Chapter Nine: Moral Warfare
256 AG, Early Autumn
Bison Two, Ba Sing Se Skies, Earth Continent
"Avatar, wake up!" The hushed but urgent voice, combined with the gentle shake of the shoulders, wrenched her abruptly back from oblivion and back into conscious existence. Someone had seized her by the shoulders, and there was a general clatter of activity around her. "Aiwa, you need to w–"
"I'm Aiwawa – I mean, I'm awake," she spoke jerkily, rubbing her eyes and tuning in to the sounds around her.
Sharp radio chatter was coming from the cockpit, and she could make out Xue's voice responding to the distressed garble. Quiet but anxious voices were all around her, along with the clicks and snaps of military equipment being checked and locked into place. The hum of the Bison droned on beneath everything, providing solid ground where there would otherwise be nothing.
"What's going on?" she asked loudly, opening her eyes fully. Quan's face was up close to hers, and his expression was troubled.
"We're preparing for combat," the scientist replied. "The team that was sent to the Lower Ring in advance came under attack. Full support is on the way, but for now –"
"Why are people still fighting?" Aiwa cut in stupidly, still a little groggy. "There isn't enough to go around, we should all be –"
"I know I know, working together. I agree! But when people are desperate they become irrational. The Lower Ring is mostly agricultural, and it's become more stable in recent years. Apparently some warlord's established a base in the northern Si Wong region, and now he wants land to feed his forces. His guerrillas are –"
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, listen up!" Chodak's voice grabbed everyone's attention, and down in the cockpit, Aiwa saw Xue turn away from the radio, his face twisted with anger. "We're dropping in from altitude. Anyone not trained in terminal landing cut-offs needs a decelerator pack –" Immediately, about a third of the fifty-strong UPF detachment reached up to pull out small packs from above their heads, and began to fasten them to their backs. Motioning for Aiwa to get up and turn around, Quan grabbed a decelerator for her. "The numbers aren't in our favour, but a Blade strike group will back us up in twenty –"
"Blades?" piped up Quan nervously. "How many are –?"
"Shut up!" growled Chodak, and the scientist's mouth snapped shut.
"The reconnaissance team puts their numbers into the hundreds," spoke Xue, stepping forwards, "and the enemy has better ground and cover. From what I can gather from the advance team…they were ambushed –" Several of the UPF soldiers clenched their teeth, and an angry murmur swept through their ranks. " So we'll be playing it safe!" finished Xue forcefully.
"Hostile infantry is entrenched in an old refinery, so link in with the Blades and direct fire against the hardest targets," Chodak continued. "We've also got civilians down there, but our priority is keeping our own safe, so don't hold back. If you're sure about a target, then call it in, and don't worry about collateral."
That was so very like the Preservation, thought Aiwa savagely. No wonder they made so many enemies. First the Zaofu Clash, then the recent Republic City episode, and now this...
Xue was staring at her, and Aiwa quickly busied herself with her decelerator pack. Her emotions showed on her face far too easily.
"That's about it," spoke Chodak finally, lowering his visor. "Advance team is trapped on the fields to the north-west of the refinery, and we'll be dropping in to the south-west to relieve the pressure until the heavy air support gets here. A full ground response shouldn't be far behind them. Watch each other's backs!"
A red light switched on above the rear hatch, and a metalbender yanked the lever from several metres away. The door began to open, and the men and women all lined up, ready for the drop.
"Quan, sit down and strap in. Aiwa, with me. You know how to use that thing?"
"Yes," Aiwa replied, as she and the airbender added themselves to the end of the line and Quan fastened himself back into his seat. "Frame of reference is the surface, and I'll be decelerated to a soft landing automatically. I control side to side tugs for evasion, and just need to watch out for nausea."
"Correct," replied Xue with a brief smile as the red light began to flash, the rear hatch almost fully open. The wind rushed by, and Aiwa stared through the patchy clouds to the ground far below. The light turned green, and Aiwa's heart rate increased.
"Go go go!" yelled Chodak, standing to one side and signalling the soldiers to run, one after the other.
"Stay with Chodak," advised Xue loudly over the clattering of boots. "Don't try anything fancy – in fact, I don't know why I'm bringing you at all!"
"That's reassuring," Aiwa shot back sarcastically, but she knew that Xue had watched her training and approved of her remarkable jump in combat prowess. All that Aiwa still lacked was confidence, and that would now have a chance to grow.
Still, sending her – an unseasoned Avatar into a battle zone seemed...reckless.
Xue ran and vanished, wearing only a standard cold-weather cloak over his usual robes. Although an arm amputee, Xue held a reputation for fierce and skilful airbending, and she knew he would be fine. Aiwa herself had little more than her usual thermal gear for outmissions, but her breath of fire would keep her warm. The Winter was no longer a threat to the Avatar.
