Here is the 9th chapter of Book 2 on time as always. Once again there is nothing new to add here so sit back and enjoy the latest installment in Avatar: The Tale of Harry. Book 2: Equality.
Disclaimer: As always I won nothing related to either of these two great works of fiction.
Chapter 9
"In the flesh." Harry answered with a smile to Charlie's question.
"What are the three of you doing here?" Charlie asked as he sat up on his cot. "Don't you know how dangerous it is in the Fire Nation right now? Come to think of it, how are you three here? Last I heard there was a blockade preventing anyone from entering the nation."
"Charlie, we know full well how dangerous it is here." Ron said. "But we had to come to the Fire Nation. The nation is in an imbalance under the tyranny that Hermione has been putting it through and the Avatar has come here to rectify that imbalance and restore the Fire Nation to balance."
"Aye it has been shit here for the last 5 years." Charlie said with a nod. "I should have left to join y'all at the Academy when dad contacted me a few weeks before the final battle against Voldemort. Y'all would have been in Zaofu at the time but I couldn't leave the dragons, they need us as there are so few with the skills to breed and train them. Hagrid and I are the only two here who truly understand these majestic creatures and who can get them to breed with any success. All the military wants is to harness them as weapons, tools to further Hermione's stranglehold on the nation. They don't want to reintroduce these beautiful creatures into the wild the way the Firelords did."
"Hagrid?" Harry asked. "Who's he."
"The head beast master here." Charlie replied. "Big bloke, almost 8 feet tall at least and built like a brick shit house. He's a firebender but he left school at a young age to come here to help train the dragons so he ain't the most skilled bender but he loves the dragons and they love him. Without him the species may have died out, he has a way with large and powerful creatures that few others could match."
"So he's against the way Hermione wants to use them?" Ginny asked. "We had no idea that Hermione wanted to use the dragons for until now but given her current quest to oppress her own nation into submission this makes complete sense for her to do."
"Without question is he against her plans for the dragons." Charlie said with a hint of anger in his voice. "As are almost all of us here, except those who are loyal to Hermione. Hagrid would have been sent to a labor camp by now for disagreeing with Hermione, to her face no less, but he and I are the only trainers and breeders here who the dragons respond positively to. The others are all trainees who have yet to earn the dragon's trust or are Hermione's people, the latter of which just want to enslave the dragons to help enforce her rule and the borders of her supposed utopia. It's disgusting but we can't really say much, especially me cos if she finds out about dad I get to join Izra in the palace dungeons as a valuable hostage. The second in line for the Chiefdom of the Southern Water Tribe could be used to force dad to back off Hermione should I be found out and caught."
"Hermione has been here?" Ron asked, the surprise clear in his voice. "Oh and Bill had a daughter last year so you are now third in line unless she is an airbender."
Harry realized this may be the perfect time to truly learn what Hermione had been up to, at least in regard to this aspect of Fire Nation society. The dragon revelation was a new one and one that was not good as a dragon could be a powerful weapon of war if trained as such.
"A few times yes." Charlie admitted just shrugging at his drop in the line of succession. "Came here within a month after she murdered Iroh with a full garrison of soldiers, all already loyal to her. After ordering us to kneel and swear fealty to her or die, she told us that she wanted us to train the dragons for military purposes. We of course told her no at first, a word that entitled bitch seems to not get very often these days. Suffice it to say that Hermione did not take that very well. She proceeded to have the then head beast master, a crazy old earthbender called Silvanus who loved the dragons as much as they loved him and his limbs, summarily executed on the spot for his treason to the Fire Utopia."
"Treason?" Harry asked though without much shock as Hermione's standard for treason was apparently disagreeing with her on anything. "All because he wouldn't train the dragons to kill for her."
"Yup." Charlie said with a note of sadness in his voice. "Apparently anything against her wishes, which are binding law in the Fire Utopia, can be constituted as treason. Unbeknownst to us, she had already had the sanctuary here classified as a military zone so it was easy to deem any dissent as treason against her. Hagrid, as the second most senior trainer after Silvanus, took over as the head beast master and told her simply that she could kill him but after him there was jack shit that could be done about the dragons. At the time only he and Silvanus were qualified for the position of head trainer. It takes well over a decade to qualify for it as you have to build up trust with the dragons so Hermione couldn't just arbitrarily promote someone to position that required a specialized set of skills to hold. We don't raise them the way Hermione apparently envisioned we did, we just protect them and ensure that they can continue to breed. Dragons are immensely powerful and proud creatures and if they don't like you they will try to eat you. We are dealing with giant, flying, near sentient, fire breathing, lizards, not a herd of koala sheep. Sure we can train one or two as mounts and friends but the dragon has to see you as an equal to allow that."
"So how did Hermione get away with militarizing this area?" Ginny asked. "If y'all are needed to train and breed them."
"We still deal with the dragons on a daily basis as we are the only ones qualified to do so but are escorted to and from them by the military." Charlie said with a sigh. "We are kept under constant guard and can never leave the area. We are like many others slaves to Hermione's state run programs but we are better treated as there are only a few of us who can do this job."
