Eastern Sea, May 18th, 1940
Emez smiled as he put on his night clothing. As he did so, he glanced out the porthole in his cabin. Outside, the moonless sky stared back at him.
He was one of many soldiers, about 1000, on the boat. In the morning, they would reach the ports along the Eastern Sea. From there, he and his unit would travel to the front near Gaoling.
Currently, he was on a modified transport ship that had once been a normal freighter. Now it was modified to hold one thousand men and was much larger than it had once been.
Emez gently made sure his porthole was closed to make sure that if seas got rough, water wouldn't flood his compartment and drown him. His cabin was on the port side of the ship and in the midsection. Unbeknownst to Emez, this would be crucial in the next few hours.
As the ship with every light on steamed ahead, the crew and the soldiers onboard were unaware of the u-boat following them.
Minutes earlier, U-26 had submerged under the water. A periscope poked out of the water and Captain Dietrich looked at the approaching ship.
"How far is it, Captain?" One of the crew members asked.
"A little over four kilometers, I want to wait o fire torpedoes until we get to at least two kilometers." Dietrich answered before continuing to observe the ship.
"Hand me the list of known ships." The captain ordered after a moment. He felt something go into his hands and removed his eyes from the periscope. He looked at the book and scrolled through.
He was looking for a single funnel, medium sized ship with a slightly disproportionate size, most likely from addons. Finally he found the ship, a modified transport. Only one had ever been captured in their world. Now, he was staring at another.
The ship had a size of one hundred and twenty meters, much larger than he had first thought. It could hold one thousand soldiers along with the crew. She had a top speed of fourteen knots as well.
"Preheat the torpedoes!" Dietrich yelled. Officer Hackmann who had been to his right had moved towards the bow of the sub, screaming how the torpedoes had to be preheated.
Dietrich shook his head at the radio officer's antics and looked back into the periscope. Next, he started a stopwatch to check the speed of the transport and found it took 28 seconds to travel from bow to stern. After doing a few calculations, he concluded they were moving between the eight and nine knot speed.
He checked the distance again. They were about two and a half kilometers away from the target.
"The degrees off the bow for the target is 70° to port and the target is moving at eight and a half knots directly to the east. Plug those numbers into the dashboard." Dietrich told the crew member to his right.
The crew member twisted the knobs until there was one knob left.
"What about distance Captain?" The crew member asked. Dietrich shrugged, "Put it at two kilometers."
"Aye sir."
Captain Dietrich waited a moment before checking the distance again. They were now two kilometers away.
"Are those torpedoes heated?" He called forward.
"Aye sir," he heard the radio officer call back.
"Flood tubes one and two!"
There was a moment's pause.
"Flooded sir."
Captain Dietrich turned to the sailor to his right. "Fire torpedo one." he told him calmly.
"Torpedo launched." The sailor whispered as if the other ship could hear.
Captain Dietrich waited for a second. "Fire torpedo two."
"Torpedo two launched."
Captain Dietrich sighed, taking his eyes away from the periscope to wipe the sweat off his brow before looking to see if the torpedoes would hit their target.
And so they waited and waited and waited until the sailor to his right turned to him. "Torpedo one is a hit." He said as a ginormous explosion of water blew into the air.
"Torpedo two…" The sailor began.
"Is a hit as well." Dietrich finished as another splash of water signaled another hit. Instantly the ship began to list to starboard.
Emez awoke as he felt jolts inside the ship. He grabbed his coat and put it on. He found a hat and placed it on his head before braving outside his room. When he stepped out, he instantly found himself up to his ankles in cold southern waters.
The water in mid-May was in between the high fifties or low sixties. The way Emez was dressed, he wouldn't last very long in the water.
There was only one way that there could be this much water in the halls if some had left their portholes open. Emez knew that some left their portholes open so that they could enjoy the fresh air. Those that did on the starboard side most likely weren't alive much longer.
He began to knock on the doors to his left and right.
"There's water. We're sinking!" He screamed, continuing to knock. From the port side, many emerged. From the starboard side, very few did.
There was a sharp list to starboard that was causing him to slip as he continued towards the stairs that were located aft of the ship. Behind him many soldiers, of all ages and from both genders followed him.
Suddenly, the boat shook again. There was a sudden explosion and the sound of wind whistling. From Emez's left, a door opened revealing someone attempting to leave their room.
Behind the group, further back in the bowels of the ship, the boilers exploded. Fire danced through the hallways and Emez saw it flying towards him.
