Chapter 1
The slate gray airship glinted in the morning sunlight, its cruciform tail obscured by the fumes from its six engines, propellers spinning lazily. Above, a brightly colored messenger hawk swooped down, angling for the forward command gondola. It gracefully alighted on the perch provided for this purpose, preening impatiently as it waited to complete its mission. It was only a short wait before the black message tube was removed by a tall officer, his topknot and red and black uniform pristine, meticulously groomed. He immediately unrolled the scroll, his expression hardening as he read.
"What is it, Captain", a young officer, a little less poised, spoke up
Captain Lee ignored him, jotting a quick neat acknowledgment, and attaching it to the hawk.
"Set course south south east, ahead full" came the crisp command, "Prepare for a shipwide announcement, and get Lieutenant Ekin up here."
A beat as a different officer flipped a few switches, "Ready, sir"
"This is the captain, we have new orders. Earlier this morning, the asylum holding Princess Azula was attacked and the Princess rescued by a renegade airship. We are to intercept and apprehend that vessel. We are heading for their last known position at our top speed. This may be a difficult mission and this was only supposed to be a test flight, but I have every confidence in your capabilities, as well as those of this ship. We built her, and we'll fly her to the ends of the earth if necessary. That is all."
"Very inspiring, some of your best work" the sardonic greeting from a disheveled young firebender, burns on his sleeve, his sweat soaked dark brown hair escaping the confines of his top knot, nearly obscuring his light gray eyes.
Captain Lee was not amused, or at least showed no hint of it. "Come along, I need your help." Not waiting for a response, he left the bridge proper headed for the nearby chart room. Ekin ambled after him and found Lee already unrolling a detailed map of the north western Earth kingdom and the Mo Ce sea.
"Last sighting is six hours old, here," he pointed to chart, "Earth Kingdom patrol" unconcealed contempt in his voice, "ship was headed south, then lost them in a cloud."
"That's what 3 hours away, at flank speed?" Ekin mused, stalling as he thought, stroking his chin.
"Near enough, but they've had six hours to change heading, by the time we reach there, she could be 200 miles away in any direction."
"Yes, but if they're not just running, if they're going somewhere" Ekin began
"They may just be running, I wouldn't fancy my chances against the Fire Lord and the Avatar"
"Don't need an airship to run, in fact it'd be better to ditch it, they're rather conspicuous. No, they have a destination, and south? Only one place makes any sense"
"Han Tui" conquered early in the war it was the one of the oldest colonies and its superb harbor, fertile fields and nearby mines made it the largest, richest and now most restive. Also Lee's birthplace.
"And the Free Corps" a militia made of discharged and retired Fire Nation soldiers, mostly devoted to preventing the Earth Kingdom from reclaiming the colonies, although it had enough splinter groups to also favor complete independence, democracy, theocracy, plutocracy, technocracy, communism, herbalism and/or puppyocracy.
"It is their only chance at an army. Still I can't imagine how they plan to fight the Avatar, I doubt he'll just sit by watch, where is he anyway, isn't this kinda his bag?" Ekin circled the room, his restless pacing a stark contrast to Lee's motionless calm.
"He is supposed to be at the South Pole, aiding the Southern Water Tribe, at least a week away"
"There goes plan Glowy Victory, how do you plan on capturing Azula. And I mean with out us being electrocuted, burned and exploded?"
Lee leveled a disapproving glance at his expansive friend, "It is quite simple, our airship is superior in every conceivable aspect, except perhaps firebending talent," Ekin nodded, ignoring the implied insult. It was a simple statement of fact after all. "We will establish a superior tactical position and demand their surrender."
"At which point they'll pretend to surrender, and then when we close Azula will burn us to ashes, might I remind you that a huge part of this ships superiority comes from its lighter, but very, very flammable lifting gas. If you want my opinion," he paused.
Lee nodded "Of course, that is what you are here for"
"Very well then, I recommend killing her. Destroy her ship at long range and then bomb the wreckage. Take no chances." Ekin punctuated his fierce proposal with a harsh slash of his hand, sending as burst of flame into the deck.
