Inescapably.

With the brainwashed Azula in the palm of his hand, it turned out to be laughably easy to finish his mission.

He had Azula lead him to her secret base, and whenever they encountered Fire Nation soldiers, she announced that she had taken him prisoner and the soldiers just accepted it. No one wanted to cross Azula, not even her own men.

They arrived at the fort. Sokka had Azula take him directly to the cache of the mind control grenades. He carefully collected all of them into a satchel. "Okay, good. Now let's go free my men."

Azula made everything so easy. All the soldiers deferred to her completely. They let her do whatever she wanted. That wouldn't have worked in a Water Tribe military base. There were protocols. Respect only went so far. But Azula didn't command her men through respect so much as fear. She was a tyrant. Sokka had to remember that: she may have been obedient for the time being, but she was a dangerous animal.

Sokka had Azula make a show of taking possession of the prisoners to move them personally to a secure location. He ordered her to behave convincingly and she sold it really well. Sokka almost worried she'd broken free of the gas's control when she snapped at three guards to have them accompany her.

But as soon as they were outside the fort, Azula attacked the guards at Sokka's command, subduing them in seconds. His troops were re-armed, and within the hour, they'd systematically isolated and subdued each and every Fire Nation soldier in the region.

Against all odds, Sokka and his men accomplished their mission, recovered the weapon, neutralized an entire platoon of enemy soldiers, and taken Princess Azula herself prisoner.

A short while later, the Water Tribe warriors celebrated on their boat, sailing away from Fire Nation territory towards the hidden location of their fleet.

Sokka gave a stirring retelling of his entirely fabricated battle with some Fire Nation troops to cheers from his men.

Princess Azula sat quietly to one side, gradually reclaiming the use of her body.