As Suki and Katara clambered up the rope ladder and onto the deck of the Kyoshi, they were met by Sokka and Toph, a few of their crew surrounding them.
"Well?"
"He's a bastard!" Both their voices chorused at the same time. Both of them were absolutely fuming, but for different reasons.
"Hold up, who's a bastard?" Toph asked.
"Jet."
The name brought out different reactions in Sokka and Toph. Sokka just looked more confused, while a look of recognition dawned on Toph's face.
"It looks like we have a lot to talk about. I'll let you get changed back into your uniform and then it's time for a council of war." Sokka suggested.
"Tell me everything."
And Suki did.
"I sneaked into the village. I saw a few men patrolling around, but none of the people who live there. I went on a roof to spy on a conversation between two of these men, he said something about us, I think, but then I was spotted and had to make a run for it."
"And that was this Jet."
The officers of both ships had been summoned to a meeting aboard the Kyoshi, and now stood huddled around a table with a crudely drawn map of Kyoshi Island on it. Sokka had done it himself with direction from Suki because he had thought it would give them something nice to do together that was still useful.
"Who is he?" One of Sokka's Officers, a water tribesman called Kumaglak asked. He was a few years older than Sokka, and had long hair that ran in three braids down his back and a booming voice.
"He is, or perhaps was, one of the finest Captains in the Earth Navy," replied Suki. "His village was raided by the water tribes, he ended up joining the navy and became renowned for his skill, as well as the... enthusiasm with which he made war on the water tribes. So much so that apparently they gave him a nickname: The Thunderbolt of the South."
"He was that guy you met before wasn't he?"
"He was."
"He's also a pretty massive racist," Katara frowned.
"Yeah, that too."
"He said some absolutely hateful things."
"He's definitely getting fed to the Unagi after all this." added Suki.
"I have one question then. You said he was after me, for some reason, which if he hates us that much makes sense, but why has he attacked Kyoshi Island? Last I checked that was in the Earth Kingdom." Sokka sounded puzzled.
"I don't know," Suki conceded. "I'm sure he has some kind of insane logic behind this but I can't see it."
"What about the Captain of the ship we captured?" Katara asked.
"Good point. He seemed to know about the ultimatum, so clearly Jet and his crew are not the only ones in the Earth Navy in on this."
"We should interrogate him."
"What if he doesn't talk?"
Sokka only smiled.
"Oh, he'll talk."
"Kumaglak, if you would bring us the Captain."
"Very well," the man said, and left. Sokka turned his attention to the map, poring over the section that represented Suki's home village.
"You're not planning on torturing him are you?" Suki asked worriedly.
"Why?" Sokka looked up from the map.
"Torture is forbidden under Earth Navy regulations."
Sokka held his hands up. "Don't worry, I don't do that sort of thing. I have a better idea though."
Eventually Kumaglak returned, pushing the captain of the "Water Tribe" ship they had captured before him. He sat the man down in a chair, and he glared at them all defiantly.
"Hello!" Sokka greeted him pleasantly.
The man only stared.
"I don't believe we've been properly introduced!" Sokka said. "My name is Sokka. What's yours?"
"I'm not telling you anything."
Nice to meet you, I'm not telling you anything. It's nice to meet a fellow water tribesman."
Their prisoner maintained an icy silence.
"Tell me, where in the South Pole did you grow up?"
Suki noticed the man's green eyes widen, but he said nothing.
"Unless, of course, you're not from the water tribe at all."
"This isn't going anywhere!" Toph grumbled.
"How do you propose we get him to talk?" Suki asked Sokka.
An evil grin spread across Sokka's face, and in the most dramatically evil voice he could muster, he spoke.
"If you continue to refuse your co-operation, then you leave me no choice. Fetch me Chong!"
"Chong? Why do you want him?" Suki hissed.
"Just fetch him. All will become clear," Sokka said to the room at large.
At the mention of Chong's name, anxiety crossed the prisoner's face.
"Who's Chong?"
"That's a very good question, and one you'll find out the answer to soon enough."