He fell onto the man attempting to enter the hallway and pushed back into his room as fire rushed past him. The two plunged into the now shin deep dark waters.
Emez got up and helped the other man to his feet. The two nodded at each other and in the distance they could hear the screams of those burnt. They knew there was no time to help them. The two and a few others who had dived into the water to avoid the blast reached the ladder.
Emez went first, followed by the others. When he reached the next floor he went to the ladder and continued to climb. When he got to the next floor he found a horrible sight. The way to the ladder was blocked by debris.
The man behind Emez moved him aside.
"Allow me." The man said before performing a few katas and blowing the debris aside with fire. The man climbed up the ladder up to the deck floor. Emez looked behind him and saw a woman who was bleeding on her face at the front of the group of people that were following Emez.
"You go before me, I'll help you up." He told her, noting her injured appearance. The lady nodded and began to climb the ladder until a large surge of water swept through the lower floors and upon the deck.
Water poured through the opening and nearly knocked over Emez if he hadn't been holding the ladder. When he wiped the salt water from his eyes, he saw that the woman was gone and that the once pretty big group was now reduced to him and two others.
Emez took a deep breath before climbing up onto the deck. The man who he had pushed back into his cabin, the firebender, was nowhere to be seen.
He turned back to the ladder and helped the next man up with the help of the other soldier still below. Once the man was up, Emez turned back to help the other soldier still below and found him gone.
Emez grimaced before he and the final man ran aft on the port side of the ship. The starboard side was already halfway underwater and the ship was rapidly sinking.
He now understood some of the design flaws of this vessel. He had overheard some of the crew being annoyed at the fact that the ship contained no canoes that could be used as life rafts. Instead, they were given a few life preservers. Fire Nation command did not want to waste money on a ship they doubted would ever sink. Clearly they were wrong.
He had no idea what even happened. First he was sleeping, now he was fighting for his life. What had happened to cause this mighty boat to sink? He didn't know.
He winced as salt water flew into his eyes. The wind had picked up since Emez had closed his eyes to sleep. Waves crested onto the open deck and he could only watch as men came aboard, only to be swept away.
"What are we going to do?" He asked in horror as he watched nature take hold of the vessel.
"You see that debris over there." The soldier next to him said.
Emez nodded.
"We gotta head for it. Then we have to get away from the ship unless she'll pull us down."
Emez nodded again and grabbed the man's hand. The soldier turned to him sharply. "What are you doing?" He asked in both surprise and annoyance.
"Think about it this way. If one of us gets sucked down, the other will help him up. This way we'll both hopefully get out of this mess! I don't want this to be any of our watery graves." Emez argued.
The soldier glanced down into the dark sea that was rapidly approaching. Deep down, he knew the man next to him was right. The ship would suck one of them down and that would be the end. He decided to toughen up. It was harder to bring down two than one.
He gripped Emez's hand even harder. "If we make it out of this, you don't ever tell anyone this happened."
"I won't make any promises." Emez replied coolly before staring out at the rapidly approaching water.
"May the spirits bless us." He muttered to himself before he jumped off the ship, bringing the soldier with him. They plunged into the water and Emez felt his hand being pulled down.
The soldier with him was being sucked under with the ship he realized in shock. He could let go and let the man die but decided against it. He had brought the man down, might as well bring him back up.
Using all his available energy, Emez pulled the man up from the tendrils of the ship. They together broke the surface of the water and gasped for air. They then swam over to the debris they had first seen.
The debris they had seen was a cluster of doors and crates from the ship. The soldier climbed up first before helping Emez up. The two both laid on their bellies to even out weight distribution to prevent them from capsizing over. Once that was done, they both took a breath.
The ship twisted in the water like an eel and water sprouted from the portholes still above water like geysers. Suddenly there was another explosion from the back of the boat blowing the ship apart.
Emez shielded his eyes until the flash had stopped. When he removed his hand, all that was left of the ship was her port side that just poked out of the water. Within moments, that too sank beneath the dark waters of the Southern Sea.
There was a moment of silence between the two men as they stared at what had once been a ship. Now, what had been a ship was now wreckage heading towards the sea floor.
"Thanks for helping me back up." The soldier told Emez after the moment of silence.
"Don't mention it." Emez said with a nod.
He then turned and looked out at the ocean. It was calmer than he had thought. After the ship sank, it seemed like the waters calmed. Like the ocean had come alive to take the ship and many of the lives on board down to her depths.
Then he saw something poke out of the water. He thought it was his imagination until there was a bright light. He winced and saw a boat steaming towards them.
