Ziggy's Corner: Okay, by my count, 14 reviews, not as good as my romances, but at least I have reviews for this story, and quite a few of them, so I can say it's a hit. The next two chapters happen just weeks of the last chapter's end (chapter five), but a lot of things have changed. The war is in full swing, the Earth Kingdom blockade is no more, and the Fire Nation is on the move! So let's just jump right into the action and see what we can. Enjoy! Oh, and Hotspur, just to let you know, there are ships in the opening scene. Lol. Sorry, had to do it folks. Okay NOW on with the story!
Sozen stood on the deck of his massive warship, The Shining Glory, his hands holding binoculars as his men pulled back the monstrous cannons, reloaded, and fired again. The sound of thunder, and smell of gun powder comforted him, more than he had ever thought it would. He smiled and watched two smaller Earth Kingdom ships slowly sink into the black thunderous waves as his men cheered.
The Battle of Tara Gulf was coming to an end. It had lasted for sixteen hours, most of which had seen fifteen thousand ships sunk in that span of time, as the Fire Nation's quicker, more lethal frigates had routed the Earth Kingdom's battleships toward the beach, and glued them there, slamming them into the depths of the water at leisure. This was one of the last steps that Sozen meant to take before the invasion of the enemy country itself. Without these ships, guarding the Earth Kingdoms, it would be easy to overtake the northern and eastern areas of the land, before his cousin and his forces could mount a counterstrike.
Sozen breathed in the salt air that was mixed with blood, and the bodies of both allies and enemies alike. He smiled and felt the power of the comet rush through his veins, strengthening his body, and sharpening his mind, further pushing the weaker part of his conscious that was rebelling against this brutality into oblivion. The Fire Lord paced back and forth on the deck, watching his men, watching them do their duty, moving as in unison, as if they were not many, but one, an extension of his will.
And so it had been for the last number of weeks that had passed since the comet left. Those strong enough to accept the will of the comet had flocked to him, and were filled with his intensions of bringing peace and order, power and glory to the Fire Nation. Soon his army swelled from five thousand, to two hundred thousand strong. His fleet swelled from one hundred ships to an armada of ten thousand. His arm stretched out toward the west right now, toward the Earth Kingdom and its various kingdoms, but as the weeks passed, he heard of more protests from around the globe, from the other two nations.
The air benders and their precious "avatar" would feel his wrath, just for the sake of their fanaticism. There were water warriors, who were volunteering their services to his cause, but there were many, many more who were opposing him, and some of them were offering their ships to the Earth Kingdom.
They would fall as well. After all, there was no sense in crushing the air benders, only to have so called "hope" reincarnated into the water cycle. Once the water nation was crushed, and with no Earth Nation existing, if there was truth to the avatar story, he or she would have no choice but to be reincarnated into the Fire cycle, and thus would be brought up with Sozen's ideals. He smiled, the avatar, his own personal attack dog! And if for some reason he had broken the cycle by this action, he wouldn't have to put up with a stray dog nipping at his heels.
"Admiral," he roared. A short, portly man wobbled up the stairs and looked straight into the eyes of the Fire Lord.
"Sire?" he asked, his voice thick and gooey, as if he had a mouth full of fudge.
"Have the crew turn the ships toward the eastern area of the island, and help our flank there."
"Sire, not to question your wisdom, but the only thing left of the enemy fortifications there, is an Earth Sage temple," the other man said. He looked at his king and backed away fearfully. "Your majesty, it's being used as a hospital, for the sick and wounded," he tried to justify.
"So that they're forces can gain their strength back? So our own will have that much harder of a time bringing peace and ending this war? Admiral I wonder if you are truly competent, stupid, or just plain lazy." His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms. "Or is it, that you are a traitor?"
"My lord, I . . .," he began. He did not finish his statement. Sozen picked him up by his collar and tossed the man over the ship with one movement.
"You must realize that I will not tolerate any of the above," Sozen growled, glaring down at the water, where the former admiral was now being torn to shreds by hungry lion fish. The Fire Lord ignored the cries of the other man, and turned his eyes on his crew. "You there, over there," he growled, pointing his powerful finger at a trembling sailor.
"Sire?" he asked, his voice shaking.
"What rank are you?"
"A Lieutenant, sire."
"You are the new admiral now. Congratulations on your promotion, I trust you were carry out my orders?"
The boy quaked in his boots, and gulped. "Yes sire," he said with as much courage he could muster. He turned and quickly began yelped out orders, unsure if the higher ranked men would obey a boy who just a few seconds ago was so far beneath them.
"Do as he asks, for he asks what your king demands," Sozen snapped, as he saw anger and bitterness in for the boy in his crew's eyes. "The first man I catch not obeying his orders as I give them, will face the same fate as the former admiral of this ship." He smiled, that got them jumping all over the place to listen to their new master and commander.
Sozen stalked off to his quarters, as he had done ever since leaving his kingdom for war. He latched the door closed, and bent over papers, detailing what had occurred over the hours. From time to time a new parrot would float in, drop off more notes, its eyes on the one candle near the window in his room, and would leave, to let its master read the crucial reports. The Fire Lord smiled, and flipped through the pages. All of the battle fronts were going well, and a few of his divisions had made landfall, and were setting up small encampments, reading for their fellow Fire Nation soldiers to bring in some reinforcements, as he was sure they were doing in the area he had just left. The going was slow, but he had expected that. There were a few encounters in the southern regions of the planet, with water bender peasants rebelling against his appointed governors, but nothing that seemed overwhelming threatening to his war effort. The only bad news was his invasion force of the northern water tribes. He had underestimated their strength, and the treachery of the terrain, but he had quickly made peace with them to focus his full attention on the Earth Kingdom.
