Dai Li's Personal Spy

Chapter 35: I wasn't alone this time.

We got closer and closer to the wall before we saw an orange shape soaring in the distance. We watched it land in front of us, the orange shape actually just being Aang's orange clothes. Maybe he had found Appa?

"Aang, what are you doing here? I thought you were looking for Appa," Katara questioned him in surprise.

"I was, but something stopped me. Something big," Aang left room for the imagination, but we made haste as we moved to the wall.

"Laina, help me earth bend a platform up," Toph asked me, and I nodded, taking my position on the left side of the group. We synced into a continuous pulling motion, going as fast as we could at the urgency in Aang's eyes.

I strained the muscles in my forearms as Sokka asked, "Now what's so big that Appa has to wait?" we finally reached the top, stepping onto the path that followed around the wall. The sight to the right of us indubitably answered Sokka's question.

The first thing I noticed, amongst the dust trail it left, was a large, red and black Fire Nation insignia burning in the warm sun. But more importantly, beneath that giant symbol was a massive cylindrical contraption. It had a pointed head that spun rapidly, more than 30 spins a second surely. It moved forward, the aesthetics of the machine much like the vessel Azula, Mai and Ty Lee chased us in. I didn't even need to see where it was headed, but out of a newfound anxiety that was tearing up my stomach, I looked in the direction it moved in. The wall.

"That," said Aang pointedly as we gazed at the metallic, gleaming machine. I swallowed, but all of a sudden, my throat was as dry as it had been when we were in the desert. Ying clutched onto her husband as she cradled her baby, saying, " We made it to Ba Sing Se, and we're still not safe. No one is!" Her muffled sobs were stifled by a loud voice behind us.

"What are you people doing here? Civilians aren't allowed on the wall!" A guard told us, and Aang squared his shoulders.

"​​I'm the Avatar. Take me to whoever is in charge," Aang demanded, and the guard's eyes widened before he nodded and led us over to a shaded portion of the wall. He then escorted the teary-eyed family in a different direction, probably off the wall.

"It is an honour to welcome you to the Outer Wall, young Avatar, but your help is not needed," The general greeted rather bluntly, very self-assured. Aang looked in surprise at the general.

"Not needed?" Aang echoed the general's words in surprise.

"Not needed," The general repeated the same words back to Aang. " I assure you the Fire Nation cannot penetrate this wall. Many have tried to break through it, but none have succeeded," He said rather calmly. My eye twitched.

"The dragon of the west got in, explain that," I said to the general, feeling slightly out of place mentioning Iroh in such a formal manner, especially in front of the group.

" Well ... uh, technically yes, but he was quickly expunged. Nevertheless, that is why the city is named Ba Sing Se. It's the "impenetrable city". They don't call it Na Sing Se." The general laughed but turned serious at the look on our faces. "That means 'penetrable city.'" We glanced at each other in utter doubt of this general's power.

"Yeah, thanks for the tour, but we still got the drill problem," Toph reminded him impatiently, never one for unnecessary niceties.

"Not for long. To stop it, I've sent an elite platoon of earthbenders called the Terra Team," Said the general rather confidently.

"That's a good group name. Very catchy," Sokka commented thoughtfully.

We turned our attention to the Terra team, watching them from atop the wall. Tanks lined the drill, approaching the wall as a defence for the machine that was to drill through the hard brick. The terra team apprehended one of the tanks, flipping it on its side and then rolling it, leaving it incapacitated. The team wedged spikes of earth into the metal shell of the drill to leave it motionless. For a moment, I thought it had worked as the drill layed still. But then deep squeaks and screeches echoed across the plains to the wall as the drill expanded. It dispersed steam as the joints groaned and stretched. Of course, they had accounted for this; it seemed that they had accounted for everything when you took one look at the drill.