk?"

The younger Kestradont looked at the details scratching his chin, "If I can get into the cruise ship's mainframe I can locate his room and have access to all cameras on board, shouldn't be too hard. I'll be able to pinpoint where he is at all times and keep track of the package."

"Good. Dalk will be our surveillance while you two work on getting that package."

"You said, "we" Does that mean you will be accompanying us?" Azula asked.

"Yes. Shaul will look after things here and I want to see just how well you two work together. Besides, a job on a luxury cruise ship sounds like a nice change of pace for me."

"What do we do once we get the package? Just throw it in our room and wait until we get to shore?" Angara asked.

"Yup. It's a big cruise ship, plenty of places to hide and not enough time for him to search. While he panics at his lost luggage we can just enjoy the cruise, only if you manage to secure the package." She directed a disciplinary stare at the two princesses, "The only way this works is if you two work together. Think you are up for the task?"

The two young women glared at each other, animosity radiating off them.

"I'm up for it. Are you?" Azula said, challenging her to say otherwise.

Angara continued the glare before spitting out, "Fine."

"Then pack your things, we leave immediately."

*****

In the lower levels of the station Skeeve skulked about memorizing optimal escape routes and passed by the server room, eyeing the secure locked door that could only be accessed to certain personnel. After mulling it over all night he decided that he would break into the server room to get the information he needed, less security than the command tower. He could hack the door and break in but that required opening himself up to getting caught and at this crucial stage he couldn't afford anything like that.

He would have to steal a key card in order to get in. The problem with that was the one person he knows for a fact has a key card to get into the server room is a really big and scary looking reptilian that looked as though he would eat Skeeve if he tried. The best solution he could think of was to get someone else to pickpocket it out of his possession, let them take the risk of feeling his wrath, the question now was who?

He remembered the blackmail material he had on Azula and thought to utilize it. After all Azula was a girl of many talents, who's to say pick-pocketing wasn't one of them, however when attempting to speak with her the previous day she had thrown him out of the way as she sprinted down the hall, something about hrandi fruit being involved. Then again Azula was also one of the scariest people he's ever met so she may not be very appreciative of his attempt at blackmail and might torch him on the spot.

She was too much of a wildcard to use now, he'll keep her blackmail material as insurance. What he really needed was someone easy to control and that he could guarantee wouldn't betray him, but who?

As he walked pondering this he wasn't paying attention and walked into someone who dropped a tool box sending tools everywhere.

"Watch where you're going buddy!" he said in annoyance.

The person he bumped into was a younger red skinned alien man who was reptilian in appearance with an odd shaped beaked head, long backwards facing legs and a burn scar on his cheek.

"Sorry about that! I-I'll be more careful next time!" He stuttered out nervously.

Skeeve remembered who he was. His name was Denva, one of the other Death's Head members that became part of the storm. From what he remembered Denva was a weak and timid young man, mostly because he was a survivor of what Courtix did on Axelon four and was made one of his forcefully new recruits.

Denva had a healthy dose of fear for Courtix and was a skilled engineer who kept to himself, often fading into the background. He was perfect.

Skeeve put on his friendliest smile and voice, "Oh hey Denva! Didn't realize it was you buddy! Here let me help you out with that." He bent down picking up the various tools.

"Y-you don't have to. I-I can handle this."

"Nonsense! You're on the job and I'm off so it was my fault for not paying attention. By the way how've you been since we ended up here?"

Denva seemed surprised that anyone bothered asking him and sheepishly replied, "Oh you know, pretty good. I guess. The people here are a lot nicer, except for the engineering head, he keeps calling me Derren."

"I think he's getting our names wrong on purpose." Skeeve said with a spike of irritation remembering all the times he was called Skiv. He shook the thought away as he picked up the tools and helped Denva up, "Anyway, nice to hear that you're adapting. But, make sure you be careful. Remember, Courtix is still out there."

Denva's body tensed up as a chill ran up the red reptilian's spine at the mention of Courtix's name, "Uh… y-yeah. But we don't need to worry about that. Right? I mean t-the Crimson Storm has an impressive armory that can deflect him a-and the minefield too!"

