99 A.G
Toph had discovered that teaching earthbending was actually fun. She had expected to hate it at first. Toph had never considered herself particularly patient, and some people could be difficult to work with if they didn't like her methods.
On the bright side, working with earthbenders was not as difficult as she expected. They already understood the most important part of her style, standing your ground and actually facing a rock head on. She was also teaching them how to feel the earth by blindfolding them, and they were learning that ability quickly.
Lava bending had been more complicated. Most earthbenders didn't like the heat at all and having to find it to push it to their earthbending was not something that would come easy to them. Which was why Toph had started making them train beside firebenders.
Feeling how firebenders manipulated heat helped them understand what she was trying to explain, even if the first few attempts usually ended with angry shouting from both sides. Toph just laughed it up.
She had prepared another exercise that morning, dividing the trainees into pairs. One earthbender would try to feel the heat and soften a section of stone while the firebender beside them would melt it with continuous flames, forcing both of them to pay attention to what the other person was doing. Once it turned into liquid the earthbender had to be able to keep control of it.
"Come on, I don't see you sweating!" Toph shouted from where she stood between the groups. "You're supposed to melt the rock, not complain about how hot it is!"
One of the firebending instructors beside her chuckled. "You are really in your zone with this. They are getting better."
"They better be. I don't want to listen to them whine all day."
The instructors Lin had assigned to help her were surprisingly good. They respected Toph despite her age and never treated her like some child playing at being a teacher. Better yet, they actually cared about teaching, and when someone failed, they explained why patiently.
They would correct stances and help keep the firebenders that were training with her earthbenders in line. They also referred to her as instructor Toph, which she really liked. It forced the firebenders to respect her too, which had taken some getting used to.
A few had been skeptical when she first started ordering them around, but that disappeared soon once they saw how every instructor present would treat her. Not that she needed that, she could have thrown them against a wall or something to get the message going without their help, but she was glad she didn't have to in the end.
Training was not the only thing her earthbenders had been doing either. They had spent several days clearing debris from the destroyed wall, opening paths wide enough for the trains and people to go through them easily.
The best news for Toph was when the artillery had moved farther inland with the rest of the army. The constant explosions had been giving her headaches, especially because she felt every impact through the earth. It wasn't like she could turn her earthsense off.
With the larger guns further away, everything around the training camp felt much calmer, and she was actually having a nice time. Teaching, building things, bossing adults around, and eating spicy food whenever she wanted was turning out to be a pretty good arrangement.
Toph was supervising another batch of rookies when she felt familiar footsteps approaching along the train platform. She couldn't help but grin before the person could even reach her.
"Metalsticks!"
Toph didn't give her time to answer and walked forward and bumped her fist against Lin's shoulder. Toph immediately winced, however, and remembered why she shouldn't do that with her friend.
"Ow. Still harder than rock." Toph whined, rubbing her knuckles gently.
"You are the one who decided to hit me." Lin laughed.
"I was saying hello."
"Curious way of doing it. Hello to you too, Toph. How have you been?"
Toph crossed her arms proudly. "Great. These guys aren't terrible students, and apparently I'm really good at teaching."
"I never doubted you would do well, instructor Wenxin had high praise for you."
"Wenxin is a nice friend. But I thought I'd hate it."
Toph turned toward the training field when one of the earthbenders finally managed to finally take control of the now liquid stone beneath his feet and push it forward slightly. The firebender beside him shouted in celebration, and Toph could feel several others gathering around them.
"I like it, to be honest." she admitted. "It's fun when people actually listen, and I get to yell at them when they don't."
"That does sound perfect for you."
Toph grinned. "Exactly."
Lin watched the trainees for a moment. "Maybe after the war we could build you an academy."
Toph turned toward her so quickly that Lin chuckled again.
"My academy…?"
"Yes, all yours. You could teach earthbending properly and lava bending as well to whoever you wanted."