When his eyes adjusted to the light he looked on in wonder. Bathed in the light was a boat with two men on a tower in the center. No way could there only be two men. This could only be one thing Emez surmised. A submarine. On the side of the submarine, there was a large plus sign. The insignia of the German navy.
With a start, Emez realized that this ship had sunk the transport. Suddenly he was filled with anger.
Also bathed in light were the other survivors that were floating about. There were many strewn out across the sea and were clinging onto wood and other debris.
The submarine passed beside the little debris that Emez and the other soldier clung onto. As they passed, he could hear the two men on the tower talking to each other in a foreign language that was unknown to him.
The two on the tower, an officer and what appeared to be the captain, we're in a heated discussion. The officer seemed to ask something of the captain in an angry tone.
For a second, the one that looked like the captain paused and turned to them. He stared at them for a moment and Emez noted the beard that hugged the man's face. He then turned away and the boat left the two stranded on the makeshift raft.
In the morning, the survivors paddled towards each other and waited a long while until being saved. When the initial headcount was finished, there were about one hundred sixty survivors. There had been one thousand, one hundred and eighty men and women on board. It was a devastating loss in both the morale of the Fire Navy, it's people, and the soldiers who still had to make the now deadly journey across the ocean. The war was getting far too close to home for them to be comfortable.
Finland
May 19, 1940
Zaire looked at the meadow ahead of her. The early morning air was cool, like the air in the Earth Kingdom in late Spring. Her gunner, Rimu, had the large gun pointing ahead.
Her tank and another were positioned here to prevent a Soviet advance. They were both FT-12s rather than the light TT-4. The FT-12 was a medium tank with a 75mm gun. The FT-12 was also heavily armored with a machine gun in the front and two on the side. The Tundra Tank four on the other hand was a lightly armored tank with a machine gun on each side and a smaller cannon. It was a mostly anti-infantry vehicle. The FT-12 was a vehicle made to go head to head with German panzers.
Her FT-12 along with the one about 80 yards to her left were both painted in forest green. It would be extremely hard for the Soviet tanks to spot them before they would start shooting.
They all had their special helmets on. These helmets were especially made to ease the pain in the ears when the gunner would fire. Sometimes however, it would be best to still cover your ears.
Suddenly the radio began to say something. Iresa rushed over and put the headphones to her ears. She sat listening for a second before she looked up.
"The T-34s, they're coming right for us." Iresa said looking up. Zaire nodded, further back was a defensive line of Fire Nation troops along with artillery. If the T-34s got past her, those soldiers behind her would be as good as dead.
"Rimu keep your eyes ahead and prepare to shoot. Dozum, I hope you can reload fast today. We're about to get our baptism of blood." Her crew nodded as Rimu looked into the sights.
"I got movement in the trees!" Rimu shouted.
"Iresa, get in contact with the other tank. We need to coordinate our attacks." Zaire ordered.
Iresa nodded and began working on the radio. "This is Agni-1, Agni-2 can you hear me?" She said into the microphone using the squad names assigned to the many tank groups in the area.
"Agni-1, this is Agni-2. We hear you loud and clear. What seems to be the problem?" Asked the voice on the other side of the radio.
"Our gunner has spotted enemy tanks heading towards our position. We're not sure how many. We only have eyes on three but there are probably others deeper in the trees."
There was a pause on the radio. "We see them. We're counting eight T-34s coming out of the woods. We have to work together to stop them."
"That's what I was going to say."
"Good, we're on the same page."
Zaire chose now to stop listening in and decided to observe the now 10 tanks that had emerged from the woods. To her, it didn't seem like there were any more. Which simply meant they were outnumbered five to one.
"Tell Agni-2 we're aiming for the lead tank on the right. Tell them to aim for the tank on the left." Zaire ordered Iresa.
"Agni-2, we're aiming for the lead tank on the right. Aim for the tank on the left. That should hurt their morale." Iresa spoke over the radio.
"Rimu, aim carefully. We can't miss it. Dozum, is the gun loaded?"
"Yes commander!" They both yelled.
Rimu aimed the gun for the lead tank and aimed for the side area of the tank that looked weakest. Once he did so, he turned to commander Zaire. "Waiting for your command Commander."
"Shoot 'em Rimu." Zaire ordered. The entire crew put their hands over their ears before Rimu pulled the trigger. The T-34 rolled to a stop and it's frontal gun drooped down.
"Reloading!" Dozum called out. Suddenly there was another explosion as Agni-2 fired off an explosive that slammed into another T-34. This T-34 also stopped and licks of flames began to peak out from within.
