Alirght well this is all I got for Chapter 20, so at the speed I'm going I guess I'll have to make another chapter before this story is finished. My interest in Avatar has been pretty much extinguished at the moment.I'll still be working on this story though. The pace will just be a hell of a lot slower. Pretty much a snail's pace, maybe even slower. So the next update will be in about a month or so. I slaved over this chapter, I even lost half of a night's sleep at one point so I hope you guys like this. I think its great of course, but then again every author thinks thier story is great.
"General Qin," the Earth Kingdom scouts saluted as they approached the General. "We brought the Avatar as per your orders, sir."
"So I see," the General responded as he bowed to Aang. "I'm glad we were able to locate you, Avatar."
"I'm glad too," Aang replied as he continued to look around at the Earth Kingdom ships he still couldn't quite imagine how long it had taken to rebuild this many ships.
General Qin followed the Avatar's gaze, smiling he said, "Amazing isn't it? We've been secretly constructing these ships since our last navy was wiped out at the hands of Vice Admiral Xylan."
"You know him?" Aang asked the general as he looked away from the ships long enough to look at Qin. Aang was able to see that the general was easily six feet tall; his muscular body was layed out with an elaborate officer's uniform. It was green, with black shoulder pads that were engraved with what Aang guessed to be some sort of rank insignia.
"I've only heard of him," Qin responded as he led Aang on a tour of their operations. "It seems like you know him," Qin casually stated as the two walked side by side on a section of the wooden platforms.
"Well, he captured me twice and we met face to face while I was captured." Aang stated matter-of-factly as the two walked.
"What was your perception of him?" Qin asked with a growing sense of interest.
"Well he seemed calm, centred…he had a tactical insight that was beyond anything I've ever seen. He told me that he was mentored by Zhou, but he doesn't share any of Zhou's bad traits."
"I see…." Qin stopped walking and his eyes seemed distant, as if deep in thought.
"General?" Aang asked as he looked at Qin, "Are you alright?"
"As confident as I am that we can defeat the Fire Nation. I know that Vice Admiral Xylan is the only person who could possibly stand in our way." Qin said in response as he looked at his troops. "I fought against him once before, but I lost." Qin turned to look at Aang as he said, "I've trained for this moment my entire life, and the upcoming battle will serve to restore balance to the world." And, we will finally see who the better commander is, Qin added silently to himself. Because, although he would never admit it to anyone else, Qin did consider this personal. Shaking off the thought, Qin led the Avatar on a tour of their newly refitted warships.
Vice Admiral Xylan sat in the command chair of the Leviathan as the flagship accelerated through the water in search of the missing Earth Kingdom boat. The Relentless was off the Leviathan's starboard, the warship had to slow down to keep back with the Leviathan.
"Admiral?" A voice inquired off to Xylan's left.
Swivelling his chair in that direction Xylan asked, "Yes, Captain?"
"Captain Tierce reports that they have been unable to locate the Earth Kingdom ship, sir." Vai responded
"Tell Captain Tierce to double his search efforts. We're getting closer, Captain. It's only a matter of time." Xylan stated as he brought his yellow eyes to gaze back at the ocean.
"I see, sir." Vai said, though he couldn't help the doubts from forming in his mind.
"Do you doubt my abilities, Captain?" Xylan suddenly asked with a mildly icy tone as he continued to gaze out at the parting waters.
Vai's eyes widened in surprise and he wondered how the Admiral could've possibly known what he was thinking. Just as Vai was about to form an answer, Xylan spoke by way of explanation, "You haven't moved since I gave you your order, Captain. Clearly something is on your mind."
"Yes, sir. I just can't help but think that this will turn out to be nothing more than a wild goose chase."
"Understandably," Xylan said as he gave a slight smile before continuing, "But it looks like our search has paid off." Xylan pointed to a small boat in the distance that was roughly shaped in a giant U. "Prepare for battle, make it clear to Captain Tierce that I want them disabled, not destroyed."
"Yes, sir!" Vai saluted before informing Tierce of the Admiral's orders.
A few moments later the Leviathan opened fire with all of its forward batteries, sending six fireballs out toward the small ship. Not surprisingly, all of the shots missed their target, though a few were close. After the ranging shots, another barrage was fired from both the Leviathan and the Relentless, sending ten fireballs arcing toward the sky. Just before the fireballs found their target, the small boat accelerated away from the Fire Nation warships at full throttle. Turning to Captain Vai, Xylan ordered, "Show them how far our range extends, Captain."
"Yes, sir." Vai responded with eagerness.
"Distance to target is estimated at 600 meters. Adjust your catapults accordingly." The artillery coordinator shouted from the deck of the Leviathan. "Ready!" The coordinator called in a booming voice, "Fire!"
Instantly the catapults launched, sending another wave of fireballs out to their target. A lone fireball was sent incredibly close to the small boat, it ended up scraping the hull with enough force to push the small ship to the right.
"Admiral, the target is heading toward a small island bearing 26 mark 7." Vai said as he glanced at the small boat and compared their position to the maps that were spread across the bridge.
