It was a Dai Li that surprise attacked me, we had a silent duel of wills, him holding my son over some sharp rocks. I was moments away from doing something drastic when I noticed the sound of movement behind me a just before everything was black.
9
I knew a was feeling very floaty for a while before I came to, from water splashing on my face, I was in a dungeon but not the nice lavish cell for a royal prisoner, it was the dark and dank kind, there was what are they called again, yes a Dai Li agent and their stupid mind control device. Other then the environment at the chair I was strapped to, the main thing I felt was pain, my body felt like one big broken bone, who would have thought that earth troops might take their anger out on an unconscious fire prince, I could have guessed.
These wardens knew how to hold a prisoner I could not move, there were multiple bindings for each leg, a main one for the foot and individual bindings for each toe, my feet where submerged in water for good measure. I was bound at the waist and the stomach, the stomach one was so tight I could barely breathe out, there was another for my torso, forearms, hands and bands across all my finger phalanx, my hands were also submerged in water for good measure. As for my face, I could blink and wriggle my eyebrows but that's it if there were dealing with king Bumi that could be a problem.
"Hello," a rather slimy voice came from behind me rather than the one agent I could already see, it was good intimidation, we could be here at any time with you completely unaware. The unseen Dai Li continued, "now it would be rude of me to not introduce myself."
Having remembered the Dai Li I could do some good messing with them before making my escape, " no need you are just a Dai Li 'the cultural ambassadors and power behind the throne', a thrown that now is little more than a city and a few walls. You're not the true threat of Ba Sing Se, even if you have a crappy version of the mind melter, what does it take an hour to brake someone." A hodgepodge of info from the show, assertions and falsehoods, what's a mind melter ask joe he is the one in the corner selling bridges.
That had put them on edge, to hear someone talk about the secret society as a small fish and then massively overestimating there mind control device to insult it. These people would rely on drugs and placebos to convince someone there mind controlled, it would take days if not weeks, to be estimated an hour would have them questioning what they were doing wrong. Hopefully, they would start to question themselves, did they have spy's in the ranks, there is no way the one in front of me shake like he is would be able to keep the questions to himself, and the questions would spread like a plague eating the society up from inside.
"Of course, you Fire-benders would name your device a 'mind melter', I can't say I'm impressed. I have been waiting for you to wake up for days, and this is all I get." I could not read much from this guy's voice but he didn't sound stumbled by how much info I had, "no it's time to stop this meaningless prattle." The light on the device started, it spun and spun.
It would be so very slow if I was not a transdimensional traveller and able to bend without moving, in that scenario my best option would have been to just play along, burning whatever drug they give me out of my system.
But I was not so helpless, I had been heating the water, so by the sixth turn, I had the water just right with one big push of chi and fire the water superheated and covered the hallway in steam. I immediately flipped the chair over to avoid the blind attacks that whizzed overhead, while in great agony from my hands they were red and bloody.
Fighting Earth-benders in a blind environment were so much easier than expected, they could not bend what they could not see, that was left to Toph, Air-benders and master Water-benders. So not being able to see the walls or floor both being more than an arms width away meant these two were limited to the bendable on their body, so the rock glove things. The hesitation to attack losing there defence gave me enough time to gain some movement.
A well-constrained prisoner is only as restricted as what their constraints are attached to, for me that was a wooden chair, I might have re-dislocated a shoulder braking the chair so it was just pieces of wood strapped to me. I was not disrupted freeing myself by the Dai Li agents, they were too cowardly to part with their only bendable having both wasted one of the two with blind attacks, I could even hear the one I saw when I woke up running away.
"Souto, get back here, trying to call for his underling's return was the last thing he did, I sent a fire blast that burnt so bright I could see it impact his head.
Most people don't realise that fire bent fire is not just heating energy, bending is more an art than a science, I can't just rip the thermal energy away from a person because that's not fire, and an Earth-bender cannot just bend any solid because it has carbon in it. A consequence of this is a fire blast even without any runes or chi manipulation should have no kinetic force, it should not hit with deforming, breaking, crushing impact, just the heat of the fire. This is not the case all fire bending has a tiny bit of force because from what I can tell benders expect it to have that force, so when I manipulate it with chi, runes or solidifying my bending has a whole ton of kinetic energy.
