For those who absolutely adore action and combat sequences, sorry to inform you that it will be quite a while before the final battle actually starts.
The good news is, we get to build suspense, and can take a gander at just how big this battle is gonna get.
Thant was recently informed about the appearance of the cultist fleet. He still could not believe that such idiots would actually believe that this Daemon was a messiah of sorts.
"Well, there goes our orbital support." Thant sighed. "The fleet will be far too busy engaging the cultists up in orbit."
He was with most of the other commanders, waiting for the rest to arrive. They needed to coordinate a workable defensive strategy, and that would require the presence of all of the military brass present on the planet.
Finally, the remaining members of the planning session had arrived. Aang walked in with his friends, and with the other military leaders of the native forces. When he saw who was at the map room table, he smiled and jumped for joy.
"BUMI! You're alright!" Aang yelled out as he ran to give Bumi a hug.
Aang noticed that a lot of familiar faces were here as well. There was Jeong Jeong, Bato, Smellerbee and Longshot, and pretty much every other skilled warrior that they had ever encountered in their journey. Even the Yu Yuan archers and Rough rhinos were present, having joined the fight to save their world.
"You're all here too?" Aang promptly asked.
Bumi offered up a smile, "That's right my boy, we are all in this together."
"DAD!" Katara and Sokka said in unison when they spotted their father. They rushed to greet him, and they hugged him tight, as if they never meant to let go. He hugged them closely, happy that their family was together again.
Suddenly, it occurred to Katara that Smellerbee and Longshot were not with Jet.
"Where's Jet?" She asked. All Smellerbee and Longshot could do was frown and hang their heads low. Katara was stricken with grief, and although she new it was entirely possible; she never thought she'd actually have to confront the issue of his death.
Thant noted Katara's sorrow, but could not give any help or consolation at the moment. There were much more important issues that needed to be resolved.
Turning to Zuko, He said, "There are two people here who want to see you."
"Who?" Zuko asked. When he looked around to see who it could possibly be, His eyes went wide when he saw a particular individual amongst the crowd.
"AZULA!" He growled furiously. If it hadn't been for Thant stepping in between the two, flames would have been flying by now.
"ENOUGH!" Thant shouted. "I suggest you get your facts straight before you lose your temper."
Azula was quaking in her boots, and an expression of fear blanketed her face. Zuko's expression softened, and was replaced by a puzzled look. This was not the Azula he knew; the strong, proud, and utterly fearless Azula was not present.
"What happened to her?" Zuko asked.
Thant answered his question, "According to some of our seers, she was apparently under the influence of some malevolent power. It lost its grip on her shortly after the comet arrived."
"Of course!" Zuko thought. He had forgotten about the vision that he received. If it was true, then Kroguran must have spent all his energy in manifesting himself, returning his sister back to being a normal person.
"Zuko, I'm so sorry." She cried out tearfully. She ran towards him, and cried on his shoulder. Half of him was absolutely awestruck at her sudden 360 degree turnaround, while the other half emerged as the caring brother that he should have been.
Iroh whispered something into Zuko's ear. Zuko then took his sister's hand, and spoke to her.
"Come on; let's talk about this issue somewhere else, so that we won't bother these gentlemen."
She nodded in agreement, and they left the command tent.
"So, where's the other person that wanted to see him?" Aang asked.
"Perhaps it is best to let Zuko and Azula sort this out first before he meets the other one." Thant suggested. He then gestured for the assistants to bring him the army status report. Thant took one look at the report, and almost fainted.
It was a general's dream come true, and also his most horrendous nightmare. They had all sorts of troops and equipment available, but the logistics and planning needed to put them to use was pure murder.
They had lots and lots of core world soldiers; Thant new that for sure. The fringe world levies had an extremely massive presence as well.
They had everything. They had at least 2 to 3 companies from each of the 10 different space marine chapters currently present, complete with armored support and heavy weaponry. They had thousands of Torumekian tanks and cavalry from earth 6, accompanied by their vassals from the periphery kingdoms. The periphery soldiers were a particularly valuable asset, with their ranks upon ranks of disciplined riflemen, led by their warrior princes and kings who rode atop powerful and swift aerial gunships. The united earth nations of earth 23 had at least 300 Spartan-IIIs available on the planet, and at least 7 million colonial marines. The list just went on and on.