Skeeve leaned invading his personal space, "Denva, this is Courtix we're talking about. The butcher of Axelon four. You were there when he earned that title, you really think he's going to let that stop him? You also gotta remember, the SeCore is still out of commission."

Denva remained quiet for a while, "I… but… he… he won't be showing up anytime soon, would he?"

Skeeve leaned in a bit more so no one could eavesdrop, "I'm gonna be straight with you, Denva. Courtix is gonna be on the warpath now that his dad is dead, if he wants this place torn to shreds there's nothing that's gonna stop him from doing it."

Denva's amber eyes grew wider at his words believing every word spoken.

"But…" That single word sparked a bit of hope in his eyes, "If Courtix is out for blood don't you think we ought to get on his good side?"

"Wha-What do you mean?"

Skeeve looked around before guiding him down the hall as he spoke, "Let's just say I've got some intel that says Courtix is going to be here sooner than you think. It's inevitable that he's gonna break in here and take that fabricator. What I'm proposing is that you and I help him get it, you know, make it less likely that he'll gut us during the slaughter."

Denva looked unsure of this, his eyes darting around as his mind raced to a decision, "Why not tell the Storm about this? Th-that way we could-"

"Denva!" Skeeve centered him, "You of all people know what he's capable of. Remember Axelon four? Remember what he did to you?" He dragged a finger down the burn scar on the younger alien's face, "What do you think he'll do to you if we don't help him?"

Memories of the destruction on Axelon four flooded Denva's mind, fear gripping his soul as his breath grew heavy remembering the pain from being branded as Courtix's property and what he does to his property if they don't do what he demands.

"Listen kid." Skeeve eased him a bit with a gentle pat on the shoulder, "I know how he treats guys like you, which is why I'm trying to look out for you. Keep you away from the worst of it, and who knows maybe he'll be so impressed that he'll let you keep your freedom."

"You really think so?"

"Of course! As a matter of fact I'll put in a good word for you when I talk to him, but only if I can rely on you to help me get him here."

Denva swallowed hard feeling conflicted but came to a decision, "Alright… I'll do it."

Skeeve couldn't help but let a devious smile spread, "Excellent! I knew I could count on you Denva."

"Should we tell the others? Get them to help us?"

"No. Let's keep this between you and me. The others seem like they've gotten a bit too cozy with the Storm." Skeeve didn't want the possibility of his deception to get leaked back to My'Rell.

"O-okay. What do I need to do then?"

"I need an ID pass to get into the server room. Think you can swipe one for me?"

Denva was already regretting this but if it means he can avoid Courtix's wrath he'd do it, "Yeah… I can do that."

"You are a lifesaver Denva." Skeeve declared as they reached an intersection, "I'll leave you to it then, and remember this stays between us."

"Right." He reluctantly said going back to his original task.

*****

The moon known as Kilikiri orbited a massive dark purple planet that was too large and too hostile to support life with several other moons orbiting it. Kilikiri was the only one capable of supporting life only because it had been terriformed into doing so by those that settled it. Thanks to massive atmospheric machines that could be found littered throughout the moon, the surface was home to hundreds of archipelagos and islands with a shallow and clear emerald green ocean snaking between them like aquatic roads, white sandy beaches covered each of the islands with tropical plants sprouting everywhere thriving thanks to the year round warm temperatures, resorts of all kinds were built on the islands connected together by bridges with boats sailing between them like roads. Species of every kind congregated here to enjoy the tropical weather, cool ocean and scenic views to relax from their everyday lives. All except those who came here for work such as Azula and Angara who sat at one of the local restaurants in a plaza set at the base of a colossal space elevator that stretched far past the atmosphere and was surrounded by shops and restaurants where dozens of tourists sat waiting for their cruise to arrive as they scouted the area out for their target.

Azula looked up at the megastructure unable to see its top amongst the blue sky. It was almost dizzying to look at such a monstrous thing along with imagining how long it would have taken to construct it. The ride down was interesting to say the least along with learning that the elevator was a hold over from the days when Kilikiri was a barren moon and the use of traveling by ship was limited due to atmospheric contamination during its terraforming. She chose to focus more on the task at hand.