That's why my fire blast was a face flattening blow. And fucking hurt even the adrenaline couldn't stop me from feeling the pain, caused by my chi pushing it through a hand that had been in superheating water they were in. looking at the bloody appendages my hands had been stripped of skin but they looked like something in a horror movie and the pain would have been crippling if I was not still full of adrenaline. Another bonus to being a Fire-bender, I didn't have to worry about infections.
I ran uphill, I was far enough underground that I could feel my connection to the sun was weaker and I knew if I was going the right way if it grew stronger, I went around corners, up ladders there were a few guards, they got fire kicks to trip and incapacitate them.
I could feel I was a lot closer now so I slowed down if I was going to escape how I always wanted too then I would need to be calm and collected when I get to the top. Next, I did a bit of sneaking and I even stole a Dai Li outfit from the next guard/victim I came across, I didn't look too much like one of them, but I would blend in with the earth nation peasants much better.
I didn't have a classic who is your moment at the guard post to the street, they just attacked the site and both lost their faces for the trouble, the mouth of goon one and the forehead of goon two. This city was a shit hole, there where dirty smelly people begging on every corner, but I could see the wall, I started in that direction immediately after escaping the mystery underground passages, it took a few hours to walk there.
I took the opportunity to change into a more discreet earth nation dress. It was lower quality clothes and this was meant to be their middle class. It felt like I was wearing the clothes of a homeless person, sure I might have stolen them, but if someone stole my clothes, they would find there were wearing the most comfortable they had ever worn. I joined a group of farmers heading back to the agricultural zone, being new made me interesting, I told them that I was going to the agricultural zone to see my love.
They ate it all up, the on the spot nitty details of my imaginary relationship, I couldn't be bothered to make up something so I stole a lot of Romeo and Juliet sans Venice, the family feud, the deaths. Well, I stole some of Romeo and Juliet. The Yu's a farming family that got to have a last name even offered me a bed because the edge of the agricultural zone was still a day away, getting through the inner wall was no problem, I was just another farmer. That night I met him she was the young daughter of the Yu's and even saw Mims grave was the younger brother that died of starvation.
I could not believe it when even these lower rim folk blamed the elite class for there woes, that was so good, then I enquired why they didn't leave with the others, and they explained how just because they didn't like the earth king didn't mean that they weren't loyal. So basic cognitive disassociation, they grew up under the earth kings rule obedient and meek, well indoctrinated, now they understood that the earth king should not hold their loyalty, but they are loyal anyway.
Creating arguments would not do any good, but this was not loyalty that one felt if they were willing to go off killing and dying for someone, these people will not do anything to oppose me because they have been indoctrinated to not fight back.
I had a fucking bad sleep the bed was hey, I noticed that it must have been a significate amount of time I was out like they had drugged me to keep me down. My twice dislocated shoulder was not feeling like it had been dislocated twice within only 8 hours. My hand and elbow were still very much broken but they had been set right, only now taking off the pieces of chair striped to me there was a stone cast around my right elbow, how long was I out.
It was another full day of travel to get within a reasonable distance of the wall, then I waited for hours till daybreak before starting my plan, hours of peace and solitude. That I made heavy use of I did some healing with rune schemes I was almost as good as before attack, I recovered a reasonable amount of chi energy and prepared for take-off by inscribing runes into some newish shoes that I stole.
I rechecked my internal compass and mental maps yes this is the wall to scale, I can't feel the power of the sun yet but I can sense daybreak's imminent coming, I start with small flames it slow and I was going to take a day to get up, I will never get to the top like this. The sun rises I could see the line on the wall and as it got closer it was a goal I could reach, my power level ramps up the flames getting bigger and bigger, I was a tenth of the way there, a forth, half. Shit, more fucking boulders where the fuck to these guys keep getting rocks from, I swing out from the wall and are buffeted by rather heavy winds, another bolder another dodge. I'm getting close but also easier to target.
I progress was significantly slowed by the forced moment from side to side, but longer I dodge the more guards that noticed and more boulders, it was getting hard I didn't have unlimited energy, but I was going to get past these guards, then I started leading them. I would head straight towards one bit of the wall let them all try to aim for where I'm going but then double back. I did this so many times they cottoned on making it just a larger back and forth pattern and then because they didn't expect it when I didn't double back, I was close to the top of the wall.
I used my final trick heeding straight up I just waited as they were all lining up they killer shots I flew away from the wall, the fire that lifts me rattled the wall and most of them lose their balance and backing away from the edge of the wall the two that stayed steady still missed and I was able to get over the wall in one piece. Then I was looking over the wall for a moment I thought that I might be hallucinating, there was fire nation war balloon, just like in the final episodes.