The T-34's began to spread out like birds trying to run from something that scared them. "Rimu, choose another target." Zaire ordered calmly.
"I already did, I have the gun aimed and ready."
"Dozum is the gun reloaded."
"Yes mam!" Dozum affirmed.
"Rimu, shoot that damn thing."
There was another explosion as the projectile impacted the weak armor on the targeted T-34's side. The projectile had so much power that the T-34 almost flipped.
A T-34 that had wandered into the path of Agni-2 also went up in flames to Zaire's great satisfaction.
Then a new tank emerged from the woods. A heavy tank by the looks of it, a KV-1 if Zaire's knowledge was correct. She knew the danger it posed. "Rimu, hit that heavy! Fire when ready!" She ordered in barely concealed fear.
Rimu nodded, aimed, and fired. To Zaire's horror, the projectile hit the tank and bounced off to the side.
"Reloading!" Dozum yelled.
Desperately, Zaire searched her mind for the weak points of the KV-1. If they shot the tracks, then the tank would turn and would be open for a side attack.
"Rimu hit the tracks next time." Zaire told the gunner. Then an explosion rocked the tank as the KV-1 missed its shot by a few inches.
"Finished reloading."
"Prepared to fire."
"Take those tracks out."
Rimu fired and there was the sound of something breaking apart. The projectile had hit the tracks and now the driver of the KV-1 lost control of the tank as if moved to the left, wide open to a Fire Nation attack.
Dozum quickly reloaded and Rimu prepared to shoot at the back engine. "You can fire when ready gunner." Zaire said with a slight smirk.
A moment later, the gun fired. It was a direct hit.
The KV-1 exploded in a shower of flames. It's turret flew up in the air and landed a few feet away.
Zaire looked around and saw that Agni-2 had taken out a few other T-34s while they were fighting the KV-1. To her surprise, she saw a T-34 attempting to flank.
"I got a T-34 flanking on our right. That's our primary target." She told the crew. Dozum turned the turret that way until Rimu yelled, "Stop!"
Rimu from there instantly fired. The projectile hit the T-34 directly under the turret, easily going through the thin armor. The crew inside was killed instantly.
Dozum turned the turret back and Zaire could watch the T-34s retreat back to where they came from.
Iresa picked up the radio, "It was great working with you Agni-2." She said with a light smile.
"As it was with you." The radio operator of Agni-2 replied. Iresa and Zaire smiled proudly.
May 23rd, 1940
It had taken a short while Zaire noted. A short while for the Soviets to encircle her and the rest of the men and women with her.
When she and the other tank stopped the little attack, the Soviet commanders compensated. They pushed forward behind them with more tanks and had now divided them away from the portal.
The Soviets had actually divided almost the entire force that was in the area. They were now small pockets of soldiers that now desperately wanted to go home. Sadly, it didn't seem like that would happen. Instead it seemed like they would be crushed.
But was that the thinking that Princess Azula would use. She had told herself no it wasn't. That is when she had come up with the plan for her pocket to try and break through the strangle the Soviets had her in.
Now, here she was, leading 12 tanks and about 400 troops as they slowly made their way back towards the portal. One of the tank commanders had suggested that they should try to save some of the others in other bubbles. The majority had decided against it, ruling that doing so would probably doom them. It was their best hope that others would do what they were doing.
The Soviets had been able to listen in to some of the radio calls so they couldn't try to plan something. The way they were doing things now was best.
The soldiers had decided to position themselves in the middle of the tank column. Some had chosen to abandon their new weapons and depend on their old fashioned swords and knives. Others carried machine guns and rifles. Finally the fair amount of firebenders they had kept to the back, prepared to bombard the enemy.
The column stopped at a meadow. They were already deep into Soviet territory and were pretty paranoid. Suddenly the radio blared to life. "Agni-1, what do we do?" One of the other radio operators asked.
They had decided upon using Agni again as a name for referring to tanks. You never know who could be listening in. Zaire, since she was the one to create the plan, was given the honorary title of Agni-1.
Iresa turned to Zaire awaiting orders on what to tell the others. "Tell them that we'll send out a few men to check the woods ahead."
Iresa nodded. "This is Agni-1. We plan on sending out a few men to check things out." Iresa radioed. The goal was to keep things as unspecific as possible. By doing so, the enemy wouldn't get many details.
It was frightening to realize how little they knew of the radio. They knew that the Soviets could easily intercept messenger hawks so they chose to use the radios. But it seemed that sometimes the Soviets knew exactly what was being radioed over long distances. Could they listen in to these personal conversations. What if they sent encoded messages to each other? Would that work?