Toph tried not to sound too excited and failed completely. "I could make the rules?"
"Of course, that's the point of it being yours." Lin said, amused.
"And throw people out if they annoy me?"
"Especially if they annoy you."
"That sounds great!"
Lin shook her head, smiling. Toph could already imagine it; a huge training yard, earthbenders from everywhere coming to learn from her. She pictured leading an elite class for lava bending that would be known throughout the entire world.
"That sounds awesome, Lin." Toph said. "We're doing that."
"Then it's settled, I will help you set it up when we can."
Dreaming about the future had to stop at some point though, Toph knew that Lin had not come all the way back to the trains just to ask whether she was enjoying herself.
"So why are you actually here? Or did you just miss me that much?"
"I did miss you." Lin didn't even hesitate to reply.
"Ha! Knew it." Toph said, grinning.
"But I also need your help, and it was a perfect reason to catch up."
"Fair, what do you need?"
"We had our spies report to us that refugees had been seen close to Lake Laogai, and we have traced movement of people toward the body of water itself. We believe the Dai Li have a base somewhere in the lake or close to it, but we haven't been able to find it with our gliders."
"Oh, you are actually taking me on an adventure to find hidden people."
"Adventure…? Actually, that sounds about right. We are moving into the area to sweep it properly, and I was hoping that you could come with us and help us find it, it could be underground which is how we missed it." Lin said.
"Sounds easy enough."
"I was hoping you would say that."
Toph turned toward the instructors. "You guys can survive without me for a day, right?"
One of them sighed. "We will try our best."
"Thank you, Sergeant. See to it that they don't melt themselves." Lin said.
"Yes ma'am!"
"Come on, Lin. Let's go already." Toph said, smiling. Teaching was fun and all, but adventuring with her friends was still better in her eyes.
----0000----
Lin was relieved that things had not become terribly awkward between her and Azula during the days that followed. She had not expected them to, exactly, but she could admit that she had pushed their relationship forward faster than she had planned, and she could only blame herself.
Falling asleep beside the princess after washing and resting together had felt quite intimate, but waking up with Azula curled against her while both of them were still completely naked had still made Lin pause for several seconds while her tired mind caught up with what had happened.
Azula at least seemed to be happy with what happened. In fact, the following night she had asked if they could sleep together again, and Lin had agreed before thinking too much about it. After that, the situation had somehow become normal between them.
Lin had found that she enjoyed the affection. It was nice, and she was glad she could finally experience them for the first time in both her lives.
The war had not given her much time to think about relationships in either life, and having someone who simply wanted to be close to her made her feel warm and content, even if it was a bit unfamiliar to her.
She was learning to accept it without searching for some hidden reason behind the shows of affection or love. It also helped that the following days had blurred together, with Lin barely needed at the front that week.
The Earth Kingdom had continued retreating toward the inner city, abandoning the agrarian zone piece by piece while the Fire Nation secured what remained behind them. There were still isolated pockets of resistance and scattered groups that refused to surrender, but nothing comparable to the fighting they had endured so far.
Military police had arrived by train, followed by workers, farmers, engineers, administrators, and supplies from across the colonies and the Fire Isles. Roads were being constructed, irrigation channels repaired, fields inspected, and prisoners transported away from the front.
The railway continued advancing, connecting captured territory together. They could also already point their guns toward the inner city. They wouldn't use them obviously but they were ready to bring the inner walls down if necessary. The agrarian zone was effectively theirs.
Lin had sent the news back to the Fire Nation and according to the messages returning from home, celebrations had spread through the Fire Isles almost immediately. Bells had been rung in several cities, soldiers had received public praise, and the newspapers were apparently describing the campaign as the greatest victory of the war so far.
Lin thought that was premature, considering Ba Sing Se itself still stood and there could be anywhere around 3 to 4 million people to go through yet. For now, however, she had another problem to solve.