"Azula is a member of the royal family and my orders explicitly state she is to be captured alive if possible"
"There you go, I'm telling you right now it isn't possible, no need to risk all our lives for her worthless sacred blood" Ekin leaned forward, staring at Lee, the tension rising, only to float away as the door opened, a nervous crewmember shifting his gaze from one to the other, "Ah, Captain, Chief Engineer Miu wants to talk to you"
"She can wait" the cold reply, his eyes still fixed on his firebending friend and subordinate
"Ah, she was very insistent," the hapless boy persisted, caught between three fires.
"She is always very insistent, she can wait," Lee turned to face the crewman now, and although his voice was not raised, his enunciation was crisp but it always was, but the force of the command froze the messengers blood, he backed out of the room. "I'll inform her that you will arrive at your, uh, earliest convenience"
"That would be most diplomatic," Lee turned now to Ekin to resume their, to put it delicately, discussion, but the charged atmosphere had abated. He proceeded more sedately, "I will not kill Fire Nation soldiers and a member of the royal family in cold blood; they must be offered a chance to surrender. But," he raised a finger to forestall Ekin's protest, "As much as it pains me to say it I cannot trust the word of Azula or of the traitors. We will escort them to a fortress, where they can be immobilized for safekeeping, all the while under our supervision; if they break their terms, we'll reduce them to scrap. Will that be satisfactory?" He ended his explanation with a sardonically
Ekin answered the rhetorical question "Still a couple of holes, but they're mostly shifted to the poor schmucks you intend to saddle with the task of physically restraining her."
"If need be we will simple have them idle for a week or too and let the Avatar handle that" Lee could not keep the distaste from his voice at the prospect of involving Aang.
"Well you'd better change course and deal with Miu, I will attend to my grueling duties," referring to beating up lower ranking benders in lopsided training matches.
"We're already on an intercept course on her projected route, but stay here, I have some tactics to bounce off you, but Miu can only be safely ignored for so long." With that he left the chart room leaving Ekin to stew.
"I'll just stand here then and maybe compose uncomplimentary poetry," his words lacked venom and Lee predictably ignored them.
The walk down the internal gangway to the main engines, midway down the 500 foot long envelope, was brief. Lee moved at a brisk pace and the gangway was virtually empty. He ducked down, shimmying down the ladder to meet his chief engineer.
She was waiting for him, a petite, pale, woman, face stained with grease, glaring at him. "Finally, had to take your time, get a spot of tea first?"
"Tactical planning for the battle takes priority over whichever screw is currently imperfectly screwed."
Miu hid her smile, she was mad at him, she stood up to allow freer expression of her outrage.
"It's much more serious than that, we've never run the engines full out before; this is a shake down cruise!"
"We have run them and their predecessors and a number of variants at up to 150% full capacity on a number of occasions"
"On the ground, it's different in the air and you know it,"
"Not so different as to completely invalidate all prior testing, these engines, not this model, not this type, these very engines performed flawlessly on groundside tests. Do you have any real concerns or any actual evidence of failure that would prevent giving me 15 hours of full output?"
"No, I'm just concerned at running full out on a brand new airship, we haven't worked the kinks out, I don't have a feel for her; you don't have a feel for her."
"I would have expected you to have more confidence in an airship you built."
"Well you certainly do, she doesn't even have a name, you can't think it's a good idea to take a nameless ship into a battle,"
"Superstition doesn't suit you, if our tactics and equipment are sound we will prevail. On that note, can you tear yourself away for a few minutes, I would appreciate you input"
"I suppose" she grudgingly agreed, following him back to the gangway after shouting a few orders, and a curse and a threat for good measure, at her crew.
Another brisk walk, Miu jogging to match Lee's long stride, they returned to the chart room, were Ekin was circling the rooms on his hands. Miu laughed as he stumbled and quickly righted himself
"I was bored" he explained defensively.