Angara fanned herself as she sat there looking at the docking terminal for landing cruise ships, "Damn it's hot. I'm really regretting my outfit now." She said dressed in all black and wearing the spiked leather jacket she had gotten on her shopping trip the previous day and was now feeling the effects of wearing such a thing.

"Well what did you expect? You didn't exactly dress for the part." Azula said, wearing a lighter red and orange shirt, dark pants and sandals with her hair tied in a ponytail rather than its uptight topknot.

Angara side-eyed her, "I don't remember you buying that outfit."

"I'm not going to wear the nice clothes I bought for my first mission, at least not right away. Thankfully Chani was able to come through for me at such short notice. Besides, My'Rell told us to dress appropriately for the setting and none of my outfits matched." She said as two children playing tag ran dangerously close past completely unaware that their reckless play could be annoying the people around them.

Angara gave her a skeptical look, "Really? Chani let you borrow that?"

"Of course. She and I are great friends, you know."

Meanwhile back on the station Chani was in the laundry room with her torso inside one of the washing machines as she dug through the clothes, "Has anyone seen my red top with the cute orange frilly patterns and my black pants? I can't find them anywhere!"

Angara scoffed and turned her attention back to the terminal, the same two children running past giggling as they almost ran into her causing her to snarl at them.

Azula put her lunch down and sipped from her drink as she followed her gaze, "You know this place is quite magnificent. Ember island doesn't hold a candle to this planet, perhaps I should save up and buy a home here."

Angara said nothing and continued watching.

Azula took notice of Angara ignoring her and raised a brow in annoyance, "You know this place is far better than the previous planet I was on. Ginza was far too dark and cold for my liking. Thankfully this one is orbiting a yellow star so my bending will be of much greater use for our task. Not that I'll need it anyway."

Angara stayed silent for a while before saying anything, "Moon."

"Excuse me?"

"Kilikiri is a moon, not a planet. There's a difference… dumb primitive."

Azula gave her a scornful look as the children ran past again, "You're still mad at what I said, aren't you?"

"Really? I'm mad because you brought up the most traumatizing event of my entire life, trash talked my dead father and imply that my backstabbing uncle had the right idea? Gee, who would have thought?" Angara said sarcastically with a bleak bitterness in her tone as she still kept her eyes on the terminal.

Azula rolled her eyes, she could do without the sarcasm but it wouldn't be Angara if she didn't make things difficult, although Azula supposed that she may have gone too far with what she had said especially if it could jeopardize their mission and decided that perhaps an apology may remedy the situation. She wouldn't mean it, of course, but anything to get Angara's ire focused on something else other than her.

"Alright, I'll admit that what I said was a little out of line."

"A little?" Angara hissed with Azula practically seeing the vein throbbing on her forehead.

"Okay, maybe a lot. I was very out of line. Just know that I am sorry and an outburst like that will never leave my lips again. So why don't we try and put that behind us to work to accomplish our goal together on a united front?" She extended a hand to shake for another truce. It sounded like a good enough lie to tell her. She sounded sweet and regretful enough to even fool Zuko. Given how ruled by emotions Angara is, she'll be able to get her on her side for now and achieve the first step in her plan to take the storm.

Angara finally peeled her eyes away looking at her, studying her to see how genuine her words were before extending a hand. Azula almost smirked at how easy it was to fool her until Angara's hand reached past hers grabbing her half eaten sandwich and shoveling the entire thing in her mouth being sure to exaggerate her chewing while maintaining eye contact to let Azula know what she thought of her little apology attempt before grabbing her drink and washing it down then putting the empty cup in Azula's still extended hand.

"Next time tell them to go easy on the condiments." Angara went back to watching the terminal as Azula only stared, dumbstruck at her response.

"You are such a child."

"And you're a bitch so there's that."

The two children ran past screaming in delight and causing them both to wince in annoyance.

"Do I need to make you two hug again?" My'Rell asked, through their radio earpiece as she sat several tables away sipping at a cool beverage while dressed in a classy sundress covered in tropical floral patterns and a wide brimmed hat to block the sunshine with Dalk dressed in a similar fashion as he went through his computer.

