1. Chapter 1: Isolation

Writer's Note: This story takes place after book two but before the Day of Black Sun, when Zuko is in the Fire Nation's Capital and Aang is "dead." Bear with me, as I hope anyone reading this has at least a rudimentary knowledge of both universes, Warhammer 40K and Avatar the Last Airbender, as I am not going to go into detail on explaining background, unless necessary.

Chapter One: Isolation

The rising of the sun marked the turning point of the fight, as the firebenders rallied to the challenge of their princess, "Drive them back into the sea!" With that she left the command to the field commander and set off for the palace. The horde of bugs would gain nearly half the upper city each night, only to be driven back in in the morning sun, but this would not last long. The morale was falling within the city, the soldiers already called the night watch the "dead man's watch," without the sun firebending was all but useless. Azula's only comfort came in her belief that she was now an only child. When the emergency had started, she had been given command over the lower city's defenses. She had sent Zuko to the lower city's defenses, to his certain death. Azula knew from the start that the lower city was fodder to gauge the strength of the new adversary, from the rate at which it had fallen they knew they were in for a rough ride. Further instilling this belief was the utter lack of contact from the outside world, more than likely this was the last bastion of Fire Nation defenses, the outside cities had more than likely fallen already. The threat of the day of Black Sun had all but been forgotten due to the greater risk from the horde that was already at their door; actually the invasion was hoped for in light of the fact the invaders would have to fight their way through the massive bugs. It was quite certain the battle wouldn't last through the coming fall, one way or another.

Within the lower city the ungodly screams of victims could be heard far above the shrieks and clamor of the alien creatures. To be captured was worse than death; the aliens bugs had arranged a horrid purpose for those unlucky few who allowed capture rather than death at their own hands, the prisoners were no more than incubators for the wretched spawn that would slowly, painfully eat their way out of the fleshy nest which housed them. It was luck indeed that did not reveal this gruesome fact to the soldiers in the upper city, for now they still held hope for all those lost in the lower city. This was the fate that Zuko was left to, not death, no, worse than death. His forces had been utterly decimated in the first wave of attack, most were taken alive. At first this seemed strange to the prince, who had regrouped with the reinforcements, until the next day when the first victim of those grotesque practices had been recovered. The poor soldier had a mark upon the back of his neck which none thought anything of, it was just a scratch after all, but in a few days time they would know the mark as the mark of death. The destruction of the lower city's defenses only took two days with the guerrilla tactics being decimated in a week. Indeed, Zuko was the last person left in the lower city, for those who had the mark were forfeit.

Night was fast approaching when Zuko awoke; he had to get moving, he could hear the thundering footsteps of the Tyrant as it passed through the midst of the brood. The tyrant was something he had to avoid at all costs, the lesser members of the brood were stupid so his trick of covering himself in the green goo that proceeded from the carcasses of the bugs he killed fooled them into thinking he was one of their own. The more advanced of the brood were not fooled by this, but he discovered they didn't disturb those who had the mark, and so he carved the mark on his own neck using the knife his uncle had given him long ago and a mirror left in the remnants of a house. He could fool all of them, except the Hive Tyrant. He had only once run into it, the towering mass of talons and slime, it had immediately discovered him and he had barely escaped with his life, in fact the thing still had his swords sticking out of its side. How he would have liked to get them back! There was no chance of that though, and he was just eager leave at the moment.

The setting of the sun only served to slow his progress in removing himself from the impending approach of the Tyrant, the rubble of the city turning into invisible blockades in the darkness of night. He had wanted to examine the ruins of the watch tower that stood beyond the Great Gates of Azulan for he hoped to find food and equipment there but the brood was teeming around it when he last looked, and he wagered the Tyrant was moving there. He knew better than to try to sneak in after dark, because although his sight was seriously handicapped by the darkness theirs was not. The Tyrant had but to think it and the entire brood would be upon him, a thought which was not pleasant considering the weakened condition of his firebending during the night. He finally reached the ruins of one of the storefronts that lay near the beach, to his delight inside he found a small amount of food, four pieces of Hippo-cow jerky and two mango-guavas. Even though his stomach ached with pangs of hunger, he managed to keep control and ration what little he had found, eating only a piece of the Hippo-cow jerky. Unfortunately he discovered no weapons of any sort, so he was left with only his knife and his firebending for protection. He had wanted to find a weapon so he could commence taking back the city, as it stood now he was only still alive by the grace that he had only one enemy who could discern him as a threat. He knew he would die of starvation if he couldn't escape the lower city and he realized Azula had sent him to his death when she assigned him the lower cities defenses, but his duty to his people stopped him from just giving up and sending himself to meet his ancestors. He could not, would not leave them to their fate if he had even the slightest chance to help them, no, he had decided he would die, but die taking as many of these unholy bugs with him. He continued on into the night to find some other ruins and, hopefully, a weapon of any kind. He would stay clear of the watch tower for now.

The ruins of what was once the Southern Water Tribe sent tears of anger and pain into Katara's eyes, they had not arrived in time. The horrible creatures from the sky had decimated the feeble defense that was held by only women and children. Katara began to shrink into a catatonic state as she surveyed what had been Gran-Gran's house. There were no survivors. Sokka had already begun to pile the bodies in the center of town, he didn't notice the marks on their necks. Toph was overtaken by the smell of the corpses and had commenced retching into the frozen waters. Momo was making a low moaning sound and Appa was stoically quiet. Aang was saying a prayer for those who had died when Katara got up. She walked over to the entrance to Gran-Gran's house and was about to enter when Sokka blocked her from entering. She was quiet for a moment, then she screamed and fell to the ground. She sat there beating her hands into the ice until Sokka stopped her, by that time her hands were bleeding. Momo screeched and flew into the air as they heard the infernal noise the strange creatures made coming toward them. "Aang! We have to go! Get Toph!" Sokka ordered as he pulled Katara up and led her over to Appa. Aang immediately grabbed Toph by the waist and flew her up to the saddle on Appa's back. Sokka placed Katara on Appa and ran back to the mass of corpses lighting a torch as he went; the torch he threw onto the pile and the viking funeral engulfed the dead. Sokka grabbed Momo then jumped on Appa as Aang said "Yip! Yip!" and they were on their way to find Hakoda or anyone still alive, the thoughts of the Great War having been forgotten due to the rise of this new adversary.


	2. Chapter 2: Disappearance

Chapter Two: Disappearance

The Southern Air Temple had remained untouched by the invading force and it seemed the logical stopping place for the weary foursome. Sokka had remained uncharacteristically stoic since the scene at the south pole, Toph had remained silent for lack of comforting words, Aang was worried as to the state of the rest of the world, and Katara was in grief beyond what words could say. No one among them had the pleasure of falling into deep dreamy sleep, what little sleep they got was broken up with nightmares and bouts of insomnia. The next morning Katara rose solemnly, she went over to where Sokka was and apologized for her breakdown the previous day. It was a time of war, she needed to accept the fact that there would be losses and that the best use of her time would not be grieving but in destroying her enemies and hunting down those who had killed her tribesmen. Sokka was stunned at his sister's decision to become apathetic toward the loss of their tribe, because she was always so caring and gentle by nature. Aang did not like this new attitude Katara had adopted at all.

Morning never came fast enough for Zuko, the screams of the dying were worse it seemed at night but he had gotten so used to them that it didn't even phase him anymore, the true horror of the night were the slimy forms rustling about through the night just out of sight. Zuko was determined to kill as many of the monstrosities as he could today, because he knew tomorrow was a dream, not yet set in stone for him. He proceeded toward the watch tower, the very thing he had avoided the previous day; he knew the Tyrant was up to something because it had never ventured so near the upper city. The watch tower was in the exact center of the lower city, and therefore the perfect place to set up a defensive position for himself. He had begun to see more and more of the greater bugs the closer he got, he was sure now the Tyrant was here.

