Chapter 27: Retribution

Not even an hour after the attack from above ended, there was an attack from below.

From the network of tunnels underneath the Fire Nation capital, Zuko and his assorted firebenders attacked the palace. The underground levels were filled with flames, incinerating every imperial that happened to be in their way. From there they made their way up to the main part of the palace, burning every target they came across. Unprepared imperials fell by the score, and their charred remains littered the floor of the palace. Even stormtroopers fell to the flames, cooked inside of their armor, their blasters taken by the firebenders.

Soon they reached the operations center within the palace, but by then the imperials inside were aware of the danger and had sealed the entrance. But while the doors would not open from the outside, Zuko would not let that deter him. With help from half a dozen other firebenders, they shot continuous streams of fire at the doors, combining the flames and focusing the heat on one small spot, far more powerful than the sum of their parts. More firebenders joined in on the inferno, heating the metal even further and to the melting point, making it glow red with heat.

On the other side imperial officers saw the doors glow red hot, starting in the middle and spreading outward. The metal began to melt and drip into a puddle on the floor, and soon flames slipped through a new hole in the doors. More and more flames shot through the hole, and the officers backed away from the intense heat. A few imperials tried to use fire extinguishers on the blaze, a woefully insufficient defense against a group of firebenders. In moments there was a person sized hole, a large puddle of molten metal on the floor, and the operations center was breached.

The firebending did not stop, but spread out to fill the room with flames. Once the screams stopped Zuko held up a fist, the firebending ceased, and he looked into the room. "All clear."

The puddle of molten metal quickly cooled and hardened, and Zuko was the first to pass through the hole and enter the operations center. The bodies inside had been reduced to piles of ashes and charred bones, and Zuko did his best to avoid staring at them. The equipment in the room was relatively untouched, still functioning and in perfect working order. The other firebenders followed him inside, most baffled by the technology in here. The monitors were displaying various kinds of information, and Zuko struggled to make sense of most of it.

But there was one monitor even Zuko could understand, for it showed a list of starship names, complete with icons representing the kind of ships. "This is bad. We need to leave."

One firebender spoke what the others were thinking. "Why is that?"

"They've got reinforcements on the way," Zuko answered. "And they are not going to be happy with what we've done to the place."

One by one the ships of Death Squadron emerged from hyperspace, the seven Star Destroyers and one Super Star Destroyer returning to normal space. The Executor took point on approach, weapons armed and ready to fire at anything in range. But there was nothing to shoot, the space around Earth devoid of ships, having only the debris from the earlier battle here. Three of the Star Destroyers broke formation and flew ahead of the fleet, moving around the planet to aim sensors on the far side. Even then they did not detect any ships, rebel or otherwise.

"Well…" Thrawn said, looking at the planet from the Executor's bridge. "This is disappointing."

Standing next to him, seeing the same sights Thrawn did, Darth Vader nodded. "It seems the rebels left while they still could."

"A wise strategy," Thrawn commented. "Still, it seems we gathered this large fleet for nothing."

"Not entirely," Vader disagreed. He turned towards the bridge crew. "Take us into orbit. Order the fleet into ring formation around the planet. Restore communications with ground forces and have them report their situations. I want to know what the rebels did while they were here."

The orders were carried out, and Death Squadron approached the planet. One by one the ships entered orbit, taking positions above the equator equal distance from each other, like a giant ring when viewed from above. Each ship scanned the surface for the imperial forces left behind, checking to see if any of them were still there anymore. A few installations reported in right away, some had delays or garbled signals of some kind, but many did not respond to signals. Those that could respond reported on their current conditions, and a clear picture began to form.

Most of the imperial installations had been attacked in one form or another, most in the form of aerial bombardment. The larger ones had been hit the hardest, while the smaller ones were left untouched. Bases in the Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom capitals had been bombed into near oblivion, currently unable to respond in any way whatsoever. All accounts had the rebel forces leaving just as quickly as they had arrived, and imperial ground forces were still in the clean-up effort after the attacks, and the men down there were grateful to have communications reestablished.

After hearing enough from the reports, Thrawn gave new orders. "Reinforce the bases that responded to our hails. Deploy scouts to the bases that did not. If they find anyone still alive, extract them. We'll rebuild those facilities after we've stabilized the situation."

Meanwhile, Vader had other orders in mind. "Ready the probe droids in holographic mode. I want to send a message to the entire planet."

Thrawn looked at Vader, and then back to the officers relaying the orders for them. "Make sure the extractions are completed before the droids are deployed. We should avoid any unfortunate misunderstandings."

The officers glanced at Vader, saw no discernible reaction to Thrawn's counter order, and proceeded to carry out the orders. "As you command."