As she started forwards, the sole UPF fighter left in the Bison stepped forward and grabbed Aiwa's arm.
"Show no fear," intoned Chodak as the two of them ran towards the exit, "and be the leaf!"
"Ming 2-1, coming into range now."
Hunched behind the low, brick wall, Aiwa's eyes were on the sky to the west, and her earpiece was tuned to Sergeant Saina's frequency. She was attached to this squad.
"Ming 2-1, this is Ground Jing 3, hostiles in the large warehouse two hundred metres to my global one, over."
"Calculating...target acquired. Firing."
A bright flash lit up the murky sky, illuminating every single drop of rain for a split second. A moment later, the side of the warehouse exploded into shards of metal and chunks of concrete. The debris was blasted at least fifty metres in all directions, and seconds later, the sound and the shockwave both hit the UPF squad sheltering in the overgrown ruins of an old housing complex. The roaring of jet engines peaked, and Aiwa saw the semicircular shape of the Blade pass overhead, before disappearing into the soaking skies once more.
"Ming Zero here, I've got a thermal scan on targets in the smokestack gantry to the east of that warehouse. Ground Jing 3, can you confirm, over?" Aiwa peered up through the rain at the tall tower, and Saina echoed her suspicion.
"Cannot confirm, I say again, cannot confirm. Could be civilians."
Another flash lit up the area, though its source was much further away this time.
"Whoa!"
An immense tongue of flames sprang high into the air, far beyond the nearest warehouse. Although dimmed by the mist and rain, the orange glare blasted forth like a newborn star. But it died away within seconds.
"Ming 3-1 to Ground Jing 3, what on Earth was that?" Then Chodak's voice cut in on the radio, overriding all frequencies.
"All units, Ming Group and Ground Jing: the red brick structures five hundred metres to the north-east of the central shaft contain hydrocarbon fuel reserves, break. Do not fire upon them, I repeat, do not fire upon the red brick structures north-each of the central shaft! Out!"
Saina and his squad began to advance towards the main refinery building to the east. Two earthbenders moved in front, carving out a trench in the mud and grass. It was slow going, but safe. They were mostly out of sight and would have exceptional cover if attacked
Aiwa noticed that one of the UPF soldiers, a short and stocky woman, wore the standard annulus and brown stripe indicative of earthbending powers, but had an additional, dark orange wave beneath the ground line. Could it mean what she suspected?
"Yangji," Aiwa spoke quietly, sidling up behind the soldier and recalling her name.
"What?" the earthbender replied in surprise, having looked round to see Aiwa addressing her. "Not now, Avatar!" she hissed.
"Ming Group," cut in Saina's voice, "hostile infantry moving across open ground to my global twelve –"
"Ground Jing, Ming Zero reporting large optical signatures to the south-west of the central shaft, two kilometers distant but closing fast, over."
"Blast! Tanks!" Chodak hissed through the radio. "Ming Zero, do you have a thermal signal, over?"
"Yeah, but it's very weak – they might be coated to reduce IR signature, over."
"Ming Leader, can you see the target, over?"
"Standby… Standby... That's a negative. They're barely visible in the infrared, and the optical is just as bad. Blades can't hit a target like that, over"
"Ming Zero here, eighteen hundred metres and closing, over."
"All Ground Jing," Chodak commanded, "bunker down and stay hidden. Ming Zero, confirm numbers, over."
"Two heavy tanks, five smaller vehicles –"
A streak of fire shot out of the mists and into a large shed, exploding and causing the roof to collapse. Another three bolts shot right over Ground Jing 3 and disappeared into the mists. A peal of thunder rumbled from the south and echoed around the refinery.
"Ming Zero, direct manual Blade strikes to slow the armour down. Ming fighters, support where you can, out."
"Sir", cut in Saina, who had been muttering away on a different frequency, "A Mecha Group is ten minutes out –"
Another salvo of blast cannon rounds crashed down, this time landing over a wide area around Saina's team.
"Copy that. Ground Jing, close range with hostile infantry where possible, else dig in and go defensive, out."
A trio of bright flashes lit up the surroundings once more, and the sounds of explosions crashed in from the south-east. To the north, Aiwa could just make out the members of Ground Jing 2 sprinting through the dense fog towards the central refinery.
"Ming Zero reports no damage to hostile armour, but they're spreading out –"
A large spear of ice embedded itself in the bank behind Aiwa, and she looked up towards the gantry around the smokestack to see several figures bending the rain around them and launching it at Saina's team.
"Saina engaged! Targets on the gantry are hostile, I repeat, smokestack gantry is hostile, requesting Blade strike, over!" The squad immediately sprang into action. Earthbenders raised walls to shield against attack, while several waterbenders responded in kind. Airbenders would struggle to be effective at this range, and firebenders were next to useless because of the weather interference. The rain began to intensify, and thunder pealed from the far south again.