The morning brought about new horror that day as the shifts were exchanged inside the palace, the new guards assigned to princess Azula getting the shock of their lives. When they entered the hallway that led to her quarters the found the body of one of her Dai-Li agents strung up by his own intestines to the chandelier in the center of the hall. One of the four went no further, emptying his stomach took precedence; the other three discovered, by the look of horror on the agent's face, that he had apparently been hung while he was still alive. They continued into her room, post haste, to discover the walls splattered with blood, but there was no sign of the princess. Another of their number balked when the found, inside the desk that was in the room, a number of fingers still fresh with blood oozing out from between the flesh. The two remaining acted quickly, one went to inform the Firelord that the princess was missing and that the palace had been infiltrated, the other remained with the incapacitated guards until higher ranking officers could survey the scene. No one heard the remaining three scream.

Zuko had reached what had used to be the watch tower, his stomach reacted first to the horrific smell that proceeded from the pustular structure that now stood there. The bugs had transformed the tower into a pulsating mass of slime and stench surrounded by large oozing walls. Zuko regained himself and proceeded to slide down the grotesque walls toward the interior, toward the Tyrant's lair as he was convinced this now was and he wasn't entirely wrong. He quickly found the Tyrant among the lesser ones and approached cautiously. "How peculiar it's so near the entrance." he thought absently as he slid behind a partition of wall. He was almost within reach of his swords, those perfect metal blades! The unsuspecting Tyrant inched closer, closer, until with a leap he would have finished the work he had started with the cruel steel. But little did he know at the time that the Tyrant and now all the lesser ones had acid in their blood. When they had first arrived, the had not adapted an acid into their blood yet, which had allowed Zuko to cover himself in the blood of the fallen bugs around him, but now, that acid would eat through a Armadillo-Tiger in a matter of seconds. In the process of removing the had-been blades he had exposed his right forearm to this very acid. He leaped back in pain and surprise, looking down to see the cause of his anguish, he saw to his horror his flesh being eroded by the vile stuff. He didn't have time to be indecisive, quickly he raised his left hand over the arm and burned the acid away with fire. The Tyrant had taken notice of him the moment he had leaped from his hiding place but instead of making the volley of lower bugs surrounding it attack, it sent them down the dark catacombs that lay behind it. Zuko was alone with the Tyrant. Gritting his teeth to subdue the pain of searing his own flesh, Zuko stepped forward to meet his foe.

Toph had stopped to listen to the unwavering wind that swarmed about the Southern Temple, when she heard an eerie sound, the likes of which reminded her of the dragonflies she had heard in the Ba Sing Se zoo. She was about to alert the others when she felt something wet drop onto her shoulder followed by a low guttural sound which scared her to death. The bugs had found them, but how? The bugs they had faced so far couldn't fly. They walked on two of they're six appendages, two others being claws of a sort and the third set of two being attached to some sort of strange weapon, so it couldn't be them. Toph slowly raised her right foot and then hastily thrust it back down into the stone floor of the outer temple sending the stone up and backward knocking the creature behind her away, she hoped. She screamed as loud as she could when she heard the thing still behind her, hovering, waiting to strike. Sokka was the first to see the hideous bug, and as soon as he had, unsheathed boomerang and threw. He caught the thing in the side of the head, but it was already upon Toph, rending her skin under its sinister claws. Aang blasted the foul beast back into the mist while Sokka ran over to Toph's aid. "Katara!" rang out his voice before he even thought and she was there in an instant. "What happened?" Katara asked, highly confused by the marks in Toph's back. "They've adapted. They can fly." Sokka answered, still in shock himself over this revelation. Katara had already begun to heal Toph using her waterbending when they reappeared, an army of them. There must have been at least fifty flying terrors and their only thought, destruction. Momo and Appa had been summoned forth as well after the first attack, and now stood with the small group, ready to fight to the end alongside their human companions. Sokka reached for boomerang, Aang whipped out his staff, Appa roared in defiance, and Katara continued to heal Toph who was making a rock barrier for the two of them and Momo; they were ready to stand and fight.

The battle raging outside the rock fortress Toph had constructed seemed to be never ending for those inside the barrier, and Katara wished that she might help Aang and her brother fight off the swarm. She was quite confident that her water-whip would be able to slice through the fibrous bodies the bugs possesed, and she hated not being able to kill the things that had destroyed her people. She couldn't stand it anymore! "Toph, let me out." she ordered and Toph slowly obeyed opening a hole for Katara and then shutting herself in again. "Momo, you won't leave me right?" she weakly asked the little creature. Katara quickly sliced through two bugs that were charging her and gained an octopus stance. She saw no end to their number, where were they all coming from? They must have a hive, or a base of some sort she conjectured in her head, and she was going to find it. Leaping onto the nearest one she sliced its legs off and prayed that it would return to the nest from whence it came. She said a little prayer for her friends and did not let go.

As all three of them were beginning to tire and lose hope, a most peculiar thing happened, the creatures just turned and left the temple as quickly as they had first appeared. After about five minutes, Sokka ran over to Toph's little rock tent and yelled it was safe to come out. She did and Momo flew out as well, but to his surprise Katara was not there. "Where's Katara?" he questioned. "She's not with you?" she replied.


	3. Chapter 3: Adaptations

Chapter Three: Adaptations

Blasting fireballs into the hole where his swords had been, Zuko succeeded only in annoying the titan rather than doing real damage to it. The Tyrant, furious with hate, started to shoot at the Fire Nation prince with its venom cannon. Although he couldn't fathom how the thing worked, Zuko knew well enough not to get hit and dove behind a bulbous protrusion of the wall. This only seemed to make the Tyrant even more furious and with a loud screech it leaped onto the protrusion and sliced downward with its chitinous claws, but it only managed to swing its claws through the air, Zuko had moved the moment the hideous scream was let out. Zuko stood ready and as it wheeled about he struck it five times with fire, right into its eyes. He had finally wounded it! The Tyrant stepped back for a second out of fear, but then blind rage encompassed the brute and it charged madly at him, catching his side with one of those horrid talons pinning him against the wall. He could see the brutish rage gleaming in its hideous eyes, could feel the claw digging further into his flesh, and he knew this was the end.

Aang searched fervently for Katara, screaming her name at the top of his lungs until finally Sokka stopped him, "Aang, Aang! We need to get out of here." "No, we have to find Katara!" he half yelled at Sokka. Sokka shook his head, "Look, she's my sister, I want to find her more than anyone, but we have to be logical. Toph's injured, we don't know when those things are going to come back, and we don't know what happened to Katara, she may be dead for all we know." the last part he choked out. "We need to go, now." "Where will we go, Sokka?" Toph quietly asked. "I don't know, Toph. I don't know."

The wretched things had become cannons! She hadn't thought they could get anymore gruesome, the terrible alien bugs! The boiling moat that surrounded the complex that had once been a prison had kept the hideous monstrosities from them, but now they had adapted. Among the "old" bugs there were new terrors, squatting low to the ground with cannon looking stumps upon their backs. Indeed they were cannons, the cruel things had begun firing upon the 'Rock and the terrible things that were shot from those cannons wrought horrible death upon those who were stationed on lookout. She had seen the guards fall from the wall, their eyes bursting out because the acidic poison eating into them, and she saw the true terror the aliens could wreak. Faster, faster she ran until she could no longer catch her breath, and then she ran still. Bursting through the door to the warden's office, she gasped, "Iroh, we've got trouble!"