Zaire shook her head. This wasn't the time. It could just be a coincidence that the Soviets seemed to hear their radios. It was time to send out a group to check out the meadow.
Zaire opened the top hatch and stuck her head out. She made sure her head was covered with a helmet in case that there was a sniper.
"I need ten soldiers, at least two firebenders in that group to check out that meadow ahead." She called out to the assembled men and women. After she got the volunteers, she sent them out with orders to remain hidden. If it was cleared, they should give a thumbs up from where they were.
When she dropped back into the tank, Seeza turned to her. "I hope this works Zaire." Seeza was one of Zaire's closest friends. The only one in the tank who at times didn't call her commander.
"It will, I have trust in them. How far are we from the portal?"
Seeza sighed. "About 6 miles. But Zaire, what if the Soviets have already taken the portal?"
"We'll deal with that if that is what happened. But I don't think they did. If it did happen, then we fight our way out." Zaire responded.
"I don't like this plan all too well. You know that." Seeza drawled.
Zaire nodded. "I know, you never liked some of my more ambitious plans. But if we are to fight another day, we have to do this. It's the only way."
Seeza and Zaire had a long history. They had gone through training together and had actually bunkered together for a little while. They had been in the same training group at times and they each had experienced each other at their worst and at their best.
In the middle of the meadow, someone raised their thumb up into the air. Zaire saw this and turned to Iresa, "Tell the other commanders to move their tanks forward."
Zaire nodded and grabbed the radio, "The soldiers in the meadow gave the clear on the meadow." She spoke into the electronic tool.
"Let's hope they're right." Dozum grumbled.
"It would do well for you to trust the commander Dozum." Rimu whispered back to him in response to his grumble. "Many don't take kindly to one questioning their orders. I'm sure Zaire doesn't. She only tolerates Seeza because of their history."
Dozum rolled his eyes. "I prefer not to think about it."
"I know but we both are aware that she explodes easily." Rimu finalized before turning back around as the tank rolled forward into the clearing.
Zaire's tank was leading on the right while another tank was on their left. Zaire glanced around the clearing and noted there was nothing.
That was until they felt something slam against the side of their tank. Each screamed at the intense ringing in their ears. Rimu was never so thankful for side armor in his life.
Iresa could just barely hear scrambled voices talking of a few tanks and a squad in the woods. Slowly gunshots began to be heard as Fire Nation and Soviet soldiers and tanks clashed.
Rimu was the first to recover and turned the gun towards their right. There, he saw five tanks, four mediums and one heavy, along with a fair amount of soldiers.
He glanced at Dozum who gave him a thumbs up from the floor whilst his other hand still clutched his ears. He glanced at Zaire who was also clutching her ears. Zaire glared at him and screamed something.
He had no idea what she said but he made out the words 'fire!' Rimu locked onto a KV-1 who had its side wide open for attack. He squeezed his trigger finger and there was a deafening explosion from the KV-1.
If possible, his ears rang more from not wearing any protective gear on his head. Said protective gear was on the ground from when he had fallen.
He clutched his ears for a moment until the ring8ng had slowed. He glanced up and suddenly smiled upon the flames of a KV-1 tank.
A few firebenders had made the choice to try and get up close and personal to the tanks. When one tried to roll past, one of the firebenders blasted it with as much heat as he could.
The tank rolled to a halt as it exploded from an ignited fuel tank. The firebenders stared at it in horror.
The Fire Nation tanks opened up in unison with their main guns. The remaining three T-34s quickly were destroyed and from there it was more of a cleanup job.
The remaining Soviet soldiers either fled or were destroyed by machine gun fire from the tanks side guns.
Zaire was finally able to stand and turned to Iresa. "Tell the others we're alright radio operator."
Iresa nodded and turned a few knobs on the radio. "This is Agni-1, I repeat this is Agni-1, we're completely fine. What are the casualties?"
A voice blared to life on the radio. "We've lost two soldiers with a few injuries. But all in all we're doing well considering the size of the enemy force we faced. Glad to see you're doing alright." The radio operator from the tank that had helped them a few days ago, once Agni-2 now Agni-6, answered.
"We have more pressing problems however. The Soviets will surely know about us now." The radio operator of Agni-3 said.
"Tell them we continue forward without delay, we simply abandon stealth and try our best to make it to the portal. It's only six more miles. We can make it as long as we follow the roads created by the Soviets." Zaire ordered Iresa.