Lake Laogai stretched ahead of them under the afternoon sun while Lin walked beside Toph along the shore. Azula followed close behind with the rest of their group, accompanied by a platoon of Lin's best soldiers and several Yuyan archers Shinu had lent her for the operation.
The archers had protested very little about being reassigned; since their success at striking at their headquarters, being close to her and Azula was the highest honor one could get according to her troops.
Their spies had traced refugee movements toward the lake several times, and reports from captured officers suggested that the Dai Li maintained facilities most officers didn't know about. If Sung had been telling the truth about the strange behavior of the refugee formations, then Lin wanted to know what was happening to them before approaching the inner city.
Toph stopped abruptly beside her, causing everyone to halt their march.
"There is an underground base, but no entrances here. I think we need to move to the center of the lake, are there any small islands there?"
Lin scanned the surface of the lake and indeed there was.
"Yes there are, but how could the refugees be seen walking out of here if they had to cross the lake?"
"I think the water is quite shallow here actually." Toph said, scanning the area again. "I think they just create a bridge using earthbending each time to cross it."
"Alright, create it for us then, we are moving in. " Lin said.
"Sure, metalsticks. No biggie." Toph said, raising a platform from the water itself, creating a path for them.
They moved further toward the only island in the center of the lake. Once there, Toph found the entrance quickly.
"Are you sure this is it?" Azula asked behind them.
Toph gave her an offended expression. "Of course I am sure."
"Well sorry for being skeptical, it doesn't look like much." The princess scoffed.
"Well done. Let's move in then." Lin said, simply, ignoring both of them and approached the entrance.
"It feels pretty big underneath my feet, but we should be able to move in." Toph commented.
"You will be our guide then." Lin told Toph. "I want everyone else to have their eyes peeled, you will protect her at all costs." She told the rest of them.
"Follow me dunderheads." Toph laughed.
Lin smiled and drew her sidearm. "Be ready for anything."
They entered the tunnel carefully, leaving a couple of soldiers behind to secure the entrance. The passage descended farther, into a series of tunnels. Lanterns along the walls confirmed that the facility was still being used.
Toph walked near the front, with Aiku, Toma and Kaida walking ahead being her shield in case anyone attacked them. Her expression became more serious the deeper they went.
"There are people ahead." she whispered. "Around a dozen of them."
"How far?"
"Past the next turn."
Lin raised her fist, stopping the column. The Yuyan archers moved forward quietly while the firebenders spread themselves along the tunnel. Azula got into a fighting stance, looking almost pleased that the base had not turned out to be abandoned.
Stone scraped against stone ahead of them, followed by echoing rapid footsteps.
"They know we are here, prepare yourselves!" Lin warned.
The first agent came around the corner with both hands already moving. Stone gloves shot toward them, but the nearest Yuyan archer released his arrow before the attack reached them. The agent dropped, and two more immediately appeared behind him.
Lin raised her pistol and fired quickly. "Attack! Push forward!"
----0000----
The deeper they moved into the base, the more disturbed Lin became by what they were finding. The first section was already unsettling once they reached a long corridor with cells built along both sides, each containing refugees in different conditions.
Some immediately reacted when the Fire Nation soldiers entered. They moved away from the bars, called for help, or just shook in their place. Most looked malnourished and exhausted, with dirty clothing and signs that they had been imprisoned for weeks, but they were coherent enough to answer questions once Lin ordered her men to open the cells.
Their interrogations were concerning, most had arrived in Ba Sing Se as refugees from territories lost during the war. Some remembered being arrested after refusing assignments from officials, while others had been taken directly from shelters and transported here without being told why.
Farther inside the facility, the prisoners behaved differently. Several remained seated even after their cells were opened. One woman followed the instructions of a Kaida immediately but showed almost no concern about who the soldiers were or why they had released her.
Another man repeatedly spoke about charging Ba Sing Se's invaders whenever anyone asked him a question, regardless of what he had actually been asked. There were bruises around the heads and necks of several prisoners, while others seemed dazed enough that they barely understood where they were.