"So I see." Xylan said, "Order the Relentless to go around the island, we will cut off any possible escape route." As Vai acknowledged the order, Xylan looked at the island and wondered what they were trying to do.
Meanwhile the Relentless pulled out of sight of the Earth Kingdom boat before accelerating to full throttle. As the warship raced around the island the Leviathan continued its pursuit, slowly herding the unsuspecting boat into Xylan's trap.
Aang slowly trudged back into camp, he had left Qin's base an hour ago and he was glad that there was a chance for him to have support for his final battle with the firelord. As soon as he made it back to camp he fell to the ground as Katara tackled him to the ground in a bone-crushing hug. "What's that for?" Aang rasped as Katara squeezed him tightly.
"You were gone when I woke up, I thought something happened!" Katara said, her voice slightly muffled against Aang's chest.
"Well in a way something did happen." Aang said.
"What happened?" Sokka asked as he, Toph, and Zuko came close to the two.
"Well, these earthbender scouts came into our campsite and took me to this island not far from here. It turns out that the Earth Kingdom has rebuilt their entire navy and made improvements to boot."
"How many ships, do they have?" Zuko asked
Aang had to think back to the cavern before he replied, "There were about 500 ships."
Zuko gave a slight shake of his head in disappointment before he said, "That's not enough. The Fire Navy has a total of 800 ships and with a man like Xylan leading them…they don't have a chance of being able to win."
"They don't have to win," Sokka said as his tactical mind started giving him ideas, "All they have to do is distract the home fleet long enough for Aang to quietly infiltrate the Fire Lord's Palace and fulfill his destiny."
"That might work," Zuko slowly said, "as long as they don't fully engage the Fire Navy."
"What about us?" Toph suddenly asked, "I don't know about the rest of you but I'm not a big fan of ship to ship fights."
"We won't be in the actual fight," Sokka said matter-of-factly. "Our group, along with some other soldiers, will be loaded onto small boats. That way the Fire Nation thinks that we were caught just before we invaded their homeland."
"That's actually a good plan," Zuko said with reluctant admiration.
"Well, I try," Sokka said with a small degree of modesty.
The Leviathan continued its pursuit of the escaping boat, the super-carrier was keeping a steady pace toward its target. Due to its massive bulk, however, its top speed was barley enough to keep the small ship in sight. The Leviathan's batteries continued their merciless assault on the Earth Kingdom vessel. The batteries were deliberately concentrated on the enemy's port flank, forcing the small ship on a trajectory heading toward the Relentless.
"Distance to target?" Captain Tierce inquired as he stepped toward his navigation officer on the bridge of the Relentless.
"Distance is estimated at 403.4 metres, sir." The officer reported without looking up from his console.
"Excellent. Engine status?"
"Running as hot as they can safely go sir," The same officer responded.
Looking away from his officers, Tierce glanced over at the observation window. Just coming into view from the far side of the island was their target, the small Earth Kingdom ship. Motioning for Urai to come to his side, Tierce ordered, "Inform all troops to prepare for boarding action." Urai gave a short nod in acknowledgement before he headed to the barracks.
The Relentless continued accelerating toward its target, furious waves formed in its wake as the battleship accelerated above the red-line. "Captain, engines are running 10 beyond the safety line. Emergency cooling will be needed in four minutes."
"Acknowledged," Tierce replied as he gripped the edge of his softly padded chair. Four minutes would be cutting it close for an interception of their target, but it was the only chance they would have if the strike team was to quickly secure the ship.
As soon as the Relentless pulled alongside the target, the Relentless' entire garrison of troops, consisting of fifty fire benders, quickly descended from the towering warship to land on the small ship,. The show of numbers was enough for the enemy ships' ten occupants to quickly surrender. Having secured the ship, the Fire Nation troops remained on board to prepare for Vice Admiral Xylan's arrival.
They didn't have to wait long. Three minutes went by before the Leviathan stopped in front of the Earth Kingdom vessel. Hydraulic pumps kicked steam into the air as they pushed the ship's horn-shaped bow away from the hull, to act as a ramp. As the mist around the ramp cleared, Xylan and four of his honour guards could be seen walking down to the prisoners. Xylan's orange and gold coloured trimmed armour was a close match to the elaborate gold coloured armour of his honour guard escort.
Two of Xylan's honour guards broke their protective box as they moved to stand guard by the ramp. Xylan continued striding toward the prisoners. One of the Earth Kingdom soldiers stepped forward as Xylan stepped past him, "You have no right to detain us!" Xyaln spun around to face the soldiers as he said, "Oh but I do. You were caught for running past a Fire Nation blockade and trespassing in our territory." Xylan spoke with a voice so malicious that several of the prisoners cringed back in fear. "As such," Xylan continued, "you are now prisoners of war. Commander?" Xylan asked, knowing that Otomo was one of the honour guards at his side.
Stepping forward to the Admiral's left Otomo asked, "Yes, sir?"