So, I flew to the headship, there were surprised to have me coming at them but opened the docking bay for a Fire-bender, and none other than Iroh himself was here.
He explained with relief to see me alive that it all came together, my factory's had created war balloon, with the mechanist realising that it was the earth nation that attacked the city he was living in risking the life of his son, he released his working design's for a hot air war balloon-powered with Fire-benders and a working combustion engine. There were things like the simple battery it consists of two electrodes: one made of zinc, the other of copper, the electrolyte is sulfuric acid, for restarting when the spark plug didn't spark.
What happened was my wife got back to Ozaiopolis with a new draughter to fly back to the capitol days later saying I had been kidnapped. Iroh had come to negotiate from a position of strength for the release of his brother, but I had escaped and was anxious to get back to my city and now children. Theirs no real answer to why they didn't take Zuko.
It was a joyful ride back, they had got what they came for, 'me'. They didn't have to fight and the airship was so much faster and had not needed to deal with any issues. The navy men requisitioned to fly were coming around to using this piece of fabric to hold them in the air, that was what I got from talking to them before we landed in my city.
I had not planned it like this when I had insisted that the FCI take the mountain down even layer by layer, they had taken half of the mountain. So the bottom half, once more of the mountain was removed it would make great landing pad, I was estimating it would be able to take the 15 war Balloons.
We walked through the streets some of the people had seen me and some had just heard from those that had been here longer but now they had a fire lord in there presence, scraping bows was the order of the day and they followed us to my castle. Now in the daylight I could still see wear and tear from the attack it was worse than I imagined. Boulders sticking out the side, a crack in a foundational beam, shattered windows and balconies.
Iroh complimented me on my city and the inhabitants, considering that he had only told me hours ago that he hadn't interacted with anyone I was going to take it as a nice complement. We Jin lee sitting around with the ten-year-old crown prince of the fire nation showing the kid the battles he had one while taking over this island, noticing us he went all serious, Iroh sent Lu-Ten to go play with his aunt.
Jin gives both Iroh and I a detailed explanation of how the attacks went, "the attack was hit and miss. The capitol got the information of success before we could take advantage of the distraction, but they were still left broken and bloody. We attacked all army instillations, it worked well we crippled their they're army and any ability to fight back with the campaign of the eastern landmass."
My second continued, "For the 200,000 we lost during the attacks there is an estimated 700,000 taken out, we have reports from all over the continent of the army retreating to the capitol." Iroh clapped Jin on the back.
"I can see that my brother chose well with you, so what's the plan. Are we taking the towns and starving out Ba Sing Se. It's a bit ahead of schedule, but so far a great victory for the fire nation." He was so different from the show Iroh.
"No my lord, I was thinking we could claim the southern and northern continents, we would just have to take and keep some inland pasture areas, the desert people are lawless bandits but cutting them off from water they can be brought to justice eventually, I would take two years at most. The biggest problem was Omashu, there was no way to take the mountain it is built on, but now with these war balloons, it gives us so many options. And the options also exist for claiming the mountains of the north continent, we can bomb and intimidate." He began to get excited.
"The earth king and his army are here," he pointed to Ba Sing Se. "and they are expecting us to do what you suggested the move in and take their continent, they're not expecting us to go here or here." He pointed to the north and south continents, "while they are waiting to smash any force we attack them with we will be using the air balloons to take the desert and mountains, and the men to take these lands."
"Instead of weakening are self's by spreading across the area they can defend and will attack us in mass, we will put them in a stalemate if they attack any of is new territory in any meaningful way we will be able to crush the forces in their home continent. If they don't take the attack then we just wait eventually the new lands will tip the balance more towards is favour and we will crush them in a decade or two."
Iroh was speechless, what the hell had he learnt during his ten years of military training. I had to admit I liked the plan, it was plausible and has the potential to work well but I would want another war council.
I caught up with Ursa, she was not having a happy time being sent back and forth between Ozaiopolis and the capitol, she complained to me about it and my first reaction to the winy chit was death. And I finally felt I made a major difference in the timeline, the mother of my still breastfeeding son, that's right I had a second child that was not Azula, this boy was Sozin. I was still going to need a girl to name Azula disparaging Azulon by naming my girl after him, was Ozai rubbing off on me too much, I thought I had become fully accustomed to me being him.