Zuko looked into the eyes of the huge Tyrant, he knew for the last time. As it reared its hideous head back preparing the final blow, he prayed it didn't give him the mark and leave him to living death, then remembering the knife he had safely tucked into his boot, held no fear; he was already dead inside anyway. The Tyrant thrust its head forward letting out a horrendous roar as it did, Zuko saw his chance, pulling his hand upward he shot a fireball down the cruel throat and proceeded to fill the Tyrant's belly with flame. The insides of the alien bugs were soft and the goo that made up their lifeblood was extremely flammable, so the Tyrant reared back, removing its sick blade from Zuko's side, struggled to escape from its own burning insides before collapsing on the ground, dead. Zuko had killed the Hive Tyrant. The moment the creature fell the whole of the structure seemed to scream in pain startling Zuko, who had assumed the lesser bugs would cease to function after the death of their leader, and when the lesser ones started to swarm out of their caverns Zuko quickly tried to escape from the dark lair. The opening was barred, however, by a vast number of the swarm forcing Zuko to seek refuge further inside the depths of enemy territory.

The invasion of the strange aliens had caused a prisoner transport airship from Ba Sing Se to detour at the Boiling Rock to gather as many able bodied guards as were expendable from the prison before returning to the capital, and to make room for the new passengers, the captain had elected to leave the prisoners behind, after all it was a prison. Thus Iroh had come to the Boiling Rock, out of pure chance; but after the warden jumped into the boiling moat to too afraid to fight the oncoming horde of beasts, Iroh had been named leader by everyone in the compound, so it wasn't surprising that he had taken up residence in the warden's office. When Suki burst through the door, however, the surprise was just beginning. Before Iroh even had a chance to ask Suki what had happened, spore mines burst in through the ceiling. Suki jumped back from the door as Iroh slowly moved past them, either they had already released their poison or they hadn't been set off yet, Iroh wasn't sure. He knew that the prison was no longer safe though, and ordered Suki to get everyone to the Gondola and begin evacuating. "But the bugs have already taken the other side where we would land." she urged. "I know, but I would rather die fighting than die slowly to poison, wouldn't you agree?" he reciprocated. Her warrior blood knew the answer to that question and she took off down the halls ordering everyone to the Gondola.

Dark had fallen, and Zuko was still stuck inside the pustular hive. He had found a slight opening in the roof of the place and was looking out toward the moon. He actually wished he had not left that waterbending girl in Ba Sing Se, she would have been a great help now. He had seen the innermost parts of the hive, including the "nursery," or spawning pit. The captured soldiers and peasants would be systematically rounded up and injected at the base of their neck with what he knew to be tiny eggs the brood queen would lay. Yes, he had wandered far enough inside to catch a glimpse of the monstrous queen of these bugs, she towered over the Tyrants surrounding her, yes there was more than one Tyrant to his dismay, and her grotesque form reminded him of a slug-spider crossed with a elephant-wasp. He had found a chamber in which the ravenous insects were ripping out of their formerly human hosts and noticed several varieties he had not yet seen, some were huge with great carapaces on their backs making them hunch over slightly, others were smaller and stood upright baring the four arm-like appendages that bore four claws at the ends. It was at this time that he gave up the little remaining hope that he might have gotten out of the lower city alive, he planned to set the whole structure on fire the next morning with himself still inside. That was his plan, until he heard some of the bugs below stirring in excitement, he hurried down the dark path until he reached the place they had gathered outside.

Upon hearing the report of his daughter's disappearance the Firelord ordered that there should be a double guard for his quarters every night due to the bugs having successfully infiltrated the palace and stolen away his daughter and her guards. When the remaining soldier of the four that had originally found the princess missing spoke out saying it was not the bugs that did the deed but must have been another force, the type he couldn't say for even the worst criminals wouldn't have hung a man alive with his own intestines, the Firelord ordered him thrown into the lower city and it was done. None questioned the Firelord's thoughts after that, no matter how insane he was becoming.


	4. Chapter 4: Allies and Enemies

Chapter Four: Allies and Enemies

Katara had no idea where she was, the stupid bug she had been clinging to had died, from blood loss she assumed, and plunged into the cold waters of the ocean with her. She had resurfaced only to find that she could not see land anywhere. She started swimming in the direction she thought was north, hoping to spot land before long. She was soon rewarded for her efforts when she spotted a mass of land directly ahead of her. Within a few moments she was within sight of a harbor, but she wasn't sure it was a good thing when she passed by the wreckage of several warships that were now half sunken into the sea. Katara was sure she didn't want to be in the place as soon as she reached the shore, for what she thought had been the low call of seagull-parrots turned out to be the deafening howl of tortured souls. The sound was ungodly, but the worse sound came later, a ghastly shriek flowed through the city and Katara felt all her courage slip away. This was what the world had become! She wanted to sit down and cry, but she remembered what the terrible creatures had done to the south pole and her outrage and anger came flowing back into her, giving her strength again. She stood up and started to march into the center of the town, never intending to come back.

Sokka was relieved when he saw the familiar boat that his father was captain of, and told Aang to make Appa descend so they could meet back up with them. As they swooped down to ocean level it became evident that the greeting was one sided, for when they neared the boat, they discovered distinct signs of a struggle with the winged insects. Sokka was stoic, he had lost his sister and now he had lost his father too; they found the bodies of the crew below deck apparently they had tried to stifle the influx of enemies by getting them to bottle neck through the stairway, it was a good plan but the bugs had strange weapons that tore through the trapped crew, they never stood a chance. Sokka didn't say a word until after they reached Ba Sing Se.

Katara pressed forward meeting no resistance until she arrived at the hive in the center of town. There she saw to her horror great bugs slowly passing through the lesser ones about their feet occasionally stepping on them and killing them. The gargantuan monstrosities seemed to be heading toward the far side of the town, up toward a towering mountain in the distance. The little ones were scurrying about in between the large ones and scattering in different directions. Katara was so absorbed in watching the display that she didn't hear the lithe creature approach her from behind. She felt a sharp pain in her back then she fell unconscious to the ground.

Everyone had gathered at the Gondola very quickly, for they all hung on every command Suki ordered. Suki was the second in command of the group, relying on Iroh for advice or orders which he quite willingly gave. Suki dispatched the strongest of the group to go first, ordering the firebenders into formation around the platform they were on and told them to shoot down anything that came near. Iroh appeared as the first wave was about to be sent over and requested to go along, "You never know what people may do in situations such as these." Suki agreed and he went. The ride over on the Gondola was the longest thing the passengers had done in their entire life, even though it only took about five minutes. Iroh organized them into a defensive position, preparing them to hold off the invaders that were already on their way, and bid the Gondola godspeed as it passed back toward the Boiling Rock once more.

Katara didn't know how long she had been out but it was dark where she was, she couldn't move her hands but it didn't really matter because she couldn't feel her water-skin on her hip, she must have lost it. She could hear something moving around her, and it was getting closer, closer, until she could feel its breath upon her. She closed her eyes and hoped it would be quick, she almost screamed as something grabbed her mouth, she could hardly breath when she heard, "Shh." She opened her eyes wide in disbelief, had someone just "shh'd" her? It wasn't possible, she was inside the hive wasn't she, so there couldn't be someone there, but then she heard, "I'm going to try to get your hands free, but it might hurt a little." A small spark of flame lit the room for a second and she could see there was a man standing in front of her, she couldn't tell who though, but the mere fact he wielded fire greatly narrowed down the list of possibilities. She felt her left hand be freed and an instant later her right hand was free as well, the man had extinguished the fire leaving no light and whispered softly for her to follow closely and not make a sound no matter what. He grabbed her hand in his and led her down through the dark corridors of the abysmal place, finally coming to a hole in the roof he climbed out into the moonlight and pulled her up along side him. Still she could not see his face, he was turning his head to the side, listening? Suddenly he began to slide down the side of the hive toward the pit that stood at the bottom, he pulled her along with him gently and soon they had reached the bottom. He wrenched her backward along the wall and ducked her head under his arm suddenly, she didn't know why until she heard the eerie footsteps of some ginormous beast passing on the wall above them. How had he known it was coming? She couldn't tell how he had done it, but still they continued on after the thing had left.

