R&R if it takes your fancy, I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I have enjoyed writing it!
The Fall of the Fire Nation
Azula sat quietly in an observation area above the bay chokepoint. In front of her, the majority of the varajan 9th Legion stood as it made its final preparations to fight their sister legion.
Her observation room was bare. Only a few plans were laid out in military fashion on the main table. Azula was thankful she had this fleeting moment of respite. She had much on her mind.
Her mind focused for a while on Saturno. She had accepted that she was in fact infatuated with him. But she had also accepted that she was not going to do anything about it. It was something that could never be, after all, she had heard all about how Saturno dealt with conquered cities. He was much more merciful than her people had ever been. But the mere prospect of losing and being conquered was...unsettling.
From when she had agreed with Saturno on how they were going to stop Dahlia, and how they were going to deal with the legion, she knew she had done something...wrong.
Saturno's true loyalties, she knew, lay only with his legion and with Aang. He was going to seek to do what was best for both.
She had come to accept that she had damned the Fire Nation. First by allowing Dahlia and Saturno's parents to come there in the first place, then by sticking a deal with them, and now, by negotiating with Saturno to stop them. For the first time in a long time Azula felt helpless, but somehow she also felt at peace. That sense of scheming, trickery and malice was quiet. Perhaps it was because she had met her match, or perhaps it was her subconscious acknowledging that if she tried anything she would die.
An overwhelmingly agonizing death most likely...
She had effectively killed her nation's chances of freedom, and more so, their dreams of grandeur.
These people, the varajans. They knew more about warfare than she or anyone in the world could hope to learn in a hundred lifetimes. It was as though, these people had never in their lives known peace. And more, Azula had found out that varajans had a civilization as old as time immemorial.
The four nations were roughly 10,000 years old. But Varajo, was presumably upwards of 100,000 years old.
This nation was far older than theirs, far more advanced, far more learnt, far more violent.
Azula had noticed that somehow, these people found everything, everything about the Fire Nation either laughably pathetic, or offensive in its audacity to presume it was worth something. They regarded the Fire Nation to be their inferiors in every way, and treated them as such.
What if Dahlia won?
Azula shuddered at the thought.
The Royal Guard, her father's own bodyguards were bested by grunts in the legion. Even veteran grunts without bending abilities. These varajans fought with a viciousness and malice that unsettled her father. Azula had the feeling that he was beginning to realize just how dangerous these people were.are.
"Good, It'll do him some good to pull his head out of his ass long enough to acknowledge that there is a bigger fish" she thought.
Trained from birth to take life, beaten and worn until even the young girls in the legion almost seemed to be carved out of wood in how strong they were, was a sign of how far out of their league they were.
These people treated hers with disdain and contempt, when they looked at her troops, when they looked at her. The shine in their dead eyes, at times it wasn't contempt, it was hate. A malicious hate, the kind of hate her soldiers had when they took everything from the conquered.
She saw everything in her mind, like she could see everything that was going to happen.
The varajans win...
Our troops lose their balance by fall of the capital...
An internal power struggle will likely take place...
The rest of the world counter attacks...
We lose everything...
Everything we have done will be paid back a hundred fold...
She felt enough sorrow to cry but nothing came out. Her mind settled on Saturno, she allowed herself to fantasize; what if Saturno had been born in the Fire Nation, and what if he and she had been friends. Not friends like Mai or Ty Lee, real friends.
She saw her life in a linear path, from infants, to children, to near adulthood as both were now.
He likely would have been the conscience she never had.
She heard a knock on the door.
"Come in" she said without turning around.
It was Mai and Ty Lee.
"Varajan warships have been spotted, we should go to the bunker" said Mai, Ty Lee looked like a frightened child.
Even with her acrobatics, by bugging the varajans, she got she shit kicked out of her.
She had a broken arm and a black eye, the other was bloodshot. Azula considered her to be lucky that was all they did. Not surprisingly, trying to block chi points with the varajans only irritated them further as these are sensitive spots in the body. The varajans did not use chi, their whole spiritual energy system was something else entirely.
As Azula stepped out and started on the way to the bunker, she silently prayed that it would be Saturno, not Dahlia stepping into the throne room victorious. If Dahlia decided to look for her after figuring out that Saturno was still alive, she was in trouble, and more so if Dahlia found her.
