Here's my next chapter in the story. After a few more chapters, I will be focusing once again on Warmaster Alexander. So any way, enjoy the read, and remember to please review.
The shuttle descended through the planet's atmosphere, burning up on entry, but protected by the shuttle's heat shielding. The shuttle came in low over the horizon, approaching Kyoshi Island from a south eastern trajectory. Soon, Suki could make out the silhouette of the island across the distant horizon. Within minutes, she could see it clearly.
"It looks so beautiful from up here" Suki exclaimed in wonderment.
"We should be able to see the village soon" Patroclus stated.
The shuttle approached the south eastern shore. They saw the village just ahead, but Suki soon gave shriek of horror when she saw what was happening below. Much of the village was in flames, with people fleeing as best as they could. Further up ahead, they soon saw the cause of such destruction.
"Fire nation!" Patroclus swore under his breath. "Pilot! You must land this shuttle IMMEDIATELY!"
The pilot nodded in agreement, and veered off hard to the right, landing in a field to the east of the village. Suki and Patroclus disembarked, while Damocles undid the latches that held his battlesuit in place.
After they had all exited the shuttle, the pilot took off. As soon as it left, Patroclus started moving at a brisk pace towards the village. Suki just silently followed, while Damocles adjusted the servo motors within his legs to increase his speed, allowing him to keep up with them.
"I don't get it" Suki said. "Didn't you see this in your visions?"
"My dear Suki, as I have stated, I am merely a battle psion" he told her. "Since I am not a seer, the visions I get tend to leave minor things out of the picture".
"You call this a minor thing?!" She shouted in frustration.
Patroclus stopped a moment and turned to face her, "I do not pretend to understand the workings of my visions, but I do know that unless you want to argue about it, we might as well hurry to save as many of your people as we can."
Suki calmed herself down in spite of herself, and nodded in agreement. She gave him a look of worry and fear.
"Please, help me save my village" She cried. "The fire nation took away my fellow warriors and friends, don't let them take my family away from me."
Patroclus looked at her, his eyes casting an eerie glow as his pupils went completely white. The air around him hummed and crackled with psionic energies. His hair flared about as he began pooling massive amounts of psionic energy.
"Oh I intend to do something" Patroclus stated in an eerie tone. "Today, I shall show the fire nation how a true warrior fares in combat. Damocles, prepare your self!"
Damocles verbally instructed his battle suit's computer to holster the rail gun. He then activated the energy field of his battle gauntlets, which were more effective in enclosed spaces such as the village.
"DEATH BEFORE DISHONOR" He shouted, touting his fearsome war cry.
Patroclus then charged towards the village, with Damocles in hot pursuit. Suki finally took hold of the initiative and followed after them. She tried to keep up, but Patroclus was somehow able to keep ahead of her, perhaps using his powers to hasten quickly to the village. Damocles at least had the benefit of his enclosed battle suit, and soon both he and Patroclus disappeared into the village.
Suki just kept on running, hoping to at least contribute to the battle at hand, when suddenly she saw and heard an explosion. She could hear the screams of fire nation soldiers in the distance. Upon entering the village, she saw Patroclus furiously battling the fire soldiers with his saber. He stuck out his open hand, and lightning leapt forth, incinerating several soldiers that did not get out of the way in time. A fire bender fired a bolt of flame at him, the shot just barely strafing the top of Patroclus' hair. Patroclus gave an eerie gaze at the bender that shot at him, the soldier soon shriveled to a lifeless husk before Suki's eyes.
Damocles was faring quite well too, since the swords and pikes of the fire soldiers could not penetrate his armor. Damocles smashed in the heads of two soldiers that were foolish enough to get close, and he spun around to grab another soldier, which he promptly slammed upon his own outstretched knee.
Suki sensed an attack coming from behind, and quickly ducked before a soldier could cleave her head off. She swung her war fans across the man's throat, and was surprised that it managed to cleave his head off rather than just cut his throat. Patroclus was right, these Akaviri war fans were somewhat heavier, but the workmanship put into them made them no less deadly. She charged another soldier, disarming him before dealing a death blow, and then she charged another, and another. She unleashed all the pent up hatred she had for what they had done to her.
