Chapter 3: The First Offensive

Colonel Kim used a long stick to point out certain key locations. The massive map was pinned up to the wall for all to see. Sen and the rest of his war council were examining the topography carefully.

While Sen had overruled Generals like Kim and Cujo for leadership of the Coalition, he had made sure to keep them all close at hand while he managed the council. He would be a fool to discard wisdom and experience while he had little of his own. Kim and Cujo, now given the rank of Colonel in the new United Coalition, acted as his direct military advisors. Detective Zas represented the White Lotus as the Coalition's intelligence network. Given their past experience, Ada and Ariak had been given the rank of Major, while the rest of his friends were technically mere footsoldiers. They were still sitting in on the meeting, however.

"A watchpost sits on the cliff overlooking the central structure," Kim elaborated, pointing to a very specific point on the map. "It's unfeasible to move a large force across that kind of terrain."

"I can lead a small strike team through tunnels," Sen said. "No chance of detection from either end. We'll need a handful of elite earthbenders."

"Earthbenders exclusively?"

"Gun doesn't like any other kind of people," Sen said. Gun was a bit feisty, and he was not to be trifled with. He had, after all, managed to track Sen down after vanishing into the wilds of the Earth Kingdom. Even Sen wasn't sure how that one had happened. One day he had simply stepped out into the Republic City streets and found Gun sitting outside his hotel, expecting a scratch on the head.

Colonel Kim paused for a minute before nodding stiffly. Sen could tell that his councilors weren't very enthusiastic about taking orders from someone who was barely twenty years old, and the outlandish circumstances of the Avatar's history only made it worse. Whistler, as defiant of authority as always, wouldn't even talk to anyone wearing a badge or a medal. Other than Sen, of course.

Despite the unorthodox nature of their General and his allies, the Coalition had mustered a formidable force. Kim was reporting that they had more than a hundred and twenty men ready to storm the base. Which sounded like a good thing, but was a bit uncertain for some.

"I used to go through outposts like this on my own," Miyani said. "Usually didn't take more than an hour. Now we need me, the Avatar, and more than a hundred other people just to take one?"

"With all due respect," Kim began, demonstrating a reasonable fear of offending Miyani. "The Energybender has escalated his activity in recent weeks. These aren't just hideaways for scouts and supplies. They are more heavily manned, fortified, and prepared for attacks."

"I could still take 'em," Miyani said. She crossed her arms confidently.

"I don't doubt that," Sen said, taking charge of the conversation. "But we're not here to prove your strength. We need to show that the Coalition is capable of coming down hard on our enemies."

"Indeed," Cujo said. "A strong first battle will set the pace for the rest of the war."

The initial offensive was one of the most important parts of a war, especially from a psychological standpoint. A crushing victory right out of the gates would crush the opposition's morale and improve public support for the Coalition. Restraint was an admirable quality, but every now and then it was necessary to drop the hammer, and drop it hard.

"So then why not have a thousand guys," Hanjo said.

"Well that's just impractical," Cujo said. "The base isn't that big."

"And a waste of resources," Kim declared. "The Coalition has numerous other projects to concern its troops with, not just ensuring that one base is taken care of."

"On that note, Sen, there is another matter that apparently requires your attention," Zas said. "Your quartermaster has arrived."

"Oh, excellent," Sen said. He needed to get his troops properly equipped. An army needed a uniform, after all. There was also the matter of some special equipment he had requisitioned. Sen left the two Colonels to their work while his team followed Zas to their temporary army.

The temporary Coalition base in the eastern reaches of the United Republic was a hectic affair. Carts of supplies raced across the dry grass as soldiers struggled to set up tents and shacks. No viable city had yet volunteered to act as a permanent headquarters for the bulk of Coalition forces, so their army was nomadic for the time being. If Sen wished, he could stake a claim to any location he wanted, but that would give a bad impression. He wanted the Coalition to be a welcome sight, not an intrusive force.