Aang had decided to return to Ba Sing Se because that seemed to be the logical place to look for remnants of civilization. Sokka hadn't said a thing, and Toph didn't offer any other suggestions so Aang directed Appa toward the great, walled city. Upon coming into view of the city, it was evident that the bugs had come, but they had not been in great enough numbers to actually breach the walls into the city. After the first assault by the creatures though, the firebenders had been called back into their homeland, leaving the earthbenders to reclaim the city. Ba Sing Se was no longer under Fire Nation occupation. The three of them were welcomed heartily, many sympathies were passed on to them, and finally they were left to themselves in the old house they had been given during their very first visit. Sokka walked outside for the fresh air and space away from Aang and Toph, he was in the midst of sorting through his thoughts when he noticed a light in the sky. It was a meteor, and it was headed west.

Katara was quite tired by the time the sun rose, they had continued walking through the night, taking small breaks to hide in the cities rubble from the bugs, but she was sure now that at any moment she would pass-out and fall straight on her face to the ground. He must have sensed this, because he scouted out a building, still mostly intact, and led her inside. As soon as she stopped moving, she was asleep. She wasn't quite sure how long she was out, but the sun was still out when she awoke. She searched the room with her gaze for the man who had saved her only to find he was missing. As she sat up, she discovered she was wrong about that as he slid one hand onto her shoulder firmly gripping it, the other pushed her hair to the side revealing the back of her neck. She jumped from shock then struggled to get free, he let her go, having apparently been satisfied with what he'd seen, and walked over toward the opposite side of the room. "Who are you?" she finally managed to ask, to which he responded with an eerie laugh, "A ghost." Finally he turned to face her and she saw the telltale mark over his left eye, it was Zuko!


	5. Chapter 5: 49th

Authors Note: I'm very sorry this took so long! Now, I just hope you can keep up with what's happening, although this chapter and the next start a bit slow, the rest move very fast pace. Thanks, that's all for today!

Chapter Five: 49th

Landing on an unknown Terra-sphere was never popular, putting on the oxygen equipment and extra gear in case the atmosphere was uninhabitable, but it was even less popular when the mission was a suicide mission, scouting out the extent of the infestation by dropping directly into enemy territory. He had all the luck in the Imperium! Still, the god-Emperor be served, so he rallied his shock troops and entered the drop-pod. The skull splitting pressure that dropping through the atmosphere on to a new planet actually comforted him, the battle hardened veteran, he had done this a thousand times before and he soon determined to do it again. He was not going to die on this outer planet, no he would conquer the Tyranid infestation and return to Cadia to be hailed as a great hero. So it was that sergeant Amicus came toward the world of the four nations with his squad of ten.

After a month of following the Gaunts, deciphering where they were coming from or going to, the guardsmen finally spotted the bugs hive. They fought their way into the pustular depths only to discover they could not decipher where the central hive was. Amicus had lost two men on the march down, leaving only nine in the squad including himself, they had managed to save the bolters and equipment the men had carried feeling they might have use for them. The morale of the group was falling, partly due to the shortage of food and also due to the fact that not one of the group had escaped the encounters unscathed each brandishing a wound or two from the skirmishes, it wasn't until they faced of against a Carnifex that their morale fell completely. The had stopped for the night, they knew well enough to select a good defensive position before darkness fell, and selected a place that had been fortified with stone barriers, who had placed them on this presumably empty planet they didn't know. They weren't overly concerned about the Tyranids that lurked in the darkness beyond their camp because the past few days they had only seen Gaunts and one or two Horma-Gaunts, so they figured the hive was still in its early stages. They realized they were wrong as the gargant stepped out of the darkness toward them, immediately the force brought a rain of heavy fire onto the beast shouting curses and profanities until they were hoarse. The Carnifex bellowed its fearsome roar as it charged into the guard slicing two of them in half with its boney scythes. Amicus yelled for their retreat knowing it would take the element of surprise for them to ever be able to defeat the monster, but he got a different element instead. Ice spears shot out from behind the guardsmen and into the Carnifex, it shrieked in pain, and when it did they saw a lithe figure jump down from the overhanging structure above them. The figure had jumped directly onto the Carnifex's neck and reached its arm out in front of the beast's gaping mouth, sending blasts of fire into the hole, how they knew not. The Carnifex lurched forward to the ground and fell, dead. The guardsmen looked upon the fearless form that had saved them, and were amazed.

The light of dawn was creeping over the horizon when the Carnifex was taken down, and standing on top of it was a young man, who couldn't have been over sixteen. Around his arm swarmed a spiral of fire, the shocking part was it didn't look like it was hurting him, a girl appeared from behind them rushing to the side of the boy her arms outstretched before her. The two wore tattered clothing, which looked like they hadn't been washed in weeks, but then again, neither did the two of them so encrusted in filth and grime as they were. Seeing that they were unaffected by the air, Amicus pulled off his loathsome headgear and breathed in the stagnate air of the place, then he heard the ungodly howls of those with the mark coming from the lower city and smelled the putrid rotting corpses that littered the outskirts. This shocked the two youths as they stared, quite startled, at him. "Can you speak?" he asked in several tongues, lucky for Amicus he had discovered a gift for language and had learned quite a few of the more common languages to better his scouting abilities, until finally finding one they understood, to which the boy replied, "Who are you?" "We are the Imperial Guardsmen of the Cadia 49th battalion, in the service of the god-Emperor to rid this planet of the Tyranid scourge." This reply only seemed to confuse them more, it was because the light of the Emperor's gospel had not yet reached this planet Amicus concluded so he spoke more simply, "We are here to destroy the bug's hive." "So few of you?" was the reply.

The battle to escape Boiling Rock had reached its apparent conclusion after a two weeks of grueling battle, the remaining prisoners and guards had reached the far side of the island, only to find that there was no ship in the harbor. Normally there was always a ship docked in the harbor as a safety precaution, but either the bugs had sunk it or when the invasion first started it had been requisitioned to transport troops back to the homeland. The reason for _why_ it was gone didn't concern the group, just the fact that it _was_ gone did. Iroh tried to collect his thoughts, was there another way off the island? How would he get the group across the sea without waterbenders? His contemplations were interrupted by Suki questioning, "Iroh, what is that thing?" He looked up to see her pointing to a strange craft that was hovering mid-air directly above them. "Our way out of here." he concluded.

It was obvious to Zuko that these strangers were quite stupid, to attempt to destroy the hive with only seven people, it was ludicrous! Sure he had infiltrated the hive before, but that was before the bugs had moved into the upper city. Their numbers had increased one hundred fold at least since he had rescued Katara a month ago. He was going to take his leave of the foreigners when Katara stopped him, gently grasping his hand. He looked over into her sapphire eyes, he knew what she was thinking; although she had been hardened by their experiences within the lower city, she was still an idealist. She wasn't going to let the strangers get themselves killed, not by themselves at least, she was going to help them in their fool-hardy quest to destroy the hive and get herself killed along with them. Zuko sighed heavily, he knew this wouldn't end well, but he decided he would rather go along with her than live to regret it for the rest of his life. The force had picked the equipment from the fallen and were moving slowly in the direction of the upper city, to which Zuko asked, "Aren't you going to the hive?" Amicus turned to look at Zuko as he pointed behind himself and said, "It's that way."

