The Siege: pt.3
Hong couldn't believe his luck, as he and the other members of his group exited the tunnel and walked into an abandon area of the capitol's port area. It was just hours ago that he had met with Fire Lord Zuko and demanded that a ship be given to them and that it take them back to the Earth Kingdom, or else the hostages that they had taken would be harmed. Hong knew that the Fire Lord would have no choice but to submit to his demands, seeing that Zuko was the type willing to do anything to ensure the safety of his people. But Hong also knew that Zuko would was not about to let he and his group out of the Fire Nation and get away so easily.
Hong knew that Zuko would try to lay some kind of trap to capture, if not kill them and Hong knew that there was nothing that would stop an enraged fire fender from seeking revenge for the attacks on Ember Island and the capitol. But Hong and his group had a plan for just this sort of situation, they knew that during their mission that there may come a time when they would be surrounded and they would need a way to escape before they could be caught. That was while Hong ordered that a tunnel be dug and that it lead to the port area just in case Zuko decided that a full on assault was the best course of action. But Zuko thought better of it, he met with the militant leader in an attempt to end the crisis peacefully and before any one else got hurt. All the while Hong had his men dig out a tunnel using earth bending so that they could make an easy escape if need be.
But the real genius of his plan came when it was time for he and his group to make their way towards the port with their hostages in tow. But instead of making the long walk to the port where a possible trap awaited them, they dressed up the some hostages in there uniforms and tied swords to their hands in such a way that it looked like that they were holding them to the necks of the other hostages that were with them. With their faces covered with masks and all eyes focused on the false Fuchou, the real group made their escape through the tunnel and towards the port. Now they could acquire a vessel of their choosing and make their way back to the Earth Kingdom where they would not only be treated as heroes, but begin to plan possible future attacks on the Fire Nation.
"Hurry up! We are going to destroy the tunnel once every one is out!" one of the Fuchou members called out to the men as he helped them out of the tunnel.
"Be Quiet!" Hau snapped, as he oversaw the movement of the men, "do you want the Fire Nation know that we are here?"
"Just hurry up," Hong added, "the scouts have found a coal carrier we can use."
"Really?" Hau asked, as he walked up to Hong, "What's the name?"
"Does it matter? By this time next week we will be in the Earth Kingdom, seen as heroes and patriots to our people." Hong stated as he rested a had on his friend's shoulder, "Why do you care what's the name?"
"No reason, I was just curious that's all." Hau replied, as he turned away from his friend and continued to over see the evacuation of the men from the tunnel.
Within a few minutes the last of the Fuchou had exited the the tunnel, as couple men turned towards the tunnel and were about to seal it to ensure that any one that may have been following then would only find a dead end. But before they could do the deed a mighty gust of air knocked the men onto the ground, as a shadowy figure flew out and landed on it's feet. Alerted by the commotion, every one looked to see just what had happened and when they did, they were met with the sight of the Avatar standing there with a look of anger mixed with disgust.
"Well...well...well... The Fire Lord's lap dog has finally decided to grace us with his presence." Hong greeted Aang with a teasing tone, as he walk to the front of his group, "I am guessing that your master sent you to stop us?"
"Have you any idea just how many innocent people you have hurt in the past few weeks?" Aang said, trying his best to keep his temper in check.
"Believe me avatar, there was nothing innocent about them." Hong replied as he walked up to the avatar and stared him down, "You know as well as I do that the Fire Nation is guilty of crimes against the rest of the world. But instead of punishing them for what they have done, you allowed them to live there lives as if nothing happened. You of all people should know what kind of people they are after what they did to your people."
Aang took a moment to gather up his thoughts before he said, "Yes I know that because of the Fire Nation I am the last of my kind, but that was over a hundred years ago and though I can't change the past I can not dwell on it. Those that are responsible for destroying your lives will be punished and I will see to it that the do, but this is not they way to do it."
"Funny, thanks to me and my group the Fire Nation finally knows what it is like to be ravaged by war. They know how it feels to live under the constant threat of attack and how it feels to be defenseless against an unstoppable foe who knows no mercy. While you only talk about forgetting the past and forgiveness." Hong countered.
"But that is the only way the world can move on and look forward to a better future." Aang said with a pleading tone, "You all must learn to forgive."
"You are a very niave little boy." Hong taunted, "Have you not notice that the rest of the world still hates the Fire Nation for what it did? Hundreds of thousands dead, farm lands and forest destroyed to a point where it will take centuries for them to recover and while the rest of the world suffers the people of the Fire Nation live in a blissful arrogance, unaware of the suffering that it has caused."
"But that still does not give you the right to kill innocent civilians!" Aang snapped, angered by just how Hong showed no remorse for what he and his men had done.
"And just what are you going to do about us?" Hau interjected, "Even if you do stop us, it would not stop the world from praising what we did, nor would change the general perception of the Fire Nation. The world will forever see the Fire Nation as a country made up of evil creatures and heartless beings that only want to destroy. Any news of the Fire Nation's misfortune gives the world great joy, or have you forgotten that "accident on Wu Tong island?"
Aang's eyes widened and said in shock, "You were responsible for that?"
"One of our proudest achievements if you ask me," Hau said with a smile, "It was not easy taking that ship and killing its crew, but the end result was worth it."
