Avatar: The Last Airbender Created By: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Avatar: The Last Airbender Owned By: Nickelodeon, a subsidiary of Viacom
All original content and characters © Acastus
Chapter XIII – A Very Bloody Affair
Iroh choked as he inhaled a lungful of the black, oily smoke that billowed out of the burning headquarters tent. All around him he heard the cries of wounded and dying men, many of them his own. The laments of the forsaken were punctuated only by the clang of metal on metal and the dull thudding of the huge stones that rained down seemingly from the heavens themselves. The wind shifted, blowing the poisonous cloud away, to reveal the bloody knot of ferocious combat before him. The camp and the east west road that ran through it were awash with struggling, swearing, dead and dying soldiers. The smoke, which burned his throat terribly, had at least momentarily covered the reek of the burning corpses that littered the makeshift battlefield. Iroh suppressed the urge to vomit at the overpowering stench of death.
Breathing raggedly, the Crown Prince spun around on his feet and rapidly scanned the scene. The military police and the headquarters staff were now engaged in desperate hand to hand combat with enemy infantry. The melee raged fiercely without order and without mercy. Uncoordinated firebending attacks had set most of the camp aflame. Forcing himself to breathe regularly, Iroh's brain reeled from the realization that less than ten minutes ago the camp had been about its usual business. Now he and his men were fighting for their lives.
Their position was hopeless. The enemy had charged without warning over the low hill behind the camp. After the initial shock had driven back the panicked defenders, the enemy had formed three firing lines at different heights along the slope of the hill. These grim and resolute earthbenders worked in unison to rain boulders down on the camp, killing both Iroh's men and the Earth Kingdom infantry indiscriminately. Their strategy was brutal and effective. Soon, Iroh knew, he and his men would be dead.
Before he could complete his survey or reflect further upon the grim fate that was almost certainly in store for them, Iroh caught sight of a gritty Earth Kingdom warrior removing his sword from the corpse of a Fire Nation soldier a few feet to his right. Sensing eyes upon him even amidst the battle, the earthbender looked up to meet the Crown Prince's gaze. With a roar the rough man lunged at Iroh, who stepped blithely out of the way. He struck the back of his assailant's neck as he passed, knocking him to the ground, limp and unconscious.
The victory proved ephemeral, however, as two other green clad men appeared to take the fallen soldier's place. Both lifted rocks out of the ground and kicked them at Iroh, who rolled to the ground to allow the boulders to pass over him. Certain his prostrate position would cost him his life, the Crown Prince was relieved to look up and see a sword protruding from the stomach of one of the Earth Kingdom soldiers who had just shot at him. The stricken man's companion had only a moment to turn to his dying friend and the young Fire Nation soldier who had dealt the fatal blow before both were killed by the sudden impact of a boulder the size of a mill stone.
The dull thudding of the stones hitting the ground grew to an ear splitting crescendo as Iroh regained his feet. He turned to see an Earth Kingdom soldier take aim at him from a distance with a large stone. He drew a sharp breath in anticipation of the attack, only to catch a glimpse of yet another green clad soldier, this one wearing a fine breastplate of steel, approach him from his left. The newcomer was already in the middle of swinging his sword at him when in a split second Iroh grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him into the path of the oncoming rock. The Earth Kingdom officer's face froze in a twisted mask of horror an instant before his head exploded in a bloody shower of bone and brain.
Ignoring the collapse of the headless corpse, Iroh launched two fireballs in rapid succession from his fists at the soldier who had hurled the fatal rock. Both blasts hit their target, one in the face and the other in the chest. The Earth Kingdom soldier screamed in agony as his hands flew to his face in a vain attempt to stop his skin from melting off his skull.
A Fire Nation soldier approached the burning man with his sword drawn, but was stopped by another who shouted, "No! Let him burn!"
Stepping sideways the Crown Prince turned to see his own death rushing towards him. No less than half a dozen earthbenders jumped gracefully over the fallen bodies of his staff just a few yards away. As Iroh began firing blast after blast at his assailants in a last ditch effort to stave off death, he felt the ground begin to shake beneath him in resonance with the ear splitting thudding that had been steadily building throughout the fight. Both he and his attackers were thrown off balance. As the world wobbled, Iroh could see the green clad men on the hill flail about as well.
