Pass of Yanlei
February 4th, 1941
"Repeat to me this plan of yours again Colonel," said General Shinu.
"For all intents and purposes, it is a chokehold. I will try and buy the army and the civilians enough time to escape. I think I can hold out for awhile if we keep our supply lines open and our wits about."
"I can give you only a few thousand troops but nothing more."
"Is there any way for me to get others to join?"
"Volunteers perhaps. But we're moving out in a couple of days and I wouldn't be able to get posters around in time."
"I have another way of doing it. Could I have access to the radio?"
Central Earth Kingdom
February 5th, 1941
Appa soared while the Gaang sat on his saddled back. Just this time, there was a new person called Jin.
Haiko and Zuko had tried to find her father or any of her siblings who had fought in the rebellion. However, they never could find them. They even asked some of the rebels for help and they said they hadn't seen them.
Her extended family lived in a village in the vicinity of the Pass of Yanlei and because that was where the Gaang was going, she decided to join them. It was temporary of course but Haiko wished it was a more permanent arrangement.
Below them was a cloud of dust created by the column of American tanks and trucks. This forced Aang to keep Appa high in the air to avoid the smoke.
Meanwhile, Sokka and Suki enjoyed watching the two couples on Appa develop.
Near the front of Appa, Katara sat with her arms wrapped around Aang's torso. His head was leaned back against her shoulder and his attention seemed to be more on her than flying Appa. But Appa was happy with the added freedom he was given.
They both turned their heads to the middle of the saddle to see Zuko brooding in a corner and Toph sleeping. Both chuckled at their anti-social friends and turned fully to look at the other couple.
Jin and Haiko were chatting casually with both of their faces being filled with a bright smile. Jin was fiddling with her hair while Haiko kept on moving his hands in circles.
Their relationship was an interesting one according to Zuko. He had told them about what had happened when they rescued Jin and how Haiko had taken upon himself to protect her. Haiko was still dealing with the loss of Pierre but Jin seemed to be helping him.
On the other hand, Jin was fully over Zuko or Lee as she knew him. She was a bit upset that Zuko had lied to her but she understood the reasoning.
Suddenly, Hiro popped out of Haiko's jacket causing both to laugh heartily. They began to talk again but this time a bit louder allowing Sokka and Suki to hear.
"Honestly, I'm shocked this sky bison can hold so much weight!" Jin exclaimed brightly.
"His name is Appa," Haiko replied with a smile. "Aang would be quite unhappy if you called one of his best friends a regular 'sky bison.'"
Haiko said this in a very laid back tone causing Jin to place a hand over her mouth and begin to laugh.
"But to answer you, Appa has grown a lot. I'm sure the more he grows, the more he can hold. Like how as a horse grows, it can carry much more weight," Haiko explained.
"What's a horse? Is it like the head of an ostrich-horse with two hairy feet?" Haiko couldn't hold his laughter back and his laugh boomed across the saddle.
"Did I say something?" Jin asked, hurt.
Haiko eased back his laughter and he placed a hand on the side of the saddle to steady himself. "No, the image you gave me is very funny. A horse has the head of an ostrich-horse but with four legs."
It was Jin's turn to laugh. "That image is also too funny for me!"
"But it's true!"
Sokka and Suki both chuckled. Love was slow at first but it would soon become a cascade between the two. It was the stage where Aang and Katara were. They were both deeply in love but not together. When they would get together, neither could say. Both were deeply engrossed in the war.
Meanwhile, Jin and Haiko seemed to have no worry about what was happening around them. They only cared for each other and only each other. There could have been a wall between them and they would still only think of each other.
But the world weighed heavily on Aang's shoulders. Katara was unable to help him carry it though. All she could do was stand to the side and hope that she could comfort her lover.
Sokka and Suki were in the middle of this spectrum. They cared about the war but not enough to let it get in the way between the two of them. They weren't preoccupied by the death and suffering like Aang and Katara but weren't showing the indifference Haiko and Jin had.
But sometimes, when the two would stare at each other, the world would fade away behind them as if it were in a cloud. Those moments were always the best.
Appa began to descend at a considerable speed. This got Zuko's attention and he asked, "Why are we descending?"
"They've stopped moving below. I want to make sure everything is ok," Aang said.