"Surely there are others?" Harry asked. "The dragons seem to be very important to Hermione's long term plans, she must want as many trainers here as possible."
"That is very true Avatar." Charlie said with a nod. "Hermione keeps sending sycophants to aid her here as trainers that are loyal to her goals for the dragons. Most get eaten, something I don't lose sleep over as they want to enslave the dragons not preserve them, but a few are still active and working with the military to bring the dragons under their control. There is little Hagrid, myself, and the other trainers from before Hermione's dictatorship can do other than comply but we try our best to ensure that the dragons are never used as killing machines. We are fortunate in the fact that our positions are too valuable for Hermione to have us sent off to the slave labor camps she keeps for dissidents so we have a little more freedom than most do but we are still prisoners as we aren't paid and can't leave."
Harry was seething now. How could she treat the original firebenders like this or the people who volunteered and risked their lives to help restore the dragon population back to what it had been prior to the hunts of Sozin. Honestly, this was almost as bad as Sozin hunting the dragons to the brink of extinction, it was just a different hell that was being inflicted on the mighty creatures.
"Charlie do you think you can tell us about Hermione's rise to power and how the military got on her side?" Harry asked once his anger was back under control. "And what it's been like in the Fire Nation since she blocked it off from the rest of the world. All we have gotten is a mix of reports from those who have managed to escape who have described the oppression here, as well as Hermione's weekly speeches to masses of cheering supporters proclaiming the glory of her Fire Utopia as the only truly equal, tolerant, and just state in the world."
"Well that's a load of dragon shit." Charlie snorted. "And if the reports are bad then I'm afraid they are likely and understatement. I can tell you what I've learned from the military while here but as I said I've effectively been a prisoner here for the last 5 years so I don't know as much about the wider nation as I would like."
"Just start at the beginning." Ron said. "We are here to end her reign of terror but we need to know more first so as to figure out how to best destabilize her. When I remembered you were here we made this our first destination cos we wanted to make sure you were ok and get some info on what's been going on since the coup. We are effectively operating blind right now and that is not good when you are behind enemy lines."
"From what I have heard the military personal here say, it all began long before the coup." Charlie said with a frown as he thought about Ron's question. "Fortunately, I have more of an understanding of how the military was corrupted from within as only soldiers completely loyal to Hermione are sent here or any other strategically important location."
"How long ago did they begin this infiltration of the military?" Harry asked. "It makes sense that they would take over from within like a cancer, it would be the only way a small fringe group like the Enlightened could take command of an entire nation's military."
"I dunno when precisely but it probably began a decade or so before the coup if I had to guess given the level of infiltration they achieved." Charlie said with a thoughtful look. "As you probably already know, the Enlightened recruited first generation who they felt they could easily manipulate, brainwash and control. They would become known as the Chosen. They currently serve as enforcers, leaders and bodyguards to Hermione but that wasn't all, they also infiltrated the military. Some officers were bribed, others blackmailed, others planted so that when the time was right they could stab any seniors in the back and take over, and others were promised promotion over more qualified officers in exchange for their loyalty. It was as you put it like infecting a body with a virus or cancer, the disease spread and went unchecked due to the Purists. When they were ready to strike, we were defenseless."
"What do you know of that strike?" Ginny asked. "We were a little preoccupied at the time to focus on the internal machinations of the Fire Nation military."
"Just what I have been told but I do know that they waited until Iroh sent the military to the United Republic to help defeat Voldemort to strike." Charlie said. "From what I have gathered the members of the military loyal to the Enlightened weren't high enough to be sent to fight Voldemort. This was fortuitous for them as they remained to command the home guard. During the Battle of the Elemental Academy, the acting head of the Air Force was General Creevey, and the Navy was Admiral Thomas. Both are nonbenders and both were and still are in the pocket of the Enlightened. As soon as the word was given that the battle had started, they took command of the forces, seized control of the military central headquarters and initiated the blockade in the name of the Enlightened. It was a swift, silent, but still pretty bloody coup against the remaining Iroh loyalists in the military."
"One thing the Enlightened are is clever, I'll give them that." Ron said shaking his head. "That plan took years of patience to pull off but they did so to perfection. While we were distracted, they gained control of an entire military and walled off the most isolated nation in the world."
"What about Hermione?" Harry asked bringing the conversation back on topic. "Do you know what she did?"
"According to the troops here, while y'all were defeating Voldemort and ending his evil once and for all Hermione and a team of chosen went to the Royal Palace and murdered Iroh." Charlie said as he got back into the story of the coup. "At the same time the communications building was taken down along with other press outlets and the main internal police and investigation centers in the capital. As soon as that happened, Hermione attacked and killed Iroh, though those details are still unknown, and proclaimed herself the new Fire Empress. She officially dismissed the military leaders who had followed Iroh's orders to join the war on Voldemort and elevated her supports to the new leaders. Unofficially those leaders were already either dead or quietly executed after the fact so that they could not threaten Hermione's regime. The rank and file had to obey the orders to form the blockade that Thomas and Creevey gave and any attempt to stop it is an immediate death sentence for treason, carried out via a public execution.
"Makes sense." Ron said with a nod. "Best way to ensure compliance from your soldiers and populace is through fear and what better way to inspire said fear than by publically executing dissenters to show the punishment for going against Hermione's wishes."