As they walked, Zas was approached by a young man holding a small sheaf of documents. The detective briefly looked over the papers before gesturing towards Sen.

"Avatar, this is Lanh," Zas said, introducing the boy. Lanh waved sheepishly at the Avatar. Hanjo tilted his head curiously. "He'll be the adjunct for our command team."

"I'm going to be working with the Avatar? Wow."

"No offense to Lanh, but why exactly do we need him?"

"To keep from repeating yourself," Zas said. "Any time you make proclamations, give orders, issue statements, Lanh will run around to fifty different radios and couriers to spread the word so you don't have to. He'll also come to us with any news or issues."

"Sounds good," Sen said. "Good to meet you, Lanh."

"Same to you, Avatar-General sir," Lanh said with a sharp salute. Then he turned away, left the Avatar's company, and began to mutter under his breath. "Wait 'til my friends hear about this."

"He's cute," Hanjo observed.

"Don't," Sen said with surprising sternness. Hanjo looked at him, feigning slight confusion. Sen rolled his eyes.

"Don't flirt with your subordinates," Sen said. "This is a military, not a dating service. You need to take this seriously."

"It was an innocent joke, Sen," Hanjo said defensively. Sen shrugged.

"Wait, is this a complete ban on romance? Because I got an issue with that," Suda said.

"If this is going to turn into you bragging about that girl of yours again, then the first casualty of this war will be you," Whistler grunted. Suda had been quite talkative when it came to Yoki. It had been heartwarming for the first day, and then slightly grating every day thereafter.

"I'm not going to ask you to break up with anyone, if only because I'm pretty sure Ada would stab me if I tried to take away Canto," Sen said. Ada nodded quite firmly. "But I would prefer it if you kept your focus on the matter at hand. We can all get married and have a lot of beautiful babies after we save the world."

Miyani stifled a laugh at the notion. Suda took it a little more seriously. That actually was the plan in his case.

The staging area for the distribution of supplies was one of the better organized areas of the camp. It had taken a long time to create the uniforms for the new Coalition, but the troops were finally getting their appearances in order. Sen nodded approvingly as he saw the first soldiers dressed in their new colors. The double-breasted military tunics came in a variety of colors with numerous decorations, to indicate bending type and rank, but one common design element united them all: a double-lined chevron, one stripe black and the other white, mimicking the fur pattern of a badgermole. The Badgermole Chevron had quickly become the accepted logo of the Coalition under Sen: the same logo was emblazoned on both shoulders of the Avatar's coat. It was a shame that Gun, still utterly blind to color, could not appreciate the gesture.

As the footsoldiers received their uniform, Sen led his team into a more private staging area to retrieve less standard gear. The quartermaster had laid out the supplies on a large table, and she spared no time in getting the Avatar to his gear. She had a lot to do today, and she didn't want to spend too much time giving the Avatar his fancy gear.

"Alright, starting off with, we've got the two of you wielding blades," The quartermaster said. He beckoned over Ariak and Ada. "Need to be light, fast, flexible. For the two of you I've got plated leather, meets all those criteria."

Ariak looked over the armor laid out before him. Small pieces of thin leather bound together into a rather small cuirass, gauntlets, and spaulders, cut to just his size, with a matching set for Ada. They were very small, meant to be worn under other clothing, and they would provide little practical protection, but they allowed for mobility and flexibility, which mattered much more to anyone fighting at close quarters with a spear or sword.

"Now, you, Avatar's sidekick," The quartermaster beckoned. Hanjo stepped forward. "It's a bit similar for you. Mostly leather, but you get a few metal plates thrown in there too. Earthbenders ain't known for being acrobatic. You need to be able to take a hit more than dodge one."

Hanjo nodded. His suit of armor was quite similar to the ones being given to Ariak and Ada, though his had metal reinforcements all over.