They continued to descend until Appa hit the ground. Aang, Katara, and Sokka dismounted. Aang because he was the Avatar, Katara because she was Aang's emotional support, and Sokka because he was the team's tactician. Zuko should have also come too, but he was brooding.
It was just like old times, Sokka thought as they walked through the maze of tanks and trucks. It was he, his sister, and Aang against the world.
They reached the front of the group quickly and saw a group of American soldiers with their guns pointed towards an old farmhouse. One of the Americans had set up a machine gun in the front.
There was complete utter silence. Not even the wind whistled nor the birds chirped. All one would feel was the shear tension coursing through the air.
Then the doors of the farmhouse burst open with a rickety crash. Out of it walked a few Earth civilians and Fire Nation soldiers with their hands raised over their heads.
They walked forward slowly with cautious steps. The machine gun remained focused on the group. Then an officer walked forward.
"No prisoners," he uttered.
It was the worst thing the three had ever seen. The riflemen remained silent but the machine gun crew seemed to have been waiting for this moment their entire lives.
Rat-ata-ta-tat
The machine gun opened fire with absolute fury. The Fire Nation soldiers and Earth Kingdom civilians never stood a chance.
A few Americans looked on in shock at what their comrades did. Others seemed to have become used to this. But Aang was horrified.
"What are you doing!" He cried running up to the officer. The officer shoved him to the side.
"I'm cleaning up the vermin," he snarled.
Aang got up again and launched a rock at the officer. The officer raised an eyebrow and sidestepped. After Aang did this, another soldier ran up behind Aang and knocked him out after hitting the back where his lightning scar was.
Katara and Sokka tried to rush forward to help Aang but they were restrained by other soldiers.
"Hey!"
"Let go of us!"
"No can do, you're a threat to security!"
They tied the two up with some ropes and three burly soldiers stood over them.
A few soldiers grabbed Aang by his arms and heaved him up. Aang's eyes were closed and he was breathing heavily.
"Lieutenant, you sure we should be doing this. He's only a kid after all," one young Italian-American protested.
"Private, if you don't want to be cleaning exhaust pipes for the next month I'd be quiet!" The officer barked. He took out a pistol and whacked Aang with it across the head.
"Why do you always have to be the good hero Avatar!" He yelled at Aang. What the Americans didn't realize (but Sokka and Katara did) was that Aang was seething.
Then he opened his eyes and they were white.
"You dare!" He screamed in a thousand voice harmony.
The soldiers dropped Aang in fear as they began to feel wind begin to swirl around him. The officer stumbled back at the supernatural sight too, his eyes widening in horror.
The three burly soldiers who had been guarding Sokka and Katara ran in the other direction. The Italian American ran over and began to untie them.
"Hey, your that guy from the Battle of the Portal. Leo, right?" Sokka asked.
The man nodded, "The one and only!"
He finished untying them and helped them to their feet. "So how do we stop your friend?"
Aang was rising into the air with a look of absolute fury on his face. Tanks were beginning to move towards him while their crews abandoned them with haste.
The officer was running towards them but Leo grabbed him. He clicked his tongue, "I can't let you do that Lieutenant, you have to reap the rewards of your actions!"
"Unhand me! I'm a proud West Point graduate, you big oaf!"
Leo released the officer from his grip. The officer turned around and was about to shout something in Leo's face but a fist interrupted him.
"But I'm a proud Italian," Leo replied to the knocked out man while rubbing his fist.
"Why'd you do that?" Sokka asked over the wind.
"So the MP's can arrest this man when we're done with this. I've been pretty pissed at him for a while for massacring soldiers and civilians. Luckily with some proof I can get him court-martialed. That is, if we survive!"
Sokka turned to Katara, "Katara, your the only one who can calm him down. If you don't, he might destroy everything!"
"Well what if I want it all to be destroyed?" Katara replied with a snarl.
"A few things would happen, number one, Aang will kill hundreds including US and you know how he would feel! Number two, not every American is bad! We've met good ones before like Leo here! And finally, even if we survive, we'd become fugitives and be hunted down!" Sokka yelled at Katara.
"He has a point. I like living," Leo said.
Katara narrowed her eyes at the two before turning and marching towards Aang. Leo and Sokka watched as the fire, earth, water, and air swirling around Aang parted to let her through.