"You always did have a head for this kind of shit Ron." Charlie said to which Ron just solemnly nodded before Charlie continued. "After her declaration of autocratic rule, Hermione replaced all the senior advisors to Iroh who hadn't been captured or killed for treason with her own people who are little more than pandering sycophants who praise her and follow her every whim as if it was gospel law. Very much like the Death Eaters did with Voldemort but that's beside the point. Over the next year, Hermione consolidated her power by brutally putting down any dissent to her enlightened views. Any criticism of her has been deemed to be hate speak and punishable by at least a decade of forced labor. Any idea that wasn't in line with hers was policed and removed from society. All former nobility who refused to hand over their wealth to her were arrested and sent to labor camps if they were lucky, or executed in the capital if they weren't. The same was for members of any political party opposed to even one of her views. Any attempted uprisings were crushed and the leaders publicly executed to dissuade others as Ron pointed out. After she had 108 rebel leaders and their followers burned alive in a mass execution in what she calls Freedom Square in the capital she crushed the will of the people. That was by far the worst single mass murder act she ordered, since then the will of the people has been broken and her rule has gone pretty much unchallenged for 4 years now."
"That's horrible." Ginny said as she covered her mouth in revulsion. Harry too had to avoid throwing up at the sound of such a vile act of evil, and all just because they opposed her views. "How can she get away with this?"
"She does so by claiming that it is all for the greater good of society." Charlie said and Harry could hear the pain in the trainer's voice. "Hermione believes that the collective is more important than the individual and as such individual rights must be sacrificed for the good of the masses. She honestly believes that by executing these people, she is in fact saving many more from evil. I honestly don't understand it as we were raised to believe in the power of the individual and one's own natural rights but for Hermione, the state is supreme and dictates what her citizens can do."
"What do you know of her domestic policy?" Harry asked deciding it was best to turn away from the atrocities Hermione had committed in the name of protecting her citizens and instead wondering what she was actually doing for said citizens with her absolute power. "We learned a little on the way here but not enough to fully understand the situation."
"Hermione proclaims that we are all equal here when in fact everyone is just paid the same pittance to avoid a wage gap, we all have to work long hours at whatever job we are assigned and any words against here could mean a life sentence in the labor camps or an execution depending on Hermione's mood or how sadistic the Chosen sent to deal with the situation is." Charlie spat. "The forced industrialization by the now state owned factories have caused famine in areas leading to I don't know how many deaths but if I had to guess it is over a million at this point. The military is forced to stay either at the borders to keep the rest of the world out or at strategic locations like the Dragon Sanctuary and Royal Caldera City so the internal security is done by those loyal to Hermione or those who are looking to profit, sex and to exploit her rules. It is done by the Enforcers of Enlightenment, the new police force, the criminal gang known as the Blades who do her dirty work that she can't formally sanction, and by her secret police. All this is overseen by the Chosen who serve as her roving judges and executors of her laws."
"How bad is it at the very top?" Harry asked. "I know Hermione has complete control but has her power and policies created a corrupt upper class as has been theorized in the other nations."
"Without a doubt has her power created that." Charlie said with a nod. "Anything she says is law, it was like that under Iroh but at least Iroh got consent from the Fire Assembly before issuing a royal decree but that body no longer exists. For a few years there were 3 other Enlightened here to advise her but they left about a year ago and have since been declared traitors by Hermione in her last act of ensure complete and utter power. All the while the Chosen have become the new upper class. They are living it up in the mansions in the capital or the countryside, as is Hermione, given to them as reparations for perceived past injustices and out of loyalty to her. As a result many have become corrupted by their almost uncheck power so long as they don't oppose Hermione and have begun exploiting the people. All the while the bitch herself is championing that the whole nation is equal because there is no more wealth gap as all are paid the same regardless of job, experience, or work position, we all have jobs, and all those who think like her are treated fairly. Anything she has seen as an injustice in the past is now a crime punishable by a long stint in a labor prison where many have already been worked to death. The thing is she achieves all this through tyranny, fear, oppression and murder of any opposition and it is only equal for those who think like here. Any who think differently or who are from a previously historic oppressor, despite the fact that oppression really hasn't existed here since the end of the 100 year war, is now discriminated against in the name of justice."
"Well that explains my question on the forced work front." Harry said and when Charlie raised an eyebrow Harry elaborated on his and Neville's run in with a pair of soldiers several hours ago.
"Yeah there are those who like to exploit Hermione's views to get back at others, enrich themselves, and elevate their position in the Fire Utopia." Charlie said with a sigh. "Some soldiers enjoy the power they get for supporting Hermione's law as they can bully any they want and exploit people because they are immune from prosecution so long as they enforce Hermione's laws. The worst of that kind of people join the Fire Utopia Internal Commission on Ensuring Equality or the FUICEE which is the secret police. Think of the Dai Li during the 100 year war or under the Earth Queen and you get the picture on what the FUICEE does. Why such a long name I do not know but the attempted grandeur of it belies its malevolence. The job of the FUICEE is to root out dissidents, lock them up, interrogate them for intelligence and then make them disappear. Their leader, Director Arabella or as she is simply known, Director, is a zealot who is fanatically loyal to Hermione, as are a good portion of the agents in the FUICEE. Of all the groups, the FUICEE are feared the most due to their secrecy. Then there are the Blades."