He turned to his right to look west down the road and fell to his knees. His assailants did likewise. The last sight they ever saw was the column of Fire Nation tank trains hurtling down the road towards them at amazing speed. Each tank train towed several towering pieces of artillery. Grey smoke belched forth from their smoke stacks as their treads chewed up the surface of the road, leaving the earth scarred and broken in their wake.
In the blink of an eye the lead tank train passed in front of Iroh no more than a few feet away. The sudden passing of such a huge amount of metal created a concussion of air that blew him backwards. Of the earthbenders who had been closing in on him there was no sign at all, they had simply ceased to exist. Struggling to recover, Iroh heard the protest of metal on metal as the tank trains applied their brakes. Soon after the lead tank train and its towage had passed, he saw the second ride up the hill, erasing dozens more of the green clad soldiers. Those who escaped the metal monsters scattered in terror.
Within moments a third and fourth tank train slid into the camp, their treads locked as they tried to slow down. The rear compartments of each machine then swung open allowing Fire Nation soldiers to disembark.
The expressions of the Earth Kingdom warriors still fighting in the camp did not change, even though it was clear the tide had turned against them. Iroh heard a cheer erupt from those of his men still alive. He could not raise his own voice to join them in celebration since he was at that moment knocked rudely to ground by a blunt object across his back. His breastplate protected him from the blow, but he found his face in the dirt once again.
Flipping himself over he saw a tall man in a grey uniform, briefly obscured by a cloud of the oily black smoke, deftly slice in two a fat earth kingdom soldier wielding a mallet.
The man in grey smiled and offered Iroh a hand to get up, remarking, "No more laying down on the job, your Highness, we've got work to do yet."
"Gan!" exclaimed the Prince, happy for the second time that his bookish friend had joined them.
"None other," his friend replied.
Iroh smiled in turn, took the proffered hand and lifted himself to his feet. Somewhere beyond them he heard a female voice as distinct as a signature yell, "Get your asses into this fight! You hear me? Now!"
They both turned to see Chieng, small in the distance atop the lead tank train, push several of her engineers off the top of the machine with a bo staff and into the fight still raging below. A moment later she dropped down after them and was lost from view.
Gan and Iroh turned without comment back to the battle. The fight was not over, but the arrival of the tank trains assured the outcome. The Earth Kingdom soldiers still within the burning camp quickly found themselves trapped. Unable to escape, they fought as men who cared nothing for their lives, but it was not enough to save them. Within minutes the carnage was over, the remnants of the Earth Kingdom infantry was slain.
Some time later, Chieng, her staff bloody and her face smeared with dirt, came upon Iroh and Gan kneeling next the crushed corpse of a Fire Nation soldier. He was young, no more than a boy. His uniform, emblazoned with the symbol of the sun, marked him as a servant of the Crown Prince. Iroh, his head bowed in silent prayer, held the dead man's hand in his own. Beside them lay the massive mill stone sized boulder that had felled him and a nearby earthbender.
The engineer walked up to them and remarked without preamble, "A pathetic performance all around, your Highness," but Iroh and Gan paid her no attention. After several moments of what anyone else would have interpreted as an awkward silence the engineer pointed at the corpse and asked brusquely, "Well, who is this, then?"
"A brave young man," Iroh replied gently, replacing the man's hand on his broken chest, "who saved my life today at the cost of his own. I never even knew his name."
Chieng's gaze swept over the body and she nodded once before stating confidently, "He died with honor then, my Lord, and as long as you live he will not have died in vain."
Gan turned to the dark haired woman in some surprise, for he had not expected such a sentiment from the foul mouthed engineer.
Iroh looked up at her briefly, then back to the corpse and said, "Thank you, Chieng, but I find that I now owe so many brave souls my life, I wonder how I will ever repay them."
"Find our enemies and destroy them utterly, your Highness," supplied Chieng, in an unintentional imitation of the Fire Lord's command to Prince Xian months before.
"I intend to," the Crown Prince replied solemnly. Rising to his feet he queried, "How much do you know of our situation here?"