"Did you hear any of that?" Azula asked, hoping their conversation doesn't sway My'Rell's judgment.

"No, but I did see Angara scarfing down your sandwich and figured you said something to set her off. By the way, she's eating your sides right now."

She turned to see Angara helping herself to her potato-like side dish.

"These are really good, just so you know."

"Stop eating my food!" Azula grabbed her arm and tried to force it out of her hands only for Angara to slam her boot heel down on Azula's bare toes who then kicked Angara hard in the shin.

"Children behave. We have a job to do. Honestly, you two could be sisters with how aggressively alike the you are." My'Rell said before they could escalate further.

They both scoffed, "Oh please, we are nothing alike." Azula said.

"Couldn't agree more." Angara responded as the playing children ran past once more, only this time both princesses had enough of their antics and slid a foot out, each one tripping the both of them over, skinning their knees and making them burst out into tears.

"Yeah… right. Anyway, Any sign of the target?"

"Not yet." Angara said, turning her attention back to the crowd, "Scanned over a dozen faces and I haven't seen anyone of the same species as him."

"Make sure you find some trace of him before we board. I want to make sure he is present before we depart."

"It would be rather inconvenient if we boarded a ship and he wasn't even present." Azula said, shaking her cup and finding only ice present.

"I swear if he isn't here I'll smash the client's-" Angara stopped seeing the target, "Found him!"

They all turned to her line of sight seeing the older human-like alien dressed in relaxed vacation wear dragging a large case behind him.

"Now that we have confirmation we can proceed with the mission." My'Rell said putting on a pair of shades.

"Great, I'll he'd over there, bash him in the head while he's not looking and the package is ours." Angara said, cracking her knuckles as she stood up.

"Now I remember why I usually don't send you out on snatch and grab jobs." My'Rell sighed, "This is a stealth job Angara, we can't draw any attention to ourselves or the package."

"Yeah Angara, even an idiot can figure that out." Azula commented.

"We'll blend in until the time is right. We're going on a cruise, enjoy yourselves, look like you're having fun."

"Easy for you guys to say, you won't be stuck in a room the entire time glued to a computer." Dalk said.

"With that said, how are we going to go about this?" Azula asked.

"That's for you two to decide. I'm just here as an observer." My'Rell said then turned her attention to a gift shop, "If you excuse me I'll be off looking for gifts for my second and third in command." She left them to their devices.

"So… how are we going to do this Angara?"

"Well I like my plan, just have to change it up a bit to suit a stealth operation."

"A bit simple and brutish don't you think?"

"Sometimes simple is best."

"This is my first mission and I will not have you ruining it with a botched plan."

"Then what do you suggest, pup?"

"We should observe from a distance for now, get a lay of the land and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike."

Angara sulked, "That could take forever."

"It's a safe and effective strategy and one I intend on following. This is my mission, so just hang back until I need you to break something."

Angara growled, "This is our mission, pup, not just yours!"

"Fine, our mission. Just don't ruin this for me." Azula shook her cup only hearing the jingling of ice, "You know you didn't have to drink all of this."

"Yes I did. By the way, that juice sucked. It's too sweet."

Azula huffed out a sigh mentally exhausted from their exchange and got up, "Very well, I'll go observe him. Might as well get a refill while I'm at it."

"While you're up, get me something to dip your sides in." Angara said while continuing to munch down on Azula's food.

Instead of taking the blatant disrespect Azula pulled open Angara's shirt and dumped the ice down her back causing her to cry out and dance erratically trying to get the ice out all the while throwing out a string of curses vile enough to make nearby mothers cover the ears of their children.

Azula tossed her cup in a trash bin as she blended into the crowd watching Mr. Nobidan from a distance as he sat on a bench unaware of her presence. He was speaking on a communicator with someone else. Azula decided that that information could be useful and made her way closer leaning up against a gourd shaped palm tree pretending she was doing something on her own communicator.

"Yes, I have the package." He said in an annoyed fashion, "It's right here by my side where it will remain… don't worry no one knows I have it… I told you before, if you want to know what's inside, it has to be in person. Rest assured, what I have here will make you rich enough to maybe buy yourself a planet. I can guarantee that."