With the successful landing of the scout squad the main force had been scouring the planet to decipher a strategic location for a on world command post, finally they found the perfect spot. They proceeded to send landing crafts toward the spot, and upon landing the troops were confronted by a larger group of people armed with crude weaponry. Their leader appeared to be a young bald-headed boy with an arrow on his head, the strangeness of savages! After trying various translators one finally discovered their language and began telling them of their quest to save them from the Tyranid plague, most of the people were amazed, three were not, the bald boy, a little blind girl, and their taller brown-haired friend.


	6. Chapter 6: Stirrings

Author's note: As a special treat for you guys, I am uploading the next few chapters in rapid succession.

Chapter Six: Stirrings

As they traversed toward the center of the city, Zuko was gaining curiosity about the strange weapons the guardsmen had, and seeing this, Amicus offered to give him one of the extras they had retrieved from their fallen comrades. Amicus had already given Zuko and Katara each one of the spare uniforms he had "retrieved" from his fallen comrades, stressing to Zuko that it would be best if the girl had more of herself covered around the men and that since there was two extra he should accept the other uniform. Zuko did so, but he was not about accept any more pitying charity, his pride wouldn't allow it, so he pretended not to want one, but when the sly sergeant offered to teach him how to use it, Zuko accepted. Amicus handed him a bolter, stressing that the lasgun was way too complicated for a beginner to learn and there was no way in *some foreign word which Zuko assumed to be an expletive of the worst kind* that he was going to teach a beginner how to use a plasma gun, those things were known to blow up in the face of even the most experienced wielders and he needed the boy because the girl had already stated she didn't really know where the central hive was. Afterward, he asked what type of weapon Zuko was used wielding, assuming the answer would be pistol, shotgun, or one of the other primitive firing mechanisms, the answer, however, was swords. Amicus blinked his eyes twice and asked if Zuko had indeed said swords to which Zuko replied he had. Astounding! How in the name of the Emperor had these people even survived one week after the Tyranids had landed? No guns? He couldn't fathom it. "How do you protect yourselves?" he asked quizzically half expecting to hear that they had never fought before in their lives. "With swords and bending." was the annoyed reply he received. "What's 'bending'?" Amicus questioned and now it was time for Zuko and Katara to exchange glances, not believing someone could not know what bending was. "Basically, it's like this," Zuko explained as flame spiraled up his arm. "It's when you can control an element, for example, I can firebend and Katara can waterbend." Which she then demonstrated, pulling the water from her water-skin and making it sail through the air. That was the most amazing thing Amicus had ever seen, but of course he hadn't seen the god-Emperor himself. After the shock wore away, he commenced to show Zuko how to fire the bolter, how to reload the bolter, and how to clean it as well. By the end of the day the sergeant had drilled every inner working of the bolter into Zuko's head, and all of this was accomplished while they were still walking.

The foreigners had been welcomed into Ba Sing Se and had set up their strange equipment inside the Earth King's palace, but had only been allowed to do so if the avatar consented. Really, the guardsmen could have wiped out most of the populous and done whatever they wanted, but should the god-Emperor need conscripts in the future they were kept alive and the guardsmen followed their rules. Avatar Aang, as the people called the bald boy, was to oversee their plans, and the guardsmen swore they would allow him to do so, but they soon discovered the Avatar was an unmitigated pacifist, and this would not due. There were sacrifices in every war, this they knew, so why on Cadia had these people elected a pacifist, not to mention young boy, to be their leader? They soon found the solution to their problem when Aang first met Brother Ovidius, and was enthralled by the devout monk's tales of the benevolent god-Emperor.

Zuko felt a weight fall from his shoulders that night as he sat teaching Katara what he had learned about the firing of a bolter. The day of Black Sun was approaching soon, and he had been unsure as to how he was going to be able to combat the vile bugs, even though the eclipse was only eight minutes long, it was more than enough time for the cruel things to overtake him and Katara both. These worries slipped from his mind as he clutched the bolter in his hand, he now had a better way to destroy the monsters and for the first time in a long time he was at peace.

Sokka had been questioning the engineers, much to their chagrin, about the inner workings of the complex machinery they were constructing. The construction had spread beyond the palace to the surrounding area, and the weird mechanisms that were constructed had caught the eye of the inquisitive Sokka. Finally being able to deal no more with the questions, which they couldn't understand anyway because he was speaking his native language, one of the engineers suggested that the newest member of their number show the native how to use a communicator. The engineer begrudgingly did so, and led the eager youth away, first to find a translator and then to begin to explain communicators. Sokka would later realize how valuable his annoyances had been. He proceeded to learn the communicator, then the workings of their weaponry, and finally he learned how to pilot a Valkyrie class troop transport helicopter, in theory, he actually did _not_ get to pilot it. By the end of the day he was very satisfied and the engineer was drained of life, vowing to take revenge on his brethren and cursing them in a most horrid tongue.

The next morning the squad of Cadians were awoken to the sound of the girl yelling something unintelligible at the boy, who was red in the face, apparently getting angered at what she was saying, flame licking the closed fist that was tensed at his side. They endeavored to wake Amicus, him being the only one among them who could understand the natives, and as soon as they had, the two stopped their "discussion" and the girl stormed off. Amicus approached Zuko and asked, "What were you and your girlfriend arguing about?" "She's not my girlfriend!" he snapped, then he replied, "Nothing, just a misunderstanding." "Well, next time keep your misunderstanding to a low roar, we are in the 'Nids territory. I don't know about you, but I'd rather finish my mission before I die." Amicus grumpily retorted, he was not a morning person and arguing teenagers were just annoying. He then said something back to his squad, what Zuko wasn't sure, but then he suggested that someone find the girl or she was going to be left behind. Zuko knew he had meant him, because Amicus said it in the language that Zuko understood. Zuko didn't want to talk to Katara just yet, but he didn't want to leave her alone, so he swallowed his pride and went off to find her. Finding her, they both walked solemnly back, not looking at each other the rest of the day. Amicus rolled his eyes, how in all the Imperium could those two do it? Their world was under threat of being taken over by the alien swarm, they themselves were heading toward the Tyranid's central hive, and yet they actually wasted energy fighting with each other, he couldn't understand it. The rest of that march was unusually quiet.

Back in Ba Sing Se something was stirring, Toph could feel the ground shifting beneath her feet, but she couldn't tell what was coming.


	7. Chapter 7: Infiltration

Chapter Seven: Infiltration

Finally, they had come into view of the Hive, it spread beyond the original tower it had occupied, encompassing almost half the lower city in its mass. The trek had taken days, when it would have taken a day at most, given the terrain, because the Guardsmen had to stop and report back to their superiors. How the strange little boxes sent information, Katara and Zuko didn't know. It had been a waste of time in their eyes but what the Cadians did was there business. Upon arriving at the great Hive, they had taken out their strange equipment and were in the process of cataloging the scene. One of the Guardsmen pointed the strange machine at Katara, he did this to catalog the young girl's shapelyness rather than the scene behind her, to which Amicus informed the overzealous trooper she was fifteen and he rather ashamedly moved to another spot to catalog. They then began the long march down into the pit that surrounded the Hive, except for Zuko, he had other things to attend to, and even if Katara was against it, he had his honor to uphold.

Sokka couldn't believe what he had done. Stolen! He had stolen from the strangers, the strangers who had been nothing but kind and gracious, even if they did build strange structures all over Ba Sing Se. He was curious as to what they had been doing inside their "war room," curious to see how they were going to get rid of the bugs, so he had stolen one of their information devices, he believed it was called a video communicator, maybe? The name didn't matter, the information did.