"Very little," Gan admitted, "as soon as we learned you were pinned down here at Nomura, we left Edo and got here as fast as we could."
"Fine, get me your maps and I will explain," commanded Iroh.
Soon the three sat around a duplicate of the large area map that had burned with the command tent. Two of Iroh's surviving aides-de camp sat in attendance. Using a piece of charcoal Iroh directed the aides to mark the positions of friend and foe. The picture slowly became clear. Several thousand Earth Kingdom soldiers were surrounded in a pocket in the hill country in front of them. Iroh's army in turn was bisected by the remains of General Jin's infantry, much of which had been left unmolested as a result of Nikon's southward deviation. The open plains east of the hills suggested that Jin's infantry was free to counterattack as soon as they could reach the Prince's exposed besieging force.
"So, a pocket within a pocket?" mused Gan after Iroh concluded his description.
"Yes, that is what it will be if we don't act fast. We can't let that happen," stated Iroh firmly. "To prevent a disaster we must crush this pocket immediately. I've used every trick in the book to delay open combat here long enough for you to arrive," then turning to Chieng he said, "however, it may already be too late. You know now why I sent for you. Are you ready to deploy the artillery?"
"I am."
"It must be in place by nightfall, Chieng, do you understand?"
Chieng indicated that she understood and left to carry out her orders.
By sunset a new headquarters had been set up on a nearby hillock. Chieng had provided for this by donating one of the train cars that had been loaded with artillery shells. Secure in their metal abode, the few survivors of Iroh's staff did their best to plan the coming battle. Runners on mongoose dragons pulled up to the headquarters in quick succession and messenger hawks arrived at short intervals to deliver information about the enemy.
The final streaks of sunlight stained the sky to the west as Iroh peered through his field glasses at the enemy lines in front of him. The adrenalin fueled excitement from the morning had long since dissipated, leaving only the angst ridden air of expectation. The enemy, ragged and half starved from weeks of retreat, nevertheless remained a considerable fighting force.
Iroh handed the glasses to Gan, who queried, "How many in this bunch?"
"Brigade strength at least. Maybe two or three thousand."
Gan scanned the low hills in front of them where heavily manned trenches could be seen in the fading light. Close by on their left and right the forward positions of Iroh's infantry sheltered quietly behind their metal shields. The Fire Nation line stretched north and east quickly out of sight.
"How long have they been there?"
"Three days. We trapped and destroyed the greater part of Gao's division in a large ravine three or four leagues that way," replied Iroh pointing west, "while my mongoose cavalry were trapping this group here."
"You've been busy," he commented, handing the glasses back.
"Yes, far busier than a lazy man like me had hoped," the Crown Prince replied with a wry smile.
"How have you held them here for that long without engaging? Let me guess, you had them over for tea?"
"Oh, do you think they'd come?" Iroh quipped, his smile now threatening to break his face, "I have some of that lovely green tea we found in Edo!"
Gan laughed and was soon joined by his friend. As they spoke two mongoose dragons arrived, one behind the other. On the first, a young man with lieutenant bars, dark hair and traditional Fire Nation sideburns dismounted and approached them on foot. The second bore Chieng, now cleaned up with her dark hair pinned in a bun.
The eldest son of the Fire Lord turned and received the young man's salute. Behind the messenger the engineer approached, hands behind her back, apparently interested to hear what news was about to be delivered.
"Good news, your Highness," the young man said, offering Iroh a letter in a dark green envelope, "Colonel Gao has agreed to your terms."
Iroh nodded once, threw a shrewd look at his friend and replied, "Thank you, Lieutenant Diem," then, turning to look over Chieng he asked, "Is the artillery in place?"
The engineer nodded in affirmation and Iroh declared with grim satisfaction, "Excellent. Then we will attack as planned."
Confused, the young lieutenant offered the message once again to Iroh asking, "What about this, sir? Won't we reply?"
"Oh yes," Iroh laughed, "we surely will! With fire and destruction we shall answer them!"
"But, sir, the enemy has offered to surrender…?"
The Crown Prince regarded the young soldier for a moment before replying, "And just what would we do with them, Lieutenant? The enemy outnumbers us by five to one at least. It is a shame these men must die, but die they will today."
