Avatar: The Rise of Darkness
Chapter 1:
The Battle of Omashu part 1: The Coalition
It was a clear, bright sunny, spring day in the Shu mountains. A hawk flew gracefully through the sun as it rode up the thermals in the air, gliding over the mountain tops. An otherwise beautiful day.
Suddenly a fireball flew through the air followed by dozens more. The peaceful blue sky is replaced by smoke and fire resonating from the battle.
Omashu, the once proud city and capital of the Western Earth Kingdom, now was the center and base of operations for the Alliance of Separatists. For four years they waged war with the Earth Kingdom and the Fire Nation in a dire struggle to break away from those nations. They were not met without resistance. Throughout those four years, the Fire Nation, Earth Kingdom, and the Water Tribe united to take up arms against the Separatists to preserve the delicate balance so many have sacrificed for over the years.
During those four years the Coalition of Nations, as they were called, sent thousands to full out war. There were casualties on both sides, and the Separatists had the upper hand for the first few years, but this last year the tides changed and the war turned to the Coalition's favor. And now, the final battle to end the war laid in Omashu…
The fireballs continued to be lobbed and hurled from Omashu's main artillery defense at the ten airships that surrounded the city. The airships, manufactured by the Fire Nation, slowly encompassed and closed in on the city but were unable to get in close due to the heavy fire.
Sokka. Airship Alpha.
Major General Sokka stood aboard the capital airship and command post for the invasion. Not only was Sokka now a Major General, the highest ranking person in the Water Tribe, but he was also named the Commander of the Coalition forces not long after the war started. It was a title he took with much humility, but could not turn down. He was by far the best, most innovative military leader and strategist.
Sokka surveyed the battle scene below him, scratching his chin intuitively to decide what to do. As he did, a fireball flew right past them, narrowly missing the bridge.
"Take us up higher," Sokka instructed the pilot, "Get us out of range from their artillery."
"Aye, sir," the pilot nodded and pulled a lever to increase the heat in the balloon.
Sokka grabbed a small device and held up to his mouth to speak.
"All airships ascend to seven thousand feet," he told the other captains of the airships.
The device was something the Mechanist rigged up to communicate over long distances called a radio. It was crude and only used in battle for the first time here, but it has worked wonders for coordinating a large scale invasion such as this. It had a small range and could only be used one way, forcing Sokka to have the transmitting end while the other squadrons and airships had the receiving end.
The airships did as he instructed and began to ascend higher into the air. One, however, was caught in the cross fire of several Separatist fireballs.
"Airship Chang," Sokka called out on the radio, "get out of there!"
It was too late. The first fireball hit the base of the airship, rocking it on contact. The ship would've survived had it not been for second and third strikes which both hit the back rudders and the balloon itself. The airship exploded and was engulfed in flames as it came crashing down into the deep gorge below.
Sokka frowned and looked back up at the rest of the battlefield. In battle, there was no use in lamenting what could have happened. The other ships rose safely up, high out of range for their artillery.
Sokka picked up the radio, "Air squadrons, prepare for launch."
The bomb bay doors swung open above the city. Below, the Separatist soldiers ducked and ran for cover, expecting bombs to come falling down on them. Unfortunately for them, there were no bombs. A dozen motorized gliders, courtesy of Teo and his father, soared out of airships Alpha, Bravo, and Delta, and descended towards Omashu.
Each glider was armed with two bombs and their mission was to attack and disable the Separatist's artillery.
Teo was in command of all air units and operated from Alpha Squadron. His right hand man, well woman, was none other than Sokka's eldest daughter, Jian. At the young age of seventeen, she quickly became the best pilot and was regarded all around the world as a war hero.
Jian smirked as she descended down towards the city.
"Let's have some fun," she smirked.
Teo turned to her from the next glider over and shouted, "Alright, Lieutenant Jian, fall back and take the second half of the squad. You know the drill."
Jian nodded, "Got it, Captain."