A few miles to the east of Yu Dao, Kori opened an exit to the tunnels beneath the city and surrounding area. Suki followed her out and into a wide meadow, and behind her was Haru closing the exit after them, leaving the ground in the same state it was before they passed through. They quickly discovered that they were not alone here, as there were many small groups of people taking shelter here. Earthbenders among them were making temporary shelters, expecting to remain here for at least one night. Kori and Haru were too tired to do even that, both lying down in the snow covered grass to rest.

Suki crouched next to them, looking down at their faces, upside down to her perspective. "Well, it's great to be out of there. Good to work with earthbenders again."

"Glad to be appreciated," Haru said. He got comfortable despite the cold. "What happened to the other earthbenders you've worked with?"

"The Empire got her," Suki said. She started taking off the stormtrooper armor she had stolen, no longer needing the disguise. "I have no idea what they've done with Toph."

"That's the Avatar's earthbending teacher, right?" Kori asked. "Aang told me a few things about her. Not sure how much is true or what parts are exaggerated."

"She'd say it's impossible to exaggerate her," Suki said, remembering her trip with Toph through the Fire Nation. "I've never met a girl with a bigger ego."

Haru sat up and then faced the two women. "I think we have bigger concerns than a girl I only met once."

"Yeah," Kori admitted. She sat up and looked to west, imagining the city she had left behind once again. "What do you think they'll do about our breakout?"

"I'm sure they will retaliate," Suki answered. She stood up tall, wishing that she could see the city, but glad that they were too far away. "I wouldn't want to be in Yu Dao when they do."

That was a sickening thought, and Kori made herself stand up despite the exhaustion. "We should get further away. I don't want to be anywhere near the city when it happens."

Suki helped Haru get on his feet, and the three of them got moving again. Kori picked a direction and they headed south, where many possible destinations for safety lay beyond the horizon. Others in the meadow decided to follow them, figuring that they had to know what they were doing, and having no reason to remain here. The following grew as they passed by more people, as everyone knew this place would not be safe for long. But they did not get far before the sky darkened, and all eyes looked up at the heavens, seeing their worst fears brought to life.

Thousands of small ships were flying across the sky, eclipsing the sun with their numbers. Those ships were heading in many different directions, flying toward the various imperial bases on Earth. Hundreds were going to Yu Dao, no doubt to reinforce the imperial forces there. And the people on the ground could only imagine the larger ships they had come from, hidden in the space behind the deep blue sky. Some small ships passed directly overhead, and everyone took cover underneath the closest trees, praying that they would not be seen.

When the ships had passed Kori let out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding. "Well… that's very depressing. I thought we would have more time."

"Apparently not," Suki said. She resumed the walk and quickened her pace, and everyone else did the same. "Keep moving. We need to get out of here."

While underlings dealt with the situation on the planet, Darth Vader returned to his quarters aboard the Executor. There was the usual maintenance he had to deal with, something to do while he had to wait anyway. During that maintenance Vader received reports on the situation, though most of it he could have guessed beforehand. The rebels had inflicted considerable damage, the locals had inflicted further harm, and the efforts to establish a garrison here had been set back months. For the moment Vader focused on the immediate task, and soon enough his suit's systems were back to optimum performance.

Now it was the time to make his own report, and Darth Vader went to the special chamber adjacent to his quarters. He kneeled on the pad, and the hologram of the Emperor appeared. "Master…"

"Report."

Vader collected his thoughts and summarized the situation. "The rebels learned of our plans for Earth and attacked our forces there. We will need to rebuild our facilities there. I suspect their intention was to recruit the benders and deny us that advantage."

"So it seems." The Emperor scowled, annoyed but not angered by this news. "I presume the rebels left before you arrived?"

"Of course they did," Vader said, making clear his contempt for the rebels. "They knew they could not face us directly. They must have a safe system near the Neutral Zone to retreat to quickly. It should not be difficult to extrapolate their course from here."

"Continue your pursuit of the rebels." The Emperor seemed more disappointed than anything now. "Surely you can do at least that much."

Vader didn't like that tone, but he had to deal with it regardless. "I assure you, the rebels will fall."

The Emperor's gaze narrowed, as if to see something inside of Vader. "There is something else on your mind. Something that you are not telling me."

Though reluctant, Vader had to answer his master. "On my last visit to Earth, I discovered a place strong with the Force. I believe it is a passage to an otherworldly realm. And there is something on the other side calling to me."

For a moment the Emperor was silent, thinking about what he had heard. It did not last, and the Emperor asked a simple question. "Are you certain?"