Lee showed no amusement, "Perhaps I can interest you in a tactical problem, one that you brought up," Ekin focused, giving Lee his full attention. "I have every confidence in our ability to remain outside the range of ordinary fire blasts and the steam catapult bomb launcher of the commandeered Devastator class airship, however Azula can shoot lightning."
"She can hit us at long range and if she can ignite even one gas bag…" Ekin trailed of ominously.
"Is this what you brought me here for" Miu dismissed them contemptuously, "We know what happens to rigid airships that are struck by lightning, the outer framework conducts it harmlessly around the envelope and crew."
"Ordinary lightning, yes. Lightning that strikes in a storm, in random fashion, within the clouds, or to the earth. Lightning generated by a bender, aimed precisely may have a different effect," Lee calmly explained his concerns.
"Benders manipulate their element, they don't alter its fundamental nature," with a nod to Ekin, the only bender present.
"Yes, perhaps we should consult the firebender on a question related to firebending," the others ignored Ekin's sarcasm.
"That is part of why you are here, but I do not believe you can generate lightning?" Lee asked
"Maybe I can't actually shoot lightning but I understand the theory and did watch Azula fire off a few bolts, when I was in the Royal Procession."
"Really, because that didn't last long," Lee arched an eyebrow.
"Can you believe they expect you to stand still and be quiet during official events, madness. But seriously, her lightning never seemed any different from regular lightning, and there is no reason to believe it will act any differently, except that it will be targeted."
"How far out will she be a threat?" Lee asked
"The limiting factor will be her ability see us and to aim; she'll have trouble hitting the command gondola or the engines but the envelope is a big fat target, should be able to get it from a few miles away, if she wants to."
"Wasn't Azula supposed to have lost it? Maybe she won't be in any shape to put up a fight," Miu hopefully speculated.
"Historically a number of inconvenient royals were sidelined with claims of insanity, it's a useful way to get rid of them without killing them or raising too many questions," the others favored him with a look of surprise, Miu openly gawking, Lee, more restrained, a more casual observer might not have noticed it. "What, I paid attention in school, I got excellent marks, I'm smart, I can recognize patterns and such," Ekin was mildly offended by their surprise.
"You are correct in that we should not assume her facilities are in any way impaired," Ekin was mollified by Lee's indirect support.
"On the topic of things that I'm right about, even if the lightning is conducted away, harmlessly?" he shot Miu a glance, she confirmed his assumption with a quick nod, "the lightning will still strike the outer skin and could set it aflame."
"The dope is kinda flammable," Miu agreed.
"It never did on the testbeds, but lightning has a way of making things flammable, but I have a potential solution. Firebenders can disperse their element as well as create and control it. Ekin, you, and whichever other benders you need will be on fire control duty, during our terminal attack run."
"Sounds boring," Ekin complained, half heartedly.
"Sounds easy, you lazy git," Miu snapped.
"I didn't say I wouldn't do it," he backpedaled defensively
"You are both fully capable of performing your tasks, and I am certain you will perform them flawlessly. We are only slightly less prepared than possible. The real issue is finding the airship in the first place. If we have guessed her destination wrong, it will take much longer than a day to catch her," Lee quelled the spat
"We can keep after her for maybe 60 hours, but her ship shouldn't be able to stay up that long." Miu interrupted
"Yes, but if Azula goes to ground, we will be hard pressed to find her; it would no longer be our task to hunt her." Lee continued, unconcerned. "But if she is still in the air, we will catch her." He finished forcefully. "Dismissed."
He remained in the chart room as the other two left, Miu aggressively wrenching open the door, her staccato footsteps audible for some time. Ekin ambled, lazily following the engineer, sidling off the main passageway to find a messenger to collect his squad. Now alone, Lee closed his eyes, his tented fingers resting on his lips, and took a pair of deep calming breaths, before getting back up and returning to the bridge.
.oOo.
Six hours later, and the initial excitement of the hunt had worn off, for all but the Captain, who had never shown any excitement in the first place. He stood, ruler straight, scrutinizing the crew, checking the instruments paying particular attention to the upward drift of the altimeter."