She pulled the yoke back and flew up into the air doing a single flip and falling back into formation with her unit. She and her unit slowed down some and allowed Teo's to pull ahead.
Below them, the Separatists frantically prepared for the gliders.
"Load the anti-aircraft weapons!" a Separatist commander ordered his soldiers.
Back with the gliders, Teo focused his attention on the target. They were coming up close to the outer wall where the majority of the catapults were. Large fireballs were shot at them, which they easily swerved out of the way and evaded. Those things were mostly used for taking down slow, giant airships, not the small, quick gliders. Teo smirked, they were going to have to try better than that.
Unfortunately he smirked too soon. Two fireballs were fired at them, only this time they exploded in midair, releasing hundreds of fist sized pellets that flew through the air.
Teo raised his eyebrows in shock, "Cluster bombs!" he yelled to the rest of his squad.
The squad broke formation as they attempted to evade the cluster bombs fired at them. Most were successful, however one pilot couldn't pull away in time and was hit by several pellets. They tore through him and his glider like paper, and he careened down into the gorge below.
Jian skillfully navigated through the pellets with expert precision. She smirked cockily over the ease of it all.
"Too easy."
Another cluster bomb was lobbed at them and exploded nearly point blank in front of her.
"Pull up!" she shouted at her unit.
Her unit was quick to react and evade, but one wasn't so lucky. As he tried to pull up out of the way, his tail got peppered by dozens of little pellets sending him careening out of control. He spun and fell through the air like a brick, crashing into the outer wall.
Teo looked behind him at his subordinate's unit and breathed a sigh of relief. Most of them were alive. He turned forward. They were nearing the wall now.
"Ready the first bomb!" he shouted to his pilots.
He brushed the tips of his fingers on the release lever and waited patiently to get in range.
"Steady…" he called out to the other pilots.
He licked his lips in anticipation.
On the wall, both firebenders and earthbenders began to shoot their respective elements at them.
Teo and his pilots carefully evaded whatever they threw at them until they came in range to return fire. They came upon the wall.
"Fire!" he shouted at the top of his lungs.
He pulled the release lever and dropped his first bomb. The bomb sank like a rock towards the wall. The Separatists dove for cover, but it was too late. The explosion rocked the wall and destroyed everything in range, followed by several more explosions from the other pilots' bombs. Catapults, ammunition, and soldiers were not spared as the bombs dropped on them from overhead. Debris and soldiers were thrown about through the air along with fire and smoke.
Teo's unit flew past overhead. He looked back and cheered at the direct hits his unit made.
Jian rolled her eyes as Teo's unit passed over the wall.
"Could've left me some," she muttered before shouting out to her pilots, "Alright, get ready!"
She flew hard towards the Separatists on the wall. Within minutes they were in range.
"Fire!" she shouted as loud as possible.
She pulled the release for the bomb and it fell down, destroying much of what Teo's unit missed. A similar wave of destruction occurred, only this time there was nothing but smoke and fire left on the wall.
"Ha ha!" she cheered, "Take that you jerks!"
Her unit flew over the city and came upon the wall to the middle level. There, instead of heavy artillery, was platoons of Separatist firebenders and earthbenders who shot their elements towards them. She turned the yoke and evaded most of them, but a pilot behind her wasn't so lucky. A blast of fire shot forth and collided with his glider. His wings combusted and he screamed as his glider came crashing down to the surface of the first level.
"Take 'em out!" Jian shouted at her unit.
They pulled up high into the air, then dove back down, dropping their bombs on the second level wall. As they did, one Separatist managed to fire off a rocket which blew up another glider in midair.
Jian frowned. They were deep in enemy territory without weapons, and were losing men fast. She circled her arm in the air signaling the rest of her unit to head back to the airship to rearm. She pulled up and headed back to Airship Alpha, with her unit in tow behind her.
Rozin and Tom. Airship Echo.
Rozin waited patiently, watching the battle unfold from the bomb bay doors below him. He breathed in to calm and steady himself. He was a member of the Firebender Strike Force. He's fought in dozens of battle before, this was no different.
