"Sir, the German, Russian, Japanese, Iberian, and Italian fronts have all stagnated. The Finns are pushing the Fire Nation back though." The general told Kaiser Wilhelm 3rd. "It's turning into a repeat of the Great War. This is descending into the trenches!"
The Kaiser for his part put his head into his hands. "I need ideas. Not facts. I need suggestions. How should we fix this?"
"We could just send all our men in an all out charge to overtake their forces." One general suggested.
"That's what we did in the Great War and we will not repeat that mistake. We need new innovative ideas." The Kaiser replied.
"Why don't we use our superior technology?" Another general asked. "What is your name?" The Kaiser asked. "General Heinz Guderian sir."
"Well what is your plan General Guderian?"
Heinz Guderian pointed to the map. "The Fire Nation has weak defenses here. We should send an armored task force to break through. We will shock and awe our enemy. I call it lightning warfare or the blitzkrieg."
"That is positively stupid." Another general replied. "We should stick with reliable infantry. It is much too risky to do that. It has the possibility of weakening our whole front."
"Germany prior to the Great War was remembered for our military innovation. We were known for our brilliance on the battlefield. I think it's time we return to our roots in Prussian militarism. It's time for us to retake our place in the world. And to do that, we must take the leading role in defeating the Fire Nation. If General Guderian's plan will help us do that, we will go with that plan." The Kaiser stated.
The other generals nodded. "General Guderian, I expect you to be ready to attack within the month." The Kaiser said turning to the general. "Yes my lord." General Guderian replied.
"You are dismissed."
Lyon, France
Over the past few days, Pierre had seemingly became more and more depressed. Katara noticed this and was one day able to ask him what was wrong.
"Pierre, you have been a bit detached recently. What's wrong?" She asked.
"I don't want to talk about it." Pierre replied.
"It's usually better to open up to people rather than staying silent."
Pierre sighed. "You remember Gustave?" She nodded.
"He was my childhood friend. We did everything together. We chased sheep in the field. Spent evenings staring up at the stars. He was like a brother to me. We may have been even more."
"But now he's dead. I'll never see him again. I never even shed a tear to his death. I just forgot about it. Now I'm beginning to realize that he's dead. We were brothers Katara. It's like if you lost Sokka."
"I understand. It must be very hard."
"It is. But the best thing to do is move on during these times. If you stay out and mourn, you will die. And I will not die. Not today!" Pierre raised his fist towards the sky.
"This war will be deadlier than the last one. I already know it, deep inside of me."
"There was a war before this?"
"Of course, there's a war almost every year. The war I'm talking about is the Great War. We called it the war to end all wars. What a naive name."
"What happened?"
"Well, a Serbian nationalist assassinated the archduke who was the heir to the Austro-Hungarian throne. Austria-Hungary blamed Serbia and sent them a treaty Serbia could not accept. As a result Austria-Hungary declared war on the Serbs. But Russia was allied with Serbia so they declared war on the Austro-Hungarians. Germany however was allied with Austria-Hungary so they declared on Russia. France and Russia too were allies so France declared war on Germany as well. Germany, wanting to end the war as fast as possible tried to invade France through Belgium who Britain had said under no circumstances was anyone to invade. This roped Britain into the war. Then things dissolved into trench warfare on the Western Front between Germany and France, Britain, and Belgium. The Ottoman Empire, now Turkey and Bulgaria joined the Central Powers, the alliance between Austria-Hungary and Germany. Most of the other countries of the world joined the Entente like Japan, Italy, and the United States of America. Germany almost won but they were pushed back by the United States of America. There were about 40 million deaths."
"40 million?" Katara repeated in shock. "In four years." Pierre replied solemnly.
"What happened after?" Katara asked quietly.