"Is he some kind of... torture expert?" By now, nerves were definitely showing.
"Well, you could say that," replied Sokka.
Absolute silence fell across the cabin for a few seconds, and then, faintly at first but growing louder, footsteps were heard. The man winced at each one, until finally-
"FINE! I'LL TALK! I AM FROM THE EARTH KINGDOM! I WAS CONTACTED AND TOLD TO HELP TAKE THIS ISLAND WHILE PRETENDING TO BE WATER TRIBE! WE WANTED TO PROVOKE A WAR! I'M SORRY! PLEASE DON'T TORTURE ME!"
The footsteps stopped outside the door, and then Chong's head poked around it.
"Hey guys, you asked for me?"
The prisoner's jaw dropped.
"He'sChong?" He almost shouted.
"The one and only," Sokka replied. "That's what you get for not learning the names of your own prisoners."
"But-I thought you were going to have me tortured!"
"Only by making you listen to his music," Sokka assured him.
"Thank you, Chong, and thank you, Captain. You've both been ever so helpful." Suki dismissed them. The prisoner hung his head as he was escorted out.
"So they want a war."
"Apparently so."
"So how are we going to prevent one?" Asked Toph.
"First, I want to give them a chance to leave peacefully."
"Why?"
"It's a win win situation- they leave our island, there's no war, and they don't get fed to the Unagi."
"Alright, I suppose it's worth a try. Do you have any idea what you'll say?" Sokka asked.
Suki pulled out a blank scroll. "I'm sure I can think of something."
The next day, Suki had come up with a speech. A messenger hawk had been dispatched into town inviting Jet to come to the shore to listen, and the crews of all three ships had been mustered on deck to hear it. Suki wasn't going to deliver it herself, instead entrusting it to Kumaglak, who had the loudest voice.
Eventually, the appointed hour came, and all eyes turned towards the shore. Nothing happened for a second, and then a lone figure emerged from the tree line. Jet walked towards the edge of the sea, gazing at the three ships parked nearby. Then, silently, he sat down at the edge of the water.
Kumaglak gingerly lowered himself over the side, and then Katara created a pillar of ice that rose out of the water and carried him high into the air.
Once he had satisfied himself that he wasn't going to fall, the water tribesman pulled out Suki's message and turned to read it directly to Jet.
Meanwhile, nobody noticed Chong and his nomad friends pulling out their instruments, until the first musical notes rang out under the speech.
"In the name of the Earth King," he began, "surrender this island!"
Jet looked at them impassively.
"The Earth Navy lies yet ashore! The Captain of this ship will accept no parlay, and she demands Kyoshi Island or your downfall. That is the command of Suki, on my honour, and brigands, resistance will be of no use. The Earth Navy comes for Kyoshi Island!"
With a flourish, the speech and Chong's musical accompaniment ended.
Silently, Jet got up, and walked back into the forest, vanishing back the way he had come. As Katara got Kumaglak down from his ice pillar, Sokka stormed over to Chong.
"What was that?" He demanded.
"Everything is better with music," the man responded amicably.
"Chong, we were trying to threaten that man, not give him a concert!"
"I thought the music was quite threatening."
"You can't be threatening!" Sokka looked like he was about to go on, but eventually sighed, turned and walked away.
"I don't think he was very impressed," he told Suki.
"No, I don't either." Suki surveyed the beach, looking for any sign of anything happening. Nothing did.
"Well, what now?"
"First, we need to contact both Ba Sing Se and the Poles. Let them know what's going on, so no misunderstandings can happen. We should probably also contact Aang and Zuko. Then we need to take the island."
"And how are we going to do that? We don't even know how many soldiers Jet has."
"... I don't know."
"Don't worry," Sokka told her. "We will think of something, even if we have to wait for backup first. Jet will go down, that I promise you."
As she gave Sokka a grateful hug, Suki could only hope that she was right.
Another Author's Note: The text of Suki's ultimatum to Jet comes from the translated first verse of a Dutch song called In Naam van Oranje, about the capture of the town of Den Briel during the Eighty Years' War. Obviously I changed the words to fit this situation.