"Lieutenant Rozin," a female voice said to him, "are you, of all people, nervous before battle?"
He turned around to see his good friend and fellow soldier, Asmin standing there with a smirk on her face.
He raised an eyebrow, "Nervousness is what the Separatists should be feeling right now, not the Fire Prince. And remember your place, Sergeant."
She rolled her eyes, "You would still be a private if it wasn't for the battle of Igneous Island."
His uncle, Major Tom, walked up, "Alright, troops, just got word from Commander Sokka. We're going in by parachute. They're going to drop us over the palace. Our objective is simple; secure the palace until the infantry arrives. Watch your backs. I don't want a repeat of what happened at Wuan, got it?"
The soldiers answered in unison, "Yes, sir!"
Tom nodded, "Alright, mount up!"
The firebenders slung their parachute packs over their backs and prepared for battle.
"Good luck," Rozin said to Asmin with a smirk, "I'll try not to take out all the Separatists this time."
"Ready drop!" Tom shouted.
Everyone moved to the edge.
Asmin smirked back at Rozin, "Bet you I'll get more than you."
"You're on," Rozin said confidently.
"Alright," Tom shouted, "Three… two… one… jump!"
All twenty troops jumped out of the airship. They were nearly a thousand feet up over the palace. Below them, they could see the last of the glider squadrons return to their airships for rearmament.
Rozin recognized one pilot leading a small unit heading back to Airship Alpha as his old friend, Jian. She recognized him too and waved good luck at him. He nodded and waved back as he continued his freefall.
They were close to the palace. Any minute now they would pull their parachutes and land in the heart of the enemy's lair.
"Get ready…" Tom shouted below him.
Rozin held his breath.
"Go!"
Rozin, along with the other soldiers pulled their release on the chutes. His opened up and jerked up back, pulling him out of the freefall. He looked down and saw the Separatist soldiers only a few hundred feet below, mass and get ready for the attack.
"This is going to be a rough one, guys," Tom shouted.
They were now only a hundred feet above the palace. The enemy firebenders were the first to strike, shooting balls of fire at them. However, their attacks were easily deflected by the most elite firebending unit in the world.
Tom was the first to land, followed quickly by the rest of his troops. As soon as they hit the ground, they sprung into action, taking down every enemy in sight.
Kya. Eastern Omashu
Kya landed with twenty of her waterbending brothers and sisters. She had just jumped with the Waterbending Infiltrators into the heat of battle. She had just turned fifteen a month ago and this was her first major battle. To say she was nervous, would be an understatement. She was terrified, yes, but also uplifted due to the adrenaline of running head-first into battle. She wasn't alone for she fought along side the best waterbenders of the North and South Poles, and was lead by her mother, Katara, herself.
"On your left, Kya!" Katara yelled as an earthbender kicked a boulder at her.
Katara quickly bent some water out her pouch and created a wave big enough to catch the boulder and send it back to the earthbender. Her counterattack caught him off guard and he was hit square in the chest by his own attack. Katara then turned to three others and took them down with a single large water tentacle.
Six Face Stealers landed around her and tried to attack. She quickly swirled some water around her into octopus formation. She reached out with the tentacles and knocked away every Face Stealer that tried to attack her. Every one that was knocked away, was finished off by the rest of her team. Once the area was clear, she recollected the water around her arms and turned to motion for the rest of the Infiltrators to follow her down the steps.
"Come on!" a waterbender named Konoke motioned for Kya to follow.
Kya ran, with the rest of her unit, down the steps into a large courtyard. A dozen warriors and benders waited there for them.
Kya fanned out like the rest of her squad and engaged a single opponent. Unlike firebenders, who worked well in unison, waterbenders were better solo fighters.
Her first opponent was a firebender, more specifically a Face Stealer. Man, she hated these guys. He shot a couple fireballs at her, which she easily deflected. She returned with creating a wall of water and pushing it at him. The Face Stealer ducked out of the way, but right into Kya's trap. She quickly bent some water from a nearby ostrich-horse trough and sent it crashing into him. The Face Stealer grunted as the force of the water pushed him back against the wall. Kya quickly froze it, trapping and cocooning him inside.