"Now, you, airbender," the quartermaster said, moving on quickly. "Since you refused to get me any measurements, I've got no armor for you. I do, however, have this."

The quartermaster tossed over a small metal rod, which Whistler quickly caught. She recognized the mechanism quickly and with a slight flick of her wrist, the metal rod telescoped into a full staff. She swung it a few times, and then flicked another hidden switch to expand the glider. It was an improved version of her old staff in every way, as it was made by an actual expert and not scrounged together from stolen bicycle parts and scrap metal.

"I don't know," Whistler said. "I got a lot of history with my old staff. Don't know how I feel about just replacing it."

"Just take 'em both," The quartermaster said. She wasn't willing to argue practicality versus sentimentality. "Then you can hit people with two sticks instead of just one."

That idea earned an approving nod from Whistler. She tucked the new staff into the holster at her hip where her old one had once rested, but the old one got tucked into a different space at her belt.

"Now, you, big guy, you're a special case," The quartermaster said. Suda stepped forward. She leaned under the table and lifted up a very large box, clearly straining under the weight. Slamming down the gargantuan container on the table, she pried the lid off and lifted out the contents, handing them to Suda.

Had they never met Rahm, the metal gauntlets in Suda's hands might have been the largest piece of armor anyone there had ever seen. The gargantuan metal fist was a solid shell of various plated metals, almost like the hand of a mecha-tank. The only interruption to the solid metal construction was a small hole just above the wrist. A very wide plate on the forearm clearly concealed some kind of mechanism.

"These gauntlets were meant to replace the hip-mounted line launchers the Republic PD uses," The quartermaster elaborated. "But they were too heavy to be used by the average guy. You, on the other hand…"

Suda fit his hand into the metal glove and clenched his fist with a loud metallic snap. The gloves fit perfectly, and though they were quite heavy, it was not a weight Suda couldn't handle. He had to use those muscles somehow. He flexed his fingers slightly to make sure he had full maneuverability, and then he aimed his fist at the ground. With a flick of his fingers, a long metal reel shot out from the slot above his wrist and sailed across the tent, embedding itself in the dirt.

As impressive as the machines were, Sen did have one concern.

"I didn't ask for those," Sen said.

"I know. They were a private contract from a certain wealthy benefactor."

Suda slipped on the other metal gauntlet, completing the set, and looked at the underarm, just below the wrist. Engraved on the right hand were two letters: "YU"

"I know I've been out for a while," Hanjo said. "But I'm pretty sure we don't know anyone named Yu."

"Not Yu," Suda corrected. "Y-U. Yoki Uehara."

Everyone rolled their eyes simultaneously. Of course it was Yoki.

"Moving on," The quartermaster demanded. There was only one person left, and equipping her was a task in and of itself. Miyani stepped forward.

"Stories I hear say you dodge like trash," The quartermaster said, leaning up to look at the towering Miyani.

"It's not that I can't," Miyani said defensively. "I just don't need to."

"Yeah, well times change," The quartermaster snorted. She reached beneath her table and pulled up another heavy package. She pulled out a pair of armguards, each one covered in thin metal plates like a dragon scales.

"You're tough, so I ain't going to weigh you down, but you need to be able to take a hit from a sword," The quartermaster said. She pulled out more scaled armor for Miyani's chest, shoulders. "This ought to do you. It's heavier than I'd like, but I doubt that's going to be a problem for you."

It was not. Miyani strapped on the armor as if it were no heavier than paper. While she was accustomed to bracers, she didn't like the look of the scaled chest piece. She would wear that under her shirt.

"And are you sure I can't convince you to wear shoulder guards?"

"No," Miyani said. She liked to show off her biceps.

"Fine then. Now that that's taken care of, please excuse me," The quartermaster said dismissively. "We have a lot of work to do."

"Carry on," Sen said.

"Are you not getting any armor, Sen?" Hanjo tried to talk and strap his armor on at the same time, and he just ended up stumbling and nearly falling. Suda caught him by one of his armor straps and pulled him back upright.