"Well they broke Austria-Hungary apart into many nations. Poland became a country. Bulgaria lost a lot of land. Russia had a revolution and became communist. The Entente tried to divide Turkey but Turkey had its own war of independence. Germany was given the Treaty of Versailles which I believe was too hard on the Germans. It imposed way too many war reparations on them. The Germans took loans out of American banks until the Great Depression which started with the collapse of the American Stock Market. The banks went out of business and Germany went into a spiral. A political group called the Nazis took power with their leader, Adolf Hitler being elected chancellor. When he tried to make himself a dictator, the Germans rebelled. The Kaiser led the charge and when the war was over and Hitler imprisoned, he was given back his throne. The countries that lost the Great War would be the ones that go through the most political turmoil. Germany has gone through so much political strife, I'm amazed that they didn't follow Hitler. Who knows what would have happened if that occured. Still, there was high tension between the Second German Empire and Britain and France. The Kaiser was trying to restore old German lands, like Danzig. I believe there would have been another war if the Fire Nation hadn't launched those attacks. But this war will likely be deadlier than the Great War. The death toll of this war is already three quarters of the death toll of the Great War. And this war isn't even close to over. This war will be so deadly that I fear I'll face the fate as Gustave." Pierre replied sadly.
"You won't die. Once the Fire Nation is pushed out of this world, this war will be done." Katara touched his hand.
"That won't happen."
"Why?"
"The people scream for the blood of the Fire Nation. They desire revenge, the world desires revenge. If the war ends with the Fire Nation being kicked out, the people would be extremely angry. Our leaders too don't want the war to end with the expulsion. The only way this war will end is the surrender of the Fire Nation."
"Do you know how many lives that will cost?!" Katara screamed at Pierre.
"Of course I do. But the Fire Nation has killed 30 million civilians around the world. Do you realize that. It was as if there was another Great War." Pierre screamed back.
They both took a few seconds to calm themselves. "Sorry for the outburst." Katara told Pierre quietly. "It's alright. I understand your point." Pierre replied. They both sat in silence.
"I got to go." Katara began.
"It's fine. What do you need to do?" Pierre interjected.
"Talk to Aang about something."
"Alright. Au revoir." Pierre bid his farewell.
"Bye" Katara left Pierre alone and walked to find Aang and everyone else. She found them eating lunch in a destroyed building.
"I can hear the fireballs." Sokka spoke softly. "Well I also hear your sister." Toph said.
"What's up Katara?" Aang asked pleasantly as he scooped up some soup. "I was able to get some information from Pierre about the history of this world. By history I mean the past 40 years."
"I'm sure it's not too different from ours." Sokka said, pointing his spoon at Katara. "It would change because they don't have bending. We on the other hand do. Plus we have been at war for 100 years. They obviously haven't." Zuko scoffed.
"Well but other than that." Sokka crossed his arms.
"The war is all that has happened in the past 40 years."
"There have been upgrades in science."
"All the new 'upgrades'" Zuko made quotation marks with his hands. "Were made by the Fire Nation in attempts to defeat the other nations."
"Enough!" Katara screamed at Zuko and Sokka. "Sorry Katara." They replied in unison.
"They finished up with a war 26 years ago." Katara began. "How long was it?" Sokka asked.
"4 years."
"That's not a very long war. There must not have been many deaths right?" Aang said with a smile. Katara grimaced. "Forty million people died. 20 million soldiers and 20 million civilians."
"That much death in 4 years. You must have misheard Pierre." Sokka said in disbelief. Katara shook her head. "It was such a big war, they called it the Great War. It was a war that spanned the entire world."
"How did it start?" Zuko asked curiously. "The assassination of an heir. Then everyone declared war on each other to put it simply."
"Oh"
There was a moment of silence as they contemplated the consequences of such a deadly war. "Did they fight with these weapons?" Sokka asked. Katara nodded.
"We've unleashed a Pandora's Box." Toph said simply. "What do you mean?" Aang asked. "What Toph is saying is that we've unleashed the weapons of this world on ours." Sokka stated. Toph blushed.
"I still don't get it."
"Aang, sometimes you can really be Naive. What Toph and Sokka are saying is that this portal is bringing much more death and destruction to our world. Our wars will become as deadly as theirs. I'm sure this one will be extremely deadly."
"But they'll stop after they push the Fire Nation out of this world right?" Aang asked.