She smirked and turned to her next victim. She recollected her water and quickly wrapped a tentacle around a spearman's leg. She twisted it and sent him flying back behind her to crash into a wall.
Kya moved forward and grabbed another Face Stealer by the waist and pulled him in close. She gathered a water-whip and smacked him several times across the face before throwing him hard against the wall. She pulled back the water and watched as the dazed Face Stealer wobbled on his feet before collapsing into a pile of ostrich-horse manure.
Another Face Stealer snuck up behind her and shot a blast of flames at her. She spun around quickly and deflected the blast with a water-shield, then pushed the wall of water towards him. The wall not only hit him, but three other surprised Face Stealers. She slammed the wall of water against the edge of a building and froze the entire thing, trapping them inside.
She looked around for more enemies and saw four soldiers staring at her in awe. Kya smirked and looked at each of them.
"Who next?" she taunted.
The soldiers looked at each other and shook their heads, then ran off down the steps to another part of the city.
Kya lowered her arms, "That's what I thought."
"Nice work, Kya," Katara put her hand on her shoulder, "I've trained you well. Now let's go see if those firebenders need any help."
Kya nodded and ran with her mother and the rest of the Infiltrators.
Suki, Zek, and Shaola. Western Omashu.
Suki lead the way through Western Omashu with thirty of her warriors behind her, and Zek and Shaola bringing up the rear. Her unit was called the United Warriors, a select group of the best warriors from each nation. She personally had been fighting in the war since it's beginning, but her daughter and the younger Fire Prince, Zek, had recently joined a few months prior.
Right now, their duty was to clear a path from the west up to the palace. Not too unusual for her little group for they were usually the first into combat. A rocket hit the side of a building and separated Zek and Shaola from the rest of the unit. Suki looked around her as Dai Li agents leaped from the rooftops and landed around them. Zek and Shaola, however, were cut off by some elite firebenders. It was a trap.
One of the firebenders shot a large ball of fire at Shaola.
"Look out!" he yelled and dove at her.
He tackled her down and pushed her into an alley.
She frowned at him, "I could've stopped it."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," he muttered, not really paying attention to what she said.
He looked around. They needed cover. He spied a Cabbage Merchant cowering in the corner, guarding his cabbage cart. Zek smirked and began to pull the cart away from the poor merchant.
"Ahh!" the Cabbage Merchant screamed and grabbed the cart, "what are you doing?!"
Zek rolled his eyes, he didn't have time for this nonsense. He pulled out one of his broadswords as a warning.
"I'm taking this," Zek warned and rolled the cart away from him.
A firebender stood in front of the alley and got ready to shoot a fireball at an unsuspecting Zek.
"Zek, look out!" Shaola yelled and jumped in front of the firebender.
She jabbed him once in the shoulder with her sai, then side kicked him hard in the chest, sending him flying back across the street.
She smirked, then looked to her left as six more firebenders ran towards her.
"Uh-oh," her smirk disappeared and she ran back into the alley.
She ducked behind Zek, who was struggling to block the alley with the cart.
"Hurry, hurry, hurry," she said frantically, "What's taking so long?!"
Zek rolled his eyes, "Just doing this for dramatic effect."
He pushed it right where he wanted without a second to loose. A firebender jumped into the alley and shot a fire-blast at them. Zek grabbed Shaola and the Cabbage Merchant, and pulled them behind the cabbage cart. The blast ignited the exposed cabbages on top, but otherwise left them completely unharmed.
"No!" the Cabbage Merchant screamed, "My cabbages!"
Zek rolled his eyes, "Will you shut up about the stupid cabbages?"
The firebender shot another blast of fire at the cart, this time destroying much of the top half.
Zek peeked around the side of the cart to get a visual. A firebender shot at him again, but he ducked and the blast ignited a nearby wooden crate.
