"Commander!" The voice sounded distant, like someone far away in the fog of war. The voice that never returned home. The voice forever doomed to be roaming the battlefields of history.
"Commander!" The voice was louder this time. Loud enough so that Michael could open his eyes. He couldn't suppress the groan as he felt the ringing in his ears.
"Commander? Are you alright?" Paul asked from above him. "Is everyone else ok?" Michael replied, not giving a care about his own self.
"We're alright sir!" Franz called out from the front. "Ya, we're good." Peter added pretty calmly. A stark contrast from Franz's energetic self.
Michael nodded and attempted to stand before falling. He took a breath. "Paul, I know you took lessons on how to shoot in the academy. Take control, I'm in no shape." Michael gasped.
Paul nodded and got into the gunner seat. Michael once again attempted to stand and pulled himself into the reloading chair. He, like Paul, had taken a class on how to reload a tank gun too.
Paul sat in the seat and took a glance through the gun sight. There was nothing ahead by his sight. But he knew he couldn't just depend on his gun sight for help.
He unlocked the top hatch and pushed it open to see hell. Smoke billowed from the ground and carcasses littered the ground. The tank to Paul's right was destroyed but he could see tanks moving in the distance.
He turned to his left and saw a tank with a commander also sitting atop his tank. "What are we supposed to be doing!" Paul called to the man.
The man turned to him and shrugged. "We received orders to wait for reinforcements. The first wave has pushed forward, they thought our tanks were knocked out."
"Fick reinforcements." Paul muttered before dropping back into the tank. "Franz, we're catching up with the 1st wave. Full speed ahead." Paul commanded.
"Yes commander." Franz replied before the tank rolled forward and made full speed towards the village of Koblenz. "Michael, I need the binoculars." Paul added after a moment.
Michael took off his binoculars and handed it to Paul saying, "Here you are Commander Brandt." Paul smiled slightly and took the binoculars from him.
Paul once again poked his head out of the tank and put the binoculars to his eyes. He searched in front of him for dust clouds and grey shapes. The evidence of tanks and a charge.
"Franz, I need you to put her into full speed if we are to catch up." Paul called down into the tank. "Aye aye sir." The tank which Paul had thought was moving pretty fast suddenly lurched forward.
Paul felt the wind hit his face as he enjoyed the air and feeling of freedom. The freedom that they were fighting for. A freedom that was worth fighting for.
Paul smiled at that thought. The thought of dying to free a world and nation. A death worthwhile, not like dying of old age. The only downside would be leaving his frauline. His beautiful frauline.
Paul gently shook his head, now was not the time for thinking. It was time to command. A leadership role that he for the first was filling. There would be no one to guide him forward. No one cooed words of advice into his ears. He was alone to make a decision, one that would decide the fate of his crew. And Paul was up for the challenge.
Japan
Anza gently wrapped Souza's hand in white linen cloth causing Souza to wince in pain. "You shouldn't bother. We're all already doomed." He gasped.
Anza gently shook her head. "We've gotten out of worse. I should have died in the battle and so should have you. We should have died after all those patrols passed us. It's amazing that we've made it this far and we'll keep on getting past obstacles. It's in our blood to do so. It's Fire Nation to beat past obstacles and succeed, just like the 100 Years' War."
Souza scoffed at that last statement. "What obstacles were there during the 100 Years' War?" He questioned. "All the war was and still is is a madman's mad grab for power. A power he doesn't deserve to hold or grasp. We shouldn't even be in this paradise. This is not something we deserve Anza. Don't you understand?"
"No I don't. I just understand that we'll keep on pushing forward and beating obstacles. We're Fire Nation. We can do anything." Anza said squeezing his hand. "We are a resilient nation and people. We will always succeed in the face of danger and obscurity. We won't disappear into the sands of time."
"Nations may not disappear into the sands of time but people do. And we certainly will rotting away in this cave. We have limited oxygen because of the snow and rocks covering the entrance. There is no escape for us Anza." Souza replied somberly.
"You underestimate our nature Souza. We're humans. Meant to be the smartest of smart. The most intelligent people of the world. We're born of the nation of Fire and we'll get out of this. I promise." Anza said giving Souza's hand one last reassuring squeeze before standing and walking over to the wall of snow.
"What are you doing Anza?" Souza called out to her in worry. "I'm doing what I need to do." She responded stoically. She opened her stance and moved her arms back.
Souza watched in silent fascination as her arms flew forward. His face lit up from the heat. The flames burned bright. And the snow melted in the face of the stream of fire that was shooting from Anza's hand.