In the background he could hear his men moving the ships, and the louder thunderous roar of the cannons as they approached the eastern gulf. For a peaceful temple of religion, the monks and sages were determined to protect their home and their injured. It was almost admirable… almost.
He left his quarters and returned to the call of the fighting, cannon balls, and flaming debris flying right into the temple, a hundred foot tall monolith which was made out of solid stone and volcanic ash imported from the Fire Nation. In the darkness of the night and the flashing colors of violence he could see it plainly, a hallowed shell of what it really was, and imposing in the grips of death as it had been in life. It stood despite numerous attacks volleyed their weapons at it, and his men trying to scale the thick, slippery walls.
Because their opponents were Earth benders, the very mountain wall was a living weapon. Stone hands grew out of the mountain and swatted the Fire Nation who dared climb it. Boulders fell, stone cats with claws and teeth as sharp as an eagle's talon rushed down on them, and Sozen watched as dozens of his men fell to their deaths.
"We're going about this the wrong way," Sozen muttered. "Admiral, have the men aim their weapons at the base of the temple, instead of the building itself."
The young man looked at what his king was talking about, and knew what he planned to do. They'd lose dozens more in this kind of attack, plus the loss of such a fine fortress in which to defend their new land. But to continue in the course of attack they were partaking was a fool's game.
"Yes sire," he said with a bow. He turned and barked out the order, secure in his new position of power. Those who dared question him got a fist in the first, and a renewed order. Their cannons turned, and fired at the base, joined by the other ships as word spread what the Fire Lord wanted done. The mountain groaned and whined, and rocks tumbled downward, some turning into stone spears and plunged into his ships, but Sozen continued to stare with undying interest at the work at hand.
The next day he awoke to see the temple still standing, and although it was in bits and pieces here and there, he was never the less furious. He stormed to his admiral's quarters and demanded an explanation.
"Sire, we ran out of ammo, and the men are exhausted. We believe that the enemy has evacuated the areas that show the most damage, and are planning to invade those areas, taking a foot hold in the temple itself."
"I wanted it in the sea," Sozen growled.
"I understand that sire," the admiral gasped, "but we didn't expect them to put up this much of a fight. If I could be so bold as to send a request for more ammo from the five hundred and first division?"
Sozen stared at him and scrubbed his chin. "I was under the impression that they were fighting against the southern Water Nation rebellions." He shook his head. "Even if they brought us the ammo we would need, it would be too late."
"My lord?" the boy asked.
"Order the ships to stay the course here," he said. "Then have the crew return us back to Tara Gulf, and we will join our men there on the beach. When we take enough of their villages and towns we should be able to get enough ammo for the ships to use."
"And if the Earth Nation gets wise to the fact that they can't fire on the Temple, and decide to go on the offensive?" the admiral asked.
Sozen sighed. "Have the other admirals command their ships to sail just far enough from the mountain that they are not in harms way, but close enough that they can block anyone trying to sail this way to aide the Temple."
"My lord, if I may be so bold," the admiral said swallow, "if the Air Nation decides to send their flying bison in with food and supplies…,"
"With food and clothing, maybe," Sozen growled. "But not with weapons, that I very much doubt, they're not warriors." He pounded a fist, "But until we can find where they have their hidden temples all we can do is raze a few of their small towns and cities in hopes of bringing the monks out of hiding."
"Unless we can find someone who is willing to betray his own people," the admiral thought out loud. Sozen chuckled and nodded his head.
"There's a reason why I appointed you as a new admiral, Lhau, I can see I made the right decision. Now, to my orders."
"Yes my lord," Admiral Lhau said with a nod of his head.
Okay this is chapter six. As you can see lots of action or scenes on the ships. Chapter seven takes the fight to the land, and only takes place a few days after this ends. If you wonder the wisdom of leaving ships to blockade an enemy without ammo, please remember, these are fire benders, so they can use the elements as their weapons. Also only their ships were without the massive artillery, not their land forces.
Hotspur: So what did you think of this? I think I can probably safely call you the number one fan of this story. Pumps fist, YAY I have lots of number one fans now! I think I can also call you an ultra fan, as you have reviewed all but A MidWinter's Romance (if you've reviewed that I can't seem to find you) and The Fire Hunt (damn no one seems to want anything to do with that story, what's wrong with it?). Like all my other number one fans, you are part of a pantheon, and thus answer to the top dog, TheShoelessOne, but as A number one fan, you get to smite anyone's crop and fields who disses any of my stories that you enjoy, LOL. Anyway, thanks for the praise. To answer your question from chapter 4, Sozen's mistrust of bureaucracy helped him decide to run the country totally on his own, and as you can see, the stress was not very good for him. His lacky council get's the job a few chapters later, as the war rages on. Again, thank you for your kind words. By the way, are you a guy or a girl? You don't have to answer, but when I got your very first review, it seemed like you were a guy, but now I get the feeling some reason that you might be a girl. Sorry if I was/am wrong either way. Again, thanks for the praise.
lightbird: Thank you kindly. I am shocked that I seem to be the only one to have thought of this as a subject to write a story on, but who knows, it might be popular a few months or a year or two later. I see Sozen as a victim, much like George Lucas thought of Darth Vader as. Some one you shake your head sadly at and say, "Poor guy" and at the same time someone you shake your finger at and ask, "What the hell are you doing?" And the coming chapters only find him further down the road of insanity. Thanks for the kind words, and hopefully you enjoyed these chapters too.