"No, I'm not," Sen said. "Not today, at least. It'd just weigh me down."

Hanjo hummed in agreement. It was easy to guess that Sen had some kind of elaborate plan of attack that didn't require any armor.

"It'll be good to get out there," Ada said. She bent her arms as if she were swinging a sword, testing out her new armor. "We've never had a fight with all seven of us before."

"We'll be a little split up," Sen admitted. "But I agree, it'll be fun. And very, very short. I don't expect it to take us very long."

The planning process undoubtedly took up more time than the battle itself. As their armed convoy proceeded to the site of the Energybender base, Sen spent hours talking with Kim and Cujo, going over the fine details of their assault. Even as the convoys came to a halt, they were still discussing the minutiae of the fight.

"Looks like we're out of time," Kim sighed.

"Doesn't matter much," Sen said. "No plan survives first contact with the enemy. We'd end up improvising sooner or later."

"For now we should remain on track," Cujo suggested. Sen nodded and hopped out of his truck. They were still a few miles away from the enemy base. If they were detected too soon, the enemy soldiers would simply retreat. Sen wanted a crushing victory: enemies escaping was not an option.

With a heavy stomp of his foot, Sen summoned Gun from the depths. He was an odd sight amidst the troops. Some of the quartermasters had briefly entertained getting battle armor for Gun, but Sen had advised against that, lest someone get eaten. Gun didn't even like the fact that Sen had so many people around him nowadays. Despite that, Gun opened up a wide tunnel for Sen and his chosen allies. To take out the watch post on the hill, Sen was travelling with Hanjo and five elite earthbenders from the Coalition, along with Gun.

Gun was in a significantly more cooperative mood now that Hanjo had returned. Hanjo had been present at Gun's odd "adoption", and so the Badgermole thought of him as a member of the pack. Though Sen was undoubtedly his master, Gun was quite fond of Hanjo as well, and would obey his commands, even if Hanjo couldn't quite speak to the badgermole the same way Sen did.

It was hard for anyone to gauge how much time or distance they'd covered while underground, but eventually Gun's tunnel started to take a shallow incline, signaling that they had come to the cliffside. Gun's tunneling slowed slightly as they entered the dense rock of the cliff. A small tongue of fire created by Sen's firebending was the only light they had in the tunnels. There wasn't much to see inside the rock, unless one was particularly excited about geology.

Eventually Sen pressed his hand against Gun's shoulder to bring him to a halt. Sen tunneled forward a bit on his own, opening up a small chamber, barely tall enough for the soldiers to fit in, but very wide across.

"We're right underneath them," Sen said quietly. He could feel the footsteps and heartbeats of the guardsmen above them. The Colonels were right; Sarin had stepped up his military presence significantly. There were twenty men at this guard post alone: according to Miyani, entire bases had once had less than twenty men in them altogether.

Sen quietly order his soldiers into position, placing them at scattered points across the chamber. As a visual guide, he placed small pillars across the floor of the chamber, showing where the Energybender troopers were standing. They had to strike like lightning to silence any warnings that might come from this watch post. If the outpost below was warned, this entire attack could be a bust.

With all his soldiers in place, Sen called for their attention and started counting down. He held up five fingers, then four, three, two, one…

The ground above them broke open in spectacular fashion, and the seven earthbenders catapulted upwards. Sen didn't even wait until he had solid earth beneath his feet to strike. He pulled his hands close to his chest, and a sudden vacuum of air pulled in every nearby enemy, catching a handful of soldiers and knocking them to the ground. Sen threw his spare hand down and rained rocks on them, keeping them on the ground.

Around the post Sen's earthbenders allies were unleashing similar rapid attacks on the enemy. Hanjo was keeping a special eye on the central structure. Two soldiers made a run for the radio inside the watchpost, and Hanjo cut them off. He threw his fist forward, launching a boulder, and then used the inertia to continue into a spinning kick, throwing a second boulder overhead in a wide arc. The first stone struck one soldier in the back, knocking him to the ground, and the second struck his partner from above, knocking him out cold.