This description made her even more curious as to what may be inside this mystery case, it almost made her want to take it for herself. She decided she heard enough and thought to return to the group and relay what she had heard and as she did she bumped into someone spilling a drink they were holding onto them.

"Watch where you're going!" A woman's voice shouted at her.

Azula saw that she bumped into two individuals. They were both Nauzian's; tall thin humanoids with two sets of arms, flat faces, tendrils growing from their heads and colorful skin with dark striping. They were the same race as the bartender back at the Storm's galley.

The first one was a blue skinned male whose head tendrils were short ending at the nape of his neck and swept back. The second one that she walked into was a woman with violet skin and longer tendrils that end at her lower back. They both dressed sharply in clean dark black and white suits, shades covering their yellow eyes and each holding a briefcase.

The male came over with a formal voice affected by an accent, "I apologize, my sister and I should pay more attention to our surroundings."

Azula wanted to berate them both however something stopped her. Perhaps it was their rigid overly formal appearance that clashed with the easy going relaxed appearances of the vacation goers around them. They didn't seem like tourists either.

Not wanting to cause a scene she put on a clumsy expression feigning the look of a dumb tourist too awe struck by the scenic environment to look where she was going, "I'm so sorry! Kilikiri is so beautiful that I got distracted."

"You should watch your step next time, young lady." The female said with the same formality and accent but was affected by irritation as she wiped away her spilled drink with a handkerchief.

"I'll keep that in mind, ma'am." Azula bowed her head slightly as the siblings went off in their own business.

As soon as they were out of eyesight she lost her dumb expression and studied the two as they walked off, weaving through the crowds of people effortlessly like an eel swimming through water, cold and calculating. They looked out of place in this leisurely environment yet at the same time blending into the background. Something was off about those two. Her short interaction with them felt as though she was in the presence of the Dai-Li.

She reached for her communicator earpiece hidden by her hair, "Dalk, our target doesn't have a security detail, does he?"

Dalk radioed in, "No. Job states that the information broker wants him to come alone. No security whatsoever. Why?"

Azula shook her head, "Nothing, I think I'm just over analyzing something."

She returned to the group and told them everything she heard as they sat at a table.

"At least we can confirm that that luggage was the package." Dalk said.

"No security detail either. Meaning this will be even easier than we thought." Angara followed up.

"Believing so will only set you up for the opposite to happen." My'Rell said while checking her appearance in a makeup mirror, "Stay sharp and expect anything to happen."

The sound of a horn broke through the air as the cruise ship came into port. It was a massive craft larger than any boat Azula had seen before, both length and height wise, that hovered over the water at a leisurely pace, it was white with a bright blue underbelly decorated with tropical imagery and alien writing displaying its name.

Massive hover modules at its base deactivated and folded into the vessel allowing it to drop into the salt water gracefully with ramps extending out.

"Would you look at that, right on time. We'll board in pairs. Azula and I will get in line first, you two wait a bit and join in. We'll get settled in our rooms and then the operation can commence."

They all acknowledged her orders and complied with Azula following the captain up the ramp getting in line several people behind the target who was still unaware of their presence, and a couple people behind them were the formal twins, both of which had their eyes locked on Mr. Nobidan.

Chapter Text

Once on board the ship began to set sail for open water, first skiing the water like a boat before being lifted above the emerald waves by the hover modules that unfolded from below only disturbing the water with a pod of six finned dolphin-like creatures jumping and swimming around the disturbance of the ship.

Azula followed My'Rell to their lower deck cabin, using an elastic key bracelet to unlock the door. It was a small and cramped long room with simple furniture, a cramped shower room and a pair of Twin beds at the far corner resting just beneath a small circular window. It was anything but what Azula was expecting.

"Cozy." My'Rell said entering the cabin unfazed by the cramped space.

"This is a mistake, right? This can't possibly be our room."

"I'm sorry that this isn't your royal bedchamber princess, but these were the only rooms available for us at the last minute. Besides, it's not too bad."

"This is just as small as the room I share with Chani."