"I am," Vader answered. "Have you not felt it?"

"I have not." The Emperor seemed disturbed about that, for he usually sensed the same disturbances felt by his apprentice. "Exercise caution in this matter. Do not let yourself be led astray."

The hologram of the Emperor disappeared, and Vader was left alone in the chamber. He stood up and left without delay, heading back into the rest of the ship. He took his time on his way to the bridge, thinking about the advice of his master. Vader reached the bridge and walked through it, looking at the crew going about their business, all trying not to make eye contact with him. He stopped at the sensor station and overlooked the officer working there, saw the latest reports, and then turned towards the communications officer at the next station over.

"Have the probe droids been deployed?" Vader asked.

"Yes," the officer answered. "They are on their way across the planet as we speak."

Over a thousand droids scattered across the Earth, flying through the upper atmosphere on their way to every civilized place on the planet. After spreading out the droids plunged into the atmosphere, diving toward their respective destinations. From the surface they looked like tiny black dots in the sky, mistaken for fly-gnats at first before they got close enough to recognize their mechanical nature. That was the closest they got to the populace below, remaining high enough to avoid any attacks from angry benders hurling their elements at the sky.

Everyone on the planet with a view of the sky could see the probe droids, hovering up there and drawing attention from the populace, just as they had done many months before. People in the cities could see dozens of them, in smaller towns and villages they saw handfuls of droids, and even in remote the countryside people could one or two droids in the sky. After waiting for the audience to grow to suitable sizes the probe droids activated holographic projectors, creating oversized images of Darth Vader, his visage looking down upon the people of Earth.

The holograms seemed to look at each individual, and Vader addressed them all at once. "I am very disappointed in all of you.

"Against my better judgement, you were given a second chance to peacefully join the Empire. Peace and prosperity were there for the taking, so long as you obey our commands. It was in your interests to be obedient and comply with the Empire.

"Instead you resist us wherever you can. You attack our forces, steal our technology, and help our enemies. You throw away our gifts and assist the rebellion out of spite, working against your own interests that would be served by working with us.

"This behavior will not be tolerated. An example must be made. Know that when you disobey the Empire, this is what awaits you."

The Star Destroyers had already spread further apart from each other, and their sensors achieved multiple target lock across the globe. Torpedoes fired from dozens of ventral ports, all aimed for the planet surface below. Hundreds of torpedoes shot towards the surface, most heading for the cities, some going to the smaller towns, and a few dropping on random parts of the countryside. From the surface they looked like bright blue orbs coming out of the sky, falling down to Earth all around the populace, detonating on impact with the ground.

Massive explosions destroyed vast swaths of urban terrain, utterly annihilating everything with the blast radius. In the cities dozens of city blocks were annihilated together, and the neighboring blocks were heavily damaged by powerful shockwaves. Hundreds died from each explosion in the largest cities, and the smallest towns were wiped out entirely. Tens of thousands were killed worldwide instantly, twice as many died from injuries immediately after, and millions were wounded in one form or another, and everyone witnessed the wrath of the Empire.

The probe droids remained in place during the barrage, finished in a few minutes, and the holograms of Darth Vader continued to look at what was left of the populace. "Remember, when you disobey the Empire, your people will die."

The holograms disappeared, the probe droids flew back into space, and the people were left to their suffering.

Zuko thought he had seen the horrors of war.

Now he understood just how little he had seen.

Though his group of firebenders had made it out of the capital, they had only reached the caldera rim when the probe droids arrived and the subsequent orbital bombardment. They were standing on the southeastern part of the rim, and the northeastern part had been destroyed, connecting that side of the capital to the volcano slope outside. At first Zuko had thought he was lucky to not be on that part of the caldera rim at the time, but then remembered that he was never lucky. That was proven when he looked at the capital, and gut sank further than ever before.

The capital had been bombed nearly into oblivion, only a handful of buildings left standing. Large swaths of land had been reduced to rubble, and in some places the underground tunnels were exposed for all to see. Although the damaged palace had been left alone, everything around it had been destroyed. Zuko's horror intensified when he saw the Fire Sage temple, or rather the smoldering crater where it used to be. He could only imagine the sheer number of deaths in the last few minutes, enough to cripple the capital for decades to come.

Zuko dropped to his knees, unable to look away from the ruins of the capital. "Agni… there's nothing left."

Everyone else in the group was just as horrified, most seeing their homes destroyed beyond recognition. One firebender crouched next to Zuko, looking into Zuko's good eye. "What do we do now?"

"I don't know," Zuko admitted. He closed his eyes and shook his head, the pain of failure too great even for him. "I honestly do not know."