A single soldier made a run for the cliff, hoping to signal the base below with a desperate shout, but Sen made sure he never made it that far. The Avatar tapped his heel against the ground once, and Gun leapt forth from the ground below, cutting off the soldier and pinning him to the ground with a massive paw. Gun gave out a lot, vicious growl before Sen ordered him to stand down. Gun returned to the soil while Sen pinned the soldier down on his own.

"Everyone accounted for?"

"All enemies are disabled," Hanjo said with a lazy salute.

"Anyone injured?"

"That guy took a hit to the head," Hanjo said, pointing out a Coalition trooper who was being helped by two of his fellows. "He looks like he'll be fine. We did good."

"We did," Sen said. "That was a nice move, by the way, with the spinning kick. Where'd you learn that?"

"I've been practicing," Hanjo said proudly.

"It shows," Sen said. He gave Hanjo a pat on the back before returning to business. He removed a radio from his belt and activated it.

"We've got the watch post down. You're clear to advance."

"Acknowledged."

It took a few minutes before the convoy came into view. Sen was glad they'd disabled this watch post. They could see almost everything from up here, and the Coalition still had a long approach to make.

Miyani was leading the charge, riding in the back of a jeep, standing tall at the front of the convoy. There had been a long debate between Kim and Cujo over what entry point they should use to storm the base, an argument Sen had settled quickly by reminding them about Miyani. They had a combustion bender on their side; they went in wherever they wanted.

The broad wall of the enemy base came into view, and Miyani wasted no time. Her driver slowed a bit to steady their approach. It was a cold day, but Miyani focused on what heat was available. The light of the sun, the roar of the engine, the intensity of the soldiers around her fueled her. She took a deep breath and focused on one thing: annihilation.

The first strike shredded the sky with crackling energy until it impacted the stone wall and reduced it to dust. Alarms and screams sounded from what was left of the base as the enemy troops realized they were under attack. The Coalition convoy increased their speed to meet the enemy in battle. Miyani loosed a few rapid, imprecise bolts to cover their approach.

Sen watched the chaos begin to unfold from above as the Coalition came in range and was met with a retaliatory barrage from their enemies. Hanjo leaned over the cliff and watched the fire, earth, and water begin to clash.

"We want to get down there?"

"You're welcome to take Gun back down if you want," Sen said. "I need to keep watch up here."

Hanjo nodded and stomped his foot. Gun appeared, and Hanjo helped escort the lone wounded soldier to ground level. Sen stayed above, looking over the battlefield. He scanned left to right, his eyes hidden behind glasses, searching for something in particular.

While Miyani stayed with the troops outside to control the battlefield, Ariak and Ada led the charge into the building. The two of them had quite complementary fighting styles. They both appreciated close combat, but Ariak preferred to face his opponents head on and overpower them, while Ada focused on outmaneuvering her foes. This made them an effective pair as Ariak's brute strength demanded their attention while Ada flanked them and took them apart from unseen angles.

The two lunged into a narrow corridor, packed with enemies. They never paused for a second. Ariak hooked a large container off his belt with his spear and slammed it down on the ground, breaking it open. The water inside rushed across the floor on his command, coating the hallway's floor in a thin layer of ice, just enough to unsteady the enemies footing. Ariak, used to icy conditions, skated across the slick floor with ease, slamming into the packed enemy soldiers and cutting them down before him.

Ada, slightly less at ease with ice skating, chose to go at it from above. With a quick, acrobatic leap, she bounced onto a wall, and then to another, crossing half the hallway by jumping between walls. She couldn't keep that up forever, though. Unwilling to land on the icy ground but unable to stay aloft, Ada chose to put something between her and the ground. She dove off the wall, knocking an enemy to the ground with her shoulder. She used the fallen trooper as a platform to steady her next leap, vaulting over the rest of her foes.