"We continue forward without delay. But no more stealth. We're going to follow the roads created by the Soviets. We're only six miles away from our destination. I doubt they could muster a force. There's also the chance that they believe we're trying to break others out." Iresa added the last part to try and ease the blunt blow of what she had just said.
"That is suicide!"
"That is outrageous."
"We can't do that!"
Radio operators were screaming how wrong they thought Iresa were and she sighed before looking at Zaire. "Tell them it's the fastest way to get there. We don't have many other options."
"It's the fastest way to reach the portal. We don't have any other options for us. Let's face it, the slower we are, the higher the chances are that we get killed. We have to be fast, blazing fast." Iresa told the other radio operators.
"I agree with Agni-1." Agni-6's operator said after a pause.
"As do I." Agni-2's operator added.
"Then we're going with the plan that we created." Iresa finalized before shutting off the radio amidst the multitude of groans she heard.
"Commander, lead the way to the portal." Iresa told Zaire with tired eyes. Tired of war and her job dealing with others like her that serve as delegates from other tanks.
Zaire nodded and turned to Seeza. "Driver, you know what to do."
Seeza nodded and drove the tank forward, towards the road to the east of the meadow. Behind her, the other tanks and soldiers followed.
Japan
Three figures stood upon a mountain as they gazed into a valley. One had binoculars, another was drawing, and the final one was giving off light from the palm of her hand.
Souza, Anza, and Zim were gazing at the Japanese base below. Inside the base, was their ultimate destination on this plane of the world. The portal, which they could only see the slight tips of, was inside the base. Their one way ticket home was inside.
"Large towers on either end of each wall. I hope your writing this down." Souza said turning to Zim.
"Not writing, drawing."
Souza nodded, "Even better."
The group was taking notes on the layout of the camp as they planned their escape. Souza, being the surveyor, was the one who was doing the actual surveying. Zim had chosen to write/draw whatever was said.
From here, they could plan how they could get through the portal.
"It seems that the portal is heavily guarded." Souza noted. Zim nodded and scribbled something down. "It also looks like it's filled to the brim with enemy vehicles and logistics. It's probably the staging point for an operation."
"So we should burn it down!" Anza exclaimed.
"If you want a death wish. If we let them know that we're here, we'll be most surely dead."
"But it would be for the Fire Nation." Zim pouted.
"It would be better if we were to survive you two. Our ultimate goal is survival, not sabotage. Regardless, we probably wouldn't even be able to get in because of all the stuff there for whatever operation they're planning. I count 30 tanks in and around the base." Souza argued.
"I don't understand why we don't help our nation. Without our help, our nation is going to lose the war and everything we've ever worked for will be destroyed!" Zim snarled.
Anza turned to Souza who bit his lip at Zim's words. They both shared the same thought. Zim was a hassle. He still believed the Fire Nation was good and righteous. Anza and Souza had learned otherwise from their travels. The Yuyan archer was a danger to their plans on getting home. Yet, they didn't want to just leave him. He would eventually have to see things on their side and if he couldn't, then they would have to do something.
"Zim, Souza's right. The best way we can help our nation is to get home and tell them about what's here and what they're doing." Anza grasped Zim's wrist causing him to sigh. She understood where he was coming from. She wanted to just stop the Japanese like Zim but she realized that their lives were likely more important.
"Zim, hand me that book you've been drawing on if you could please?" Souza asked.
Zim frowned but handed it over. Souza grabbed it and folded back the cover. He then raised it up along the actual base and nodded.
"It's a good drawing Zim, it's almost completely accurate." Souza's lips curled slightly upward causing Zim to nod in thanks. Souza handed the book back to Zim. "Keep it safe, we'll be needing it."
Souza paused and gazed at the base again. "So what's the plan. Shoot."
"We could sneak in." Zim said.
"Nah too heavily guarded." Souza shook his head.
"We go in guns blazing and hope for the best." Anza's hopeful voice almost made Souza say yes but he shook his head. "It's too guarded."
"We can dig a tunnel too." Anza smiled hopefully.
"How are we going to build a tunnel?"
Anza shrugged then lowered her head.
"We can drive a truck and fly through." Zim pointed out.
"But we don't know what's on the other side." Souza added.
Zim nodded, "That's a fair point."
"I have an idea!" Anza joyfully said.
"What?" Souza and Zim asked in unison.
"Zim poses as a Japanese security guard and he leads us through the portal under the guise of taking us somewhere."
"That would never work." Zim argued. "Where would you be taking us."
"Well," Souza smirked causing the two to turn to him. "I figured out the Japs are building prison camps in the Earth Kingdom. We can say your bringing us there."