"They won't. They won't stop until the Fire Nation is destroyed." Katara said sadly. Aang's face contorted into horror as he came to realize the future. He could imagine it, the dead in the fields. The burning steel. The beaches of Emerald Island littered with bodies. Ba Sing Se burning was once again. Aang became green.
"Has anyone seen Momo?" Sokka asked, realizing he had to get Aang's mind off the death and destruction even though he knew exactly where Momo was.
"The many fireballs and artillery scare him. He's with Appa, hiding." Aang answered. "He can get so scared sometimes but he and Appa together look so cute. Momo just sits curled up in the saddle whenever artillery is going on." He said with a smile.
The rest of the Gaang smiled at the return of Aang's positive attitude. But they still had a worried feeling in the far off corners of their hearts. The feeling that warned them of the death and destruction to come. One that they would all ignore until it was too late.
The Fire Nation Capital
Colonel Han Zou saluted War Minister Qin when he walked out of the throne room. "At ease colonel. How is your new position?" The minister asked.
Han Zou lowered his hand and bowed to the minister. "It's something new sir. I think I will enjoy it very much. Thank you for recommending me for the promotion sir."
"As I said Colonel, you can be someone. After this war, I think you will play an important role." The War Minister began to walk away from the Throne room. Han Zou followed him.
"How was the meeting?" Han Zou asked.
"The Fire Lord approved the use of the new weapons. We only took about 46 casualties during the entire invasion. Only about 14 deaths."
"That is a tragedy."
"It may be but considering how our last invasion of the Northern Water Tribe went and how many casualties there were from that, this invasion went extremely well."
"But still, 14 deaths, that's 14 lost parents and sons. People who lived and breathed. People who had families."
"And that's why I think you will be great, Colonel. You care about other people's lives. You will do your best to end the engagement swiftly. You are a strategic mastermind with these new weapons." The War Minister said.
"Do you know why I care for each soldier?" Han Zou asked. The War Minister shook his head. "Because I see myself in them. I was once a common soldier. Weak compared to benders. I'm sure you know the feeling, minister." The minister nodded.
"Each one of those people has an untapped potential. Each one can be great. I was once someone with untapped potential. I decided to serve in the military even though I was a non-bender. I knew I would be looked down upon until a lieutenant saw my potential. He made me a captain and I performed perfectly. Thanks to you and that lieutenant, I am almost able to touch my potential." Han Zou smiled.
"Exactly. That is why I had you promoted. Now I have something to ask of you Colonel."
"Sir?"
"We both know, deep within ourselves, that this war is lost. We can't win." The War Minister sighed. "What do you mean sir. We can win this war. Once the new weapons reach the front we can…" Qin put up his hand.
"We can't beat them. We are already overstretching ourselves. Firstly, it will be costly to garrison these lands and secondly, they are much more advanced than us."
"Then what do you suggest we do sir?" Colonel Han Zou asked. "We make this war as deadly for them as possible. We mustn't give them an inch of land without them paying the price. We can't let them reach our home. We have to force them to make a peace deal."
"Why don't we just send out an armistice request?"
"We still occupy some land of theirs."
"Well if what you say does occur. Why don't we send out the request after we get pushed out of their world?" Han Zou pursed his lips. "Their people scream for blood. Are you aware of what we did to start this war?" War Minister Qin asked.
"No, the government has been silent about that."
"We destroyed every major city. I believe the estimated death toll is about 30 million."
"30 million?" Han Zou asked in horror. "They will hate us for sure. They will want to make sure the Fire Nation will never exist again."
"My point exactly. That's when the thing I'm asking you comes into play." The minister put his hands behind his back. "What is it?" Han Zou asked curiously.
"We only have about 1500 to 2000 men and women able to use a gun. We have to teach more but we also need a doctrine. How will we use these weapons. I'm asking you to create a doctrine for us to use. I will found a school to help teach soldiers how to use guns but there will also be an officer corps which will be taught by you." The minister answered. Han Zou's mouth fell agape and he stopped.
"Really sir, that's an honor. But how will we get that many guns. We have almost none."