"Sir, we are approaching 3000 feet," the crewman over whose shoulder Lee was looking reported.
"I see, vent, from the forward most gasbag only, shift ballast aft to maintain trim, elevators down, " Lee ordered and then rose to find Ekin, considerably more soot stained and disheveled than before, walking onto the bridge.
"Drills go well?" Lee asked politely
"As a matter of fact, yes, well" he gestured at the burns on his uniform, "not at first, but we got the hang of it, a somewhat different feel, but very similar to basic fire blocking technique."
A thin smile ghosted across Lee's features, "Excellent, the forward gasbag should be empty by the time we intercept them, that will increase your margin of error."
"Your confidence in me it touching, really," Ekin snarked, "Miu bothered you yet?"
"Yes, she has complained about fuel consumption and shift changes, and undoubtedly would have more if she did not have to deal with a genuine problem, something was wrong in one of the cylinders of the number two engine, she seems to have it under control; we haven't had much trouble maintaining cruising speed."
"So she was right?"
"Her concerns had merits, that while justified were outweighed by the importance of executing our orders," Lee paused, another glimmer of a smile just brushing his face, "She usually is."
"Right, right. We're still on course?"
"Certainly, we cannot know precisely where Azula is or when we will intercept her, but probably not for another four or five hours."
"You're sure that you're ready, to kill a royal?" Ekin's voice was softer, more serious, the nearby bridge crew made a show of pretending to be working.
"I hope it will not need to come to that," Lee replied, with an eye on his other men
"Right, right." Ekin, also noticing the tension in the gondola, "I don't suppose you remembered to take a meal break."
Lee bristled "Not as such, no"
"And any action is hours away and it is nearly time for the second shift and I've been firebending for most of the past six hours."
"I see where you are going with this but," Lee was interrupted by a bell.
"Why, I think that clinches it," Ekin gloated with a smirk.
"Alright," resigned, Lee acquiesced, following Ekin. "Jian, you have the conn, second watch will be here soon."
They picked their way to the tiny galley, space at a premium even on such a large airship, to pick up a simple, but hot meal. "Your cabin?" Ekin asked, Lee gave him a curt nod, the captain's was the largest on the ship, not that that was saying much. As they began to eat, Ekin returned to his prior question, "Are you ready to kill Azula?"
"If she surrenders…" Lee began, only to be cut off
"She will not surrender, I don't pretend to completely understand her, but I know that much. She will not give up, she will fight to the bitter end. You will have to kill her, not personally, not face to face, that makes it easier, right?"
"In that it deprives her of the opportunity to reduce me to a charred skeleton, yes, yes, it does."
"You know what I meant," Ekin responded sharply, annoyed at Lee's deliberate obtuseness.
"My orders are clear, direct from the Fire Lord; I will obey them," Lee was grim now, his face set stubbornly.
"This isn't just about orders…" Ekin began, in a subdued tone of voice.
"Yes, it is. I serve the Fire Lord; if he commands that I spill royal blood, then that is what I will do," he spat out the last words forcefully.
"Yes, I can see you're jumping for joy," came the response, dripping with sarcasm
"I don't have to enjoy it," without the edge that had been their before.
"Do you mind if I do, I have a deep personal hatred for Azula."
"Your stint in the Procession was that bad?" Lee was as relaxed as he ever got.
"It really was, she is a vicious perfectionist, attacking the least mistake with a vengeance, totally different from fluffy perfectionists like you; also she played mean pranks when we were kids."
"Did you really spend much time with her as a child?" Lee shifted, stretching, the remnants of his meal forgotten.
"Only a little bit, one of my cousins was her age and thus an appropriate royal companion, so if I was visiting their family, sometimes Azula would be around, didn't get to go much, to busy, navy and firebending and all that."
"Hmmm," Ekin usually tried to downplay his upbringing in the upper ranks of the Fire Nation nobility, "But…" a discreet knock on the door, "Come in," they both stood as she entered, "Yes, Miss Ayako?"