With Ariak in front and Ada behind, and the walls of the narrow hallway closing them in, the Energybender troopers were left with few options. They struggled in futility as twin blades of sword and spear cut through them like scissors slicing through paper. Ada and Ariak met in the middle of their helpless foes, sharing nothing more than a nod of acknowledgment before moving on to other battles.

Significantly less cooperative, but no less destructive, was Whistler. She favored maneuverability, and thus chose to remain outside, catching those that tried to escape. She had decided to give her new staff a whirl, in a literal sense. She spun it rapidly, striking nearby soldiers with the metal shaft while unleashing a wide wave of air on those soldiers far away.

One enemy tried to come at Whistler swinging some kind of metal rod. Miyani's attacks had reduced large chunks of the building to rubble, and now the Energybender soldiers were using bits of rebar and concrete as impromptu weapons. Whistler caught the rebar club with her staff, and continued to deflect the heavy metal blows. A second soldier came running at her from the opposite side, and Whistler decided it was time for the classics. She removed her old staff from her bet, pointed it at the charging enemy, and flipped the trigger. The spring-loaded staff telescoped outwards quickly, striking the charging soldier in the face as it expanded. Whistler smiled, satisfied, and swung both her staffs at the soldier wielding the rebar club, beating him about the temples with both staves.

For a brief moment, Whistler had nobody to hurt, and so she finally paid attention to the world around her. She heard an all-too familiar whirring noise, and her fingers started to twitch. She unfolded her shiny new glider and soared over the battlefield towards the source of all the explosions.

Miyani's jeep had taken a hit at some point in the fighting, rendering it immobile, but that had not stopped her. She was standing atop the burning wreckage, still loosing devastating explosions to control the battlefield. As usual, she had fallen into a kind of combat trance, focusing purely on her destructive onslaught, but Whistler demanded her attention.

"Hey, Big Bang," She shouted over the harsh noise of the battlefield. "We got one of those spinning airship things."

Miyani nodded. She'd heard of The Machine, the strange airship that had nearly taken Hanjo away. It was no surprise that the Energybender was trying to put his technological superiority into action. She grabbed her radio.

"Sen, we've got a Machine," Miyani said.

"I can see," Sen said. He was standing atop the cliff for a reason. They had fully expected one of Sarin's flying machines to show up. He could already see the black vessel approaching: it must have been stationed in a hidden base nearby. Sen would have to remember that for the future. The flying machines weren't stored in the main base.

"Want me to take it down?"

"No. Take some potshots, keep it flying low," Sen said. "I'll handle it."

It would still be a minute before the Machine was in range, so Sen turned his eyes back down to the battlefield. His forces had the enemy base mostly surrounded, but there were some gaps in their blockade. Without Miyani controlling the battlefield, it was possible that some enemies would successfully retreat.

"Suda, Miyani's switching focus," Sen said into his radio. "This is where your team comes in."

"Got you, boss," Suda said. He tucked his radio away and stuck his fist in the air. He and the squadron he was working withal vanished into the tree-tops, pulled aloft by metal lines.

Though Suda had lost most of his bandit instincts, his metalbending skills remained completely intact. He was still quite talented at zip-lining through the trees, as his enemies discovered in due course. A group of Energybender troops tried to escape by vanishing into the cover of trees. They didn't make it very far. One by one they vanished, pulled into the treetops by forces they couldn't see. It was almost like something out of a horror mover; hordes of panicked people being picked off one by one in a predatory hunt.

The Machine finally got in range of Miyani's blasts, and she went to work straight away, driving the flying machine into place. It was surprisingly fast and agile for an airship. Airplanes were quick, but they relied on momentum to fly, so their flight paths were somewhat predictable. The Machine, with its strange spinning blades, was far more maneuverable. Miyani threw a blast in front of it, and the Machine braked in midair, coming to a dead halt. Miyani was certain that if she were really trying, she could take the airship down, but it was more challenging than she had initially thought.