Azula allowed herself one more look at the sea, the black sails on the horizon.
"Goodbye" she silently whispered, bidding farewell to what could have been between Saturno and her, giving way to what is. She is the conquered, he is the conqueror. Although, if he would prove to be a savior rather than a tyrant. That had yet to make itself clear.
The sky was darkening more than it already had, as Azula walked by the wall she felt the ripple of energy a great varajan bender.
She saw Saturno's father, clad in white armor looking at the sky. Dozens of priests doing the same thing as their master raised their hands to the sky. A whirlpool of unnatural clouds began to ebb and form above the battlefield.
This day was a firebending day, or at least it was supposed to be one. Even with the eclipse heralding the coming comet.
The varajans were blocking out the very sky, after a moment the sun was gone. A storm brewed, the sky's vivacious blue color was washed away as if by black waters. It became a worn and gray as an ancient, water battered painting.
Azula knew, today, regardless of her father and the Avatar's incontrovertible confrontation. It was she, not Aang who defeated the Fire Nation, albeit unwittingly. The battle to come between those two was eclipsed by the coming army. Regardless, there was one thing that was sure...
That day... would never be forgotten.
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Aang and the rest of the group came out of Saturno's room when Palla, Sofia, Mouth and Aksavit suddenly got up and went outside, not before getting their weapons and armor, there had been some shouting from the troops outside.
Saturno had only stepped inside before for a moment to strap on his armor and get his weapons.
He looked a bit upset...
When the group went outside, they saw Saturno at the head of the wheel of the ship and troops shuffling around getting everything ready. He shouted something to Palla and Sofia, the elder one brought out what looked to be a staff and opened to reveal a glider, not unlike Aang's new one. She jumped off with Sofia hanging on to her belt, but not before saying their good lucks. Aksavit shot them a smile and waterbended a small block of ice about the ships. These were Saturno's captains.
Mouth went up to Saturno and took hold of the wheel as he jogged to the cannons trying to get a stray strap tied. Mouth gestured the children to get behind him on the ship's oversight. They felt a little out of place not knowing what to do.
Toph felt out of place most of all, she wanted to say something to Saturno, anything, but she had missed her chance. A flood of feelings was being held back like bile in her mouth, unable to swallow it back, and not able to let it out.
Mouth at one point raised his head and shouted to the armada in a voice that echoed, carrying the message; "To arms! To the last, we kill them all!". A storm of cheer in both varajan and common was heard throughout the armada. All of the westerners were unsettled by the varajan's joy, if not lust for the knifework to come.
Saturno saw everything in slow motion for a moment, if not in fast motion. He couldn't tell if he was slow, or if it was the world. This nauseating feeling of the battle to come, sixteen years of fear of his parents, his own insecurities, Toph's feelings, his death. All crashed into his mind in that instant.
He clutched at his heart painfully, then almost by instinct he looked at the sky, the unnatural clouds forming above the battlefield and well into the ocean. He could hear the whisper, above the endless whispers of wry energy forming the maelstrom above their heads.
-Saturno...
It was his father's voice, barely a whisper, but it was there.
His face contorted in fear, sorrow, pain, reluctance to fight. Cold rain began to rain on the ship, first a drizzle then a torrent. All the feelings faded away like embers of a dying fire, replaced by a new one. Amongst the endless amount of feelings that surged and bubbled up at a steady and fast pace from his heart, the one that was clear; was rage.
He opened his mouth and screamed as hard and long as his lungs would allow. Steam blew from his mouth, contrasted by the freezing rain.
The group saw this... his whole reaction.
They felt afraid...
Saturno almost violently threw his head back and looked at Mouth and shouted "Go!".
The first line of ships opened their full sails and shot forward noticeably faster than the rest of the armada.
From the dark statue of another Fire Lord of ages past emerged six Fire Navy ships. These wasted no time in lighting their ordinance and firing.
The crews of the varajan armada either had smiles on their faces, or bloodlust as the shots from the trebuchets went high, short or were brought down by water or airbending troops on the ships.
Katara looked at Saturno questioningly, they all did, at least the gang when he took Mouth's place and the same went below deck, his black robes completely soaked by the tempest.
