Prologue.

It had been 15 months since the end of the Hundred Year War and the 3 remaining nations of the world were now well into the process of rebuilding there shattered nations. The Northern Water Tribe, long isolated from the world due to the war, reopened their ports and trade routes with the rest of the world. Not to mention, re establish ties with there brothers and sisters at the south pole and were now currently helping with the reconstruction of a number of their villages. They had even begun construction of a new settlement that would be come he new capital city for the now united Southern Water Tribes. A city that would be called "Kya City". With their borders now reopened and trade and commerce starting to come in, the economy of the Tribe, which had begun to stagnate due to their isolation, was now beginning to grow and strengthen as a result. The Southern Water Tribe as well began to prosper as well. A century of war, coupled with countless raids by the Fire Nation, had devastated the tribes that dotted the south pole to a point where almost all the water benders went extinct. But with the end of the war, coupled with the assistance they were now getting from the north, the few villages that remained were now growing into small towns. Not to mention, with the help of the north, both water bending and water healing were now being taught and for the first time in years... the south pole now had water benders of there own.

The Earth Kingdom too, devastated by decades of war, was now beginning to recover as well. A massive re forestation effort, lead by Avatar Aang himself had begun and large swaths of land that had destroyed by the Fire Nation over the years. While a massive reconstruction effort had begun in a number of Earth Kingdom cities that had been devastated after years of Fire Nation occupation and life had was now returning to a normalcy that had not been seen in over a hundred years. Especially those that had been occupied from the very start of the war. Trade was now beginning to flow in between the cities of the Earth Kingdom, as well as trade between the North and Southern water tribes and the money that was now beginning to flow in was put to good use in both reconstruction, as well as giving those cash that had lost every thing during the war. But even thought both the Water Tribes and the Earth Kingdom were pulling themselves from the ashes of war, there was one nation that seemed unable to shake the stigma of the war that it started all those years ago.

The Fire Nation, with a new Fire Lord and with a new peace was now left with the problem of having a large military and no war to fight with it. A hundred years of war and conflict had left the Fire Nation with an abnormally large military, not to mention, an economy that was war based in general. With no war and with a large military, Fire Lord Zuko set about the unenviable and difficult task of restructuring the Fire Nation's economy before it cave in on itself and collapsed. Not to mention, rebuild the reputation of a nation that had for the last hundred years, raped and pillaged a world that still considered the Fire Nation as an evil, demonic society that only only knows hatred and malice. A reputation that Zuko's father and Grand Father, took great pride in building. Even though Zuko had sent diplomatic missions to both Ba Sing Se and the Northern Water Tribes in an attempt to re establish tied with those nations, he had yet to receive any word that either were interested in having diplomatic ties with there former enemy. But then again, Zuko was not very hopeful that they would. Thanks to his father and grand father, the rest of the world had no reason to trust the Fire Nation and will have no reason for a very long time indeed. Horror stories about the brutal Fire Nation came from all over the world and could fill volumes of books if they were ever put to page. But some of the worst came from P.O.W.s that had been released not to long after the war's end told of unspeakable torchers, beating, even rapes at the hands of their captors and of how they enjoyed what they did to others.

Stories like these and more traveled all over the world, cause a already strong Anti-Fire Nation sentiment to grow even more and pic up steam and even though Zuko said that he intended to punish all those who had committed such crimes, it did little to quell the anger of the world at large. There were many that thought that the policy of "Forgive and Forget" that was adopted by the nations of the world only benefited the Fire Nation alone and that they were getting off easy as it were. But all Zuko could do right now was hope that he and his friend Aang could convince the world that the Fire Nation was no longer the enemy and that they were now committed to peace. But unfortunately there were many who did not think that the Fire Nation was truly sorry for what it had done and would not rest until the Fire Nation truly knew the horrors of war. And unfortunately... they would soon have there way...

Chapter 1: A Nation Burning...

Located on one of the many islands that made up the Fire Nation archipelago, was the village of Wu Tong. At the beginning of the Hundred year war, this once sleep fishing village was transformed into a major naval base/ Ship repair facility due to it's location at the very end of the island chain. Warships from this port launched the first incursion into the Earth Kingdom and for the next hundred years, ships from here took part in a number of major campaigns all over the world. All for the glory of the Fire Nation. Wu tong also became a major way point as well for vessels both leaving and coming to the Fire Nation. As a result, the sleepy village into a major military hub with a large village that catered to the personnel that were either stationed there or were just passing through. But once the war was over and Zuko became Fire Lord, all that soon changed. Since Zuko planned to revamp the economy by down sizing the military, many a naval instillation were either down sized or closed down all together, depending on how important they were. But since Wu Tong had proved itself to be too valuable to be closed, the base and in comparison, the small town that had built up around it was spared the brunt of Zuko's budget cuts. But the Military presence on the island was scaled back greatly and what was once a busy naval base of thousands, was now just a quiet barracks of just a couple hundred.

Most of the naval ships that once crowded the small bay were gone, only a few small cutters remained . The last naval vessel to pass through was an old coal carrier named "Rock Fish", and it was on it's way back to the Capital city to drop off some solders returning from another base that had been closed down. And the only other naval ship there was a battle ship named " Shozin's Glory" that was there to have some repairs done. But most likely it too would soon be decommissioned and scrapped like many others.