"The Blades?" Ron asked. "You mentioned them earlier. I take it they are used like the Triads were used by Voldemort."
"Pretty much seeing as they started as a street gang of nonbenders who favored bladed weapons." Charlie said with a nod. "Sort of like the Equalists as they were birthed to oppose the Purists and the Triads loyal to them, only the Blades are more willing to kill than Amon's Equalists were. They now follow Hermione, despite her stance on the fact that 1st generation benders are the best and superior to all because in her mind they were given bending by Raava, as a form of street enforcement and wet works arm of the FUICEE and the Enforcers of Enlightenment."
"Do you know the death toll?" Harry asked after a pause to digest Charlie's words and to broach the topic he was most hesitant to talk about.
"Not the official one but if I was to hazard a guess based on all the reports I have heard, I would say it easily exceeds a million." Charlie said with sadness. "That is factoring in the executions, the famines, and the slave labor prison camps. I don't understand how someone can be so cruel to their own people and justify it all in the name of equality. I don't know how she sleeps at night."
"Because as you said, she thinks that all she is doing is for the greater good." Ron said with anger in his voice. "It's the same excuse tyrants everywhere use to justify great acts of evil and oppression. They think what the sacrifices they are making is all for a better goal at the end. They believe that they are doing what is right and just for their people even if some must die or rights violated in the process. They think that force is needed and those who threaten their power must be stopped by any means necessary. That lies, manipulating the narrative through deception and propaganda is justified in order to get the masses on their side. Some even go as far as ignore facts for the sake of feelings as a way to justify the oppression of some. It's a slippery slope but they all end up here in the end if left unchecked, which is what we allowed to happen with Hermione. Of course, there are some truly evil assholes like Voldemort who always wanted domination and subscribed to the might makes right, veiled in purity, argument to justify their evil. It is hard to say which is worse as one is facially more evil as Voldemort never hid his evil, while the other is more sinister in that it hides behind a curtain of perceived justice to get away with their atrocities. The latter is easier to head off before shit hits the fan but will probably cause more death in the end if left unchecked."
"That's why I am in the Fire Nation." Harry said firmly. "This is a clandestine mission but the goal of it is to remove Hermione from power, bring her to justice and thus restore balance to the Fire Nation. We took a massive risk both in what we had to do to get here and how we actually got past the blockade but the situation has become so dire that we had to resort to desperate measures. For those reasons, I cannot say how we got here or the nature of the aid we relied on to accomplish that due to the sensitive nature of it. Suffice it to say that we had help getting into the Fire Nation from an unlikely source who is right now using his connections to find and recruit the remaining rebel groups so that we can strike Hermione and take her down."
"That is fine, but know this Avatar myself, Hagrid and those still left here who haven't been replaced by Hermione's minions are on your side." Charlie said seriously. "I couldn't help against Voldemort but I can against the tyrant who seized power and has now oppressed my adoptive homeland. The presence of the Avatar here will inspire hope and resistance once more as you represent balance and the restoration of freedom. You are the very person Hermione most fears."
"Good." Harry said as an idea slowly began to form in his mind. "What about the Sun Warriors? I know they are near here but what can you tell me about them and how they had fared under Hermione?"
"They are nearby as they were the original protectors of the last dragons but since Hermione took power they have been cordoned off by another military garrison." Charlie said. "The official reason given for this imprisonment is for their own protection and preservation of their unique culture, or more accurately the parts of their culture that are in line with Hermione's ideology. However, the Sun Warriors hate it as they would rather continue to live how they had under the Firelords but Hermione is hell-bent on protecting them from outside influences in her own way. She wanted to preserve their culture though as an ancient civilization they are a male dominated society. So when Hermione learned that she had the male chief arrested for the injustice of being a male leader of a patriarchal indigenous culture, publicly executed him using the Sun Warriors own method of execution for their worst criminals which was itself a sacrilegious act, and forcefully elevated the now dead chief's only daughter to the position of Chief. According to reports, Hermione had made the girl watch her own father's execution, why I can only speculate but I assume that it was to ensure the girl's compliance, or show her that part of their sacred culture has no place in today's society."
"That is just sick." Ginny exclaimed. "I thought she would want to protect their indigenous culture, not reshape it."
"I think it is a classic example of her thinking that because she has the power and agency she can use that to elevate, protect and modernize them." Ron said. "All the while ignoring societal, religious and cultural norms of that indigenous society. It is an elitist and arrogant view but we know Hermione is both."