Katara then created a water sprout to let her touch Aang. She wrapped her arms around his body and like an anchor, pulled him towards the ground.
Aang began to cry on Katara's shoulders as MP's rushed out from the ranks.
"What happened here!" One of them shouted.
Leo walked forward. "There was a massacre and there are a lot of witnesses."
Sokka decided to leave Leo to argue his case and walked over to Katara and Aang. He leaned down close to their ears and whispered, "Why don't we check out the farmhouse where we'll have some privacy."
Katara and Aang nodded and they made their way towards it. Along the way, they passed the dead civilians and soldiers whose eyes were glazed over in shock. Aang turned away and let loose another sob.
Sokka opened the door and they walked in. The floor was covered in hay and there was an old wagon in the corner. Sokka climbed onto it and began to look for supplies. All he found was a radio and a rusty sword.
He grabbed the radio and walked over to Aang and Katara. "Come on, let's go back to the others."
Later, after Appa had taken off away from the sins of the Americans, Sokka was fiddling with the radio. Zuko slided next to him and leaned over.
"What are you doing?" He asked.
"Trying to find a Fire Nation military network."
"Here, let me try," Zuko said, extending his hand. Sokka gave it to him and watched Zuko fiddle with the buttons and knobs.
"Please hold for a special announcement from Colonel Han Zou in five minutes," the radio said after Zuko played with it for a few minutes.
"How did you do that?" Sokka asked.
"I put it in a bunch of the Fire Nation's favorite numbers," Zuko replied.
They waited for a few minutes for the announcement to begin.
"Hold on, isn't Han Zou the guy who halted the Japanese advance?" Toph asked.
"Yeah he was, it was all over Ba Sing Se for a while. It's the biggest propaganda thing the Fire Nation has used," said Jin.
"Then this is definitely going to be important!" Sokka excitedly said.
After five minutes had passed, the radio once again came to life.
"Hello, if you don't know me, I am Colonel Han Zou. But right now, whether you know me or not is unimportant. What is important however is that we are threatened."
"The Allies steam straight towards the safe haven of Yu Dao. When they reach it, we don't know the unimaginable horrors they will commit. But we have a chance to stop them."
"Already, we know that the Allies are heading towards the Pass of Yanlei. If they are not stopped, they will slaughter everyone that has traveled through it."
"It doesn't matter if you're a soldier or civilian, Fire Nation or Earth Kingdom, peasant or noble, they will kill you on sight. But right now, you can control your fate."
"The enemy bears down upon us with fury. Let us fight them with an equal amount of it."
"We fight to protect our mothers! Our fathers! Our sisters and brothers! The future generation! You have that opportunity beholden to you!"
"The enemy will not relent until we are finished off. They want the retribution they believe they deserve in blood. Let's keep it away from them as long as we can!"
"So I call upon every man and woman, regardless of age or gender, to fight! It doesn't matter your nation, nor your social standing. You could be a peasant, a merchant, or a noble, we'll give you a gun and teach you to fight."
"If you're an earthbender or firebender, then you are even more vital. We will need all the help we can get in defeating this dangerous foe."
"So I call each of you to fight for your family. For freedom and the justness of our lives. We will not be held down by the chains of oppression. We will break free today at Yanlei!"
"If you want to defend your family, go to the east side of the Yanlei Pass in three days' time. Here, we will meet you with open arms."
The radio shut off, leaving the Gaang in absolute shock. They could feel the adrenaline pumping through their blood from the speech. Their hearts were left beating heavily against their chests.
"That man is a leader," Zuko whispered softly.
"As crazy as it sounds, I kinda want to help the Fire Nation now after what happened today," Katara said.
"Don't be silly Katara. You would never do that. We have to tell the Americans, the Germans, or someone!" Sokka exclaimed.
"Sokka, I don't think we will," Said Aang, finishing the argument.
Pass of Yanlei
An Earth Kingdom farmer sitting with his family heard the speech of Han Zou. He felt his calling at that very moment. He knew what he had to do. He turned to his wife and kissed her on the forehead.
"Honey, I'll see you in Yu Dao."
"You can't seriously be considering what that man said?" His wife cried.