She stammered a bit, obviously nervous, "The aft ballast tanks are full and, uh the venting, has upset the trim. "
"We'll have to move some stores aft," she followed as he set off, already calculating required shifts to balance the airship, "How much offset are we? Have we cleared out the forward coal bunker, yet? Well then, find out,"Ekin ignored the most recent minor crisis, as the sound of Lee's commands faded down the gangway. He collected the plates, idly wondering whether he would be better served with more firebending practice or with a power nap.
.oOo.
Ekin had chosen the nap, and had been enjoying it when he woke suddenly. It took him a moment to figure out why, the airship seemed the same as always, no, something is different, the atmosphere? He couldn't pin it down, but he could feel it, he dressed rapidly, and not in his normal, comfortably broken in uniform, full battle armor. As he searched for his multi pointed helmet, a vaguely familiar knock on the cold iron door.
"What is it?" he wrenched open the door, helm under his left arm, it was the same crewwoman as before,
"Ah, sir, we've spotted…" he didn't let her finish
"Azula's ship. Why haven't we sounded general quarters?"
"We are still quite a ways away, the messenger hawk was only just dispatched."
"With the surrender offer? Any response" She walked with him towards the bridge, struggling to keep up with him, he was almost jogging.
"I don't know, I mean…"
"It doesn't matter, the captain is already on deck?"
"Of course, he personally sent the message."
They arrived at the bridge, a nervous bustle of activity, a distant voice from the speaking tube, "No change, maintain heading, over."
"Get Miu, see if she can find more speed, I know she's babying the engines." Lee's clear command cut through the noise.
"Captain, reporting for duty," Ekin formally announced himself.
"Excellent, lieutenant. You hand your benders will not be needed in the envelope until the final attack run, we still have to close the gap."
"Where is she, I can't see…" he trailed off, straining his eyes, the coast rising rapidly into a tall crest of snowcapped peaks, glimmering in the setting sun, it was beautiful but there was no airship.
"At this distance, they're not visible, not with the naked eye, see that," he pointed down the coast, at what was at best a tiny smudge in the sky. "You can just make out their smoke trail, if you squint and are an optimist. Jiazin, in the observation tower with the main telescope, has confirmed that it's her."
"How long 'til they're in range?"
"Not sure, too far for a good estimate, but we are making 50 knots right now, without a tailwind, they'll be hard pressed to make half that, so probably less than an hour."
"You already sent out a hawk?" Ekin's question was accusatory.
"Two actually, for the Fire Lord," Lee answered breezily, then his voice hardened "Azula can wait."
"Actually, can dragon hawks make fifty knots, won't we outrun the message?"
"I, don't actually know" Lee caught off guard, he struggled to remember "Not for a long journey, but when we get closer, they can beat 25 anyway, so Azula will receive the message. We won't receive a response from the Fire Lord for hours, maybe a day, so it hardly matters if the hawks can catch us."
"But we've been pursuing at this speed for hours, if there have been any further orders…" He trailed off ominously.
"There is nothing we can do about it now. We can only obey our prior instructions."
"Chief Engineer Miu on the intercom, sir,"
Lee stepped over to the voice piece, "Yes, Miu,"
"No, I can't get you more steam, I don't like how far we've pushed the engines already; you'll have to make do with what you already have," she wasted no time in a preemptive strike.
"Very well, I have however decided to address one of your other concerns," unfazed, Lee continued.
"Really, which one?"
"You do have so many; but this is probably the one that you feel least strongly about; I apologize. I have decided that the ship needs a name. Ekin and I will perform the ceremony shortly…"
"We will?" Ekin, nonplussed, sputtered.
"And all senior officers should be in attendance," ignoring Ekin, Lee finished. "That includes you," he added helpfully.
"Right now?"
"Ideally, yes, she should have a name before the battle, correct?"
"Fine, I'll be right there."
"Prepare to broadcast the naming ceremony to the entire ship."
It was only a short time before Miu arrived, and the situation was almost unchanged; they were slightly closer to Azula's airship, but it was still not visible unassisted. Miu, and a cluster of lesser officers stood by as Lee began his speech.