"I was able to help secure funding from the Fire Lord to make factories that can mass produce these weapons. They will however have to be built fast. It's our utmost priority to have these factories built. With the Fire Lord ordering it to be done within the month, so it will be done in 3 weeks." Han Zou nodded.
The minister began to walk away from Han Zou, slowly disappearing into the dimming torch light. Suddenly he turned towards Han Zou, "Oh and Colonel, I expect the doctrine to be done within the week. I have faith in you." Then War Minister Qin disappeared down the hallway, his footsteps slowly echoing.
Han Zou bit his lip before he turned and walked the other way. He had a lot of work to do.
In Aang's dreams
Aang was standing alone on a hill. Below him stood a Fire Nation city. One that was bustling with people that walked through the streets. Children laughed and played. Sellers sold their items. Everything looked so peaceful.
Then he heard the sound of an engine. He looked up and saw one of the large bombers flying overhead. He knew that bombers were used to destroy enemy facilities to cripple their war effort. But why would there only be one?
He watched as a large black object fell from the bottom of the plane. Only one bomb? That would do almost no damage Aang thought.
The bomb fell towards the city until it was beginning to blend in with the city skyline. Aang covered his eyes from a blinding flash that felt like the sun. It burned. The pain. Aang screamed from it and he fell to his knees.
He opened his eyes to see a mushroom-like cloud over the city. Aang felt drops of water land on his head and he let his head fall back, letting the rain cascade freely down. As if the spirits cried with him.
Aang looked up to see the cloud disappearing and he saw the city. Or what was left of it. Aang slammed his head into the ground. Slowly he stood up and stumbled down the hill.
As Aang walked through the rubble of the city, he gazed around. What was once a lively city was little more than rubble. He looked over at one of the still standing walls and saw that there was an outline of something.
When Aang got closer, he saw the silhouette of children playing together. He ran his hand slowly across the wall and saw it was soot. Annihilated, gone. He closed his hand around the soot and continued his walk.
He thought he saw a hand and ran over. Carefully he lifted up the rubble and found a doll. Cautiously he picked it up and saw the remains of a little girl. Aang stumbled back and fell to the ground, his mouth agape.
For the first time, Aang's mind began to comprehend the destruction and death. So much death, so much destruction. So many lives lost. He curled up into a ball and began to weep. He weeped for what was lost and for what was to come.
"Aang." He heard. Aang glanced up and saw Roku standing above him. "What is this horrible place Roku. What happened?"
"I believe this is a premonition of sorts." Roku sat down beside Aang. "It's a possible future. One I pray doesn't come to my homeland."
"What should I do Roku?" Aang asked, looking up towards Roku. Roku sighed. Aang was beginning to look like the young boy who came out of the iceberg when he was 12 for good reason.
"Aang, this war was never supposed to happen. Our world and theirs was never to be intertwined. We were never supposed to interact. But a brilliant man was able to connect them. Now because of the Fire Lord's pride, he has started a war that will be deadlier than the 100 Years War."
"How can that be Roku? Millions died in the 100 Years War." Aang asked again. "The death toll of this war already surpasses that of the 100 Years War. And the war is not even close to being over."
"Then what should I do?" Roku stroked his beard in thought.
"The best course of action is to make this war as quick as possible. A truce has to happen for the minimal bloodshed to occur."
"Then how do I get that truce?" Aang asked worriedly.
"The Fire Nation and the nations of this world must agree which is extremely hard. There are many in the Fire Nation who wish for a truce."
"Then it'll be easy to obtain a truce." Aang deadpanned. "No, the hard part will be convincing the nations of the other world. Most detest the Fire Nation." Roku replied.
"Why, they're nice people." Aang questioned. "But how would they know. They have never been to our world before. The only Fire Nation people they have met are the ones that are trying to kill them." Roku pointed out insightfully.
"How should I convince them?" Aang asked. "I'm not sure about Aang. The powers of the other world wish to end the existence of the Fire Nation once and for all. It may be impossible to convince them to make a truce. The only way would be through a long and bloody war which is exactly what we're trying to avoid."
"In truth Aang, there is little you can do to stop this war. Destruction like this will occur all over the world. It already did in cities in the other world."