"Instruct your men to give the prisoners a thorough interrogation." Xylan said coldly as he put an emphasis on the word thorough. "Then have your men search the entire ship. Any information is to be directly reported to me. Is that clear?"
"Completely, Admiral. We won't disappoint you."
"I don't doubt that commander. Dismissed."
"Yes, sir." Otomo saluted as Xylan headed back toward the Leviathan. Turning back to his squad, Otomo barked, "You heard the Admiral. Move the prisoners to the detention area, begin the interrogations immediately. Tell the rest of the squad to come out and search this ship, section by section."
His men acknowledged the order with a shout before running to their appointed tasks.
"Sir!" Otomo barked before snapping to attention inside Xylan's dimly illuminated quarters. It had been four hours since the Relentless had captured the Earth Kingdom ship and Otomo had important news for the Admiral.
"Your report, Captain?" Xylan asked as he continued to read from Air Nomad texts. Xylan had rows upon rows of texts from the other three nations stacked on shelves in his quarters. Now that there were only two nations left who could still be a threat to the Fire Nation, Xylan was studying their cultures intently. His studies of the Air Nomad texts were to be used so that he could gain information about the Avatar. As far as Xylan was concerned there was only one thing that he needed to defeat his enemies in battle: information. Information about a nation's culture was more valuable to Xylan than a battalion of soldiers.
"I regret to inform you, Admiral, that our search of their vessel was inconclusive."
"Understandable," Xylan said as he turned to face Otomo, "I would be surprised if they were careless enough to leave something behind on their ship."
"Yes, sir." Otomo said before continuing, "Our interrogation of the prisoners, however, has revealed some…disturbing news."
"How disturbing?"
"Well sir. It appears that the enemy has rebuilt their entire navy." Otomo said as he half-prepared himself for an outburst of rage. Or, at the very least, a shocking expression to cross the Admiral's face. To Otomo's surprise, however, the exact opposite happened.
Xylan gave a tiny smile as he muttered, "Very resourceful."
"Admiral?"
"It would appear, commander, that I have underestimated our Earth Kingdom enemies. Do you know where this secret shipyard is located?"
A look of surprise flickered across Otomo's face as he wondered how the Admiral had been able to know that. His surprise quickly faded when he remembered that Xylan had a unique sense of intuition. "No, sir. The prisoner who gave us this information told us that he had no idea where it was located. And after an extremely thorough interrogation, I would have to agree."
"I see. But no matter, there is only one thing that the Earth Kingdom Navy will do now.' Xylan said before he looked at Otomo and instructed, "Go to the bridge and tell Captain Vai I want the rest of the fleet to break off their blockade and rendezvous with us at the Fire Nation."
"Yes, sir. Right, away." Otomo made a quick salute before he marched out of Xylan's quarters and toward the bridge.
Aang breathed out a heavy sigh as he layed down in his tent, his body was exhausted after today's events and he was glad that he could just go to sleep and relax. Soon after he thought this, Aang drifted off into a deep sleep…
"I see you failed to take my advice." Vontor sadly stated. Aang looked around in surprise, but he soon realized that he was in the Spirit World. Avatar Vontor had brought his face up just enough to gaze at Aang with sad eyes.
"But I made her a promise that I would control my feelings."
"And you think that will solve this!" Vontor roared, his blue eyes flashing with anger.
"I tried to let her go but I can't do it."
"You can't just turn off your feelings, Aang. This promise won't be something you can uphold."
"You're right I can't turn off my feelings. So I can't let her go and I can't just pretend my feelings won't interfere. So what do you want from me!" Aang shouted as he cried out in desperation for a solution.
"You know what you need to do." Vontor stated with a sad voice as he already knew what Aang's response would be.
"I. Can't." Aang stated slowly
"Then you have failed your training. If you choose this course of action, I guarantee you will lose control."
"You're wrong." Aang stated, though he didn't feel nearly as confident as he sounded.
"I hope so Aang. For your sake." Vontor's last statement echoed in his place as his form disappeared before Aang's eyes.
The rest of Aang's sleep was plagued by Vontor's words….
The next morning, Aang woke up sweating. His mind was racing as the conversation with Vontor continued to play in his mind. Waking up with a groan, Aang pushed himself out of bed, General Qin would be mobilizing his forces by now and Aang wasn't going to miss the most important day of his life.
Five hundred battleships accelerated out of the plateau; despite their heavy weight the ships were able to attain a top speed equivalent to a small patrol boat. General Qin straightened to his full height as he watched crewers scrambling to and fro in an attempt to load the trebuchets, seal pressure doors, and double check the status of every system on the ship. With the most important battle in this century long war about to be brought to a conclusion they couldn't afford to take anything for granted.
Vice Admiral Xylan sat on the command chair of the Leviathan something told him that this battle would be a day long remembered. Xylan knew that victory meant far more than just the destruction of the Avatar, it would also mean the destruction of the Royal Family. With that accomplished there was nothing that could stop Vice Admiral Xylan from conquering the world, he smiled at the thought. This would be a glorious day indeed