"Very true." Charlie said. "The purpose of having a female Chief was to ensure that their women are equal to men, and to correct what Hermione called millennia of injustices against the women of the Sun Warriors. The thing is that in the Sun Warrior culture, at least the stuff I have picked up over the years of knowing a few of them who used to help with the dragons and occasionally trade with us, is that women are equal to men within their society. Women can own property, serve on their Council of Rays, the advisory council to the Chief, serve as warriors, be trained in firebending, marry for love, and all the other rights that women the world over have that are the same as men. It's just in a culture without technology there are a few biological differences that make men more suited to certain roles than women that no amount of denying or ignoring biology can change. Both genders serve in their fighting force, they all have too as it is as integral to their culture as it is to the Kyoshi Warriors, it's just once they get to a certain age the men are biologically stronger than women and so the women do the finer things while the men do the brute work. This translated to, in a warrior culture, that the strongest warrior must lead which is a man. They do not have a line of succession for chief but rather a tournament of all the warriors, women included, when a Chief dies and the winner is named the new Chief. Given that there are tests of physical strength in this tournament, men have always won and over the years the idea of a male leader has become part of their culture and something they do not want to change. Someone like Hermione however doesn't seem to understand biology, rather she only understands her own concept of justice hence the forced female Chief who almost certainly just lets the old chief's son, her elder brother, run them until Hermione is gone and they can hold a new tournament, but I digress. Why do you ask?"
"Because I have just had an idea for what we can do in the Fire Nation while our aforementioned contact does his job." Harry said with a smile before he turned to Ron. "Ron you're an expert on strategy, how effective would a series of sporadic minor revolts, destruction of vital infrastructure, or acts of what could be classified as terrorism be in a nation like this?"
"What do you have in mind?" Ron replied stroking his beard in thought. "I thought about it but decided not to voice the concept as we felt Hermione would kill innocents in her quest to find us. It would make her feel threatened, providing we only targeted her institutions and spared any innocents, but when an animal is threatened and cornered that is when she is most dangerous. I for one do not trust Hermione to not wipe out an entire town of her own people if she thought they were helping us. That's why we settled on the prepared rebellion to be launched in the capital remember."
"I remember so let me explain my idea." Harry said organizing his loose thoughts on the issue. "What if as we 5 traveled we did things to destabilize her power from within? Here we could free the dragons and their trainers from her plan to enslave them with their aid, possibly liberate the Sun Warriors from their forced captivity. The two groups could then go into hiding and make their way to the capital for the inevitable rebellion should they wish to join us when the time comes. Then at every stop we make we destabilize the local power by taking down those there who are loyal to Hermione and freeing the citizens there. We only kill in battle and we only kill those who support Hermione, we do not kill innocents but act within the laws of war for this is war. Along the way, we 5 always claim responsibility so as to draw the focus away from innocents and onto us. Of course, I won't reveal that I am the Avatar unless I absolutely have to so as to keep Hermione in the dark as to my presence here."
"So basically a series of minor rebellions, sabotage, and resistance against a tyrannical, oppressive, dictator to show that her power isn't absolute and can in fact be defeated." Ginny said with a smile. "I like it. Though Hermione will brand us terrorists and use us to propagandize her regime. We will have to take control of radio stations to broadcast our own message to the nation so as to force her to not retaliate against the citizens that we help."
"As do I." Charlie said. "It will help empower the people to rise up against her if they can see that resistance works. Do not worry about those who volunteer to join you Harry as we know the risks we face. Those here who I know who hate the oppression and slavery that has been forced upon us by Hermione would rather die fighting than live under her boot."
"I can see the logic in Harry's plan." Ron said though there was still some hesitance in his voice. "But the one thing holding me back is the fact that it could reveal that the Avatar is here, despite Harry's plan to keep a low profile. Having the Avatar hidden allows us a trump card for when the time comes as his power is our strongest weapon against Hermione."
"Not if I only firebend and use my swords." Harry said. "Or at the very least just stick to one element when we are engaging Hermione's forces. Who knows my ability to bend all the elements might help mask our numbers if I change it up every time."
Ron thought for a long moment before he eventually nodded his assent to the plan. Harry knew that they would need Neville and Luna to agree to the plan as well to put it into motion.
"I do not like changing the plan on a whim like this but I understand that this mission is constantly fluid and in flux and as such we must be willing to adapt the plan accordingly." Ron said. "It would also allow our contact to find more who wish to fight and take the focus of his activities. If we do this right, we can gain support against Hermione by defying her while our contact gains skilled rebels onto our side so that when we do strike Hermione directly we have more manpower to take her down."
"What shall we call ourselves as we can't use the name Team Avatar?" Ginny asked thoughtfully. "Something that is easy to say and clearly portrays our objectives."
"The Liberation from Tyrants Movement." Ron said after a long pause causing the other 3 to look at him. "The LFTM for short. It's not great but it will serve our purposes as it is short and shows our goals. We will leave a calling card at ever place we liberate claiming responsibility and saying that the people do not have to follow a tyrant like Hermione anymore and that her days are numbers. It will strike fear in Hermione and show the fragility of her rule. We will show her tyranny and hypocrisy when she doubles down on her oppression to try and stop us. We basically counter her oppression with successful opposition and if she tries to take it out on innocents we hit back twice as hard, always making sure the nation knows the truth. We must do all we can to protect the innocent though, they shouldn't pay for our actions."