After dancing around in midair for a while, the Machine finally began to rest in a place convenient for Sen. He radioed Miyani to stop firing and braced himself. He would not abide Sarin having any kind of advantage in this fight. Sen wanted a Machine for himself.

Making a quick dash for the cliff, Sen reached the edge and leapt over. For a brief second Sen's gut sank as he recalled his hatred of being airborne, but he quickly overcame it. He was the Avatar, he had nothing to fear of heights.

While Sen was not technically capable of flight, under the right conditions he could fool just about anyone. All it took was careful manipulation of air currents, a little fire for propulsion, and an elevated starting point, and he could glide well enough to feel right at home with a bird. Sen's sudden flight attracted attention from below as he cut across the sky with jets of flame.

"You know, I got two gliders now," Whistler said, observing Sen's soaring. "He could've just borrowed one."

"I think he's showing off," Miyani said. Whistler shrugged.

Realizing that he was being pursued, the pilot of the machine turned sharply, aiming the spinning razor blades of his vessel towards the Avatar. Sen halted the control of fire and air that was keeping him aloft, making a sharp drop towards the ground, below the spinning blades. As soon as he was clear, he rocketed upwards again towards the Machine.

It was difficult to find any purchase on the metal surface of the Machine's exterior, but Sen managed to get a grip. Once he had situated himself, Sen reached out and took hold of the airship door, forcibly pulling it open.

No sooner had Sen opened the door then he saw the pilots fist slam down on a large button. He could quickly sense a brief spike in heat and chemical activity coming from within the engine of the Machine. Sen rolled his eyes and released his grip on the vehicle, falling down to the ground below. He made sure to use careful gusts of wind to veer himself to the side, away from the flying machine. It was a bad idea to be beneath it right now.

In three simultaneous bursts of fire, the Machine detonated, exploding into a fiery conflagration. The flaming wreckage then plummeted from the sky, scattering the soldiers on the battlefield as they rushed to avoid the burning steel that descended from the sky. Sen carefully manipulated his fall until he was safely on the ground, and then observed the burning wreckage with a mix of disappointment and anger.

"That wasn't me," Miyani said into the radio. Sen chuckled slightly and grabbed his radio.

"I know it wasn't. Looks like Sarin has outfitted his Machines with self-destruct functions," Sen said. "He really doesn't want us getting our hands on one."

The explosions had occurred around all of the Machines most important mechanisms, as well, detonating at the engine and both rotors. It would be nigh-impossible to reverse engineer an airship from the wreckage. Sen could give up on his dreams of capturing one intact. He'd have to be much more careful if he wanted to claim that technology as his own.

"Now that's been dealt with, we would all appreciate you focusing on the task at hand," Kim suggested. Sen looked at the battlefield around him. He had yet to be attacked, despite the fact that he had landed behind enemy lines. It looked to him like the battle was already won, but there were still some finishing touches to be made.

Sen straightened out his coat and closed his eyes. When he opened them again, they were glowing.

"The defeat was absolute," Sensheng said quietly. "If anyone made a successful retreat, they have yet to contact us."

"If no one's come to us by now, they won't be coming," another of Sarin's men said. Gamon by name, he had once been relegated to organizing Sarin's forces from an isolated location. Now that there was a full war on, Sarin was consolidating his entire command structure. Gamon and many other important officers had been called out of dormancy.

"Unless they've deserted," Kida said. Though she held no official rank in the command structure, she often forced her way into the command meetings. Some might have objected to this, but the fact was Kida now commanded a significant portion of Sarin's waterbending troops, the ones she had trained to bloodbend. One in particular had become something like an apprentice to her, an intimidating former criminal who was referred to only as Shark. His brute strength, combined with Kida's own personal ferocity (and psychosis) meant that few tried to argue with her.