"Why me then? Why am I the one doing it."
"Because your the one who looks Japanese. If only you cut your hair." Souza sighed.
"No, I'm not cutting my hair." Zim firmly stated
"Your going to have to Zim if we want to fool it." Anza teased.
Zim sighed. "Do I have to?"
"Yes Zim you most likely do. You also probably have to learn Japanese for the next few months."
Zim groaned and put his head into his hands. "Are you all serious?"
"Yeah Zim, we're serious. It's probably the only way we can get through."
Zim shook his head, "Fine, I still think this is stupid but I'll do it. But I'll only cut my hair very close to when we decide to make our move. This hair still represents my Yuyan history. My tattoos, oh wait, what about my tattoos?"
Souza pointed, "That's a problem. Then maybe Anza should do it?"
"I would be a woman in a mostly masculine society. They wouldn't believe me." Anza replied glumly. Souza and Zim stopped to think.
"But…what if we had papers giving you authorization. Then it would work." Zim reasoned after a moment of thought.
"But where would we get authorization?" Souza asked.
"There was an old typewriter in the base we found a little while ago. We also took a paper with a prison camp's wardens signature. We can just use that to form a signature detailing transfer of prisoners to the new camp in the Earth Kingdom. Sincer there were no soldiers available, they decided to use you. There would also be 'soldiers' in the back as well."
"A new camp in the Earth Kingdom?" Anza questioned.
"Yeah, a new camp for prisoners of war in the Earth Kingdom. Zim and I will pose as prisoners and you'll be the civilian guard." Souza answered.
"That sounds good. So now I have to learn Japanese? I was always a fast learner." Anza chuckled lightly causing Zim to smile widely.
Souza rolled his eyes at Zim's actions. "Yeah Anza, your going to have to."
"Sweet." Anza grinned widely, showing her white teeth. Zim continued to stare at her dumbfounded causing Souza to slap him.
"Stop staring." He whispered harshly to Zim who blushed. Now that the group had figured out an escape plan, they retreated back from the hill, back towards their camp.
Finland
Seeza was doing her best to stick to the dirt path ahead of her. It was extremely hard for her to see as the sun was beginning to set.
The group of tanks was set up in a column with the infantry in between each tank. Zaire's tank was leading the column on the dirt road.
The road had most likely once been a horse trail. It was very wooded but there were distinct tank marks embedded into the wet dirt. It was an important pathway for Soviet tanks.
In the tank, Zaire turned to Iresa and asked, "How much further to the portal?" She was asking Iresa instead of Seeza because Seeza was preoccupied with driving.
Iresa checked the map and moved her finger along the path. "It seems to be four miles. Can I suggest something Commander?"
"What is it, Iresa?"
"We should send a scouting squad ahead to check the road."
Zaire nodded before climbing out of the tank and turning to the infantry behind her tank. "I need a few soldiers to check the path ahead for blockades or tanks."
One of the captains nodded and chose a few people to go with him. When he turned back to Zaire, he found a radio tossed into his hands.
"Use that to contact us." She explained. The captain nodded and began to walk down the road, gesturing for the few soldiers he chose to follow.
Zaire went back into her tank and closed the hatch above her.
"Iresa, radio the others what we just did." She ordered Iresa tiredly.
Iresa nodded and turned on the radio, "We sent out a scouting group ahead to double check if there's any enemies ahead."
There were sounds of agreement and Iresa switched the knobs to the frequency for communication with the scouting squad. "This is Agni-1, can you hear us loud and clear?"
"Yeah, we can hear you. So far there's nothing." The captain of the group replied.
Iresa turned around to Zaire and told her, "We're good to go."
Zaire nodded, "Tell the other tanks we're clear for the first half a mile."
Iresa changed the knobs again and put her mouth to the microphone. "We're going to start moving again. The scouts cleared the first half a mile."
There were once again many affirmatives and Iresa gave Zaire a thumbs up.
The tank began to move again, the last four miles to the portal.
The next 30 minutes passed with ease with easy communication with the scouts. They reported no problems and they had already reached a Fire Nation sentry.
At the moment, the scouts were explaining to the Fire Nation sentry what had happened and the fact that there were many more behind them. The sentries were disbelieving.
Eventually, however, the tanks came into sight and the Fire Nation sentries saw that the scouts hadn't been lying. They let them through the defenses with a few instructions for the group to head to the main commander near the portal.
When they reached the commander, Zaire was the one chose to do the talking.