He looked at Shaola, "Looks like we got four of them. If I can shoot them with the darts, we can fight our way through the rest of them and the Dai Li."
Shaola nodded, "Got it."
He was about to stand up, but she pulled him down to eye level and kissed him.
"Be safe," she said.
Zek smiled softly and jumped up. He quickly extended his arms and shot a dart from each arm, hitting them with deadly accuracy. The two firebenders fell down, dead. Zek rolled forward, dodging their fire, and jumping back up to fire two more darts. The poison tipped darts stuck each firebender in the neck, killing them quickly.
He turned to Shaola, "Come on!"
Shaola emerged from behind the cart and joined him at the corner of the alley with her sai drawn, ready for action. Zek drew his broadswords and turned to Shaola.
"Ready?" he looked at his girlfriend.
She nodded, "Let's do this."
They both jumped out into the street with their weapons drawn on the surprised Dai Li.
Zek quickly cut down the nearest Dai Li agent, then rushed forward towards the others. Another Dai Li agent shot a couple rock pellets at him, which he deflected with his swords. He got close enough to the agent and swung his swords simultaneously, cutting off both his arms. He spun and finished him off by slicing across his chest.
Shaola also was doing fine on her own. A Dai Li agent shot a rock fist at her, but she easily dodged it. She got up under him and stabbed him once in the leg, and under the arm. The agent gasped, then fell to the ground.
Suki watched as her daughter and her daughter's boyfriend fought and took down the Dai Li agents. She turned around and finished off the agent she was fighting earlier with a quick kick to the head.
She looked back and saw the young couple work together to finish off the last Dai Li agent.
Zek smirked and glanced over at Shaola, "Nice work."
Shaola smiled and brushed back a strand of hair from her face, "Yeah, you too."
They gazed in each other's eyes while the war erupted around them.
Suki put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat, and the two teens quickly averted their eyes from each other.
"You know, I didn't assign you both to my unit to make kissy faces at each other," Suki raised an eyebrow.
"Sorry Mom," Shaola scratched the back of her head sheepishly.
"Yeah…," Zek imitated her.
Suki shook her head, "Come on, let's move up to the palace."
Everyone nodded in unison and they headed up to the stairs to the next level of the city, en route to the palace.
Azula. Omashu Caverns.
Azula paced up and down the large, dimly lit cavern. It was their secret hideaway and bunker. She anticipated an attack earlier, so when the airships first arrived she ordered the Separatist leaders to relocate down there. All of them sat there, along with their leader, Long Feng. Few Fire Nation Separatists were among them due to the loss of their territory last year.
"So what's the plan, Princess?" Long Feng growled, "You claimed this city was impenetrable, yet multiple forces have landed."
"It's over," a rich Separatist named Huang panicked, "We've lost, we're done!"
"Be quiet," a Ba Sing Se mob boss named Gao sneered, "It's not over until we say it is."
"It doesn't matter," Long Feng said, "Any moment now, the Avatar will be here and this war will be finished."
"You're right," Azula stated, "if he shows up everything will be ruined. If we are to continue operations, all of you and your forces need to relocate and split up. If we spread ourselves around the globe it would be harder for them to stop us. Long Feng, I want you in the Meishon Forest for the time being."
"The Meishon Forest?!" Long Feng spat, "How can I possibly be of use there?"
"Next to me, you are the most sought after Separatist," Azula stated, "The less you're seen, the better it will be."
Long Feng nodded, "Very well."
Azula glanced at some of the others, "Rafi, I want you to relocate back with your tribe in the Si Wong desert."
Rafi bowed, "Yes, my lady."
She turned to General Sheng, the last of the Fire Nation Separatists, and controller of a third of their army.
"General Sheng, you are going to Fort Timbu on the Western Serpent River along with what's left of your troops."
"Of course, my lady," Sheng bowed.
She turned to Huang and Gao, "You two are going to the Chrystal Catacombs of Ba Sing Se. You have the most important job of keeping the finances safe. Do not fail me."