Inside one of the many look out towers that dotted the water front, a lone solder by the name of Lee Hue looked out over the vast ocean in front of him. The son of a business man, Lee had joined the navy months just before the end of the war, thinking that with the fall of the Earth Kingdom capital city, it would be only a matter of time before the war was over and the Fire Nation was victorious. So imagine his surprise when the war ended and the New Fire Lord called for the end of hostilities. Any hope of becoming a war hero and being there when the Fire Nation crushed its enemies were crushed and now he was now stationed at an naval base that was more of a ghost town than every thing. Sure the town was a welcomed distraction from his boredom, but he longed for the glory days of the war when the Fire Nation was at the height of it's power. As he sat there with his eyes glued to the horizon, a small black shape soon appeared. At first he was not sure what it was, but as he continued to watch, the shape of a Fire Nation Navy vessel soon made it self clear to him...

"SIR!" Lee called down to his commanding officer that was at the bottom of the tower, " Are there any Vessels due in today?" he asked.

The officer, named Iszumo, took a moment to check the roster to see if any vessels were due that day "Um... the Northern Path is supposed to come into port. But she is not due till tomorrow. They must be trying to get in early." he reasoned.

"That or they found out that we got that new shipment of Fire Wine." Lee joked, as he continued to watch the vessel approach. "Man, they are really in a hurry."

"Try to signal them." Iszumo called up to him. Sighing a little, Lee took up to signaling flags similar to those that are used on board ships to signal to one another and began to use them. But the was no response. The ship just continued to steam forward towards them. He tried to signal them again ant tell them to slow down, but still there was nothing...

" They aren't slowing down sir." Lee informed his commanding officer. " What you mean they are not slowing down?" Iszumo asked, "Try signaling them again!"

"Sir, they are not responding!" Lee cried, as he saw the ship get closer and closer, "They going to ram the Dry Dock!" he screamed, as she soon realized just were the ship was headed.

"What! I'll alert the barracks! alert the other watch towers!" Iszumo yelled, as he began to run down the hill and back toward the Navy base, while Lee used his fire bending to alert the other towers that something may be up.

Meanwhile at the dry dock itself, both naval and civilian personnel were all milling around the the area, either doing work on the Navy vessel that was currently in for servicing or were just being solders and protecting the vessel from an threat that no longer existed. As they were doing their duties, they all heard a commotion coming from the upper levels of the dock. They saw all the workers as well as the solders on the upper levels looking at something, but what they did not know. Their curiosity soon turned into panic when some one sounded the alarm and they saw every one above them begin run away. Thinking that they was danger near, the men in the dock began to run towards one of the many ladders that lead out of the dry dock. Just moments later, the shape of a ship's bow became visible and the 2 massive doors that kept the water out came crashing down, sending in a massive wall of water flooding into the dock. Many of the workers did not stand a chance, the torrent water came in with such a force, it crushed every thing and ever one in there. Many of them did not even get a chance to drown. They never knew what hit them. The force of the water rushing in was so great, the the battle ship that was already in there was lifted off it's support struts and slammed into the dock wall. Knocking a number of men off the ship as it did. Then, another ship, the reason for the collapse of the dock doors, came crashing in with its smoke stack still belching black smoke and slammed "head" first into the other end of the dock. Wedging it self between the dock and the other ship there. Then, as suddenly as the commotion began, it was done. The only sound that could have been heard was the rumbling of the ship's engine as it continued to drive the massive vessel forward into the dock.

Meanwhile, the entire towns people had been alerted to what had happened and were now getting ready to either go and assist in the eventual rescue and recovery operations, or were getting ready to take care of the eventual deluge of injured personnel that would soon be flooding the local medical facility. But as rescue personnel began to flood into the dock area, a massive explosion ripped open the hull of the new vessel. Vaporizing the entire mid section of the vessel instantly and sending a massive fire ball in all directions. Engulfing the entire area in the process. The heat was so intense, that a near by bunker that held the gun powder that was on the "Shozin's Glory", went up in a massive fire ball as well. The fires soon began to spread, as near by buildings began to catch fire while the boilers that powered the many stream powered cranes in the yard exploded as well due to the extreme heat that was being created. Sending hot steel into every direction. It did not take long for the fires to spread into the near by town and begin to engulf every thing and every one there. All the towns folk could do was either try to control the rapidly spreading fire, or head for the safety of the nearby mountains and wait until the fire burned it self out. But at the rate the fire was burning, it would be a very long wait indeed. And for many of the survivors... it would be a painful wait, as they saw there lives and love ones go up in smoke and flames...

The smoke rose high into the air and could be seen from miles around, as fires raged on in Wu Tong. It would be hours be days before the flames finally burned itself out and where a small city had once been... there was now nothing more than burned out buildings and and scorched earth. As well as a population that only had one question on their minds...

"Why...?"

A/N: Okay... that is just the first chapter but it will not be the last so stay tuned. Please R&R if it is not to much to ask and feel free to give suggestions. It will be welcomed.