The commander was a stout man with greying hair and a solemn expression. He was the typical Fire Nation commander.
"Commander." Zaire said bowing in front of him.
"At ease Captain Zaire of Agni-1, I am already aware of some of the specifics of what had occured from my sentries. But since I've heard that you were the one that came up with the plan, I would like to know the full story."
"Well Commander, we had found ourselves encircled. I had decided that it would be in the best interests of us all to break out of the bubble we were trapped in. So I took a portion of the defense force and used them to try and break us out. The other half of the defense force should've been right behind us but I'm not sure if they too were able to break out." Zaire began but the commander raised his hand.
"Did it occur to you captain to try and break other people out?" The Commander asked curiously.
"Yes Commander, it did. But I, we realized that many were probably trying to break out as well. We had no communication and many of the other tank commanders had agreed that it would be best for us to try and bolster up the portal defenses so we returned here. On our trip we destroyed four tanks and killed a few Soviet soldiers too. We decided to follow a dirt path that led us right to the sentries." Zaire finished.
The Commander nodded. "I want you and your group to head to the other side of the portal and try to create a defensive front on that side."
"But sir…" Zaire was extremely confused. They were here to try and hold the portal, not surrender it to the enemy.
"Captain Zaire, I fear it's only a matter of time before this portal falls. I'm trying to help get as many to the other side so that when it does fall, the Soviets don't walk to Ba Sing Se unimpeded."
Zaire nodded, deciding she couldn't fault that reasoning. She bowed to the Commander. "Until next time Commander." She told him, even as she doubted she would ever see him again.
"Until next time Captain Zaire." The Commander replied with a firm nod.
The group traveled through the portal without worry and had joined the defensive front that had remained outside the portal. The goal would be to lock the Soviets on the peninsula they were stuck on.
A week later, the portal in Finland fell to the enemy.
June 20th, 1940
Western Earth Kingdom
Han Zou stood silently as he stared at his maps. The Fire Nation defense was going splendidly on all fronts. In the east, the Soviets were holed up in a peninsula south of Ba Sing Se. The Germans, Americans, and British were held up along the plains between the mountains that were on the fringes of the Si Wong Desert. The Japanese were held off by him and the other Colonels in the west.
He had chosen to distribute his men along the outside of the pass to reach the supply hub on the other end. The village that acted as a supply hub was extremely new. It was once destroyed by a flood a few years ago but was saved by a young child who had warned everyone. But luckily since the village was destroyed, it was able to be turned into something more. It would be one of the first railway hubs in the Earth Kingdom. It would be the lifeline of the front against the Japanese and the south-western front against the British and Americans.
His eyes were drawn to one of the vital points of his defense. It was the one division of one thousand men that acted as reinforcements. Each division he had under his control came with about 100 tanks along with the division. Most were lights with a few mediums.
Today, he would be getting a shipment of about 500 recruits, 15% firebenders, along with a few new medium tanks. These would probably be used to boost up the defensive division that stayed within the pass.
Suddenly there was a knock on the door.
"Come in." He called.
Captain Ruke walked in with a grave expression on his face. This immediately sent warning signs up with Han Zou. The Captain was an easy man, the commander of the small garrison at the base where they were didn't give him much action except against guerrilas. He was the highest ranking soldier other than him, the lieutenants being with their divisions on the fronts.
"Captain Ruke, what seems to be the problem?" Han Zou calmly asked though on the inside, he was already preparing for the worst.
"Sir we got a something on the telegraph. The Japanese, they've done it. They pushed through on sector two and are now marching towards us. It's only one division standing between us and the base.
Han Zou took in a sharp breath. "How many?"
"Five thousand to six thousand sir."
Han Zou groaned and placed his head into his hands. Suddenly he slammed his fist onto the desk. He bit his lip and thought.
"Tell the two edge sectors, one and four to retreat back to the base here. Tell the defensive division to quickly march to push the Japanese back. Actually scratch that, tell them to hold until the soldiers from sectors one and four retreat back to the base for further orders. I need sectors two and three to prepare to push back on the Japanese once we push them back. I also need you to send a telegram to high command pronto requesting more troops. We'll need as many troops as we can to push them back."
"Yes sir!" Captain Rimu saluted and was about to walk out when Han Zou stopped him.
"Rimu"
"Yes sir?" Captain Rimu turned and looked at Han Zou.
"Rally the troops here. We're gonna need all the help we can get."
"Aye sir."
Captain Rimu left, the door closing softly behind him. Han Zou let out a sigh before taking out a smaller map of the area and began to plan.