Another salvo of blast cannon shots struck, this time far more accurate. Although four still missed, the fifth exploded a nearby wall of earth, showering the squad in steaming mud.
"Saina taking heavy fire. The tanks have our location, over!"
"Copy that. Ming 1-1 firing."
Another flash lit up the fog, and the smokestack gantry exploded into twisted, melted metal. Moments later, half the wall that had been supporting it came down.
"- s-t, that sm-ke-ack is col-psin-!" Chodak's voice was rendered partially incomprehensible by static, but Aiwa understood his message. She looked upwards, and felt her stomach clench into a black hole.
"Move! Run! Go go go!" screamed Saina, and the whole squad pushed up onto their feet and hurdled out of the trench, sprinting for the smaller warehouse to the north-west –
The impact felt as though it had shattered the very earth beneath Aiwa's feet. An immense weight slammed into the ground behind her, and the squad was knocked off its feet by the wave of energy and earth that the collapsing smokestack dispensed as it crashed into the mud. A few moments of dim confusion passed, before Aiwa realised that she was alright – that they were all fine. However, as the members of Ground Jing 3 picked themselves up and wiped away the thickest of the mud coating that they had all acquired, Saina cut in, voice hushed.
"Down. Everybody down!" Aiwa looked towards Saina, and then followed his pointing arm to peer through the heavy rain and into the dust of the smokestack structure. The building itself was still standing, though a section of the roof along with the smokestack itself had come down. A large hole had been torn in the wall by the Makila payload. Amidst the dense fog, Aiwa could just make out the forms of several people creeping through the building.
"Are they ours?" whispered Aiwa.
"Can't be," replied Saina, "Both other Ground Jing Groups made it to the central shaft structure. Ground Jing 3, engaging hostile infantry..."
Saina moved forwards, crouching down behind the large chunks of shattered masonry that had formed the smokestack, the rest of his squad following in silence. Aiwa found herself creeping along at the rear, behind Yangji.
"Hold...hold..." Ground Jing 3 was now only ten metres from the smokestack building, and it was apparent that their enemy had not noticed them. Almost a dozen figures were now visible through the mist, and Aiwa could make out the faces of men and women, half-covered by mouth-masks.
"Three...two...one...engage!"
Aiwa sidestepped one, two rocks, and punched a number of fireballs back at her foe. This man, this soldier of the warlord, was not tough, and Aiwa had expected a more challenging fight. Yangji was several metres away in the mists, holding her own against an airbender and a waterbender. Aiwa waited, watching as the youth she was fighting barely evaded her attacks. As he retaliated with a wave of wet earth and grass, Aiwa leapt out of range, before dodging around behind him. The eathbender was too slow, and Aiwa smashed her right forearm into the small of his back, before igniting her left fist and blasting her reeling opponent with full force. The man was thrown onto his face, his thick clothes smouldering in the rain, and Aiwa smashed him senseless with a sharp chop to the back of the neck.
Her conscience prickled – not because of what she was doing, but because of how she felt about it. Or rather, how she didn't.
A sudden gust was barely avoided, and Aiwa found herself facing one of the men that Yangji had been fighting. The UPF earthbender was locked in one-on-one combat with her waterbending foe, leaving the masked airbender free to go after Aiwa. For a few moments, the two of them stood still. Aiwa stared at her opponent with what she hoped was a mean and determined expression, while her foe appeared to be doing exactly the same. Neither was cowed, and Aiwa threw the first punch.
The airbender was quick, and incredibly flexible. Cartwheeling and rolling to the side, he avoided every single one of Aiwa's fireballs, and blasted air back at her. Aiwa, however, was being particularly careful not to put too much power into any single strike. She had to be quick and accurate, breaking her opponent's stance, and delivering the final blow only when he was reeling back. Her opponent, however, seemed to fight by the same tactics.
The combatants circled each other for what seemed like an age, striking, defending, evading, and lashing out when the opportunity arose. Their skills were matched, and this worried Aiwa. If one thing were to give out before anything else, it would be her stamina. It was time for a new plan.
Aiwa darted into the mists to her right, towards Yangji and the warlord's waterbender. The gust of air behind her knocked over a rusty plate of corrugated iron, and she could hear the airbender pursuing her. Yangji was facing her now, and between the two Preservation soldiers was the hostile waterbender. With as much speed and force as she possibly could, Aiwa blasted fire at their foe's back. The waterbender heard the flames approaching him, and wheeled around to block, but he was too slow. Yangji's rock struck him under the knees, toppling him to the ground. Aiwa slid under another blast of air from behind and leapt into the air, crashing down with a flaming fist on the waterbender's head, before ducking behind a small ridge that Yangji had created.