Gao bowed, "We won't, Princess."
"What about you?" Huang nervously asked.
"You'll hear from me," she answered, "Now go. There's a few balloons tied on the slopes below. Go, the Avatar will be here shortly."
The Separatists stood up from their seats and exited the large cavern, down to the balloons.
Azula sat down in a meditative position and closed her eyes to concentrate on her breathing, while her Face Stealers stood guard around her.
Toph, Lao, and Lin. The Main Gate.
"Push forward!" General Toph shouted to her earthbenders.
There were only fifteen remaining earthbenders in her unit against the Separatist forces that stood between them and the main gate, and outnumbered them three to one. They had created a rock wall as a shield to protect them as they were being shelled by multiple fireballs.
"There's too many of them," Lao said, struggling to hold the rock shield together.
"Push!" Toph yelled.
The earthbender worked together and pushed the wall forward. The firebenders outside backed up as they fired at the wall, but to no avail. They were useless against it.
The earthbenders pushed it harder. They were now only a couple yards from the gate.
"Lao, you're with me," Toph said, "The rest of bring down that gate."
She and Lao burst through the rock wall and quickly turned onto the firebenders in front of them.
Toph made quick work of them by making some earth-pillars to pop up under them and knock them into the air.
She and Lao quickly ran up the separate stair cases to the top of the gate. Toph took out anyone in front of her with ease by either knocking them off the wall, or trapping them in the stone below them.
Lao had a different strategy. He proceeded to either crush his enemies with his boulders, or knock them clear off the wall and into the gorge on the other side.
They both reached the top at the same time and easily defeated the Face Stealers at the tops of the gate, sending most of them to their deaths at the bottom of the gorge below.
Lao and Toph stood back to back and fended off various attacks of earth, fire, water, and arrows. Lao crouched down and stood up, raising the stone below the Separatist's feet and throwing them off the wall. Toph, meanwhile, stretched her arms forward and mentally grabbed hold of the stone wall. She shook and slowly lowered her arms. With her arms lowering, the wall under the Separatists shuddered and eventually gave way. A plume of dust pillowed as that portion of the wall collapsed and came crashing down, taking the Separatists with them.
Toph relaxed and smirked as she saw the wall crash down.
"That's how it's done," she smiled satisfyingly.
She jumped down in front of the gate, which still hasn't been opened.
"What gives?" she motions at the gate.
"It's a metal gate, General Toph," an earthbender stated, "and there's no lever."
"Oh, move aside," Toph shoved him aside and walked up to the gate.
She took a deep breath and rubbed her hands together. Then, she punched into the wall, denting it. She punched it three more time, tearing a hole in it. She then grabbed both sides of the gate and tore it down like paper. She threw the remains of the gate down into the gorge. Once the gate was down, she stomped on the ground below her and extended her arms out. A bridge of sandstone extended out and connected with the cliffs on the other side where the Coalition's infantry stood.
Sokka. Airship Alpha.
Sokka stared down at the main entrance and saw Toph's bridge extend to the cliffs on the other side. He reached up and grabbed the radio.
"Infantry commanders," he said into it, "the bridge is drawn. Commence invasion on the city and rendezvous at the palace."
He put back the radio with a grin on his face. He slapped the pilot on the shoulder.
"We're on the way to victory!"
Cliffside.
Two lone men flew off the cliff on their gliders. One of those gliders was motorized, while the other was an antique way of flying by using airbending. And there was only one person in the whole world who could do that; Avatar Aang.
Aang flew down towards the city with his wing man following close behind him in the motorized glider. His was contorted with determination and drive. Aang looked behind him to see none other than his old friend, Fire Lord Zuko himself, tailing him.
Zuko looked forward with as much determination on his face as Aang's. He looked up and nodded at his friend.
Aang turned and faced forward to begin his descent to the city. The war was going to end today. He can feel it. It had to.
A/N: Here it is, the sequel to Avatar: The New Legend. The next half will be up shortly. Enjoy! More to come, soon to follow.