"As you all know, we are about to engage in combat, the first time this ship will do so. To emerge triumphant we must have every confidence in ourselves and our ship, and for that we must know ourselves and our ship. We must know our ship's name. Everything about this airship is new, it shares so little with all its predecessors and antecedents, that I believe it needs a link to the past, a connection to the centuries of history of the Fire Navy that encourage and inspire our efforts to add to its exploits. Ekin, if you will," the firebender conjured a flame in his palm and cradled it as he reverently strode to the far forward end of the bridge, holding it up to the thick glass windows.
Lee continued, "Fire is life. With this flame we provide the spark to ignite the soul of this ship, to shelter us from the bitter storms, to face the shock of battle, to taste the thrill of victory and to carry us home safely. Agni bless, the Indefatigable!" with Lee's final shout, Ekin flung his flame into the ship's structure. The assembled crewmembers, and unseen those who remained at their stations, bowed, in the traditional fashion, open palm over closed fist. "Now," Lee began again, "with her with us, we can face anything."
A clanging interrupted the reverent silence, the communications officer, fumbled with the speaking tubes, "Crow's nest," he reported, Lee now leaning over him, "New report." The girl's voice had the distant, faint air that came from speaking through the tubes, "Target has changed course, 180 degrees, they're coming for us."
"Well, that will save some time," Ekin ,having followed, quipped flippantly.
"They must think they can take us, we'll soon disabuse them of that," Lee coolly replied, "Miu, back to the engines, Chen, elevators up full, I want some altitude on them. Ekin, are your benders ready?"
"They can be in five minutes, how long do we have?"
"Good, you have ten," Ekin scrambled off the bridge, Lee watched him for a moment, then turned back to the bridge crew, "Status report on the main battery."
"Ready"
As Ekin clambered through the hull into the envelope, he reminded his benders, "You don't have two inches of steel between you and the gasbags anymore; no fire, none, keep it inside, and be ready to absorb and disperse any that appears." They nodded their understanding, some a little annoyed at the redundant reminder, they knew just as well as anyone on board what would happen if the liftgas caught. There was no way to know what was happening outside, which would make the wait nervewracking, but there was nothing for it. Ekin paced, uselessly, metaphorically burning off his nervous energy.
"Get me a messenger hawk," Lee ordered, he scrounged a slip of paper, brush and ink from somewhere and in improbably precise, straight strokes, considering he was writing against the most convenient wall, put down his message:
To the commander of the vessel,
You are hereby ordered to stand down under the authority of your rightful Fire Lord. You will drop all steam, come to a complete halt and await further instructions. Failure to comply or any form of resistance to our demands, will result in your destruction.
Captain Lee, commanding officer, Royal Fire Airship Indefatigable
He did not expect a reply and did not receive one. As the range closed, night fell, soon only the glimmer of the furnaces fueling their approaching foe were visible.
"Starshells," Lee ordered, and from the observation tower on the top of the envelope, flares burst. Their red tails were soon joined by the searing white light as they exploded high above, rendering the two airships in stark relief. Azula's ship was now plainly visible and even with a small hand held telescope, like the one Lee was using to observe her with, a handful of tiny figures were apparent, standing on top of her, ahead of the observation tower, just behind the fanciful dragon figurehead bomb projector.
"Range." Lee called out, now linked directly by tube to both the observation tower, with its impressive but awkwardly large optical coincidence range finder and the main battery.
"5000 yards." Lee scowled, extreme long range, "Full stop, cut the engines," as they slowed the airship lost its dynamic lift and began to fall, but gently, almost unnoticeably. Lee barked out his next order"Lieutenant Kiaza, single tracer."
At the main battery, located behind and below the command gondola, Lieutenant Kaiza directed her loaders to place a single rocket, a five inch diameter yard long pointed metal cylinder, into the firing tube, then ignited it with a flick of her wrist. It roared out, sailing on a long trajectory, trailing red fire, only vaguely in the vicinity of the target. Lee imagined he could see the tiny figure standing on her, turning their heads, following the rockets descent into the dark sea, perhaps gaping in surprise. He was sure he didn't imagine the blue sparks surrounding one of them and was rewarded with a massive, blinding, tangled burst of lightning. It slammed into and through the metal skeleton of the ship, continuing out to ground itself in the sea far below.