"Our men are more loyal than that," Lieutenant Ahn-Li said. "Anyone who escapes will report back to us eventually."

Though Sensheng was in charge of general troop movements, the official commander of the troops in the field was Ahn-Li. She was the only one among their number with official command experience; she had served the Republic with distinction during the Seventh Kingdom war. Like the late Tan Lung and many other veterans traumatized by the conflict, she had joined the Energybender's cause for the hope of a world that would never again see war. Ahn-Li was perhaps the most idealistic of them all, even to a fault; she consistently failed to recognize that many of the men under her command were common thugs lured by the promise of power, rather than the noble soldiers she had commanded during the War.

"No one escaped," Sarin said.

"No disrespect meant, Master, but it has only been a few days," Ahn-Li said. "It is too early for anyone to-"

"I have my ways of knowing, Lieutenant," Sarin said calmly. Sensheng nodded. The Hssk was an able scout, able to find out things that the Coalition did not wish for them to know, but only Sensheng yet knew of it. The rest of the command structure trusted Sensheng enough that they took him on his word.

"With any talk of escapees aside, we should discuss what this defeat means for us," Gamon interjected awkwardly. His prior service to the Energybender had been carried out in isolation, so he was unused to dealing with comrades.

"It was a minor loss at best," Ahn-Li said. "We were planning on evacuating that base and most of our forces into the eastern Earth Kingdom anyway."

The Coalition could operate with impunity in the Republic, but the Earth Kingdom was still closed to him. He could not risk crossing that border without causing a potential civil war. Their forces would be relatively safe there.

"Does the fat one have our new home ready yet?" Kida asked. Hua-Long's representative at the meeting bowed somewhat indignantly. Minister Hua-Long himself was far too corpulent to move in secrecy, so he attended the meetings via proxy.

"You will find safety in Hua-Long province," The Minister's adjunct assured them.

"We can't really be assured of anything until Minister Raisu is brought aboard officially," Gamon said firmly. "That man's word carries as much respect as Hua-Long's gold. We'll only get the eastern Earth Kingdom to march to war at his word. But if the Avatar should get to him first-"

"It won't happen," Sensheng said. "Raisu is far too paranoid of Zaofu's 'treachery' to trust a word the Avatar says."

Raisu was by all accounts an intelligent and honorable man, but he had gotten too caught up in a conspiracy theory. He was under the impression that agents of Zaofu had been systematically sabotaging the entire Earth Kingdom. It was a preposterous notion to any reckoning, but with a few subtle hints into Raisu's courts, Sarin's men had amplified that paranoia enough to make him side against the Avatar –although Raisu still refused to take up arms.

"We should still make an effort to coerce him," Ahn-Li suggested. "We have plants among his Weavers. We can manipulate his intelligence until he has no choice but to side with us."

"You forgot that Raisu is both brilliant and paranoid," Sensheng said. "He'll notice a sudden change in his reports and suspect treachery immediately. Our best bet to get Raisu on our side is to wait for the Avatar to get desperate enough to attack the east. Raisu will defend his home."

"And what do we do while we wait for that to happen," Ahn-Li said. "Retreat to the east and sit on our thumbs?"

"Kida and her bloodbenders will be leading sorties every full moon," Sarin said. "The Coalition has no power to oppose bloodbenders."

It was one of the few advantages they had left, alongside their flying machines. Still, an army that could only be used once a month was not too greatly intimidating. Sarin could see the stress of the war bearing down on them.

"I know we seem to be at a disadvantage," Sarin said. "Seem to be" was a massive understatement in most of their minds. They were outnumbered and outgunned. Their organization was being held together by idealism, personal agendas, and desperation.

"We must all act deliberately and carefully," Sarin said. "Victory is our inevitable destination."

Sarin claimed that, but in the back of their heads, they were all thinking the same thing –he wasn't telling them how they would get to that destination.