"Heck, we've even got 7 members of Shironian royal guard present here." Thant exclaimed.
"What the hell! What's so special about a measly handful of men?" Leo Heinemann asked.
Thant gave him a sour look, "Leo, the Shironians are a race of super humans. 7 of them, especially royal guard, are worth at least 10 million men."
That definitely shut Leo up. Some of the other commanders chuckled at Leo's hasty blunder.
Princess Kushana, lady militant of the Torumekian army, asked Thant, "So, what is our plan?"
Thant explained to her, "At this point, it's basically just an old fashioned last stand. However, I have a plan that could at least buy us some time, hopefully long enough for reinforcements to arrive from the federation."
Thant picked up the report sheet, and noted, "I noticed that there is an excess of long range infantry available."
One of the commanders spoke up, "So? Is that a problem?"
Thant just returned a blank stare, "You don't see me complaining. In fact, once the battle starts, I want those excess men to perform a Catalaunian Crawl."
Every senior officer at the table gasped. The Catalaunian Crawl was famed throughout federation space. It is considered to be the most effective tactic to counter enemy infantry in a tightly funneled, open battlefield. The valley they were holed up in was a perfect place to perform the maneuver. This was definitely gonna be an interesting spectacle.
He gave the other commanders their orders, after which they rushed off to get things ready. Aang approached the warmaster.
"Excuse me, mister Thant, but I and my friends would like to help." Aang requested.
"Very well." Thant agreed. "Aang, you and Malu will help the air benders set up a supportive defense strategy."
"Katara, Sokka, you will go instruct the water benders to assemble near the chapel, where father martin will distribute containers of holy water with which you could fight the demons."
"Toph and Suki will go give the earth benders a pep talk. Also, since I heard that Toph is a metal bender, she could help the men set up some steel barricades."
"Iroh, go tell Zuko and Azula that the remaining fire nation forces will be put under your command."
"Damocles, go ask the armory to get you a new battle suit, and go form up with the rest of the Centurion battle force."
They all nodded, and set off to get things done. Things were finally starting to pick up.
"Let's get this party started." Thant enthusiastically stated.
Meanwhile, high up in orbit, the fleet division captains had assembled within the Trinity to formulate their own strategy.
Captain Murrue Ramius of the Archangel was head of the Earth Alliance/Z.A.F.T. sub fleet, and also the commander of the flanking division of the fleet.
Captain Paulus of the Ultramarines' battle barge, The Interdictor, was head of the Imperium sub fleet. He was also the commander of the support division of the fleet.
Then there was Poseidon, a renowned star legionnaire who was put in charge of the Maelstrom while Thant is campaigning on the ground. He was in charge of the assault division of the fleet.
Lastly, there was Admiral Norris himself, who personally lead the entire core worlds sub fleet. He was the head of the central division of the fleet.
"So what's our plan?" Captain Ramius asked.
Admiral Norris lit another one of his cigars, and explained, "Our goal is to buy as much time as possible for our ground forces to hold out. In that regard, we must work to prevent the enemy fleet from bombarding the surface or dropping combat troops onto the ground."
"What are your suggestions?" Captain Paulus asked.
"I want you all to follow standard fleet engagement protocol, with but one exception. Focus more on disabling their orbital bombardment capabilities, and destroy any dropship that tries to land. Also, try to conserve you forces." The admiral instructed.
"But we can't hold out long against a fleet of that size and caliber." Captain Ramius protested. "It will take at least 6 hours for the reinforcements to charge their D-drive generators, and before that, they will perhaps need 24 hours or more to assemble a fleet of sufficient size. We need to..."
Admiral Norris quickly interrupted her, "I am well aware of that, Captain Ramius! But those men on the ground are depending on us. If we abandon them now, then they are as good as dead."
She fell silent, and the other two captains had a solemn look. They understood well what was being asked of them, and they had to face it with courage and resilience.
Admiral Norris stressed to them of the importance of making a stand, "This battle is going to be unlike anything I've ever seen before. Nothing of this magnitude has ever happened since the days of the long and bloody steel war that was fought on Zhol a hundred years ago."
Pausing for effect, he continued, "Regardless of the cost, regardless of what happens to us, we must not waver in our duties. Failure, in this war, is not an option."
Yep, it's practically Armageddon down there and up in orbit. The battle to end all battles (except for the actual Armageddon), is about to be fought.