"This is horrible." Toph said. She had been very quiet now, and hearing her distressed voice made Lin turn to face her.
"Yes, it is. I know it's hard so please continue to guide us, we will help them out." Lin told her.
"There are their own people…"
"I know."
Lin already had an idea of what they had found before they reached the rooms used for the actual process. There were chairs fixed directly into the floor with restraints for the arms, legs and head. A ring with a lamp would surround each one of them.
Looking though a few of the records they kept there was haunting. The terminology varied, but the purpose became obvious quickly. The Dai Li had developed a method to break down a person mentally and condition them to respond to commands in a specific way.
'This is a conversion camp, I cannot believe it.'
Some records mentioned removing unwanted memories, reinforcing loyalty, suppressing resistance and repeating sessions until the subject reacted correctly without hesitation. Lin felt her hands begin to tremble while she continued reading.
She tightened her grip on the documents and forced herself to concentrate on the mission. Tens of thousands of refugees had reached Ba Sing Se throughout the war, and if this facility had processed even a fraction of them, there was no telling how many more had already been conditioned and sent somewhere else.
The thought of millions of civilians living inside the inner city became much more concerning. If the Dai Li had more facilities like this one and enough time to continue their work, the Fire Nation could eventually find itself fighting through entire districts filled with people who had been stripped of their free will.
They wouldn't surrender until death, and it would be one of the bloodiest battles yet. Lin lowered the documents and continued forward with the rest of the group. Her concentration became harder to maintain as they went deeper.
It was hitting her hard and her mind was panicking internally while trying to continue forward. Soldiers wearing Chinese uniforms appeared where Dai Li agents should have been, moving through openings that disappeared once she focused on them. She breathed deeply and kept moving. She had worked through these visions before, she could ignore them.
"Are you alright?" Toph asked, worried.
"Yes, I'll be fine." Lin replied automatically. Azula looked at her with concern as well, but said nothing.
The Yuyan archers made the advance considerably easier. Once Toph identified movement beyond walls or around corners, the archers prepared before the Dai Li could attack properly. Their accuracy in the narrow tunnels gave the agents very little opportunity to surprise the group, while the firebenders and Azula protected Toph whenever the fighting became close.
Lin continued mapping the facility until Toph confirmed that the deeper passages either returned toward areas they had already cleared or ended beneath the lake. There did not seem to be a hidden route connecting directly with the inner city, which meant they could evacuate the prisoners without worrying that another Dai Li force would arrive behind them.
"Alright, let's get all of these prisoners out and evaluate how they are. If they present a risk to us we will have to leave them here."
"R-right away, ma'am."
While the evacuation continued, she returned to the rooms where the conditioning had taken place.
Seeing the restraints again made her stomach turn. There were personal belongings stored in boxes, instructions for future sessions and evidence that this had been happening for a long time. Lin wanted the entire facility destroyed once the prisoners they could help were outside.
They had not brought enough blasting jelly for a structure this large, and asking Toph to collapse an underground complex beneath a lake would put her directly in danger. Lin refused to risk her life that way.
'I cannot let this base stand though, it needs to be erased from existence.'
----0000----
Azula knew something was wrong with Lin, but like her, she decided to focus on the mission. The last refugees were already being moved toward the entrance, escorted by soldiers while Toph guided them through the tunnels they had mapped earlier.
All of the Dai Li agents had been killed, and Lin had not allowed them to surrender. She had said she didn't want them as prisoners and executed them as they encountered them. Now they were gathered together to move out.
"I want everyone outside." Lin ordered. "Take the prisoners, wounded, and anything useful we recovered. I'm staying behind."
Azula frowned immediately. "Why?"
"I'm destroying the base."
"With what? We didn't bring enough explosives."
Lin glanced toward the ceiling. "The base is beneath the lake. If I bring down enough sections, the water will do the rest."
