99 AG- The Day of Black Sun, Fire Nation Capital
"The Great Gates have been breached! They're on their way!" shouted Yoon, as he looked up from his telescope.
Cursing, I sprinted from the communications station towards the local Domestic Forces HQ, bursting in the door.
Colonel Chengyuang, the commander of the Capital City Domestic Forces garrison, looked up from her battle maps.
"We've received a signal. As we suspected, the ships are there, but they're empty. The outpost suspects waterbending sorcery."
The Colonel nodded, her stern face settling into a look of determination.
"Send the signal to all stations. The invasion will be coming, and no troops are to reveal the... surprise we have in store. If we can, we'll stop them at the beaches and defeat this meddling uprising before the eclipse begins. If not... it'll be the old spear and sword option for us Firebenders."
I saluted stiffly.
"Yes, sir!"
I sprinted back outside and relayed the information. Yoon then gathered his squad of runners and relayed the information to the system of bunkers surrounding the valley-like docks area.
As Yoon and the others ran around, I began feeling a familiar sense of adrenaline that I hadn't felt since the Siege all those years ago.
The clanking of equipment, rumbling of tanks, and distant shouts awoke something in me that I hadn't felt in ages- true anger.
It's the same anger I felt when Hiro and Liao, my two friends from basic training, were killed during that very first patrol. It was the same anger I felt when we had been routed from Ba Sing Se, and the same anger as when I had been imprisoned in the Northern Water Tribes' dungeons.
A flashing in the distance caught my eye, and I looked through the telescope at the flashing mirror, which signaled that the scouts had discovered that the boats had hinges on their hulls, and that some sort of vessel had been contained in each one.
I smiled grimly. The intelligence that we had received seemed to be correct on all accounts.
I walked over to a Messenger Hawk and slipped the coded message that signaled the beginning of the rebel invasion, releasing the proud beast from its cage, letting it soar back towards the hidden armada of airships.
The door to the HQ Tower opened, and a Domestic Forces soldier beckoned me in.
I saluted once more.
"Sir, the messages have been sent, and the fleet should be holding steady until after the eclipse."
"Good. Your work here is done, then, Corporal. Do your best to coordinate the front-line defense until the eclipse begins."
"Yes, sir."
"For the Fire Nation, Corporal."
"For the Fire Nation!"
The invasion, needless to say, was very successful at the beginning. I set myself up in one of the embankment bunkers, looking down towards the canyon that led to the Domestic Forces Tower.
The troops were nervous, understandably, about fighting on their home turf, but they were determined, as well. I was somewhat dismayed to see that a large percentage of the Domestic Forces were younger, 18-year old cadets or older retirees called back into service.
Not that it was much of a surprise, of course, what with most of the military-eligible men and women being sent straight to the Earth Kingdom, but still, it was a far ways away from the Imperial Firebenders or even the Firebending Corps.
The leader of the bunker, a Corporal named Boqin, looked out the firing slit nervously.
"What if they have spirits on their side?" he asked.
"Spirits? What are you going on about," asked Sako, another soldier.
I smiled, leaning against the back wall.
"I-I mean, maybe since these rebels were in league with the Avatar, they..."
Sako looked at me in exasperation.
"There won't be any Spirits. Besides, the Avatar is-"
The distant ringing of bells interrupted my sentence and my heart skipped a beat as I realized what the ringing meant.
"Get to your posts. This is it."
In terror, Sako scrambled up the ladder, interlocking the ballista bolt in its place. I ran towards the ladder, looking up.
"What can you see?"
"Nothing. The outer defenses are firing- wait- do you see that?!"
Cursing to myself, I clambered up the steel ladder and elbowed Boqin out of the way, lifting his spyglass towards the outer defenses. To my astonishment, one of the bunkers had grappeled a large, mechanical vessel that looked remarkably like a fish, with a large, glass bubble at the front. Surprise and awe registered in the others' faces.
"Is that how they bypassed the Great Gates? Underwater ships? What else do they have?!"
"I guess we're not the only ones with the cool toys anymore..." I began.
Then, from the water beside it, a very familiar flying bison with crimson armor covering its body burst from the water, and a flash of blue water resulted in the vessel falling back into the sea. Dread jolted through me. That was the Avatar's Bison, that was for sure. Whether it was actually him or not, either way, it meant that his compatriots were here, and that was a bad sign.
Shoving the spyglass back into Boqin's arms, I slid down the ladder and sprinted out of the bunker just in time to see a cluster of more vessels land on the beach and disgorge long, metallic rectangles that moved forward. As ballista rounds bounced off the thick armor, it became obvious that the Rebels had their own tank as well, which wasn't a good sign.
I sprinted across the ridge, glancing down as the deafening sound of exploding rounds echoed from the canyon below. As I ran, I looked down, seeing a swarm of infantry following the tank and what looked like a colossal creature made of seaweed defending the tanks. Perhaps the young Corporal had been right about the spirit concept after all.
I burst into the Tower, panting for breath. A Lieutenant looked at me in concern.
"Corporal Lee, the Colonel and her staff pulled back to the palace. What are your orders?"
"My... my what?"
"You're the ranking officer, sir..."
I groaned in annoyance.
"Carry on here, Lieutenant. I'll lead the assault from the ground. Good luck."
As the rebel tanks moved inexorably forward, I found myself with a platoon or so of Firebenders. The Lieutenant in charge saluted me, even as rocks and water whips impacted all around us.
"Enough with the ceremony, Lieutenant, pull back!"
"But sir, we can-"
I grabbed the man by his vest.