"So long as you make it clear and can prove you are purely opposing Hermione and her evil then the people will know that she is at fault for any repercussions." Charlie said. "Hopefully she is smart enough to know that if she say kills an entire village that you freed because they aided you that will only further your cause and turn people against her. War will cause casualties to all, that is inevitable, so long as the targets are valid then the people will support you and hold you blameless for the acts of a ruthless tyrant, within reason as there will always be those who blame you no matter what."
"I agree, we cannot kill or terrorize innocent people." Harry said. "We aren't terrorists or even freedom fighters as the latter no matter how noble still occasionally engage in terrorist tactics against civilians. We are liberators here to remove the shackles of Hermione's oppression, to use a phrase she loved to use to describe Iroh's reign. We only target those who are actively cooperating, supporting or enforcing Hermione's warped views while offering our own moderate, accepting ones as alternatives. We must remind the people of what it was like before Hermione's days and that there are still people here who are willing to fight to return the Fire Nation to what it became under Zuko and his descendants. She'll suspect the Avatar is here but without proof she won't directly accuse me of meddling in her internal affairs as that will likely backfire against her as I am a known opponent of her."
"We will kill those who try to kill us though right?" Ginny asked. "If we are forced too that is, like when we fought Voldemort and his forces."
"Yes but that is the nature of war and let's be clear that is effectively what we are starting." Ron said looking clearly at all of them individually so that they all knew the seriousness of what they were discussing. "No matter what we call this, from today onwards we are officially launching a guerrilla war of independence against Hermione's tyrannical and unrecognized regime. It will be just like when we faced the Death Eaters and Purists 5 years ago. If it comes down to kill or be killed we end them, but only if it is justified by the laws of war. No torture, no killing of captives, nothing like that. We will not stoop to Hermione or Voldemort's level."
"Agreed." Harry said firmly before he turned to Charlie. "How many soldiers are based here?"
"30 are stationed in this camp." Charlie said. "A further 100 more are assigned to protect the Sun Warriors and of the 25 trainers and breeders here only 7 are left from before the coup. The rest were appointed by Hermione though most of us are with you though, we know who her loyalists are among us. However that's too much for the 4 of us can't take them all of them down."
"Not without bending, which is something we currently can't use as it three of us are waterbenders and thus not typically found in a place like this, but I have an idea." Ron said with a smile. "We take out the commander here as he or she will likely the most loyal to Hermione due to her penchant for promoting her most loyal fanatics to positions of authority. Then with the aid of those who oppose her we take down the rest of the soldiers here, something I think we can all do between us. I assume you can get at least one dragon on your side once you are free from this prison camp."
"We have several dragons that have bonded with trainers and as such we can call upon our dragons to aid us, the same way the Air Nomads can call upon their bison." Charlie said with a grin. "All trainers who are loyal to myself or Hagrid have bonded with dragons. Let's see there's my stead Norberta who I raised from a hatchling after she was abandoned by her mother and Hagrid's stead Fang, named after Roku's dragon. Then there is old Aragog one of the senior dragons who was Hagrid's first training and loyal only to him and trust me that is one vicious creature to those it doesn't like. Yes between the three of them at least we are in good shape. Hermione wanted to turn the dragons into beasts of war who served her, well we are going to unleash her weapons upon her."
"Ok, well once this place is liberated take the dragons on your side and free the Sun Warriors." Ron said continuing his plan. "I hate to ask this of you but I must. The distraction will allow us to leave and head east for our next objective and I am sure a few dragons are more than enough of a match for 100 soldiers."
"It will be our pleasure." Charlie said with a grin. "Once the Sun Warriors realize that Hermione's tyranny will end they should aid us both in defeating their guards and in the inevitable revolution."
"Good." Harry said pleased to hear that they had a solid plan to go off. "Head to the outskirts of the capital once you are done and cause as much chaos along the way as you can if you run into any oppressors but don't do anything needless or stoop to Hermione's level. Shouldn't be too hard to do that with a few dragons to aid you. If we are going to destabilize her we may as well have multiple points of attack during the next few months."
"Understood." Charlie said with a curt nod. "Don't worry Avatar we can handle it."
"Wait for a messenger hawk from us." Ron said. "We will let you know when the attack is about to happen. Though our contact may figure out a way to contact you, especially if you can make contact with another one of the rebel groups that are still active."
Charlie once again nodded at this. He then got out of bed and quickly put on a set of rough clothes that he clearly used in his work with the dragons. Going to a small chest he opened it and pulled out a full water skin that Harry had assumed the Southern Prince had kept hidden so as to hide his waterbending, two massive hunting knives and large, two handed battle axe.
"A boy has to be prepared." He said hefting the axe reverently in his large hands. "I haven't had this gal in my hands in ages. She's thirsty for the blood of tyrants."
"Who's the commander here?" Ron asked.
"I don't think it matters." Harry said suddenly as his subconscious use of his seismic sense triggered. As they had been talking Harry had constantly been sending out low level vibrations to keep an eye on their surroundings just in case.
"Why?" Ginny asked wearily.
"Because he's on his way over with 10 soldiers right now."
"Someone must have tipped him off that there were people talking." Charlie growled, if he was worried though he didn't show it. "They wouldn't have heard what we're saying but they would have known someone was here by the sounds and that's against the rules. It could only be one of the trainers loyal to Hermione who ratted on us."