"That is ENOUGH!" Aang roared in anger as a gust of wind sprang up and knocked all of the men on the ground, "All of you shall be punished for what you did!"
"Go ahead," Hong said as he got back on to his feet, "There is no court in the Earth Kingdom that would charge us and as for us face the courts in the Fire Nation.. well... lets just say that our supporters would not let that happen."
A puzzled look flashed upon the avatar's face before he remembered what general Chao had told him about the Army of Fuchou's influence over the Earth Kingdom. Of how there were many nobles and military officers in the Earth Kingdom that were very sympathetic towards the group despite being considered a militant organization by the government. "Even so, I will not allow you to continue this blood lust of yours." Aang declared, as he brought his staff up and went into a fighting posture.
But as Aang was about to let loose with his powers he was forced to dodge several iron fist that flew towards him, causing him to do every thing in his ability to avoid being struck with the deadly projectiles. When Aang recovered from the attack and looked towards the group, he saw that a large number of them were now dressed in the same uniforms that were once worn by the now infamous Dai Li.
"Did I mention that a large portion of my men were once Dai Li agents?" Hong said with a hit of amusement in his voice as he looked on at the now stunned avatar, "I think you should get reacquainted with them while the rest of us go in search of a vessel. You have fun now." and with that the former Dai Li let lose with another barrage of iron fist at avatar, while the remainder of the group went off into the night.
Aang only had seconds to react using his air bending to to launch himself into the air, over the Dai Li's and letting lose with with a furious gust of wind that knocked over some of them. But the Dai Li were quick to recover and struck back again, this time one of them managed to clip Aang and sent him spinning in the air. But the nimble avatar recovered quickly and launched a number of fire balls at his would be assailants as he managed to catch to of them off guard and burned off all of their clothes. Leaving the two of them both stunned and stark naked, long enough for Aang to use his earth bending and trap them in a pillar of soft earth and rock.
But there were still many more Dai Li to deal with and all of them did charged Aang, moving swiftly as the advanced on him. But once again using his earth bending skills to his advantage Aang sent up multiple pillars of earth in the Dai Li's path, sending a number of them flying into the air and into the near by water. Quickly following up his attack and using the near by sea water, he sent a massive tidal wave crashing into the remaining Dai Li and into a nearby building. In all the fight had lasted only about 2 minutes and in the end...
Avatar : 01
Dai Li : 00
With the Dai Li finally subdued Aang could now focus on capturing Hong and the rest of his men. With a heavy sigh Aang ran in the direction he saw them go and hoped that he could catch them before any one else could get hurt.
For what seemed like hours Aang ran along the docks, all the while his mind working overtime and trying to figure out just how he was going to stop these fanatics from getting away. But as he rounded a corner he soon realized that capturing them was no longer a problem, for now in front of with their hands on their heads and standing perfectly still were in fact Hong and the rest of his men. While in front of them were about a hundred or more Fire Nation solders, all armed with cross bows and backed up with a dozen or so tanks.
"By order of his grace Fire Lord Zuko, you are all hear by under arrest for crimes against the Fire Nation and its people!" a young officer declared with a voice that commanded respect. "You are all ordered to lay down your arms and surrender at once or we will open fire on you!"
Every one in the group looked at Hong to see just what he had to say, but all he did was motion to them to lay down their arms and surrender with out a fight. They were a bit hesitant at first, but one by one they all disarmed themselves and allowed the Fire Nation solders to take them into custody. The rein of terror that was the Army of Fuchou had finally come to an end in the Fire Nation.
As Aang walked up to the solders, he soon recognized the one who had spoke as being Colonel Yang. "How did you know that they would be down here?" the avatar asked the young army colonel.
"The truth is, we didn't." Yang began to explain, "Fire Lord Zuko had deployed troops all over the city just in case things went wrong. This group was already posted on the docks to provide security but when we found the tunnel Zuko ordered that I send my men here to reinforce the garrison here just in case they tried to steal another ship. It looks like that his hunch was right."
"Indeed." Aang replied, as he looked on at the Fire Nation's newest prisoners. But as he looked on at the faces of the now defeated Fuchou he noticed that all of them had rather calm looks on there faces, something you would not expect from a group of militants that were now facing the prospect of sending the rest of there lives in a Fire Nation prison. Normally one would expect to see a look of despair and fear on some ones face when in such a situation, but these men looked as if they were not afraid by the fact that they may never see home again.
But it was the look on Hong's face that really had Aang on edge. It was a look of pure evil and confidence, mixed in with a smile that said he knew something but what, Aang did not know. All the avatar could do was let that thought sink in as began to help Yang and his men round up Hong, Hau and the rest of the Army of Fuchou.
The following morning the Fire Nation would wake up to the news that the ones that had caused so much death and destruction in there nation had been captured and there would be massive celebrations to suit, but that euphoria would be short lived as both they and that avatar would soon learn just how much the Army of Fuchou really had in the Earth Kingdom.
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A/N: Sorry if this chapter is a bit short. But stay tuned, ther Saga ends in the next chapter. PLEASE R&R and tell me what you would like to see happen to Hong, Hau and the rest of the Fuchou.