Aang groaned and laid his head into his hands. Roku looked down upon him with sadness in his eyes before he disappeared.
The Next Day
Aang sat quietly scooping up soup with his spoon. He thought about what Roku told him and the implications of it. Through his mind, Aang went past scenario after scenario, trying to think of a way to avoid the future.
He scooped another spoonful and sighed. He couldn't think of a single way to avoid bloodshed. He bit his lip as he thought of another way to stop the war. He could just block off the portal and go into the Avatar state but all it would take was one bullet to end it all. Both his life and the Avatar Cycle as a whole.
He recalled Roku giving him the options. Heavy death toll overall in a long war but the Fire Nation would survive and so would many of its citizens. Or the Fire Nation could suffer heavy casualties but less casualties overall between both sides.
Aang loved all life and cherished each and every aspect. He knew Roku had said that the destruction of major Fire Nation cities would deter the Fire Nation war effort but Aang couldn't live with himself with the death of all those in the city.
What Aang truly feared was that he would make the wrong decision in the future. When the leaders came to him asking for advice, what would he say? What decision would he make? Would it be the correct choice?
"Aang you look pale is everything alright?" Aang looked up startled. It was Katara and the others staring down at him. "I'm fine." Was Aangs reply. "Are you sure. You really seem sick." Zuko asked.
"Really, I'm fine." Aang said with a smile. The others nodded, finally accepting his answer. They all sat down next to him and began eating the military soup.
"This food sucks." Toph stated after a few minutes. "It's better than what we had on the beginning of our journey." Sokka replied quickly.
"Katara's food wasn't that bad." Aang frowned. Was he forgetting what had happened then. "No Aang, even I can agree, the food I made was pretty bad." Maybe Aang was getting forgetful.
"I'm amazed that this is what they serve everyone." Zuko swirled his spoon in the soup.
"Trust us, the French soup and bread is much better than what we're given by our British cooks." They heard someone say to the side. Looking up, they saw three soldiers in brown uniforms and pot looking hats on. One had orange hair and the other two had brown or black hair. The black haired individual seemed to be the oldest and was lean. He had the air of leadership around him and Aang assumed he was the leader based off of this. The orange haired was stocky and had many freckles. He was the tallest of the group. Finally there was the brown hair soldier. He was obviously the youngest, he couldn't be much older than 17 and was skinny.
"Who are you?" Toph asked.
"Oh right, you people aren't from around here. We're part of the British Expeditionary force. I'm Charlie." The black haired soldier said. "The orange haired Irish fellow is Connor and the skinny one is Will." He added.
"We heard that among you there's someone that can control earth, water, fire, and air. We wanted to see if that is true." Conner spoke softly.
"That's me." Aang stood up waving at them. "You're a bit young, even younger than Will here." Charlie observed. "Could we have a demonstration?"
Aang decided that why not, what's the harm in doing something. He picked up his spoon and used airbending to spin it around and smiled. The classical Aang move.
"Amazing." Connor breathed and Will's mouth dropped. Charlie seemed very impressed. "Spectacular."
"Does your friend talk?" Sokka asked out of the blue. "Oh Will, he's an enlisted man. He's still getting used to everything. Say hi Slimmy."
"Hi." Will said quietly. "He got conscripted with the forces. He was instantly sent off here to fight and he's still getting used to this war. He didn't even finish High School before the government forced him to fight." Charlie said with a frown.
"Why would they do that? That's horrible." Katara said, shocked at this development. "Not many wanted to enlist after the disasters that the Fire Nation committed. So many were conscripted in drafts. Slimmy and Connor were conscripted. I enlisted. But no matter what, we're ready to die for Queen and country."
Aang frowned. Everyone he met was ready to die for their nation. No matter if they were Fire Nation, German, French, British, Japanese, or Russian. It would obviously complicate his avatar duties further. All the nations here were similar to the Fire Nation. Each one wanted glory and had populace's that believed their nation was the best.
"Well it's time for us to go and prepare."