For the moment, all they could do was grieve for their fallen capital. Everyone remembered those they had lost, praying for their souls to find rest with the sun spirit Agni. But the mourning was interrupted by the arrival of imperial transports, heading into the caldera to land outside the damaged palace. Their presence was adding insult to injury, at least to the firebenders watching them land in the remains of the capital. But there was nothing they could do about it, having only their small group against a new occupation force, nowhere near enough to fight the imperials returning in full force.

"Let's go," Zuko said. He stood up and turned away from the ruins, and everyone else followed him. "There's nothing left for us here."

A similar sight greeted Suki and her group, making a depressing arrival at Omashu.

The city was unrecognizable, even for those that one lived here. Only the mountain itself remained familiar, and even then the mountain had been damaged. The mountain peak in particular was sitting at the bottom of the valley, along with all the debris dragged down along the way. A long gash ran down the mountain slope, with many half destroyed buildings along the sides, and deep enough that even the foundations of destroyed buildings were stripped away. They could only imagine the forces involved to topple a mountaintop, and were silently grateful that they hadn't been here when it happened.

In addition there numerous craters throughout the city, the rubble scattered down the slope. Some of those craters overlapped each other, particularly on the southern side of the mountain. The destruction left the remaining buildings heavily damaged, many on the verge of collapse at any moment. They got to see one building do just that, fall apart and slide down the slope until the remains hit a crater and stopped. All together the damage left Omashu a shadow of its former self, and those that remained here were salvaging what they could before abandoning the city.

Suki sighed and crouched on the ridge at the edge of the valley, staring at the mountain city before her. "Spirits… could there be anyone still alive?"

Sitting next to her, Kori saw the main bridge to Omashu in pieces. "Maybe if they got inside the mountain? Still, it does not look good."

"No, it doesn't," Haru agreed, standing behind them. He gestured to the people that had followed from Yu Dao's wilderness, still needing a place to stay. "What are we going to do now? I don't see everyone making it to the next city."

"We'll have to make do here," Kori admitted. "Earthbend some shelter, ration everything we have for the night, and we'll try to get across in the morning."

It was getting late in the evening, and no one was in the mood to travel during the night. So they set up shelter wherever they could, often needing to earthbend it out of the ground, and did what they could to rest after a long day's travel. Dozens of stone tents were pitched across the land, often with several people inside, trying to take what little comfort they could get with each other after so much suffering. The sun soon set on the lands around Omashu, and most of the people were so weary that they fell asleep right away.

But Suki could not bring herself to sleep, no matter how much she tried. She was constantly thinking about the lives lost worldwide, and that there was nothing they could have done to stop it. And there was nothing anyone could do prevent it from happening again, should the Empire decide to inflict more suffering on the world. It consumed her thoughts and kept her away from sleep, worse than any nightmare she had ever had before. Some small part of didn't want to sleep, fearing that new nightmares would be worse than anything she could imagine.

As if to make things worse, in the middle of the night there was a tremble in the ground. Suki was up in an instant, outside a moment later, and saw the ground split apart. "What the…"

A small stone platform rose up from the underground, carrying a dozen people moving via earthbending, including a king now without a city. "Hello there neighbor."

"You must be Bumi," Suki said. She pointed towards the gash in the mountain, barely visible in the starlight. "I figure that part was your doing?"

"Guilty as charged," Bumi admitted. "What brings you out here?"

By now the noise and tremors had woken up other people, and Haru had come out to see what was going on. "I take it your mission went as well as ours."

"It went great until the counterattack," Bumi said. "Apparently a ruler of the earth can be brought down by the sky. Who knew?"

"Still, it's good you made it out," Haru said. "How many of your people are left?"

"A few dozen fighters, about five hundred civilians," Bumi said. "What about you?"

"Just what you see here," Suki said, waving a hand at all the shelters pulled out of the earth. "We were hoping to find help here when we saw your city like this."

"Well we can help each other," Bumi said. "We'll make it through this, I'm sure."

Grand Admiral Thrawn was not pleased.

He did not approve of Darth Vader's approach to the problem with the locals, his personal preference being to avoid senseless waste of life and ammunition. Granted, he had done similar things on other worlds before, but usually to achieve some strategic goal that required clearing out vast swaths of land in a hurry. In this case Thrawn did not see any point in the destruction, seemingly arbitrary and for its own sake, since it did not serve any goal other than pure spite. But there was nothing he could do about it now, save for trying to salvage something out of this.

Not bothering to waste time going to the bridge for this, Thrawn was giving orders from his quarters through the comm. "Admiral, instruct the engineers to abandon the old facilities and rebuild away from local population centers. I want to minimize the risk of attack from the locals."