Rhine
Paul felt the breeze slowly die against his own face. A worrying sign. He lifted the binoculars to his eyes and gently observed the land ahead.
Ahead was a line of Panzer 4's and 3's moving extremely slow across the mud. "Franz! Hurry up! I see the 1st wave." Paul yelled below. "Breina's going as fast as she goes. Don't force her!" Was the reply Paul got.
Paul shook his head in exasperation and stared up at the sky. The reason why the wind had stopped. A heavy dark grey cloud was lumbering towards them. Slowly and dangerously, like a British battleship. It would be a big storm.
The Panzer 4 finally reached the rest of the 1st wave. How Breina and Franz was able to do it, Paul didn't know. All he knew was that ahead was the enemy and here he sat.
The town was just in the sight of Paul. Koblenz with its tall church and Belgian looking buildings. Paul didn't know what they were waiting on.
Franz pulled the tank up to the edge of the left side of tank column. When they did, Paul heard the unmistakable sound of a hatch opening. "You there!"
He turned to the right and saw a high ranking officer staring at him. "What are you doing? Why are you here?" He screamed at Paul. Paul responded good naturally, "We're part of the 1st wave of course. We got left behind."
"I'm not talking about your tank. I'm talking about you. Where is your commander?" The officer screeched at him again. "Well sir, he's injured from the bombings. He put me in charge."
The officer fumed for a second before telling Paul, "Well, it looks like your in our group then."
"Since when did we have groups in the 1st group." Paul exclaimed in annoyance. "Since we got the message on the radio to." The officer growled before closing the hatch to his tank.
Paul rolled his eyes. Some of the officers in the army were the most annoying scum on the planet. He too grabbed Breina's hatch and closed it firmly before locking it.
"Peter change radio frequency. Try to find the one for the command center of the 1st wave." Peter nodded and began to turn knobs on the radio. There was the sound of buzzing until Peter had spun the right knob 80°.
"There, got it." Peter exclaimed. "They're saying group 3 is moving forward towards the town." Paul stayed silent for a second. "Commander?"
"Bring us forward driver." Paul calmly said. Franz and Peter looked at each other for a second. "Franz go, it's time for us to kick Fire Nation ass." Michael commanded.
Franz shook his head in a fearful annoyance and the tank lurched forward. Peter did a quick sign of the cross and looked down at his machine gun sights. Michael double checked to make sure the tank's main gun was loaded.
Paul turned the turret to the right and looked 90° to their right. "We're the only ones moving forward over here!" Paul exclaimed. "Everyone else is moving on the right end of the column."
"Looks like we're taking the south side of town all by ourselves aye, seems like the best way to get an Iron Cross." Franz attempted to make a joke. But the crew could hear the hidden veil of fear in his voice.
"We'll take the town ourselves if we have to." Peter added to Franz's thought. Paul closed his eyes in an attempt to ease the nerves as the town seemed to be 400 meters away.
"Keep an eye out on the windows, there might be soldiers inside. We don't want to be struck by lightning." The crew shivered at this thought. They feared the lightning that would strike them down.
"I just saw a flash of red in the building to our right." Franz exclaimed. "Are you sure?" Peter asked. "100%" Paul turned the tank's gun to the right and fired. The shell flew through the air and impacted the lower part of the building.
The front disappeared into a cloud of dust and the building shuddered. Then suddenly the building collapsed with the scream of stone. "Let's hope you were right Franz." Michael said as he pushed a new shell into the turret. "Reloaded."
"Peter, spray the buildings with machine gun fire. I'll check with the main gun for signs of movement." Paul commanded and Peter obliged. There was the short sound of the rotating magazine that was allowing Peter to shoot the buildings.
The crew could hear the bullets impacting the stone of the village buildings. There was a scream that was not natural. A scream of pain and suffering. "In that one!" Peter called.
Paul shot another shell into the one story building and it collapsed. Suddenly a bolt of lightning smashed into the ground next to them blowing the stone into the tank. "Where did that come from?!" Franz screamed. "The building up ahead!" Peter called.
"We're reloaded." Michael stated and Paul fired another shell. There was never another lightning bolt. "Keep moving driver." Paul ordered. Franz drove the tank down the street and Paul kept his eye out.
When they reached a street, Paul ordered, "Turn to the right so I can see if there's anything down that way." Franz turned the tank to the right and Paul looked down the street.
There, with its side facing the Panzer 4 was a single Fire Nation tank. Paul before he fired thought about how unlucky that crew was. There was a small explosion and the tank seemed to slump. When the smoke cleared, there was a large gaping hole in the side.
"They're down." Paul called. "Turn us back and bring us down the street, driver."