"I can't take him!" yelled Aiwa, breathing heavily, and the earthbender moved to stand between Aiwa and the airbender, slamming her front foot to the ground.
"I can," she growled, and attacked.
Aiwa watched the two elemental extremes battle it out. The airbender was incredibly light on his feet, and able to evade most of Yangji's attacks, while the earthbender dodged nothing, and simply refused to be knocked down. This worked to her full advantage, for when the frustrated airbender finally struck with the full force of a gale storm, Yangji simply drew a dense wall of earth up around her and weathered the attack. The spent airbender was immediately toppled by a salvo of painful stones. The first broke his left leg, the second knocked the wind out of the falling man, and the last shattered his collarbone, mere moments before he hit the ground.
Looking down at Aiwa, Yangji held out a hand, and Aiwa took it, straightening up and breathing heavily.
"Thank you –" she began, only to be cut off by the stocky woman.
"No, thank you. That was a perfect exchange. You finished the waterbender off with my help, and I beat your airbender after you weakened him. Together, we were more powerful than both of our opponents. Good job."
Aiwa locked her right arm with Yangji's and shook it. The latter's visor was still down, and Aiwa found herself struggling to picture what the earthbender looked like.
"Hostile armour coming round the north side of the smokestack building, over."
Immediately, Yangji created a wide hole in the ground, and she and Aiwa dropped deftly into it.
"One heavy tank, four light tanks. They're traversing...they're going to fire!" Chodak's voice filled with urgency. "Ground Jing 3, take cover! Do you copy? Take cover now!" Yangji strengthened the wall of their cover, but the blast cannon round still shook them greatly as it impacted nearby.
"Commander Chodak, this is Mech Group 1, we're dropping around the central shaft structure. Confirm enemy armour does not have line of sight, over"
"Affirmative. All enemy armour has shifted south, but I see five vehicles by the fallen smokestack, over."
"Copy that, we have eyes on –" Another blast cannon round heaped steaming slush onto Aiwa and Yangji, both of whom fell backwards into the mud. "– Group 2 will hit the smokestack armour directly, out."
Aiwa heard the earthbender growl in anger, and then saw her suspicions confirmed. As she picked herself up out of the mud, Aiwa watched with glee as Yangji tore up dry earth from beneath the soaking topsoil and span it into lava. Leaping up and dashing towards a smaller shed nearby, Aiwa looked to her right to see the tank's cannon traversing – and it was pointed right at her.
But blast cannons worked mainly on fire. The kinetic energy of the central projectile could be dealt with, as long as the fire itself was controlled. Aiwa was scared, but perhaps not as much as she should have been, as she turned to face down the cannon aimed at her. Blast cannons were modelled off the older concentration cannons that firebenders operated on battleships, but they still worked with fire, and that meant that Aiwa could, hypothetically, stop the shot –
A shard of spinning lava tore through the tank's barrel, a second cut deep into the turret, and a third, much larger piece smashed into the rift created by the second. The turret hissed and flamed, and Aiwa was sure she could hear the anguished yelling of those trapped inside. She turned to Yangji, but received a shock.
"What on Earth was that? You might be a firebender, but it takes a lot more than pure grunt to stop a blast cannon shot! Even masters struggle with that –"
"Alright, I made a bad call, I'm sorry –"
"Well that mistake almost cost you your life!"
"Then I'll make sure I learn from it! But, please, we should help them." Aiwa pointed to the tank, where the cries for help were getting louder and more pained. Immediately, Yangji tore up another rock, much larger again, and heated its entire mass to boiling temperature.
"Wait! What are you –" Yangji smashed the chunk of semi-solid rock down onto the rear of the tank, and the ensuing explosion blasted bits of metal and rock in all directions. Some hot ash reached Aiwa, who was staring in horror at the wreckage.
"Look, Avatar, that wasn't nice what I did, but there's not room for mercy here –"
Another two tanks came into view around the smokestack building, and Aiwa and Yangji immediately took off to the north, running with the highest terrain between them and the enemy armour.
"Ground Jing, mecha impact in ten seconds, over."
"In here," Yangji growled as a heavy blast cannon shot obliterated an overgrown vegetable patch. Aiwa had forgotten that the Lower Ring had housed the masses of Ba Sing Se before the Winter, and that everything she was seeing had once been the property of some loving and loyal family, now gone forever. "Wait for it..." The pair was now sheltering in another concrete building, though this one was much smaller than any of the warehouses.
"Mecha suits on the ground." The radio message was confirmed by a rumbling crunch, and Aiwa shivered with excitement. The Preservation had improved the suits greatly since they first saw use during the formative period of the old Earth Empire, and now the mecha suits were far more versatile, able to take on any target at any range.