Katara was descending at a greater rate than the Cadians, her lithe form sliding gracefully down the slimy wall, until finally she reached the bottom and waited for them. She didn't have to wait long, because Gargoyles had spotted the Guardsmen and were raining down venomous barbs at them. Amicus arrived first followed by five others, the seventh wasn't coming. Soon the flood gates were opened as they were swarmed by the entire Hive. Biting her lip, Katara said a silent prayer as she began to whip the water from her water-skin into octopus-like tentacles around her and slowly slice through the oncoming horde; Amicus was at her back, breathing the same prayer as he cursed the bugs in the vilest tongue he knew and blasted them full of plasma and lead. It was going to be a long day.

Toph was sitting lackadaisically on the porch to their Ba Sing Se house, Aang was off talking to that old monk, and Sokka? Well, who knew what Sokka was up to, ever. She was debating whether or not she should hide with Momo or hide the house underground, hiding with Momo would put Twinkle-toes into a tizzy, but hiding the house would leave Snoozles more confused than normal, she just couldn't decide. She didn't have to decide. A strong tremor rocked the entire pavilion then stopped as suddenly as it had started, leaving Toph anxious. She had felt something in the shock-wave, but now, nothing. "What's going on?" she questioned. Had Toph been able to see the ferocious wyrm that shot out of the ground before her, she might have fainted, as it was she let out the most blood-curdling scream of terror in the Four Nations. She grabbed Momo and shot herself like a catapult over the beast, she had to find Aang or Sokka or anyone! She raced to tell someone the bugs had infiltrated Ba Sing Se!

Zuko raced away from the Hive, leaping over the pustular barriers the bugs had placed and the remaining defenses the Fire Nation soldiers had constructed leading up to the upper city, his bolter was in his grasp, but his fire was doing the work of obliterating the Gaunts he passed, even the occasional Horma-Gaunt wasn't a problem for him. He was doing fine, he had plenty of time before the sun disappeared for eight minutes, then he would have to use his bolter for defense, but still everything was going according to plan. The Day of Black Sun was the day the Fire Nation would be saved!

Sokka couldn't believe it! There on the communicator was his sister, well actually some one had captured an image of her and it was relayed through the wireless signal back to the communicator he had "procured," but really what difference did it make? She was alive! He was trying to discern her whereabouts when he accidentally turned on the translator and the monotonous droning that had been unintelligible drabble to him suddenly turned into military plans for the destruction of the Hive. The Hive was the infernal pit the bugs called home, their secret base, because the Guardsmen couldn't discover the whereabouts of it, every time the Cadians had sent out a probe to ascertain the location, it was destroyed before giving back any real information. Sokka had gathered this from the engineer he had relentlessly questioned that day, but it sounded as though the strangers had gathered new information. They were discussing the ramifications of destroying the Hive, one of the commanders stated that the scouts were still there gathering more detailed information and that the Hive may not be fully developed yet. Another suddenly burst in with harsh laughter asking how in the name of the god-Emperor the coward not been killed by his own mother after his birth, a shame to the Cadians! He continued to say that Amicus and his men knew it was a suicide mission from the start, he informed the other that the size of the central Hive itself proved that at the least a Dominatrix if not a Norn-Queen itself within the Hive. He also went on to say that the mere fact that the 'Nids had behaved so differently when they first landed was significant as to their sinister purpose. The other finally conceded the point and agreed that the sacrifice of the scouts was a better idea than to risk the entire Imperium, but what of the native girl that was in the data? Finally a third spoke, and he must have been in charge because after he spoke the line was silent and the other two just responded "yes sir" when he stated that the other natives had not seen the information and therefore had no idea about their plans. Thus it was decided that several strafing raids would take place until the hive was little more that a scorch-mark on the ground. This was terrible! He nimbly moved his fingers about the thing trying to get it to tell him where the initial transmission had come from so that he might rescue his sister before they destroyed her!

Toph was tearing down the streets of Ba Sing Se when she noticed the creature wasn't chasing her anymore, it wasn't behind her, and just as she sighed her relief she realized where the creature was. Before she could react the monster leaped from below her snatching her in its huge maw. It continued down the street joined by its lesser cousins, the Cadians had no idea what was about to begin.


	8. Chapter 8 : Things Get Interesting

Author's "I'm so sorry it's been like a year since I updated this" Note: Okay, so I'm epic sorry I haven't updated this! Life, writer's block, Tyranids, …and zombies prevented me? –Well, that's what I want to say, but yeah, I really just… suck…at updating… so anyhoo… I have some questions to answer: One: "How come Toph didn't sense the little 'Nids inside the dead bodies?" –Yeah, I paraphrased, um, they were on ice and her powers only work on earth? She can't see when she's on wood, so I just assumed it didn't work on ice. If I'm wrong, then… that breaks the story, but only slightly… so, yeah… Two: Um, this wasn't really a question, but I figured I'd answer it anyway… The reason the Fire Nation um… died epic quick… was because the 'Nids can fight at night, when firebending is weaker (we saw this in action in the TV show when Zuko faces off against Katara in the North Pole, she whoops him until the sun comes up and he pwns her.) So unlike a flamethrower, they actually get weaker at night, plus they don't have like night vision goggles or anything to help with the whole seeing in the dark thing, so yeah, it's like the ancient Chinese using fire to fend off a horde of Tyranids… not likely to succeed. So thanks for the reviews! Soooooo Sorry this is epic late! And thanks again for actually reading! (p.s. I swear to finish the story arc… I'm thinkin' I can finish this in 2 more chapters, what do you think? Wish me luck! And go 'Nids for winning versus the green tide! We knew you could do it! .!)

Chapter Eight: Things Get Interesting

Zuko's progress through the upper city, as yes, he was now within the limits of the upper city although to the untrained eye it would have seemed the same as the lower city, the bugs had overrun it much the same as the lower city, leaving pustular hiding places along with remnants of buildings being slowly eaten away by their acid. Was this all that was left of the Fire Nation's capital, the most feared place in the Four Nations? No, he wouldn't lose hope. They had probably just evacuated everyone into the palace, better fortifying it, or at least that seemed the tactical thing to do, so it had to be true. The Fire Nation had some of the best, if not cruelest as well, tactical minds in the world, this Zuko had learned the hard way once upon a time. He kept up his pace, quickened it even, which is why he was caught off guard, because he had become reckless in his desire to find other living members of the Fire Nation… reckless to the point of being surrounded, by Gaunts, Horma-Gaunts, Genestealers, and oh yeah, a freaking Carnifex too. But there was something different about the Genestealers and this Carnifex…

Panic raged in the streets as Sokka dashed back toward the Earth King's palace, or the foreigner's headquarters, there he would find Aang, he was fairly certain, and no matter how trusting he was of their prophet's stories about some benevolent emperor or such, there was no way he'd miss a chance to rescue Katara. With Aang on his side, Sokka was pretty much guaranteed victory… also that was where the Valkyrie's were kept and Sokka was slightly (very, highly) eager to pilot one, at least once. Sokka had yet to realize why everyone was running about in mad panic until one of the creatures rose up before him, soon joined by its lesser followers. He wasn't quite sure boomerang would be enough for this fight... Immediately the bugs started rending through the masses of people that were running in every direction, trying desperately to escape these terrors. The biggest one, however, seemed to have its sights set on something else up ahead as it rapidly descended down the street, in the exact path Sokka was headed. Regaining his feet quickly, Sokka leaped for a low hanging roof, and catching the side, pulled himself up onto it. The creatures were tearing through the people in the streets, using their huge claws to slice through skin, muscle, and bone, or simply catching pedestrians into their gaping maws and ripping them asunder. The sight quite horrified Sokka, but he had a mission to complete and besides, there was nothing he could do against that great a number. The panicked voices along with death moans that flooded his communicator were soon too much for him to bear, so he tossed it aside as he continued across the rooftops toward the palace.

