Ch 9 fall of Ba Sing Se
The bison flew over a water tribe, and Sokka and Olivier dismounted.
"You haven't seen your father in over two years. You must be excited!" Aang said.
Sokka almost threw up.
"I know I should, but I just feel sick to my stomach." Sokka said.
"Don't be nervous. He's gonna be happy to see you." Aang said.
"So what about you? Are you nervous to meet this Guru guy?" Sokka asked.
"Not at all. I'm ready to master the Avatar state. I'll do whatever it takes. See you in a week. Yip, yip!" Aang said.
Sokka and Olivier walked into the camp, being warmly greeted by the water tribe soldiers. They entered the main tent, and Olivier saw a burly man, sitting next to a map and saw other water tribe warriors as well.
"Sokka." Hakoda said, looking at his son.
"Dad." Sokka said.
As the two embraced, Bato noticed Olivier.
"Who are you?" he asked.
"General Olivier Armstrong. I've been sent by the government of Amestris, a fare away country to help."
"We can use your help. We've been keeping the fire nation from entering the bay." Hakoda said.
"What weapons do you have?" Olivier asked.
"We've got tangle mines. When detonated, the seaweed tangles the propellers and the foul smell forces the crew to abandon ship. I call it the stink and sink." Hakoda said, proud of his invention.
Olivier was unamused.
"That plan won't last long. The fire nation is quick to react and adapt to its enemies. What happens when you encounter a ship whose crew is carrying gas masks? They'll just free the ship from the seaweed and march on. You must have some explosives or other weapons captured from the fire nation ships." She said.
"We don't. My concern is to keep my warriors fighting day after day. I admit, I'd love to salvage the fire nation vessels, but taking the time to salvage enemy weapons is too dangerous. We'll take casualties, and we don't have a lot of ships or manpower to spare. Everyone, leave. I need to speak to my son and our general." Hakoda said.
Everyone left, and Hakoda spoke to the two of them.
"We're losing this fight. Every day, we face the threat that the fire nation will send in an entire armada. It's only a matter of time until they do so. The way we're fighting, losses, combat, etc. I estimate weeks, if not 3 months tops until we're forced to surrender the bay. We can't hold out forever." Hakoda said.
"Hakoda, I look at this map, and agree with you. There is honestly nothing we can do to stop the inevitable. The fire nation will win, even at large costs of soldiers, because they can simply replace the dead. We can't." Olivier said.
"Lets not tell anyone. Last thing we need, is moral to drop like a rock." Hakoda said.
"Agreed." Sokka said.
Soon, they were alerted that 4 fire nation cruisers were heading their way.
"Bato, get the mines ready! Everyone else, get ready for battle!" Hakoda ordered.
As everyone ran to their posts, Sokka looked at his dad.
"Dad, what should I do?" he asked.
"Didn't you hear, I said everyone get ready for battle." Hakoda replied.
Olivier pulled Sokka aside and talked to him.
"You've fire nation before, but have you killed any enemy soldiers?" she asked.
"No. I never really thought of that." Sokka said.
"Stay next to me at all times. If I tell you to run, you run. Got it?" Olivier asked.
"Got it." Sokka said, determined.
But it was not to be, because as they were about to leave, Aang appeared on Appa. He had a concerned look.
"This can't be good." Sokka said.
"Go ahead, son. We'll take care of them." Hakoda said.
"So what kind of trouble is Katara in?" Sokka asked, as they flew on Appa towards the city.
"I don't know. In my vision, I knew she needed help." Aang said.
Well that wasn't informative. Sokka voiced it.
"It would be helpful if your Avatar powers could be more specific from time to time." Sokka said, before noticing something on the ground. "What's that?"
They flew closer to the ground, and saw it was Toph racing towards the city using earth surfing. Picking her up, they continued.
"So how did it go with the Guru? Did you master the avatar state?" Sokka asked.
Aang couldn't answer. Olivier waited for an answer.
"Aang, are you okay?" Sokka asked.
"I'm great. It went great with the guru. I completely mastered the avatar state." Aang said.
He then laughed nervously and looked down. Olivier knew the truth from deductive reasoning. Aang didn't master the Avatar state at all. If he did, then he wasn't that confident in himself. Either way, if they were going into a situation that required the use of the avatar state, Olivier considered them fucked. Big time.
The conversation with the earth king didn't do much to help calm her down. They headed to the house and met with Iroh.
"You guys know each other?" Aang asked.
"I met him in the woods once and knocked him down. Then he gave me some tea and some very good advice." Toph said.
"Princess Azula is here in Ba Sing Se." Iroh said.
"She must have Katara." Aang said.
"She has also captured my nephew." Iroh said.
"Then we'll work together to fight Azula and save Katara and Zuko." Aang said.
"Whoa, back up. You lost me at Zuko." Sokka said.
"I know how you feel about my nephew. But there is good inside him." Iroh said.
"Great. Come back when there's good outside him." Sokka sarcastically said, pushing Iroh away.
"Katara is in trouble. The whole city is in trouble. Working together is our only best chance." Aang said, voicing Olivier's thoughts.
"I have someone who might help us." Iroh said.
The group headed outside, and met a bound and gagged Dai Li agent.
"Azula and Long Feng are planning a coup! They're gonna overthrow the earth king!" the agent said.
"Where's my sister?" Sokka asked.
"In the crystal catacombs under the city." The agent said.
Olivier than cut the agents throat citing that they couldn't deal with prisoners.
Moving in the city, Toph found the entrance to the catacombs.
"Well, what'd you know? There is an ancient city. But it's very deep." She said, before earth bending an entrance.
"We'll split up. Aang, you go with Iroh and look for Katara and angry jerk." Sokka said, before realizing Iroh was next to him. "No offense."
"None taken." Iroh said, knowing that Sokka was more than likely right.
"Me, Olivier, and Toph will go and warn the king of the coup." Sokka said.
"More like stop the coup." Olivier said.
They went to the palace, and saw as the main generals were rounded up by the Dai Li. Avoiding detection, they went into the Kuei's throne room.
"There's a coup going on!" Olivier said.
"What?" Kuei asked.
Azula appeared out of nowhere and threatened the king with her blue fire, but then noticed Olivier.
"You!" she shouted.
"You recognize me." Olivier said, pulling out her Dao swords.
Unfortunately for Olivier, she wouldn't be able to have another fight with Azula. Ty Lee quickly immobilized them with her chi blocking.
"Take them away." Azula ordered.
Hours passed, and they found themselves in a prison cell.
"I'm gonna murder that bitch." Olivier growled.
"One step at a time. We need to leave the city." Sokka said.
He turned his attention to Toph.
"See any Dai Li agents nearby?" he asked.
"Nope." Toph said.
Toph broke down the metal door of the prison and they quickly ran out.
"Lets go." Sokka said.
"I'm not leaving without Bosco!" Kuei said, earning a look from Olivier.
Reaching the throne room, they found Bosco, and Ty Lee and Mai. Toph quickly trapped Ty Lee with her earth bending.
"Just take the bear." Mai said, in a bored tone.
Talk about complacent. They made their way to Appa, and flying over the city, they found Katara with a dead Aang.
"Oh no." Sokka said.
Katara used the spirit water from the North Pole and put it on Aang's wound. Looking at it, Olivier saw it was an extremely brutal wound. A large searing burn mark was on the back. Aang woke up and looked at Katara.
"The earth kingdom, has fallen." Kuei said.
"So much for the invasion plan." Olivier said.