"Well let's go great this commander then." Harry said with a smile rising and walking to the entrance to the tent. "Y'all coming or what. It's time to start a rebellion."
Harry exited the tent and stood there calmly as the commander and 10 soldiers approached him. The camp was pretty small but it seemed that the guards had kept their distance from the trainers' tents. Now though the commander was striding towards Harry through the small camp. Flanking him on each side were 5 soldiers all with enlisted ranks on their tunics Soon Ron, Ginny and Charlie were all by his side as they watched the unit approach them, all but Harry had weapons drawn and none were covering their faces with the masks they had used earlier when sneaking into the camp. Only Harry could bend at this moment in time as it was best to not give away the fact that the other 3 were waterbenders as that might raise suspicions should there be any survivors.
All the soldiers wore red tunics but the commander wore beige pants to his soldiers black ones. He was a brutish looking man with a forked black beard, a scowl on his face and an evil glint in his beady eyes. Clearly this was a man who enjoyed brutalizing others, the perfect recruit for a despot like Hermione who gave maniacs like this a free reign so long as they implemented her will on the people.
"Who the fuck are you to dare to sneak into my camp." The commander barked at Harry. "I have already sent someone to pull in the 5 patrolling soldiers and wake up the other guards. You are outnumbered and outmatched. Surrender now and I won't recommend they execute you three in the nearest town square. The mines could use two strong like you and the men and I could do with a pretty thing like you lassie. Charlie, I know you have always been a problem but unfortunately your value is too great to have you killed or sent to the mines, we'll just have to ensure that you suffer here instead."
"Ok I was hoping to reason with you, though admittedly reasoning with you was going to be a long shot given who you serve, but you just threatened to have my fiancé gang raped so you aren't going to walk away from this alive." Harry said with forced calm at the man's lust, something that seemed to happen when certain men gained power apparently. "But as to who the fuck we are, we are 3 members of the Liberation from Tyrants Movement. The LFTM and we are here to free the noble dragons and their trainers, well the ones loyal to Firelord Druzok at least, from the tyranny of your mad, illegitimate leader."
"How dare you insult our enlightened Empress; Hermione the Savior." The commander roared with anger. By now other trainers were poking their heads out their tents while the remaining soldiers headed over as they pulled on clothes and weapons to inspect the late night disturbance. "Our glorious leader has established true equality at last to the Fire Utopia. Stop resisting her and accept her enlightened wisdom and laws without question. Only the Empress can lead and make laws in this world, only her views are needed to govern in a fair and just society. The Firelords were cruel and oppressive leaders who ruled with an iron fist and subjugated their people with unmatched brutality, I praise the Empress every day for getting rid of them. I will not allow some gutter punk like you with idealistic, twisted views above your station to drag us back to those dark days."
"Look bitch I could stand here all day and discuss our differing philosophies or I could bang my head into a rock all day." Harry said idly. The commander was clearly a believer of Hermione, he expected no less from a man entrusted with such an important command post, though the man was also clearly a sadist. "And quite frankly the rock will be less painful, more rewarding, more intelligent and offer a much more scintillating and thought provoking discussion than you ever could. So here's how it will go down. I am offering you the chance to stand down, surrender your weapons and leave here alive, taking the trainers who are here to aid your horrific mission to enslave the dragons to serve as part Hermione's war machine with you, or be put down by us as traitors to the Fire Nation, the Firelord and balance. We'll try not to kill you but if you use lethal force we will respond in kind. Pretty much the same offer I made to those who followed Voldemort a few years back."
"You ain't no killer, nor are you a fighter." The commander said with a scornful laugh at Harry. "I should know, given how many pieces of trash like you that I have killed with my bare hands, sometimes while fucking them to show my dominance. No, it is you who should surrender. If not then in the name of the Empress I hereby declare you traitors to her glorious rule and sentence you to death, after we make you watch as we enjoy your pretty fiancé as is our right when dealing with a convicted traitor who has no rights."
"Is it pointless telling this asshole that the last time I killed someone it was a Death Eater who I decapitated?" Harry asked his friends as the soldiers approached drawing weapons or taking fighting stance. "Or that he was a similar sadistic, rapist, pig whose junk I burned off with hot lava before I put him out of his misery by removing his head. I don't know why power turns so many men into rapists but it seems to cross ideological lines. Oh well, this wanker's raping days are over."
"Absolutely pointless." Ron confirmed as he flexed his arms getting ready for the fight.
Ron was armed with a standard Southern machete having left his hammer back in the truck as it was not practical for a stealth mission. Ginny had already drawn her Sais and Charlie had his axe at the ready, a grim smile of vengeance on his face at the thought of being free from his captors.
"Good." Harry said drawing his own swords in a fluid motion. "Then let's take these fuckers down but the loudmouthed fanatic is mine."
Without a response to Harry, the commander bellowed an order to attack them and his men charged. Harry wasn't concerned with the men, his target was the asshole who lead them. Ducking a clumsy sword swipe from the first soldiers Harry stabbed him in the side before he casually continued to walk towards the commander, ignoring the wounded soldier as he fell to the ground in pain.