Azula wanted to argue further, but Lin's expression stopped her. She studied her more carefully. Although Lin's orders had barely changed since they discovered what the Dai Li were doing, Azula knew her well enough now to notice when something was wrong.
Everything sounded like usual, but her eyes looked empty and glazed over, as if enchanted by a spirit. Azula realized soon that she had seen that expression on her before, back then she had never felt fear of death before.
Years ago, during one of their training sessions, Azula had ordered cannons fired in the distance while they sparred, thinking there was a weakness to be exploited out of the loud noise, and hoping to finally win against Lin.
It had backfired immediately, and for several terrifying seconds Lin had stopped behaving like herself. She had nearly killed Azula before recovering enough to understand where she was. Azula remembered those eyes clearly, and she did not like seeing them again. If Lin lost control again here, she could kill someone before she came back to herself.
Azula turned toward the others. "We are in danger. Get everyone out, right now!" The soldiers did not question her, rushing out.
"Toph, with me, we are leaving." The princess said, grabbing her by her hand and began running.
"Wait, hold on, why?" Toph protested, but kept pace with her anyway.
"She is destroying the base." Azula explained while guiding her toward the entrance.
"How?"
"I don't know, but trust me, you don't want to be close to her when she is like that."
"You are scaring me, is something wrong with her?" Toph said, breathing hard now while they ran.
Azula didn't answer. Once they made their way out however, she stood by the entrance refusing to move further away.
"Is she going to be alright?" Toph asked.
"Yes, she will be back to normal after a bit, at least last time it was just a few minutes. But she almost killed me before she could." Azula commented.
"WHAT!?" Toph shouted. "How did that happen? And how come you never told me about it?!"
"It never came up." Azula shrugged.
They waited in silence now and, for a while, nothing happened. Then Azula heard a peculiar popping sound from deep underground. It was followed by an explosion muffled by layers of earth.
Toph immediately turned toward the entrance. "What was that?"
"I have no idea."
Another series followed several minutes later. They heard a series of cracks and snaps followed by another explosion, this one loud enough that Azula could feel the earth tremble beneath her boots.
The soldiers around them began backing farther away. Toph planted her feet firmly and frowned. "Something is collapsing down there."
The pattern continued, each set of sounds coming closer than the previous one. Several pops echoed beneath them before another explosion shook the ground, sending pebbles rolling from the entrance and making the refugees cry out behind the soldiers.
Azula's concern grew and she hoped that Lin was coherent enough not to get trapped under rubble. Another explosion followed, much louder than the last. A section of earth near the lake sank inward, and water began rushing into cracks that had opened along the shore.
Toph moved her feet apart immediately, ready to bend if the terrain collapsed beneath them.
"How is she doing this…?" Toph muttered.
Azula had already identified what technique Lin was using, but she didn't know she was capable of doing it. The only known user in this era was her brother after all.
A rapid series of pops echoed through the passage, followed by a violent explosion that sent a cloud of dust outward. Soldiers raised their arms to shield their faces, and Azula stepped forward despite the debris blowing against her clothes.
Lin stumbled out of the entrance, coughing and covered in dirt, then immediately turned back toward the tunnel instead of continuing away from it. Azula was about to shout at her when Lin planted both feet firmly and took a deep breath.
A visible smoke trail shot from her forehead so fast it rippled through the air creating those pop sounds, traveling all the way through the entrance she just left. The explosion that followed made it collapse inward violently.
Azula was stunned for a few seconds, she had never seen combustion bending before. Her first thought was that she wanted to learn it, she wanted that power. The thought disappeared almost immediately though when Lin turned toward them.
Her face was pale beneath the dirt, and her eyes did not seem properly focused. She stood there breathing heavily with the same distant expression.
"Lin?" Azula said, approaching her carefully.
Azula stopped directly in front of her, trying to keep her panic under control. "Are you alright?"
"멸공!"