"Ignore the light show," to the bridge crew and the critical observer, "Jiazin?"
"500 yards to starboard, 500 long, closing at 350 yards per minute."
"Correct and give me a second tracer."
A second red streak arced towards the other airship, much closer, this time, its journey was arrested by a blast of blue fire.
"Perfect, full salvo of case shot, 15 and half second fuse," Another lightning strike rattled the ship.
It took longer to load the rockets this time, each one had to have the fuse in its nose twisted to the correct marking, Kaiza inching the turret to keep the airship in their sights as it closed. This time she needed a sheet of fire, to ignite every rocket at once. They flared, the vanes in the exhaust vents, deflecting the thrust, spinning the rockets to keep them flying true. After nearly 5000 yards the twenty four rockets were scattered, some were headed off course, with no possibility of striking their target. As the accurate majority closed on the rouge ship, a flurry of blue and orange fire bursts meet them, fast precise and numerous, they might have prevented a single hit, if that had been their targets purpose. Instead, as they were supposed to and, to the everlasting frustration of their manufactories, not all at once, the bursting charges detonated, liberating the hundreds of half inch wide lead balls contained within. With the astonishing reflexes that so terrified her enemies, Azula reacted blasting the incoming hail of destruction with a wall of fire; it worked surprisingly well, the concussive effect deflected those directly ahead of her. However, the bursting charges imparted some lateral velocity, and spheres haphazardly projected at high spin fly anything but straight. A curving leaden ball smashed into her right thigh, sending her crashing to the upper skin of her airship. She ignored the screams and moans of her stricken escorts all around her, their deaths only mattered in that they would not be able to help her, the holes in the gasbag might have concerned her, they shouldn't have, it would take hours or days for even a riddled gasbag to empty, but she did not, could not think about that, her attention was utterly and completely fixed on the two dozen blazing stars bearing down on her again.
The lightning had ceased, "Switch to shells," through the speaking tubes to the battery, "Full ahead, elevators down," to the helmsmen, "Prepare grapples, find Ekin, have him assemble a boarding party."
The rockets now pierced the envelope either detonating on the frame or deeper in the core of the airship, tearing gaping holes in the envelope, a massive burst of smoke and steam as the port engine was gutted. Now that the rockets were actually striking directly, it was more obvious that many of them, upwards of half the salvo, were missing completely. The sheer number of rockets, their momentum and the weight of explosive they carried rendered it moot. The ship was doomed, its interior shattered and burning, the gaping holes in its forward gasbags rapidly losing critical buoyant hot air. The ship began to nosedive, the relatively unscathed rear still pulling up, valiantly trying to hold her up, and failing.
Ekin stood in the very tip of the envelope, behind him the deflated gasbag, the whole forward tapering section open and in front of him the battle had played out as a series of flashes. The bright blur of the starshells, barely visable through stiffen canvas and sharper and more terrifying blue-white lightning, accompanied by thunder. But that had ended several minutes ago and now he saw nothing. The speaking tubes didn't reach this section, and a runner clambered up to inform him of the outcome. Grimly, he donned his helmet, signaling the other firebenders to follow him.
A stricken airship falls slowly, as long as it has some buoyancy left, and the Indefatigable was able to close with her prey long before it had even begun to really drop. It wallowed, drifting like a feather, too light to plummet, but with no real hope of staying up. They had stopped shelling the wreck, and now the rockets carried a different payload, strong steel cables and spring loaded barbs. As Ekin and his four accompanying firebenders stood ready in the bomb bay, waiting for the ship to be secure, Lee used the external megaphone, "I have a limited supply of mercy for traitors," he began fiercely "You have already refused one generous offer, I will not accept another; submit unconditionally and completely or be annihilated, there will be no further warnings."