"Prepare for what?" Sokka asked curiously. "The counter attack. Did you guys not know?" Connor wondered. "No we didn't. We've been left in the dark." Aang said, shaking his head.
"Well, French high command is planning to launch a desperate attack against the Fire Nation. Every able bodied person is to charge at the enemy lines. I don't even think the French have enough guns to give. Some will be charging unarmed. Men, women, children. We've been assigned a few miles away. They're saying this could be the turning point of the war."
"It's going to be a slaughter." Katara was shocked. So many would die in the Fire Nation. Both sides would be relentless. The Fire Nation wouldn't give them an inch of land and the French wouldn't stop until they gained back the city. "They're really using everybody?"
"Yes, every person. No matter age or gender. At least we have guns. Some of them will be running defenseless." Connor crossed his arms.
The gears in Aang's head churned. He could see all the people dying in a useless charge against the Fire Nation. He could imagine walking among the dead as they piled up. It all seemed so real. He didn't notice the three British soldiers leaving and they all once again descended into silence.
Finland
Kalevi picked up some snow and placed it on the ground. He was building a snow fort among the tall trees. He felt it was childish building this when he should be fighting but he had been ordered to do this. It would be a fortification of snow. He thought it would be useless against the Fire Nation.
Ahead of him he could see the road that led towards Helsinki. The Finns had been pushing the Fire Nation back so much with the tactics they had adopted during the Winter War. Reconnaissance said that the Fire Nation was planning a counter attack for that reason.
He heard someone approach on skis from the north. It was the Finnish scout they sent to look for enemy positions. He was breathing heavily from skiing so fast.
"They're coming. The counterattack has begun. They'll pass right here." He gasped. Kalevi kept calm on the outside but his heart raced.
"I want some of you to head to the other side of the road and create some fortifications. The rest of you, make some Molotov Cocktails." The commander said. "Kalevi, keep on making fortifications on this side." Kalevi nodded and began piling up snow and patting it down.
Slowly, Kalevi created a small castle atop the hill. One that blended in with the snow from the roadside. It would be very hard to kill them from on the road. First it was a horrible angle to aim a bow with and second it was concealed. Although Kalevi did worry about firebenders.
It began with the slow sound of gears moving that slowly became louder and louder. The footsteps too also became louder and louder. In that time, Kalevi had created many fortifications for the 6 soldiers on his side.
Kalevi took a deep breath and aimed his gun as they came into sight.
5 minutes earlier
Uri was feeling confident. He believed that the Fire Nation was about to sweep these Finns off their feet. This would be the attack that would take them down and help them win the war.
He gripped his bow tightly as he scanned the tree line. The Finns usually hid near the trees in white clothing. They would usually ambush them from the side with guns blazing and many men in Uri's company feared them. They were called devils and demons. White deaths and shapeshifters appearing out of thin air.
Uri however held no such fear. He believed these claims to be overly exaggerated. Only spirits could do such things, not men. And men could always die.
Uri wasn't a spiritual man. He did believe in them though. Sometimes there were unexplainable things and he chalked them up to the interference of the spirits.
He continued staring at the tree line, searching for any sign of life. He saw nothing, it would be a surprise attack. The Finns would be unprepared and they would die, proving they were not devils. Then the snow began speaking Finnish.
"Tulta munille!" He heard the snow scream.
The scout next to Kalevi threw a Molotov Cocktail at the back of the tank and they all opened fire.
Uri ducked as guns began shooting looking for cover. The tank exploded from a Molotov Cocktail blowing him back. He reached for his bow and grasped it.
Quickly he pulled back the string and put in an arrow. He aimed to where he thought they were by the flashes. These men were demons. He never saw them and still couldn't. He let go of the arrow.
Kalevi watched as an arrow hit the scout next to him in the head. He was shocked and quickly shot the man on the ground with the bow.
Uri felt something hit him in the gut and he fell back. He gasped, this was it. The demons killed him along with everybody else. They were spirits he thought as his vision turned black.
Kalevi looked around and saw that they left no survivors. He smiled. This counter attack like the rest would end in a Fire Nation failure. The end was nearing for the Fire Nation.