"The eclipse begins in thirty minutes. Fall back to the Sozin's Road positions, NOW! I'll hold some of them back with your troops."
We sprinted around the side of the massive white tower, holding our ground by the small entrance through the dividing wall as the others made for the distant zig-zagging Sozin's Road in the distance. Judging by the rebels' massive upgrade of technology, they wouldn't have much of a problem getting through said wall, but we'd try anyways.
A group of five men in Water Tribe uniforms came around the corner, brandishing spears. I looked at the two young troopers who had volunteered to stay behind, and groaned in annoyance.
"Watch and learn, kids."
Roaring in hatred, I lunged forward, brandishing dual fire whips. I grabbed one man by the midriff, who began screaming as the fire burned through his armor, and hurled him in the distance. Then, extinguishing the whips, I drew my sword and charged in the middle of the group. I dodged several quick swipes by the spears and grabbed one man by the shin greave, bending fire into my hand and singing his leg badly, causing him to drop to the ground in pain.
Behind me, the hard wood of spear knocked into the middle of my back, sending me flying into the smooth sandstone of the tower. My back ached from the pain, and the warriors surrounded me, angrily glaring at me. Miraculously, however, the killing blow never arrived, and I exhaled a breath, confidence and adrenaline alike growing in my chest.
"You should have killed me when you had the chance, Water Rats."
I bent a wave of fire around me, sending the men staggering back. As they reeled, I leapt to my feet and sprinted through the door, locking the heavy iron door behind me. A cluster of other troops retreating towards the distant volcano looked at me in desperation.
"FALL BACK!"
As the last holdouts and catapult batteries tried their best to batter the ring of tanks into submission, a blue glider swooped from behind us, and my fears were confirmed. Even from this great distance, I could still recognize the young, bald monk with the arrow on his forehead. The Avatar was still alive.
Chengyuang looked at me in fear.
"Is that..."
"Yes, Colonel. It is. Prince Zuko obviously didn't kill the Avatar."
"But if the Avatar is here, then perhaps we could still lose the..."I looked at her sternly, and she caught her tongue, knowing that I would fully report her to my superiors if she spoke too much.
"That's immaterial, Colonel. The armada will cripple the rebel fleet, and not even the Avatar can stand up to the whole Fire Nation military."
She nodded.
Then, suddenly, my limbs grew tired, and I could feel myself tiring out quickly. I looked outside and dread filled me once more as the moon began slowly covering the sun.
"The eclipse is close. Order your troops to hold as long as they can, then fall back to the City proper. The civilians have been evacuated, so they have permission to attack with extreme prejudice. Is that clear?"
The Colonel nodded, looking back towards the rapidly approaching fleet of tanks. Whatever happened now, would be crucial to the future of the Fire Nation.
When I look back on the invasion, I always wonder if it would have been much simpler to just let the Avatar win. After all, we would have saved Ba Sing Se from being ferociously fought over, and we would have prevented Ozai's stint as the Phoenix King and the final collapse of our Nation.
The failure of the Black Sun invasion, while momentarily devastating, only ended up adding fuel to the Avatar's quest of ending the Hundred Years' war. The capture of over five hundred rebels from almost every Nation and region was a mighty victory for the Fire Nation, indeed, but only delayed the inevitable. While Fire Lord Ozai was quick to declare the battle a victory, unrest and rebellion grew all throughout the Earth Kingdom as word of the Avatar's return spread like wildfire. The Fire Nation military, too thinly spread to effectively counter such sedition, found itself engulfed in pacification campaigns and anti-guerrilla operations, resulting in heavy losses for the quickly-depleting Fire Nation.
Taumura, A History of the World.
"No deaths? Are you serious?" Koichi asked.
I nodded, glancing at the courtyard filled with rebel prisoners.
"I heard it from Colonel Chengyuang herself. There was a smattering of light wounds, but otherwise, the rebels didn't kill any of ours. We only manged to kill three or four of them, of course, but still..."
"So, what? It's a rebel group with a conscience? Why in the blazes would you launch an invasion without intending to kill anyone?!"
I snickered, glancing back at the courtyard. The courtyard outside of the Fire Nation National Prison, which had been wrecked when Iroh broke out, had been turned into a makeshift prison for the rebels. Ringed by Firebenders from the Domestic forces and Imperial Firebenders, Fire Lord Ozai had demanded they be kept under close scrutiny until they were all processed.
"How was the air assault from down there?" he asked, nudging me in the ribs.
"Shut up. You guys could have come sooner, save us some bruises."
"We had to make a theatrical appearance. I mean, it obviously worked, since the entire rebel group surrendered."
"You still didn't get the Avatar..." I said, smiling.
"You know as well as I do that it's damn hard to nail that kid with bending. He's a slippery little..."
We were interrupted by Colonel Oda. The Colonel regarded us coldly, and then looked at Koichi.
"Good job, today, Koichi. You can return to the barracks now. Get your rest- you're going after the Avatar and the Prince starting tomorrow."
Koichi looked stunned for a moment, then looked back at me. Then, saluting the Colonel, he walked off, scratching his head in confusion. The Colonel turned his gaze to me, making me squirm slightly in my attention position.
"You did well, today, Corporal. I've decided to give you a field commission- not only were you instrumental in saving the lives of our soldiers, but you also redeemed yourself fully in the eyes of the Fire Lord and the Princess. Congratulations, Lieutenant."
So I decided to go on a bender (no pun intended) and just crank out the rest of Qin Lee. My main reason for doing this will be included in the last chapter, but thanks for reading anyways!
-IGdude117