The tank turned back to the left and continued to roll down the street. Paul's hand itched the trigger in worry. He was waiting to see something, anything that might give him and his crew trouble.
Suddenly from around a corner, a tank rolled around and turned towards the crew. Paul acted fast and quickly pulled the trigger before the opposing tank could launch a shot. There was a small burst of flames and Paul had a nagging feeling that the tank was done.
When the tank reached the street that the enemy tank had just come down, they turned and went down it. Just then, an explosion shook the ground right next to their tank. "Now what!" Franz cried.
"That's what. We've flanked the Fire Nation." Ahead of the group was a line of Fire Nation tanks with soldiers in and out of the line like ants, occasionally firing lightning.
"Peter, light 'em up." The ra-ta-tat of the machine gun rattled the crew and the soldiers. Paul aimed the cannon and fired at the lead Fire Nation tank.
"What the hell is going on over there?" The lead tank commander asked as the Fire Nation tanks began to explode in a shower of flames. The troops began to scatter and tanks fled.
"It's one of our boys! They flanked the tanks!" The driver of the tank exclaimed. "Mein godt." The commander whispered as he watched the tanks be all destroyed by this one single Panzer.
The panzer line slowly rolled forward into the town with the main commander at the lead. As they were heading forward the commander unlocked the top hatch and stuck his upper body out.
Paul saw this and did the same thing. "Hallo," Paul said waving at the lead commander from his Panzer. He watched as the carcasses of the destroyed tanks were pushed to the side by the spear of the Panzer.
"Hallo! Where is your Hauptmann?" The lead commander replied. He was curious why a man who wasn't even a Panzer commander was leading this tank.
"My commander is below reloading our main gun. He is in no shape to make decisions. He still has ringing ears from the bombing run we took. He put me in charge." Paul replied with a shrug.
"That's good. Great job with the flank, where are you going? In terms of the Dutch line or French." The commander questioned.
"French line sir." Paul replied confidently even though he didn't 100% know. He glanced down into the tank and saw Michael nod at him. Good, he had gotten it right.
"Well we are too. Turn around and join us." The commander said with a wide smile. "Driver, turn us around." Paul called down into the tank. "Yes Commander Brandt." Franz called back sarcastically and the tank turned around.
"Oh and before we go, I never heard your name?" The commander asked curiously. "Paul Brandt, now Hauptmann Brandt." Paul replied, making the commander chuckle. "Now let's go Hauptmann Brandt. For victory." The lead commander joked before dropping into his Panzer.
Paul laughed quietly to himself before dropping into his own tank and closing the hatch.
France
Pierre was chewing on a piece of gum as he lounged back on the saddle of Appa. "What a nice day." He said as he looked up at the blue sky. "What a wonderful spring day."
Haiko, who was wiping off his katana, looked up at the sky too. "It is pretty nice out." He added. "It's like this a lot in our world. It's very beautiful and calm. That is if you don't encounter the Fire Nation. They burn everything, forests, animals, people." Katara said, looking up at the sky too.
"They're not all like that Katara." Zuko argued.
"Yes, your the only exception Zuko." Sokka said with a chuckle. He was mimicking Haiko, wiping off his meteorite blade. "They all hate life and everyone else in general."
"Sokka, you know that's not true. We went to the Fire Nation and lived among them." Aang stated."Yes, we may have met some good people but the vast majority are bad." Sokka countered
"I think that we should destroy the Fire Nation. Make sure they can never recover. End them as a state." Haiko said very quietly. "That sounds a bit harsh Haiko. I dislike the Fire Nation but destroying them would offset the balance." Katara replied back with concern.
"After all they did, they don't deserve pity. They have fought with dishonor. I come from a line of honorable warriors in Japan. Hence why I love these weapons so much." He said swinging the katana a few times. "It has been passed down from father to son for generations. The Fire Nation goes against all of that. They fight dishonorably by burning forests and cities. They slaughter thousands. One day they'll get what's coming."
"It's ironic that the Fire Nation believes in honor above all else." Zuko stated. "We're an honor driven society." Haiko laughed at that statement. "I think me and you have very different forms of honor Zuko. Is it honorable to kill women and children who are defenseless?"
Pierre closed his eyes as the argument continued. It wouldn't be worthwhile to mention the stories he's heard about Nanjing, the home of Japan's worst atrocities during the Sino-Japanese War. Where Japanese soldiers raped and killed thousands of the inhabitants. It was all ironic but Pierre would leave himself out of the argument.
Pierre turned around and looked out at the burnt trees around them. He tried to block out the sounds of the argument between Zuko and Haiko over honor. Aang too was joining in to defend the Fire Nation. Pierre wondered how they could be defended.