A firebender leapt in front of him ready to summon a flame attack when a throwing knife, likely from Ron, struck him in the shoulder. As he reeled away in pain Harry used the pommel of one of his swords to knock the man out and continued onwards to a now worried looking commander. Harry didn't need to look back to know that the others had taken care of the reaming 8 soldiers and gone into the camp to deal with the others, likely aided by the other trainers who were on their side.
"Die traitor." The commander yelled at Harry and sent a bolt of lightning at him. Harry could hear the panic in the man's voice as the commander clearly realized that he, like many before him, had underestimated the young Avatar.
Harry had expected a lightning attack and caught it on his right blade. Grunting in pain, Harry let the lightning flow along his arm, down into his core, up into his left arm and along the left blade as he redirected the bolt right back at the stunned commander. It struck the commander squarely in the chest, throwing him back with a scream. His lifeless body crashed into an ornate tent in the distance that Harry assumed had been his.
Harry's body twitched for a moment with a mixture of electricity and adrenaline from the redirection. He had tried it a few time in practice, with a terrified Neville producing said lightning, but the exhilarating feeling, coupled with the intense but brief pain, never changed. It was indescribable and honestly a feeling Harry did not want to have to repeat anytime soon. Lightning redirection was a bitch.
As soon as the excess electricity had stopped causing him spasms, Harry turned and surveyed the damage. Of the 10 soldiers who joined their commander in trying to apprehend them, 6 were already dead and 2 more where beyond saving. One of the two survivors was the one he had knocked out, the other a nonbender with a nasty gash on his head that Harry theorized came from the butt of Charlie's axe and was lying dazed and out of the fight on top of a ruined tent.
Harry was about to walk into the camp and see where his help was needed when a roar distracted him and he had to sidestep as a trainer in his underwear crashed into the ground where he had been standing. The trained did not get up. Looking in the direction of the roar Harry paused his mouth falling open at the sight.
Standing 20 feet away was an absolute giant of a man with long wild black hair and a matching beard. Neither of which looked like it could be tamed. The man was wearing a black shirt, leather vest, brown pants and the largest boots Harry had ever seen.
"That's fer thinking a dragon is merely a killin' machine and not a majestic, beautiful creature." The man who Harry could only assume was Hagrid said before he bent down and picked up a crossbow in one hand and an absolutely giant war mallet in the other.
"Hagrid?" Harry asked.
"Who's asking?" The giant replied before looking at Harry. "Oh you're the guy Charlie just told me of, some guy who's here to help free us from Hermy's tyranny. I'm on your side. Me and my dragons are at your disposal."
"Thank you." Harry said a little startled by the large man. "I cannot stay though as I have more seeds of resistance to sow throughout the Fire Nation, so once we know this place is free I will leave you and Charlie in charge."
"You have me word." Hagrid said before he ran off with strides that shook the earth around him to find Charlie, absentmindedly crushing the skull of a guard with his mallet along the way.
In short order Ron and Ginny had rejoined Harry by Charlie's tent. All the guards and trainers loyal to Hermione had been dealt with. A total of 19 had died, including one of the trainers from before the coup, the rest were knocked out, their wounds dressed, and bound so as to not be able to follow them. The other trainers had run off to find their dragons and head to free the Sun Warriors with the element of surprise. It was time to leave the Dragon Sanctuary and return to the rest of their team.
The sun was just breaking over the horizon by the time Harry and the ginger siblings had returned to their camp in the mountain and briefed Luna and Neville on the updated plan. The other members of Team Avatar agreed with Harry that it was a good idea but that they should find a way to let Pyrites know about the change, if he didn't find out and contact them about it first. As soon as Harry was done catching them up Harry opened the cave so that they could drive out and get on the road.
Once the truck was loaded up and Harry confirmed it was clear Neville, who was the most rested, took the wheel and they set off, heading down the mountains. Harry and Ginny were dozing in the cab while Neville drove and Ron and Luna were sleeping in the back.
As Harry began to fall asleep he managed to tell Neville to head towards the eastern islands that made up the lower tail of Fire Nation archipelago. It would cause more of a problem for Hermione if their next strike was far to the east and it would give them a chance to throw off any potential pursuers. The revolution to reclaim the Fire Nation from the iron grip of tyranny had officially begun.
Nothing much to add after this long chapter other than to note that Silvanus refers to the first name of the Care of Magical Creatures professor prior to Hagrid. On the note of Hagrid, this is one of the few times he will be seen in this series and the only time he talks. This is because I couldn't fit him into the Academy given his love of creatures and his history didn't fit so I felt it was best to allow him to be heavily involved with dragons, beasts he loved in the books. I also can't write his speak very well and could never do the character justice if he was a regular character. The next few chapters will deal with the start of the LFTM's campaign against Hermione, including one of my favorite scenes in the whole series, and will draw a lot of inspiration from Aang's time in the Fire Nation during the third season of the show as Hermione is similar to Ozai in more ways than she is willing to admit. Enough ramblings, as always keep letting me know what you think of this story in the reviews and any questions posed in reviews or PMs to me will be answered at the start of next week's chapter when it is released on time as always. Until next week.
Stringdog