As the line of ships from the varajan armada aligned themselves to pass between the Fire Navy ships Katara couldn't hold herself any longer. "Saturno! What are you doing? We are going to get rammed!", he only looked back at her and laughed with a snappy chuckle. "Bow Cannons!" he screamed, Sokka, no less frightened than his sister noticed that long, heavy tubes came from the side of the ship. These had lion or dragon head ends, coming out of the mouths of other small doors which were carved to look like faces.
The Fire Navy shifted and accelerated their engines to full as they aimed for the wooden ships. The one who aimed at the Death's Head at the front of Saturno's ship was shoved aside as simultaneously all the crewmen and women on the top and middle deck capable of air and waterbending moved as one. The ships were pushed aside and forced to go into their original intercut line. As the ships passed perfectly parallel to them. Orders were given.
Toph heard the succession of orders from one end of the line to the other and the succession of low and thunderous booms that followed.
-Fire!!
A barrage of booms...
-Fire!!
-Kill Them!!
Continuous fire...
-Unleash Hell
-Rend them Limb from Limb!!
The scream and groan of metal being torn into along with the void-like sounds of the guns firing...
When it got to Saturno's ship, "Fire!!" he screamed, his head trembling with the intensity of fervor he placed into the order. The cannons promptly obeyed.
As the ships passed between the Navy firing from both sides, the metal ships were torn and shredded by the heavy ordinance from the varajan ships. Men and women of the Fire Nation jumped ship. Some were hit with arrows, others sucked down into the depths by the cruel waterbending varajans.
Only now, the gang was beginning to realize, that these people didn't fight like it was planned. To defeat, to make surrender. No. These people fought to kill, for carnage, and they enjoyed it so.
Only a few, heavily battered ships remained in the water, barely floating, some taking on water. Left to be torn apart by the second wave of varajan ships.
As Saturno and the armada continued into the bay, but not before tearing apart the statue of the Fire Lord with their cannons, the gang began to wonder how was this all going to end. Each one had his or her own thing on their minds. Sokka hoped he could find Suki when this was over. Katara was astounded at how she was seeing a side of Saturno she had never seen before, and of how singular he and his people were in being merciless. Butchering whatever Firebender tried the ships for help or quarter. She couldn't deny, she did get some measure of satisfaction out of all this, but this was not how it was supposed to be.
Aang most of all, was scared, he was feeling like he had unleashed death upon the land, by first letting Saturno survive. And second from letting him get the legion. Both were necessary for the war, but he couldn't help but feel remorse. No one deserved to have these kinds of adversaries. No one deserved to have this kind of fate, to die at the hands of these people.
Toph however, was quiet. She knew who Saturno was, she knew he had killed people before, he had killed people before in front of them. She was dealing with the fact he was going to kill a lot of people today. He said once before to her, that he had been knee deep in blood before, she didn't want to picture that. Much less experience it herself.
The ships reached the shore without a struggle. As they got off and formed their phalanxes, the gang and the rest of the westerners formed up behind the army. Everyone was out of place, the well coordinated machine of the legion marched forward.
Foot soldiers with axes and swords flanked the spear wielders, archers behind them, and the riders on the strange creatures that the varajans called horses, towered behind them. The steel armor of the soldiers was a frightening sight, the metallic, closed helmets gave the soldiers a look of a symbol rather than a person, making them all the more intimidating in their black, sage armor.
Rain battered the landscape, the sky was a dark, waning teal. The unnatural maelstrom raged above their heads.
There was no wind.
Just the sound of rain and the shouting messages of the soldiers in their native tongue.
Saturno felt nothing inside him. No fear, no love, no hate. He couldn't feel anything anymore...save bloodlust. He marched on foot in front of his army. With the singular purpose of killing all in his path, even those he "loved" if they got in his way.
The little seed that had been festering for some time, despite his sister's kindness, the gang, his new self discovery, Toph, bloomed for the first time... A rose, birthed from all the suffering he had endured, a rose as black as hell itself, and it was aimed at his father and mother.
He couldn't care about anything anymore, his desire for peace, his dreams, all that was best in him. Even though he didn't realize it, with every step he took, he was letting a great part of him die, step by step.
He was Saturno Aeleas Rakanus, he was a Soldadus.
They marched silently towards the sister legion...