The farmer turned to his children in the back of a wagon. Their eyes gazed at him in hope and admiration.
"Even if he was Fire Nation, he spoke the truth. If we don't hold the enemy off, what will they do to you? What will they do to our children? I have to do it to buy us enough time!"
His wife grabbed his head and put her forehead to his. "If you decide to do this, come back to me Moshu. Come back to us."
"Don't worry my love, I always will," he murmured.
An old cloth merchant listened to the speech with an expression of wisdom on his face. He had lost his shop to the enemy. Maybe it was time to get his own retribution.
"Hey Dozum," Rimu said to his friend who was eating some soup.
"Hey Rimu, wassup?" He asked with a filled mouth.
"Zaire wanted me to tell you that we're turning around. Something about honor to be gained at Yanlei," said Rimu with a shrug.
"What!?"
General Shinu listened to the speech with a wide smile. Han Zou had a way with words. That much was certain.
How Shinu wished he was that young again. To be a youthful man so filled with energy. To be prepared to face the world and defend their beliefs. To feel so blissful in your understanding of the world.
But Shinu would applaud the bravery of Han Zou. He hoped he would succeed in his crusade. Shinu already knew he would gain enough volunteers with that little stunt. Now, the only thing to do was hold the Allies off to give them enough time to escape.
February 6th, 1941
Near the Yanlei Pass
Moza decided that he missed Uza's presence while in the air. It was bad enough on the ground where he has to stare at his empty bed all night. But in the air, there is only silence.
He and Uza would usually talk all the time. But now, the voice chatter was naught.
He drew his eyes across the light blue background of the sky. Uza was up here with him in some way Moza believed. He always did love flying after all. Why couldn't he become the wind that cools the shores of the homeland?
Moza's thoughts were interrupted when multiple black objects appeared out of the clouds. He picked up the radio.
"A few unknowns ahead, let's try and get id's," he radioed.
They amped up the throttle and pulled closer to the plane's.
"Those aren't ours!" One of Moza's wingmen exclaimed.
"Seems to be German. Fly to intercept!"
They flew up into clouds and approached without any issue until they dove onto the bombers and their escorts.
Moza picked the lead bomber and strafed it eagerly. He had a hunch where they were heading and he didn't like it. If they were going to destroy the forces amassing at Yanlei, he would stop them.
A few bullets flew past Moza, alerting him to the BF-109 behind him. He pulled into a sharp turn and dove on the bombers again. After another strafe, a bomber was diving towards the ground.
After another hard turn Moza was face to face with the bombers. He took the opportunity to pump as much lead as he could into their cockpits. It was extremely effective.
A few more bombers dove towards the ground with their pilots dead or they turned and returned to where they came from.
It was now that the BF-109 reared its ugly head. Bullets smashed into Moza's window forcing him to duck. Time to focus on this guy.
Moza entered into a climb, seeking to do what he did to his first kill to this pilot. The BF-109 followed as expected.
Moza kept his head ducked as bullets passed until the bullets stopped passing by him. He glanced behind himself to see the BF-109 flailing through the air.
Moza turned and dove back towards the German pilot and shot its wing off. The BF-109 fell towards the ground. From the cockpit appeared a bright white parachute.
Moza watched the parachute for the few seconds but then looked up to see the bombers turning around. Their numbers had been severely reduced, almost by half.
They fled as fast as they could. Moza couldn't help but smile. Uza's spirit was definitely up here with him.
Western Earth Kingdom
There was a knock at the cellar door. Using a small peek hole Zim had devised, Souza looked to see who it was. Upon seeing it was the old fisherman, he opened it.
"What brings you down here Fulong?" Souza asked.
The fisherman had never told Souza his name but his wife called him by that. Fulong had never objected to his calling him that so Souza continued to do it.
"We're heading off probably by the end of next week I think," Fulong said.
Souza nodded, "That it?"
"I need some supplies to prepare my boat, did you move the crate of cages?"
"No, they should still be in the corner," Souza replied. He stood up and began to help Fulong carry supplies upstairs.
"Do you need help loading your boat? You have a bunch of free labor here," Souza asked.
"Nonsense, I've been doing this alone for quite some time. Plus the Japanese have regular patrols of the docks so it's likely you would get caught," said Fulong.