Diem locked eyes with Iroh momentarily before shifting his gaze to Gan, who wore a smile every bit as deadly as Iroh's.
Chieng regarded Iroh calmly for a moment before stating flatly, "You will make an excellent Fire Lord, your Highness."
Iroh turned to her in surprise. A strange mix of pleasure and embarrassment swept over him. A compliment from such a severe judge was indeed a rarity, but if Chieng was blunt in the delivery of her insults, she was no less emphatic when she bestowed her infrequent praise. They looked at each other for a moment before she turned and began to walk back to her dark and silent tank train.
"Aren't you going to stay for the rest of the show?" Iroh called after her, "Your assistance is always welcome," he continued in a hopeful tone, and much to his surprise he meant it.
Chieng turned and replied, "Not a chance, your Highness. I'm late to save Nikon's ass out east. Looks like he took Cam'ron sooner than we hoped, but didn't have any plan for holding onto it."
"What do you mean," Iroh queried with sudden concern.
"Yeh, it's true. I just heard that your buddy broke half of my tanks trying to get to Cam'ron before Tien Shin," she explained with bitterness, "I know he's your friend, but he's also an idiot, and now he's been caught with his pants down."
Infuriated at her attitude Iroh retorted fiercely, "So, instead of hurling insults, why don't you get over there and put that armor back in action?"
Chieng regarded him coolly and replied, "I intend to, your Highness, since he is in as much need of my help as you were this morning."
Understanding dawned on Iroh as he drew a long breath, "They're under attack?"
Chieng nodded and replied, suddenly uncomfortable, "Yes, we received a messenger hawk from Southern Command almost at the same time as yours. Nifong has finally decided to make his move and has attacked Nikon while he is overextended. I'm sorry."
Iroh turned to Gan for confirmation and saw it instantly in his friend's troubled eyes. Gan nodded and supplied glumly, "It's true, your Highness. After your step brother took the Cam'ron road away from him, he found some other east - west highway not on the map and used it to beat Tien Shin to the city."
His heart instantly aflame, Iroh exclaimed, "I've got to help him!" He turned to yell for his aides, but the engineer's hand on his shoulder stopped him short, her grip firm but strangely gentle. The Crown Prince turned to her, fear and anger visible in his eyes.
"Don't compound your friend's mistake with another, Prince Iroh," advised Chieng in a low voice, "I know you care for him, but you cannot help him now. You have your own fight here, one that you and your men will be hard pressed to win as it is."
She was right, and he knew it. Her hand dropped from his shoulder. Iroh noticed the men nearby react to her inappropriate display of familiarity, but ignored it.
"His best hope," continued Chieng in the same low voice, "ironically enough, lies with Tien Shin, who has wisely advanced without running his tanks into the ground. I've got to round up the rest of my column and get there as soon as possible. I'll salvage what I can."
Iroh raised a hand to his forehead in frustration before replying in a choked voice, "Then go, Chieng, and whatever you do, you mustn't fail!"
A few moments passed before, locking eyes with Iroh, she declared, "I may not be a firebender," she said, rapping the side of her tank train with the palm of her hand, "but I have other weapons the enemy has learned to fear! I will do all I can, my Lord, you have my word."
The Crown Prince's heart swelled with gratitude at the engineer's oath. Her performance that morning gave him more hope of saving Nikon than anything possible from the man who hated his friend with such passion.
Chieng saluted. Iroh returned the gesture before springing forward and surprising her with a crushing bear hug, "I have no doubt about that. May the Spirit of the Sun protect you and bring you success," holding back tears he continued, "Nikon's a good man and a true servant of the Fire Nation." He drew in another deep breath, "Please, don't let him die on me."
The engineer had stiffened on contact, but, after a brief hesitation, relaxed upon hearing Iroh's plea. She hugged him back briefly and replied, "I won't."
With that she climbed up into her tank train. A few minutes later, her train roared to life and was gone, leaving only clouds of swirling dust on the road to Cam'ron.
He watched her leave, then walked back with Gan to where Diem still stood at his mongoose dragon awaiting orders.
"Lieutenant," instructed Prince Iroh, "Order all batteries to fire at will."