Somewhere far off, a fire nation archer strung his bow, and fired it at Suki. It struck her square on the chest, but merely bounced off the magical leather armor, a small bluish flash appeared briefly when the armor was struck. She decided that it would be a good idea to remind her self later to thank Patroclus for the weapons and armor.
Damocles spotted the archer that fired at Suki. Before the man could knock another arrow into place and take another shot, Damocles held out his wrist and fired the attached Thunder machine gun, riddling the archer with high velocity Kaiser rounds.
After a several minutes of intense combat, the battle was over. Damocles pursued the remaining fire soldiers to the shoreline. The ships tried to escape, but most were destroyed when Damocles finally brought his rail gun back online.
Back in the village, Suki and Patroclus sat down on the porch of a burnt out house, trying to catch their breath.
"You fought well today" Patroclus complemented to Suki.
"But you did well yourself, and I think there are a few things I can learn from you" Suki replied.
Moments later, some of the villagers started returning. They cautiously approached, some marveling at their saviors for rescuing them, some weeping once they realized that so much had been lost. Suki raised her head to look at them, and soon saw two familiar faces.
"MOTHER! FATHER!" She shouted in joy, running to give them a hug. It has been quite long since she last saw them, and right now she was just glad that they were safe.
"Oh Suki, we're so glad that you are alright" Her mother cried out.
"I missed you both so much" Suki replied. "But why did the fire nation attack Kyoshi Island, now of all times?"
The village elder came forth to explain, "Ever since those strangers started patrolling the seas with their fleets, the fire nation has been moving their naval routes further south to avoid the blockade. When they came across our island, they told us that they intend to make it a naval base, and that we must surrender."
He continued, "Naturally, we refused. Without the Kyoshi warriors, we were nearly helpless. Speaking of which, where are the others?"
Suki hung her head low, a look of grief crossed her face, "I'm the only one who survived, and the rest were killed when we were ambushed by the fire nation princess Azula."
Several women in the group of survivors began crying in utter grief. All of them were parents of those Kyoshi warriors that were killed.
The elder bowed his head in mourning, but he soon looked up with a resolute expression, "The fire nation has robbed us of so much of that which we cherish. Tomorrow we shall hold a funeral rite for those brave warriors who gave everything to try and stop the fire nation. But for now, we must try and rebuild as much as we can."
Suki then remembered Patroclus, "There is someone…..actually two people, which I'd like you to meet".
She walked over to Patroclus; Damocles was just returning from the beach, the drawings of several fire nation ships were now added to the side of his rail gun. Suki motioned for Patroclus and Damocles to follow her. She brought them forth for the people to see.
"This is Patroclus and Damocles. They are with the strangers that recently began appearing. I owe my life and my dignity to their people for rescuing me. It was they that helped me drive off the fire nation from the island."
"Then we are in your debt" the elder stated. "You are welcomed to stay as long as you like. But as you can see, for the moment, we have no place to accommodate you."
Patroclus gave them his usual friendly smile, "I thank you for your Hospitality. But fear not, for I bear great powers. I and my friend here can help you rebuild"
"Then once again, I offer my thanks" The elder said, bowing.
Later that day, Patroclus and Damocles aided the villagers in the reconstruction. Luckily, while the houses may have burnt down easily, they were quite easy to build right back up. Patroclus, through the use of his psionic abilities, was easily capable of equaling the work 20 men in rebuilding. As for Damocles, he put the inherent strength of his suit to good use, lifting construction material that was too heavy to work on without the aid of levers or pulleys.
By evening, they had managed to rebuild at least 2/3 of the village. And that night, after a hasty but hearty supper, everybody was able to sleep under a decent roof. The next morning, the elder kept his word, and a funeral rite was held for the fallen warriors of Kyoshi. It would take a generation for the warrior order to recover from its loss. But luckily for them, Suki would be there to ensure that next generation of warriors will grow tall and strong.
Man, I really like how this chapter turned out, so I guess I might be getting better at this. The only snag is that my spelling and grammar checker sucks, and to think, I keep updating the damn thing. Anyway, hope you liked this one. Please remember to review this, as I am naturally curious as to how good it really was to you.