She had managed to catch herself inside the huge thing's throat by holding out her arms and legs as far as they would go, but this apparently didn't seem to affect the creature as it continued to move about, that she could feel. She could also feel the thing's acidic saliva oozing across her hands and feet bringing a new meaning to the word pain into her mind. She wasn't quite sure how much longer she could hold out, but then it happened. She felt something familiar enter into the creature's flesh, something she could now use. But then the feeling left as soon as it had come, the object hitting the creaturwe and ceasing to reverberate further. A moment later it happened again and again it stopped. She was growing weary and the renewed hope she'd had when the first object struck the monster and sent vibrations through its body, allowing her to "see" just briefly had faded along with the vibrations. Then it happened a third time, only now the objects were pounding the creature, she could tell by the way the creature continued toward the source of the strange objects that they weren't affecting it, but still she could at least "see". Luck came her way as suddenly something much bigger hit the wyrm and as fate would have it, it landed near her. She could feel the object protruding within reach of her right hand, but since she was "seeing" through the vibrations of a living creature, she couldn't be sure what the object was. She decided however that whatever it was, it would be her only hope of ever getting out of this evil thing anyway, so loosening her right hand from the wall of the monstrosity's throat, she reached over and touched the tip of the object. She smiled evilly as she realized what it was, a sturdy hunk of metal, it must have been lobbed at the beast by some sort of cannon she figured, in an attempt to halt its advance, which had obviously failed. Even though the objects had stopped hitting the wyrm, Toph continued to smile as she used her right hand to stamp and conform the metal to stretch outward and gather other little metal bits within the creature as well, making a hole through the beast's side as she did. To the few remaining guardsmen who had survived the Trigon's onslaught and were retreating from its advancing form, the smallish figure of a girl ripping a dastardly hole through the bug's side and proceeding to rend the rest of the thing in halve by somehow controlling all the metal they had fired into the thing was a welcome sight indeed.

The squad was down to five including Katara and Amicus, they had lost two more getting inside the horrendous lair, but they had reached the inside of the old watch tower finally. "Now to locate the Norn Queen..." Amicus breathed under his breath, so lower Katara almost missed it. "What is that?" She whispered back, slightly louder, but still very quiet. Amicus waved two of the troopers behind him on ahead before replying, "It's the queen, there's only ever one to a hive, it'd kill the others if there were more. If we kill it, it should incapacitate the lesser bugs, in theory…" "Do they look like big elephant-wasps mixed with slug spiders?" Katara questioned after they were again behind another of the bulbous protrusions of the walls. "A what?" He questioned and she repeated her question, albeit slower this time. "Do any of the bugs we've been fightin' look like that?" he responded, conceiving an idea in his head which he hoped to be true. "No, they're more like-" "Never mind. I take it you've seen this different looking bug. Was it big? Bigger than even the Tyrants?" "Zuko saw it, not me. But he said it was gargantuan, the reason the bugs destroyed the inside of the tower, to accommodate its height." Amicus said some course things which Katara assumed to be vile language in another tongue before she finally interjected, "But he told me where he saw it. It was near the area where the bugs took me after they captured me." Amicus calmed and contemplated for a moment before he spoke, "…you were captured by the bugs?" "Yes, why?" "…can I see the back of your neck?" Katara moved her hair and showed the back of her neck, for what purpose she didn't know but it reminded her of the time when Zuko had checked the back of her neck after she was rescued and she realized that he'd never told her the reason he'd done that. "Why did you want to see my neck? Zuko did the same thing after he rescued me from the bugs, what does it mean?" "It means your boyfriend was smart and he figured out the secret that the superior officers elected to keep from the general populous." Amicus replied, and spoke lower as he added, "There is a mark that the bugs leave on the back of your neck if the queen injects you with her eggs." Katara stood in shock, unable to grasp what it was he was saying. "The queen's eggs?" "There are some 'Nids that require a host or living tissue to manifest. When they mature inside the host, they rend their way out, destroying the soul they say on their way out, but what that really means is the hosts suffer so much agony and pain that they lose their sanity and scream endlessly until they finally die. Are you telling me you haven't heard that unholy shrieking since we neared this stinking pit, and you'd been living around here before then too?" Amicus was truly amazed she hadn't known this, but that was because Zuko had never wanted her to know it. Zuko had wanted her to return to normal, go on as though this had never happened should they survive, he didn't want her to lose her idealism, her hope, even though he'd given up his what had seemed like ages ago. Katara went numb, the idea that so many were dying such horrid deaths, and to bring more of those hideous beasts into the world? She couldn't react or think, but this was not what Amicus needed at the moment, so he did the only thing he could think of at the moment. He slapped her across the cheek saying, "Snap out of it! More are doomed to that fate unless we destroy this hive. To do that we have to kill the queen, so start showing us the way already!" Amicus was not an eloquent or sophisticated man, but he was a dang good leader when he needed to be, and the innermost depths of a 'Nid hive was not the place to start questioning one's beliefs. Katara leading them, they proceeded rather quickly through the tower, and no one seemed to notice how empty it was or the lack of Tyranids anywhere, like they weren't there at all or that something was leading them to itself…

Author's "I'm so sorry it's been like a year since I updated this" (-continued-) Note: Also, for the last question, No I did not kill Toph off. ;) That would have ruined my plans for- erk! not telling! Mwa-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! But, thanks again to everyone who reads this, and I'm sorry I lost my focus/interest in the story for a while... Building a Baneblade right now though and then some 'Russes to add to my dad's army ('cause he's too lazy to build them himself! ;P), so my mind will be on 40K for a while, and before I finish the tanks I should complete the story, so rest assured it shouldn't be more than the month of June and the story will be through. Sad, isn't it?


	9. Chapter 9: Fleshy Prison

Chapter Nine: Fleshy Prison

"Toph? Toph!" Sokka questioned, then shouted for conformation, which he got. Toph was in the process of gathering dirt to herself to soak up the acidic bile that she had been covered in upon her escape from the malevolent Trigon when she heard Sokka shouting her name and immediately replied with, "Hey Snoozles! Didja see that? Pretty cool, right?" "Toph, no time to explain, just catapult yourself up here!" Was the brief reply she got. Even though her feet were burned by the acid, once firmly planted on the ground she could "see" everything and also feel the nervousness emanating from her friend, even though he was on the rooftop, the building was still made of solid stone. "Sokka…" She started absently as her mind began to comprehend what all the vibrations sent through the earth were conveying. Fighting, death, fear, struggle- it was resounding through the earth, and it didn't seem as though the people were winning… "Toph! Hurry!" She snapped back to reality at Sokka's urging, and finally did what he requested, even though she rather hated flying through the air… Sokka caught her, and was about to set her down, except her noted the acid burns on her feet so he carried her piggy back style as he continued down the rooftops, him explaining why and where they were headed and her telling him what areas to avoid and also about the Trigon.