Iroh and Jin took the fonts this time as completed the wonder team keeping the logistics in order from the command centre 'Ozaiopolius'. And even if it didn't make her happy Ursa was back at the capital reminding the nobility that there was a fire lord and making a child.
Jin was taking the northern mountains a hard place with harder people, it had never even been forced to pay more than lip service of loyalty to the earth crown, they skip paying half their taxes and the earth king doesn't even kick up a fuss. They are more rebellious than the peasants that have had 60 plus uprisings. Jin had taken them in at a rate that would have the area subdued within five years.
Iroh was taking the southern continent, with exactly executed battles one after another after another. I don't know how he was treating the population, but the 200 of the FCI that Jin didn't take, I would send over to help out the people. Even though Iroh had the advantage of most potential resistance fighters having left for Ba Sing Se, he was acting like the advantage didn't exist. Iroh's slower and more methodical way of doing things would have him finished in 4 years.
What was I doing, other than making sure that their army's got supply's on time, I was doing a lot making sure that the people Iroh left to manage the homeland were not fucking up, he picked up good stewards from the reports I was getting.
I was most proud of the way I began to fuck with Ba Sing Se, I would take some of the cotton grown through the vast empire ruled and make it available to ridiculously low prices on the ships heading to Ba Sing Se, then when got there and the people realised how cheap cotton was.
The price of cotton bombed, and then I had more of my ships go and sell some bolts of thread the labour-intensive nature of weaving had my bolts of thread. That just fucked over all of the people who had bought cotton because their buyers didn't need anything they could make. Then I did the same thing to the clothe creators in a few months of market manipulation, I destroyed the internal clothing production, cotton got sold to my ships and they got clothes in return. I did this with high-end food and drink, paper, metals even weaponry, I took wheat, raw fruit and veg, animal products, other plants and herbs, raw iron ore and with substantial mark-ups they got, bread other foods and drinks, things like refined animal fat to burn, medicines and weaponry.
This had a cyclical effect in each industry as jobs and opportunities were lost Ba Sing Se was drained them of the skilled middle class, these peasants got smuggles out to find they expertise meant that they got management jobs in my factory's. as the workers disappeared it got less and less possible to comet with me in Ba Sing Se, the city was turned into one big farm, great swaths of the residential area were converted to farmland.
With no way to add value to what has produced the nobility of Ba Sing Se started to bleed wealth to my plants in the city, they were able to become wealthy and powerful by knowing what market I was going to mess with next and getting their money in or out of it before I started to push it up or down, they were a lot more effective at this than spying. Their power also came directly from me and my messages, if I cut them off they would eventually lose the knowledge they were reliant on making their loyalty higher. Then every once in a while there would be a bread shortage for a week, that was rather consistent and each timeless and less died until the population went under 6 million in the city.
I had got it up to 9 million when forcing earth loyalists to leave for Ba Sing Se, but this eastern continent could support the city with a 6 million pop while feeding its self. I was still draining Ba Sing Se of the skilled middle class but I could not make an artificial famine, without exporting all the extra food for decades across the continent selling it at a loss to drive farms out of business. I would run the fire nation more debt doing that then the hundreds of years of war. I was able to get my plants to start riots but the military in the city shut them down.
When Jin finished taking the northern continent a lot of dead mountain men now in the ground, he continued by going all the way round to the islands they were a blend of Air-bender spawn that never had the chi pathways, water nation explorers and earth nation explorers. Jin left most of the FCI behind and still finished his capturing of all peoples below the four main continents of the earth kingdom before Iroh finished with the southern continent.
By the time my brother had finished taking the southern landmass the capitol was a farm, it had king, some impoverished nobles, and an army 1.5 million strong and loyal. Iroh was a bit over-eager and just went for the southern continent's peninsular, he finished in his conquest of the southern landmass in chameleon bay. Just over the sea was peninsular to take and he was the fire lord, who was going to tell him no.
Iroh got little resistance from the capital has he took a fourth of their remaining landmass. He took the advance slow and stopped once he got to the river into Ba Sing Se, it worked as a good defence against surprise attacks. Finished his taking of territory, Jin sent most of the army under his command to go and re-enforce the forces that Iroh had left behind, now it was time for another war meeting.
A.N.
Never doing daily uploads again your just going to get 40k+ words in one chapter and like it. Tomorrow final chapter for this world of Avatar savour it no more till mid next year.