Ekin and company slid down the lines, through the gaping holes in the envelope and landed in the central gangway, amidships, just forward of the burning engines and shattered smokestacks. Lit by their own fire and that of the wreckage, they peered through the hazy steam. Jalak stumbled over a body, cooked by high pressure steam, useless. Ekin followed a muffled whimper further forward, a huddled figure was curled against the wall. Ekin was fast, with one movement he grabbed the hapless man by the throat, muffling his scream as his shattered arm was jarred and pinned him against the wall. "Where is Azula?" he spat each word, loosening his grip so his prisoner could answer. The shivering boy stared into the hard grey eyes behind the bone white mask, smoke swirling around the indistinct figures further back and wet himself.
"I don't, I'm not," he sputtered. Ekin would have none of it slamming him back against the wall and repeating his question "Where is Azula?" emphasizing each word.
"She was up top, forward, but…" he cut himself off with another scream as Ekin dropped him.
"Head aft, should be more survivors there, fry anyone who gives you so much as a sharp glance." He ordered firmly, "I will head forward to check for Azula."
The forward section was, if possible, even more wrecked. Girders from the framework, were twisted and mangled, leaving the sky open, revealing the Indefatigable, funny how much he associated the airship with that name, she had gotten it less than half an hour ago, sending down more cables, to hold the dead weight of the dying ship. Amongst the twisted steel, were bodies, but no fifteen year old psychopaths, so he ventured onward, clambering through the maze of wreckage. And then, perhaps, underneath that broad uniformed officer, armor pierced by dozens of leaking holes, long, black hair. Perhaps?, he pondered, casually shoving aside the corpse, yes it was her. Her face, covered in blood, distorted by the flickering light of the fire in his upraised left hand, was unmistakable. She too had a number of wounds, but her body shield seemed to have taken the burnt. He reached out, placing two fingers on her throat and frowned, a faint but steady pulse. He took a deep breath, and jabbed forward with his fingers, sending a concentrated bolt of fire into her throat. Then he unceremoniously flipped her over his shoulder.
A team of engineers, with bundles of equipment had already rappelled in by the time he returned to the main landing zone, through the clouds of smoke and steam that obscured the airship above them, the cables holding them up emerging from the gloom looking ominously unsupported. They were a little shocked at his arrival, cooling corpse over his shoulder, "They'll want proof," he explained tersely, setting Azula's body next to their boxes of tools and spare parts. Oka, one of his firebenders, returned from the rear of the ship, snapping off a quick salute before reporting, "Fourteen survivors, no trouble, we have them wrapped up in the bomb bay."
"Good, can she stay in the air?" Ekin directed his question to the head engineer.
"With the Indefatigable taking the weight, yes, looks like the whole aft section is salvageable; forward is a mess, and these engines won't be good for much. We'll need to find another way to heat the aft gasbags,"
Sparks flickering from his twiddling fingers, Ekin smiled, "I think we'll manage. Send up the body. Oka, with me," he headed aft, leaving the others to their work.
Note: This is a slightly revised version of the first chapter, and one of the things I'd like to add is a brief explanation of the airship. To be blunt, the Indefatigable, would be impossible in reality, and so would all the other airships in Avatar. They simply could not produce enough lift to support their structure. Even the war balloons, which look more plausible, wouldn't work, their bags are much too small and their baskets far too big. However, in canon, they do exist, and fly, and carry rather large payloads. And all of this, again canonically, with hot air as the lifting gas. If we assume that the laws of physics in Avatarverse are different in such a way as to allow this, say the atmosphere is much denser, as well as the whole shooting fire from your hands thing, then it would follow that an airship using hydrogen, which provides three times as much lift per unit volume as hot air, would be able carry a vastly greater payload, such as big enough engines and enough fuel to allow inefficient steam propulsion to reach high speeds and long range. That's the logic behind it, the coolness of giant airships being, of course, self evident. And the rockets are based on Hale rockets, developed in the mid nineteenth century, perfectly reasonable for the steampunk schizotech that is the Fire Nation.
If you can spare the time and effort for a review, I would appreciate it.