Aiwa peered out through the gloom to see three mecha suits charging into the sides of the enemy armour. Tanks normally beat mechas and infantry at range, but the reverse was true up close. Aiwa couldn't help but grin viciously as the tough walkers crashed into the vehicles. One suit tore the cannon off the heavy tank and jammed it into the hulking vehicle's treads, while another mecha leapt with piston power over a desperate blast cannon round, landing deftly upon the turret of the offending tank and tearing into it with chi-powered plasma claws. The third, a bending modification, engaged their chi generator and lashed out with heavy martial arts. Panicked, point-blank blast cannon shots were overwhelmed by waves of focussed fire which crashed into the light tanks, spinning them around, flipping them over, and melting and fusing metal joints to cripple their capabilities. One tank pulled off a glancing hit against the bending mecha, but the blast cannon caused only light damage to the armoured suit, which promptly leapt high into the air on fiery thrusters and crashed down behind the hostile vehicle. A few moments of straining gears, and the tank was lying upside down in the mud.
"Squad!" Saina shouted, and Aiwa looked around in surprise to see that the rest of Ground Jing 3 had joined her and Yangji in the building. The squad leader was pointing to a large double door at the other end of the small warehouse. The door, although sturdy, was being hit hard from the other side, and would not hold for long. "Stand your ground!" As Saina radioed to check that no other UPF teams were nearby, Aiwa suddenly found herself angry – angry with a man she had never even met. This warlord sought power, and he selfishly sent his soldiers to butcher innocents and –
The metal door was struck from its hinges, and rang loudly as it crashed onto the concrete floor. Through the opening, thirty metres away at the other end of the dim and empty warehouse stormed several dozen rebels in damp leather and masked to the nose.
"Wipe them out!" bellowed their leader, and the UPF sprang into action in response. Clearly, neither this man nor the soldiers under his command had ever fought the Preservation before. And outnumbered as Saina and his men were, this fight was not in the rebels' favour.
Immediately, a UPF metalbender ripped a rusted metal ladder fixed to the ceiling and brought it down upon the rebels. Two were smashed to the ground by the heavy ladder, but the rest charged past. Aiwa and the Preservation soldiers advanced to meet them. A waterbender was launched by an ugly earthbender with no mask over Aiwa's head, but Aiwa kept track of both, toppling them in tandem. With Saina at her side, they barrelled through several attackers. Aiwa could not help but notice Saina's battle prowess as a non-bender. The rebel leader wielded a fearsome blade almost as tall as he was, but the UPF sergeant had taken him on alone. First disarmed and quickly sporting a broken wrist, the last rebel lug had been beaten down in seconds, for the ferocity of Saina's strikes was unstoppable.
Almost as soon as it had begun, the fight was over.
The battle, however, had still not been won almost an hour later. The refinery was huge, and although Chodak had reported the destruction of all remaining tanks at least fifteen minutes ago, many rebel infantry still lurked among the mists of the warehouses and factory equipment.
Having cleared out the central refinery, Aiwa found herself running just behind Yangji. They had begun to work as a team, and although Yangji's confidence had led them against groups twice their own size, their repeated triumphs through a seemingly innate ability to coordinate had helped Aiwa's own confidence to grow.
As the pair exited the top floor of a tall warehouse, moving out onto a stone balcony, a lean firebender kicked out another window to their left and began to shoot fireballs through the opening. Aiwa shifted around the flames, but already several more rebels were charging out of the doorway behind them. Immediately, Yangji tore up a large portion of the conrete upon which they stood, and hurled herself and Aiwa from the ledge. Aiwa felt her stomach leave through her mouth as they hurtled towards the grass, twenty metres below, but Yangji shifted the ground beneath them into a steep slide which brought them both to a halt, unharmed.
One foolish rebel tried to follow them down, but Aiwa shot him with fire, and his body crashed harshly against the wall, before coming to rest upon a jutting rooftop just above them, groaning and shifting painfully.
"Follow me," spoke Yangji briskly, and the two of them quickly ducked around a corner and out onto open, grassy ground. In spite of the thick fog, Aiwa could tell there were no buildings ahead of them for at least one hundred metres. Then, across the open stretch of land, Aiwa saw several dozen figures emerging from another warehouse. Suddenly, Yangji grabbed her arm and fell back, pulling them both to the ground.
"Danger close!"
Three Makila rounds struck the grass in a circular pattern, the closest not fifty metres away from them. Without waiting for her partner, Aiwa gathered her senses and rose to her feet. But as she stepped forwards, she saw the shower of icicles headed her way. Not all of the rebels had been near the Makila strike's epicentre, and several were heading towards her. The drone of Blade engines increased in volume.