"Understood," Admiral Ozzel replied. "I have several suitable locations in mind, all several hundred kilometers from the nearest settlements."

"Send me a list for review," Thrawn ordered.

"Sending it now," Admiral Ozzel reported.

The list appeared on Thrawn's computer terminal, and he gave it a quick first glance. "Excellent. Monitor these sites and check for any underground surprises. And survey more locations for development later."

"Will do," Admiral Ozzel said.

"That will be all," Thrawn said. "Keep me apprised of all new developments."

Thrawn ended the transmission, and when no one could hear him he let out a long sigh. It was going to be a long time getting this world under control again, that much was obvious at the moment to everyone involved. It wasn't being helped by Darth Vader's presence on the Executor, terrifying their own people as well as the locals, which was not going to be helpful. Although he was the Emperor's right hand man, and a very effective enforcer of the Emperor's will, Vader was often an impediment to military operations, and often at odds with Thrawn's preferred methods.

Also preferring to know where potential problems could be, Thrawn inquired about where Vader was at the moment. He sent messages back and forth with the crewmen that kept track of everyone, most hesitant to report on Vader's movements, but did comply with Thrawn's request. By the end of it all there was a surprise for him, and another potential mess for him to deal with. Vader was not on the ship, or any of the other ships in Death Squadron, and so Thrawn opened a transmission to outside the Executor.

"Why did you leave the ship?" Thrawn demanded. "Where are you going?"

"It is none of your concern."

The transmission was cut from the other end, and Thrawn scowled at the rude gesture from Vader. So he contacted the bridge again. "Admiral, have someone track Vader's ship. I want to know where he is going."

Without telling anyone else what he was doing, Darth Vader flew his TIE Fighter toward Earth again. This time he flew towards the southern hemisphere, currently in the middle of local summer, the opposite of the last place he had visited on this world. The Force guided his path through the atmosphere, leading him to his destination somewhere on the planet. But he didn't need the Force to guess where it was, having a good idea where he would find what he was looking for. He had already been to the top of this world, and it only seemed fitting that he would visit the bottom of it.

The vast ice cap covering the pole glittered in the midnight sun, like a halo of light floating on the sea. The middle of that halo was obscured by a massive storm, the kind one would expect to find on a gas giant instead of a terrestrial planet, a strange phenomenon from a scientific perspective. This storm had a strange sensation through the Force, like it was a living thing with a mind and soul of its own, and an agenda to match. Darth Vader slowed his TIE Fighter during the approach, taking in the view for a little while longer, before plunging into the swirling clouds.

Visibility dropped to nothing immediately, and the TIE Fighter's headlights barely pierced the thick clouds ahead. Vader had to fly by the Force alone, and his faith in its guidance never wavered. The TIE Fighter slowed enough for a landing, just in time for Vader to see a forest appear before him. He spotted a suitable landing site outside the forest, complete with an imprint in the snow from another ship, and he landed the TIE Fighter in that spot. After landing Vader got out of his ship, setting foot on the snow and walking into the forest.

"Interesting," Vader muttered, walking down a path and observing the surroundings. "It is just like the one in the north."

Using his lightsaber as a light source, Vader walked down the path cast in the deep red glow. He sensed the presence of strange supernatural beings, most in a form resembling snakes made of shadows, numbering in the hundreds. They kept to the trees and stared at Vader passing them by, keeping their distance as he walked deeper into the forest. These spirits were different from the ones in the north, for they gave off a strong sense of animosity and aggression. Vader stopped walking, stared at the spirits, and waited for them to act first.

They came from behind, lunging toward Vader's back, only for his lightsaber to swing into them. The first spirits were cleaved in half, the severed ends burning with ethereal red fire, which quickly consumed them entirely. Vader swung his lightsaber round and round as more spirits attacked, slicing through each and every one that got close. In seconds he was surrounded by the red flames, surrounded by the disintegrating remains of spirits. The spirits stopped their attack, keeping their distance from the lightsaber.

"Is that all?" Vader asked, staring at the spirits that remained. "I expected better."

Vader continued on his way through the forest, keeping a watchful eye on the spirits keeping their distance, and soon reached the center. He saw blue light coming from the bottom of a freshly carved pit in a layer of ice, and from the edge of the pit Vader saw a bright blue sphere. It was at the center of everything here, the source of power behind the storm, where the strange feeling in the Force was at its strongest. And it was a match for the sphere in the north, like twins with an entire planet separating them from one another.

"As I thought," Vader muttered. Now that he knew there was a second strange sphere on this planet, there was only one thing left to wonder. "They are linked. But what will it take to open them?"