In the distance he saw smoke still billowing from continued fires. Fires started by the Fire Nation. Fires he was sure would continue to smoke until the rest of the Fire Nation itself.
War was the fire, the fire that rained among the trees. Destroying everything in its path: dreams, relationships, houses with courtyards where once children laughed and chased one another. The ground would be charred for many years. It would be a long time before things would be normal again in France.
How would this war affect the two worlds? Would it be the end of the Fire Nation or a new birth. Would the hunger for death cease or would vengeance continue to drive the leaders of his world against the Fire Nation. Would all this suffering ever end?
This war at least had noble intentions. It was vengeance for the death of millions. Vengeance for all the harm that had come their way because of the Fire Nation. It wasn't a miniscule reason like the death of a single man and then an alliance chain like the last war. No, this one was a coalition of countries against one great foe, the Fire Nation.
A commotion rocked Pierre from his thoughts causing him to look up. In front of him was a white, one story farmhouse that had escaped being burnt to the ground. There was a commotion inside and suddenly the doors burst open.
Out marched three men with their hands over their heads, all in Fire Nation uniforms. Behind them were three French soldiers with guns trained on the men. Behind them an officer followed.
The Fire Nation men were made to kneel and the French soldiers kept their guns trained on them. The officer then took out a pistol and shot each in the head, one by one, letting each see their fellow comrade fall.
Pierre sighed and turned back around just in time to see Aang fly over to the scene. He looked behind Appa and remembered where he was, in a troop train. A line of trucks carrying soldiers had now stopped due to Aang leaving.
Pierre rolled his eyes and made his way to the front of Appa while everyone else watched the argument Aang and the officer were having. "Come on Appa, let's move to the left." Pierre said in a low voice.
Appa in response did what he was told, moving to the left to let the troop train join together. Pierre waved at the trucks as they went by and the drivers waved back in thanks. He took out a cigarette and jumped off Appa away from the flammable substances and lit it.
In silence, he watched the two argue. He knew why. Aang didn't want to see needless slaughter, the officer desired it. Pierre knew it was all for revenge. Everything in this war was for revenge.
Pierre would have let it happen if he were Aang. But he wasn't Aang. Aang was stronger than him. Pierre wouldn't have stood for his beliefs in peace and little bloodshed. He would have just let it all happen and he respected Aang for that.
He did understand, however, that he was much closer with Katara and Zuko for what they went through at Lyon. He, Zuko, Haiko, and Katara all stuck together through unimaginable odds and had survived.
He knew that Zuko and Haiko would eventually get over their argument and be fine. Pierre knew they had the same vision of honor and believed their societies followed it but he knew better.
He knew of Nanjing and of the Fire Nation's atrocities. He knew that even if they said they lived in honor driven societies, they really didn't. There is no honor in what either country had ever done. Both had started wars and committed atrocities. Both had insane people in high command. Zuko at least realized this and defected. Haiko had not and remains loyal to the rising sun still.
Pierre felt a burning sensation and yelped, dropping his cigarette. He had lost track of it and had burnt himself. He shook his head at his own stupidity.
It was at this time that Aang returned back, frowning heavily. Pierre went to climb up onto Appa but Haiko extended his hand. With a blush, Pierre grabbed it and was hauled up onto the saddle.
"What was that about Aang?" Katara asked. "Yeah twinkle toes, did you beat that guys ass. I couldn't see, Sokka was explaining it all to me but I don't trust him." Toph added.
"Hey!" Sokka exclaimed.
"I'm not talking about it." Aang said solemnly. The tone of Aang's voice convinced them all to not press the issue. There was a hint of sadness and anger in it. They all knew better.
Pierre sat in the silence, wallowing in it, gazing quietly at the land. He turned to look at the clouds before he closed his eyes and surrendered himself to sleep.
Earth Kingdom
Off the coast of the Earth Kingdom, a lone princess watched with smug determination as a certain portal came into view. Her hand gripped the railing with such tightness, her knuckles turned white.
She recalled her father, the Phoenix King or Fire Lord, many still call him by the latter even though he was truly the former. She was called Princess Azula behind her back but to her face, she was Fire Lord Azula.
Her crown nestled into her long hair and her smile gently turned into a smirk. She could almost hear the screams of the infidels who dared go against the Fire Nation. It would cement the power she had over the Fire Nation and clear her fathers foggy thoughts on her.
Yes, she would emerge from this experience truly ready to meet the challenge. She would make her father proud. She would lead the Fire Nation to victory, starting with this little portal and what lay beyond, in a world aflame.