Gritting her teeth, Aiwa leapt above the grass on a jet of flames, right over the icicles, and landed mere metres from the attacking waterbender. The rebel was surprised at the sudden advance, and stepped back, raising a wall of ice to protect herself, but was even more surprised when Aiwa drew back also. Taking a moment to project as much chi as possible from her breath into her limbs, Aiwa pushed forwards with both hands. For a split second, her eyes stung in the intense glare from the reflective ice wall as the fire lance shot towards it. Then, water and ice were blasted out and backwards, and the waterbender screamed as flames engulfed her, hurling her backwards.
As a second rebel advanced from her left, Aiwa chanced a defensive motion. Holding back with her right hand, she decreased her profile by turning side on, and thrust her left palm into the onrushing flames. They parted for her, and Aiwa grinned. Her attacker was moving forwards in a familiar routine – it was one that Aiwa had practiced herself, time and time again. She knew how to beat it.
Twisting past a fireball, Aiwa began to spin. Her right hook was powerful, but as her angular momentum increased, it quickly paled in comparison to the power she could summon through rotation. The hostile firebender avoided her first strike, and leapt into the air to deliver a powerful kick. But it was a predictable attack. Continuing to spin, Aiwa lowered her profile under the attack, before delivering a roundhouse fire wave, just as she had seen Mako do in the Spirit World. The rebel's legs were collected out from under him as he landed, but he managed to skilfully roll away from Aiwa's finisher. Ceasing her spinning, Aiwa waited for her enemy to make another move. He was now standing in the rain, panting and clutching his side.
Aiwa suddenly turned, feigning a strike with her right hand but turning to face him defensively with her right outstretched and her left withdrawn. Then, something truly unexpected happened.
"I...yield," the man coughed, raising his hands up towards Aiwa and kneeling down in the mud. Immediately, as if she had been waiting for his surrender, Yangji appeared from Aiwa's left to strap his hands together in a stone clasp and encase his feet in hard earth. The young man grunted as he toppled over.
"I never wanted to fight for him!" he began to cry, and Aiwa moved to stand over him. "Jin Jie has my family – my parents and my little sister – I had to offer something for him to spare their lives! So I offered my services..."
Looking around, Aiwa saw that the UPF soldiers were mopping up now. The rain was intensifying, but the lightning had ceased. A trio of Preservation earthbenders were beginning to carry the bodies of the slain off towards the central refinery on a floating bed of earth, while a number of UPF medics were moving among the rebel casualties, administering aid but sealing their limbs in ice if they moved too much.
"Take care of that one," said Aiwa with a grimace, as Saina began to drag the young firebender away. "I don't think his heart was in it." Saina turned to give her a brief nod, his expression concealed behind his visor, before beckoning to her to follow him. She knew the lecture she would soon be receiving.
Aiwa was cold. Incredibly cold. In spite of the intensity of the battle, the Great Winter had gotten into her bones this time. The Winter...or perhaps her energy had been sapped away by the lives that had been taken. Aiwa's only consolation was that she had not personally killed any of them.
It took her a long time to warm up again.
One hour on, and the rain had finally let up. The clouds had risen up high, but a little mist was still scattered sparsely among the green, brown, and grey of the deserted Lower Ring, with its rusted factories and warehouses, its overgrown gardens, and its brick and steel housing complexes. Then, Aiwa noticed that it wasn't quite so deserted.
She had been wandering the soaked crop fields to the north of the ruined battlefield that was the old platinum refinery when she spotted a number of people who were clearly neither UPF soldiers nor rebels. There was a great commotion around a collapsed building of red bricks, and some smoke was drifting lazily out to sit, stratified, in the air.
The disturbance was loud, and as Aiwa approached the ruined buildings, she realised that the crowd was moaning and crying. The wailing drilled into Aiwa's conscience, and she remembered Chodak's words: "Our priority is keeping our own safe."
Suddenly, someone noticed Aiwa's approach.
"Hey! There's one of them!"
A few young men and women started angrily towards Aiwa, who stepped back, holding up her hands, but her action was unnecessary.
"Stop!" cut in a harsh voice, and Aiwa looked past the youths to see an older man in long green and brown robes and with elegantly tied facial and head hair. "Let the alien come forward to see what she's done!"
Aiwa walked forwards apprehensively, alert to any sudden movements. The locals' faces were dirty and stained with tear tracks, and their anger was strong and clear. As the crowd parted to let her through, Aiwa stared at their leader. He looked down upon her sternly, but Aiwa held his gaze until she reached the collapsed building. As the wind began to pick up, Aiwa looked down upon the destruction of innocent human life.
A dozen bodies lay there, some burned almost beyond recognition. Blackened and charred flesh and faces were exposed here and there, and an acrid smell was present, along with the stench of burnt blood. Aiwa's heart sank, and she had no desire to look upon death any longer. However, as she turned away, a hand over her eyes, the leader moved to block her path, and the crowd closed in a little.