Much to his chagrin, Zuko had discovered yet another adaptation these creatures, the Genestealers and Carnifex, had developed… an apparent immunity to fire, which, of course, was the weapon he was wielding against the bugs. Sure, he'd eliminated the Gaunts and Horma-Gaunts, which was great, and he had his bolter, loaded with a full clip, but in a half an hour when the eclipse happened, he would need that gun with all its ammo, as it would be his only line of defense. Dodging another charge by one of the Genestealers and barrel rolling to avoid the spray of fire from the Carnifex's putrid weapon, he then decided it might be better to worry about the eclipse after he lived to see it, rather than die now in the hope of surviving during it. He pulled his bolter up just in time to blast away a Genestealer, but not before it shredded through his other arm which he'd held up in defense. Trying his best to conserve his ammunition, he figured out that one or two well placed shots would take down the Genestealers, but he couldn't even find a weak point on the Carnifex that the bullets would actually damage instead of bouncing off uselessly. With the last of the Genestealers gone, and after a fair amount of blood loss due to his injured arm and also several other minor injuries the Genestealers and the dodging of the Carnifex had brought on, he was forced to face off against the monstrous carapaced beast. Using his firebending as a distraction, he managed to sidestep behind the beast, only to be caught by its club like tail and thrown against the wall of what had used to be some noble's house, cracking a few ribs in the process. He staggered to his feet and barely dodged a shot from its strange firearm, then suddenly it hit him! As the thing glared at him through its horrid little eyes and reared its gargantuan talons behind it, ready to strike, he had the sudden idea to shoot its eyes. Firing a spray of ammo into the monstrosity's face, hitting its slits of eyes, the thing reared backward in pain and anger, releasing a hideous bellow as it did. He slid left, trying again to round the thing or just get out of its range, but he was thwarted this time by the gargant's angered jabbing using its chitinous claws. He dodged the first two strikes, was barely caught by the third and the fourth caught him in the side, but deeper into his side than the third. He heard his ribs crack in a sickly sound as the creature lifted him back along with its claw, and it looked like Katara had been right…

She had been wrong. Wrong to disagree with Zuko that this was a suicide mission, wrong to assume that if they all co-operated together that they would actually live through this ordeal, and wrong to assume the other bugs had simply been too stupid to return inside the tower after their initial flooding outside… The reason it would seem that the lesser bugs hadn't come back was that the brood queen wanted to kill their little group of five on her own. Stepping through the last barricade and into the hatchery, they saw her. She was gigantic, easily the height of the tower itself, except the bugs had built it up with their pustulous additions while still leaving a hole at the top letting the sunlight faintly shine in, and although she was massive, she moved about quite deftly, not that that mattered, she had incapacitated them upon their entry. A piercing, shrieking, sanity destroying sound infected their brains, and no amount of ear covering could put the sound from their minds. Two of their number were weaker minded and blew the sound away using their bolters, an action which it seemed the queen had allowed, the others she exerted her control over and they fell limply to the ground, their ears and minds still burning with the sound. Katara felt a tear roll down her cheek as she absently watched the queen devour the third member of their party, leaving only her and Amicus left alive. She could see the queen's body shifting and contorting, changing slightly in appearance after she finished consuming the Cadian, and she gained a slightly human countenance, and evil smile playing over a grotesque face and the same gleam reflected in her black eyes. Katara knew either she or Amicus would be next, and as she prepared herself for the inevitable, saying a final prayer to Tui and La, the room suddenly became dark and she heard...

The general chaos that had erupted in Ba Sing Se made the requisitioning of a Valkyrie easier, but also having the world's only metal bender helped too, especially with the large metal doors that shielded the outside world from the hangar. They had slipped past the Guardsmen, who were either too busy fighting off Raveners and Trigons to care or were too busy calling for reinforcements to care, either way they were occupied, so when Sokka finally managed to get the Valkyrie into the sky, it wasn't a shock that there wasn't anyone trying to stop them… well, except for the bugs, that is. They had managed to get to the wall before the bugs managed to catch them, the Gargoyles apparently having joined the fight along with some other varieties whose names came flooding in over the communicator as panicked screams of "Lictor", "Carnifex", "Tyrant", "Zoanthrope", and "Rippers" came pouring in. Limited in her bending from not being on the ground, Toph had to rely also on Sokka to tell her where to aim the small metal projectiles she found. The gargoyles had swarmed them and were on the verge of overpowering them when a sudden gust of air and …green flames… saved them. Appa was flying outside alongside them as Aang and a new face joined them inside the combat helicopter, Sokka let Toph fill them in as he pushed full power towards the Fire Nation, Appa barely keeping pace.

The sun sank behind the moon as the solar eclipse took over the sky, a sort of signal to Zuko that it was over for him, but then just as suddenly, the Carnifex, upon whose chitinous talon he was stuck, let out a baleful moan as it staggered about until it crashed hard into the ground, dead. He wasn't sure what had happened, but he was sure he had to hurry. Slowly, painfully pulling himself off the wretched claw, he began again towards the palace, only a short distance from where he had fought the horde, limping and leaving a bloody trail behind him. He succeeded in reaching the palace, finding the doors spread ajar, he entered in quickly and searching the rooms as he hastened by them, found none yet alive, but all the bugs inside dead as well. He approached the throne room, the only place he could think of that his father would be if he still lived, which he himself had begun doubting. The doors were still barred and he found two familiar faces outside the throne room. Mai and Ty Lee were outside, both collapsed to the ground and covered in blood, but only Ty Lee remained slightly conscious. Zuko painfully leaned over to her and asked where his father was, noting in that moment that it was also only Ty Lee who still lived, Mai was dead. "He's... in... there…" ty Lee painfully said, trying to point to the throne room. Rage overtook Zuko as he stood and slowly pried open the throne room doors, only a minute more of the eclipse remained.

"Katara! Use your bending!" She heard Yue whisper softly into her ear, and gathering all her focus she moved her hands up to bend her element. Focusing on finding water, she used all her might to summon it forth, without regard to where it was coming from. She heard an unholy shriek come from the queen and paused in collecting the water. It would seem as though the queen had adapted too much, and had assumed some of the water based bio-fluid as her victims, which Katara utilized to tear her to pieces, and the water she had gathered she used to pierce the vile creature as a double measure. She collapsed to the ground, and she remained there in silence until the sun returned to view, shining some light down into the watch tower where the body of the queen resided and… Amicus! She jumped up and ran to his side immediately, and bent over his body. She tried to heal using the water from her waterskin, then realized that she still had her water in her water skin… so where had she bended all that water from before…? Looking down at the mangled body of her friend and how there were few actual traces of his blood, she knew… and wretched.

Author's Note: Yep, this was the "one billion things happening at once" chapter… and … sniffles, yes I did just kill off my OC Amicus… his name was a Roman name which meant "friend" just so you know… Oh, and Invader jrek, I hope you like the meager intro I gave your OC(and thanks for responding so fast! Also, glad you heart the updates!), but I promise to make him slightly more prominent next chapter… um, so yeah, I was like, "yeah, Katara's gonna kick butt with her mad waterbendin' skillz!" then I realized… Tyranids are not made with the same hydrogen based blood that we are… then I was like, "Well… crap. Now there is no way they can beat this thing… um, everyone dies?" But as you can see, I stitched and got a semi-satisfactory solution to the conundrum… Tyranids adapt! Yay! I figured if they eat enough people, they'd adapt some sort of hydrogen based blood… yes, that was a really cheap quick fix, but I figured it beat the "everybody dies" solution. I added in Yue, because I wanted too! Ha! And I figured she could talk to Katara while the moon was blocking the sun, and with the Norn queen melting their brains, I figured we needed some spirit help… also, I made all the other Tyranids die when the queen was killed, so yeah, sorry but they won't be fightin' anymore 'Nids…(Also the reason the Carnifex Zuko was fightin' expired…) Yep, one more chapter left to tie this up! Wish me luck! (And yes, there is still a ton of stuff that still has to happen, so no fears on the final chapter being boring!) Thanks! Until next time!


	10. Chapter 10: Empires and Enemies

Chapter Ten: Empires and Enemies

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Credits:

Writer: OrangeMonk3y

Disclaimer:

OrangeMonk3y does not own Warhammer 40k

or Avatar: The Last Airbender

Monster.

How should I feel?

Creatures lie here...

Looking through the windows.

The End.

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


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