"I can help at night though," Souza suggested.
"I'm telling you young man, I don't need help. What I do need though is able workers for when we push off port. So stay out of trouble!"
"Alright Fulong, I'll make sure we do. I'll see you in a few days," Souza said before closing the cellar door again.
February 8th, 1941
Pass of Yanlei
"Do you think anyone will show up Captain?" Han Zou asked, turning to his old friend Ruke.
"I'm sure of it, Colonel," Captain Ruke replied.
"But I'm not sure if the speech was good. I thought it was pretty lousy."
"If you call that lousy, then I'm afraid of what you think a good speech is."
"But how can you be so sure that something is a good speech?"
"I just can Han Zou, it's one of those things that you just know. I have heard lots of speeches before in my life and both of yours are probably some of the best," Ruke gave Han Zou a reassuring smile.
Han Zou moved his sleeve and checked a watch. No one had yet to show up and the meeting was in ten minutes. He felt like falling to the floor and crying.
"Keep your head held high Colonel. I'm sure most are going to be on time or late," Ruke said.
Han Zou looked up again at Ruke and began to pace around the small stage they had erected. He kept on fiddling with his hands and fingers, being unable to stay still. A few times he would put his face in his hands.
He turned and stared up at the mountains surrounding the pass. He imagined the coming days and saw artillery and anti-tank guns being positioned on the ledges and peaks.
He could see a trench being formed near the base of the pass that would serve as the first line of defense. Soldiers standing firm against the greatest assault of their lives.
He could see firebenders and earthbenders working together to defeat a common enemy. An earthbender would disable the tank while the firebender would go in for the final kill.
He could see the sky being filled with planes in a constant flurry of battle. The Fire Nation pilots would be eager to see the civilians protected and then would give their lives for the empire.
He looked down at the courtyard in front of the stage and was shocked. In the time he was thinking, thousands had come.
Ruke had set up little zones to describe what type of soldier you were. There were categories such as tanker, Fire Nation soldier, artillery soldiers, etc. Each category seemed to have a thousand soldiers with the exception of the Fire Nation soldier which had about three to four thousand.
What shocked Han Zou the most was that there were about eighty earthbenders. There were also over one thousand five hundred Earth peasants, noblemen, or merchants that joined up.
Realizing that he would have to say something to them, Han Zou went up to the mic.
"So you're the ones who will defend our livelihood?"
There were a few scattered voices saying random things. Han Zou wasn't satisfied.
"I said, are you the ones that will defend our livelihood!"
"Hurrah!"
Han Zou quickly turned to Captain Reku. "Captain, get a few men and count up how much equipment we have gained. This is important information."
He turned back to the crowd. "We all know the Allies won't stop until this pass is completely destroyed. Well, we won't let that happen right!"
"Hurrah!"
"They seek to end all nations on this planet. So it is time we all join together, Earth and Fire, to defend what is right and just!"
"Hurrah!"
"We don't fight for the Fire Lord here. He sits in a throne room in faraway Caldera," Han Zou was saying something dangerous, but he knew he had to make the separation to get the Earth peasants and earthbenders completely on board.
"Instead, we fight for those we have left behind. Those traveling through the pass. Those that can't defend themselves! We fight to protect the innocent from the bloodshed that will surely follow!"
"HURRAH!"
That riled them up, thought Han Zou to himself.
"I'm glad we're all on the same page! Now you all see how there's a sign over each group. A few of my subordinates will come up to you and split you into squads. If you already have a squad, then that's great. Make sure to stick together so we don't split you apart. After you are split into squads, you will be brought into a tent to talk gameplan! That's all! Thank you!"
"Hurrah!"
Han Zou left the stage with a smile and walked over to Captain Ruke who stood with a grand smile on his face. "Beautiful speech sir."
"Thank you Captain," Han Zou replied. "Now how are we with equipment?"
"We have gained about two hundred tanks, five hundred artillery pieces, three hundred anti-tank pieces, and a ton of benders."
"What about people?"
"That's the most shocking thing. We had four thousand soldiers, now, we have twenty thousand men and women ready to die for your cause."
Han Zou placed his head in his hands. Oh how it worked. How beautiful. How gracious of the spirits.
He was going to take this chance, and make himself great.