"Nothing to say?" he growled. "You did this." He pointed a tense finger at Aiwa. His expression was cold and set in stone. "You go too far with your –"
"I didn't do this," Aiwa cut in. She did not want to hear this argument again. "I'm a civilian observer to the Preservation's missions. I care about these people, and I am so, so sorry for your loss, but you can't hold me responsible." Her voice was shaking.
"Whether or not you speak the truth, by working with these monsters you allow them to continue to commit such atrocities. You are just as culpable! My people's blood is on your hands!"
"I do not condone this," spoke Aiwa through gritted teeth, her anger getting the better of her, "and it's wrong to blame me for these deaths! I'll be taking it up with the Preservation as soon as –"
"And you'll do what?" cut in a loud, almost haughty voice.
The crowd parted, and Aiwa and the civilian leader turned to see a group of Preservation soldiers approaching. At their head was Xue, and the look on his face was a strange mixture of amusement and animosity.
"What puts you above us?" he asked Aiwa, almost breathlessly. "You "don't condone" this? Would you condone dominance of this region by an insufferable warlord? We did what we had to. We –" Xue jabbed a finger at Aiwa "– are in the right. We always are."
"Small accidents?" breathed the local leader angrily, and the crowd murmured, echoing his sentiments. "You think our suffering is small? We live through the cold of the Winter because of an uncaring Avatar and high and mighty governments like you who think nothing of sacrificing the so-called 'little people' for their greater good!"
"I know about suffering," growled Xue, tearing off his outer cloak. "I lost my arm to Avatar Junto, and then later my own father to the old countries' war!" He bashed the stump of his left arm with his right hand. "And the difference between you and me? I'm enlightened enough not to hold a grudge or wail about my suffering any more. It serves no purpose now! I get on with my life, and now I serve a much greater cause, unfettered by the blurred view of reality from which you clearly suffer. But as for you," Xue turned upon Aiwa, dismissing the affronted local leader "you're one of us, whether you like it or not, so act like it! You need to represent us, not undermine us –"
"So I'm representing the killing of innocents?" Aiwa responded angrily, gesturing to the charred bodies in the rubble behind her. "I can't be part of this...mindless slaughter!"
The locals were starting to back away as the moral argument blew out. Xue stared his student down.
"You forget yourself, Aiwa. Your forget your place – and you forget our primary goal. Survival is all there is, and this venture is but one mechanism through which we guarantee survival. Furthermore, you're implying we killed these people on purpose! Yet nothing could be further from the truth. You think we'd cause this kind of harm intentionally, without good reason? If you don't –"
"And that absolves us, does it?" Aiwa cut in.
She was livid, but Xue was almost equally furious. The locals were also stirring angrily, but the UPF had moved in to stay any actions on their part.
"Of course it absolves us!" replied Xue, his eyes bulging. "I'm not – I shouldn't have to discuss this with you. You know our position on this, and you know damn well that every action is justified if it furthers our goals! If we never acted for fear of hurting innocents by accident, we'd never get anything done! We survive and we succeed because we take risks!"
"Rubbish – the risks are never yours!"
"False. We deployed our own soldiers to protect this region from the warlord! Some Seniors might sympathise with your position – that we should be less assertive – but I push for no compromise. You know exactly why we are the way we are!"
"You're too extreme!"
"And you are so naive!"
For a moment, student and teacher stared at each other, fists clenched and furious. Then, Xue shook his head.
"I will not teach you any more if you won't accept our basic truths."
"I won't learn from you if you can't see that what you condone is wrong. The right to life is immutable! We can't just throw it away so callously!"
Xue shook his again.
"You understand so little. Report to Saina for assignment – now," he finished sharply, before turning away with his hand over his eyes. Aiwa heard him muttering to himself, and her anger faded a little to be replaced by sadness for the locals' losses and a little fear for herself. Her limbs were shaking and her breath came short and sharp.
How would the Seniors council respond to their schism? They would likely not be sympathetic to Aiwa's position, nor would they be happy with Xue for rejecting such an important student. Perhaps they would assign to her a new teacher, and Aiwa thought immediately of the numerous other spiritual experts who could advise her. However, the future was uncertain. She could not know it.
The wind was blowing again as Aiwa set off towards the UPF camp near the ruined central refinery. It was intensely cold, but the shivers that tickled her spine had other origins.
The afternoon only became colder as the day progressed, and Aiwa found herself using her warming breath quite frequently. The location for the Silent Fortress had been chosen for a number of factors, one of which was its comparatively mild climate. Out in the wide world, however, particularly in landlocked regions, the Great Winter was often consistently close to zero, even during the summer months. The ruins of Ba Sing Se were one such region, and she had noticed that the unusually large population of locals had retreated underground or into well-insulated buildings.
