Standing in one of the many trenches dug to defend against the massive drill, I made one last check to ensure everything I'd picked up from the armory was securely fastened to my makeshift utility belt.
Toph stepped forward.
"Once I kick up some cover, you won't be able to see anything. Stay close to me."
Everyone nodded.
Taking a deep breath, Toph leaped out into the open.
She planted both hands on the ground.
The earth groaned beneath her feet as her muscles tensed.
Then, with a powerful heave, she hopped and stomped the ground.
Rock and soil erupted into the air, forming a massive cloud of dust that rolled across the battlefield and concealed our advance.
"Run!"
Beckoning us forward, she led the charge as we raced into the dust cloud behind her.
We finally came to a stop once we were close to the drill.
Gathering us together, Toph Bent the earth beneath our feet, opening a hole in the ground.
"Everyone, into the hole!"
Without hesitation, we jumped in.
The ground sealed itself above us a second later.
The next moment, the earth rumbled violently overhead as the drill thundered past.
"It's so dark down here. I can't see a thing!" Sokka complained beside me.
"Oh no, what a nightmare. Not being able to see," Toph muttered dryly as she kept one palm pressed against the earth, listening intently.
Sokka gave a sheepish smile. "Sorry."
We waited in silence until Toph finally gave the signal.
The earth above us parted, allowing sunlight to pour into the tunnel.
Climbing out of the hole, Sokka immediately spotted a way inside.
"There!" he shouted, pointing toward an opening in the drill's hull.
Aang sprang upward and caught hold of a metal support bar hanging beneath the opening.
Dangling upside down by his legs, he reached down one by one, hauling Sokka, Katara, and me up into the drill.
Before climbing in myself, I looked back at Toph.
"Toph, stay safe! Aim for the joints whenever they extend and retract! Those are its weak points!"
"Got it!"
She flashed me a thumbs-up before she took off at a sprint, racing toward the drill's legs to do her part.
============================================
Leading us through the tunnel filled with valves and pipes, Sokka's eyes darted around.
"I need a layout of this machine. Some schematics showing what the inside looks like. Then we can find its weak points."
Aang furrowed his brow.
"Where are we going to get something like that?"
"From an engineer," I answered, my mind already racing as I scanned our surroundings. "Maybe we can find one on patrol—"
Sokka suddenly drew his machete and hacked through a steam pipe, sending a jet of vapor hissing into the corridor.
"Or we can break something!" he said with a grin. "When something breaks in a machine this big..."
"They'll send someone to fix it!" Katara caught on with a smile, Water Bending the escaping vapor into a dense blanket of fog.
We didn't have to wait long.
About a minute later, an engineer wearing a protective mask hurried down the hallway toward the broken pipe.
"Dammit, another pipe burst!" he grumbled as he reached for the pipe wrench and rolled-up schematics hanging from his belt. "That's the third one this week..."
Without making a sound, Katara slipped behind him.
With a flick of her wrists, she flash-froze the surrounding mist, encasing the engineer in a thin layer of ice before he could react.
Sokka dashed over and slipped the schematics from the frozen engineer's belt.
"This'll work. Thanks!"
While he grabbed the schematics, I helped myself to the engineer's pipe wrench.
"Never know when this'll come in handy."
We hurried after Sokka, who now carried the blueprint to the entire drill.
Once we had put enough distance between ourselves and the engineer, he slowed down and spread the schematics across the ground for everyone to see.
"It looks like the drill is made up of two main structures. There's the inner mechanism, where we are now, and the outer shell."
He pointed at the sections of the blueprint.
"The two parts are connected by these support braces. If we cut through them, the entire thing will collapse."
============================================
"That is thick," I noted as we walked along the beam leading to the outer shell, just as shown in the blueprint. Up close, the drill's reinforced steel braces were almost as thick as my entire shoulder span.
"No kidding. We're going to have to work pretty hard to cut through that."
"We?" Katara glanced over at Sokka. "What's this 'we' stuff? Aang, Renji, and I are going to have to do all the work."
"Look," he said, gesturing to himself. "I'm the plan guy. And you three are the beam-cutting guys."
"And together, we're Team Avatar! Now get cutting!"
After sharing an awkward smile between the three of us, Aang and Katara got to work, standing on opposite sides of the brace as they sliced through the metal with their Water Bending.
Meanwhile, I stood on the beam opposite them, doing my best to melt through the steel with my Fire Bending.
Forming my hand into a two-finger stance, I channeled Chi through the tips of the fingers, heating them to a near-burning temperature before slowly cutting through the steel like a human welding torch.
The only problem was the heat. I wasn't generating enough of it to melt the steel quickly enough, even after pushing my Fire Bending to the limit.
It took a full twenty minutes just to cut through the thick steel brace, and I was already exhausted.
I clicked my tongue between heavy breaths.
At this pace, cutting through enough braces to bring down the drill would take far more time than we could afford.
I stopped the rest of Team Avatar before they could exhaust themselves completely trying to finish the job.
Aang sat on the beam, sweat dripping down his face, while Katara looked just as worn out.
"We can't do enough damage before the drill reaches the wall," she said after taking a sip of water.
"I don't know how many more of those I have in me," Aang panted.
"We need to change our approach," I muttered, searching for another solution. "If we keep going like this, someone's going to notice the engineer we ambushed."
Suddenly, the drill groaned.
The support brace that Aang and Katara had painstakingly cut halfway through began to strain under the machine's weight, cracks slowly spreading across the weakened metal.
Then, a sudden burst of static echoed through the drill.
From a pipe-mounted speaker hanging above the entrance to the outer shell, an announcement blared.
["Congratulations, crew."]
["The drill has made contact with the walls of Ba Sing Se. Begin the countdown to victory!"]
I could hear muffled cheers coming from somewhere inside the machine before the announcement abruptly ended.
"We need to find a way to do this fast. Now!"
============================================
If you're enjoying the story, please consider supporting me on Patre0n! Your support helps me dedicate more time to writing, and you'll get early access to chapters and exclusive story ideas.
patre0n.c0m/damaine_n
(replace the zero with "o")
$3 – Proficient Rank: 3 advanced chapters
$5 – Advanced Mastery: 5 advanced chapters and more
$10 – Ultimate One: 10 advanced chapters and much, much more
(Almost Fully Implemented!)
Community Bonus Chapter:
Every 5 new paid members unlock 1 bonus chapter, with the fanfic chosen by a poll for paid members.
Progress: 3 / 5 (20/8/2026)
Pending Bonus Chapters: 3
============================================