Aiwa was heading north towards the Middle Ring, along with Yangji and two other UPF. As they made their way between the tall, silent houses and ruined walls, Aiwa caught the occasional glimpse, growing ever more frequent, of the remaining segments of the Lower-Middle Wall and the glittering skyscrapers beyond. The old megatropolis, however, was completely devoid of human life – so she was told.
The small UPF team, with Aiwa in tow, had been sent to investigate a very interesting report from Ming Zero, and they spotted their target in an open field filled with mud and weeds. Here was a gigantic jet aeroplane from the Diametric War, a Jishu Dominance class bomber. The crew had made an emergency landing here, in open grasslands near the Wall, and the aircraft had never been recovered. Aiwa observed its similarity to the Preservation's advanced but much smaller Blades, whose technological predecessor she now looked upon. Over time, savvy locals had come to appreciate its low-power but potentially eternal chi-generator, and the aircraft itself was now dressed up as a homely village centre.
Suddenly, the UPF all stiffened into defensive stances, and Aiwa saw a little old lady approaching them from the downed bomber. She was ancient, with sagging skin over her cheeks and jowls and a hunch that looked as though she carried the entire city upon her back. Her hair was almost completely gone, and her head was covered by an intricately woven green and brown hood.
"Fear not, youngsters," she said with a smile, approaching Aiwa and the soldiers. "I will see the girl now."
"What?" replied Yangji, muffled through her visor. "She's staying with us. We're here to inspect the crashed –"
"And inspect it you will," said the ancient lady with a strangely forceful voice, talking right over Yangji, "without trouble, too – but only if I see the girl first. Alone."
"Is that a threat?" Yangji growled, raising a sharp stone from the ground and holding it back, ready to launch.
"Wait, hold it," Aiwa cut in, holding an arm out to the side to block Yangji. "I don't mind going with her."
"Av- Aiwa, we can't protect you if you go alone!"
"It's fine. And this way, if this kind, old lady keeps her word, which I'm sure she will," Aiwa nodded and smiled at the ancient women, who returned the kind gestures, "then we complete the mission with ease."
After a moment's consideration, Yangji dropped the stone. She stepped close to Aiwa, speaking quietly.
"Fine. But promise you'll yell if anything goes wrong, alright?"
"Sure, I'll just make sure to pry myself out of the deathly clutches of this sinister old lady," Aiwa chuckled, before taking a step forwards. The ancient women gave a rasping laugh.
"There's death in my eyes!" she croaked, raising two, feeble, arthritic hands, and Aiwa laughed.
As Aiwa reached the downed bomber, just behind the elder, she felt a slight jab of suspicion. This woman seemed kind and innocent enough, but what did she want with Aiwa? The Avatar put herself on guard.
As soon as they were inside the hollowed out bomber, with the door closed firmly behind them, the ancient lady turned and addressed Aiwa, who had barely had time to take in her metallic surroundings, lit by a plethora of candles.
"Avatar, you must be receptive to my words!" The woman straightened up somewhat, and Aiwa took a step back. She was almost at Aiwa's height now, and the change was daunting. "I know what happened when your kind fought the invaders. I know about the deaths that were caused – that many would say you yourself are responsible for. I know you have a kind heart, and that you care when the rest of your kind does not –"
"The Preservation isn't "my kind", and you don't know me!"
"I spoke with the others, believe you me, you're a product of the times, Avatar. Of course survival is important, but what about family, and freedom, and love?"
"How did you know I was the Avatar?" demanded Aiwa.
"The way you speak, the way you act, the fact that you, alone amongst your kind I have met, and I have met a few, care about us!" The old woman spoke as if it were obvious. "I'm here to tell you that the Avatar cannot be detached from the world. You must experience, in some way, the trials and the suffering of us, your people, your responsibility, in order to grow wise enough to be a force for good in this world! I saw your predecessor, yes! I remember his words...heard him speak of us as merely a...'problem to be solved', as though mere intellectual understanding of human suffering would provide a solution! But this says nothing of the fact that we are. We live and experience life, we think and feel, we laugh and love, and we suffer and die. It is like something to be human! Unless you can experience this, unless you live through what it is like to be human, how can you know us? How can you claim to help us?"
Aiwa was silent. The hull of the old bomber creaked and groaned, and the wind played in the metal hollows, howling and sighing distortedly.
"Your kind would have us all live like robots," the matriarch croaked harshly, reaching into her cloak, "but this will help you realise that you are a part of all of us, and that you must live, experience, and understand that on the deepest level for every moment of the rest of your life." And when her hand withdrew from within her robes, in the palm was held a little plastic tube filled with white powder.
"Take it."