The Fire Nation rears it's ugly head as Kyoshi people were assaulted by their military. In raiding a village, they retrieved one of their spies and they also took the Earth Republic Archaeologist, Ming Baifou as hostage.
Baifou is being escorted down the ship's hallways by three sailors dressed in red Fire Nation enlisted navy uniforms. One sailor standing behind him held a sub-machine gun to his back to prevent him from flailing around too much. Baifou was taken to the cruiser's brig.
Captain Ng meets Baifou after he is put in jail.
"You are Ming Baifou, right? What were you doing on Kyoshi?" the captain asked
"Umm.." not wanting to compromise the mission given to him by the Earth Republic Army, Ming crafted a bogus answer "I was sent there to spy on them and kidnap a Kyoshi warrior." the archaeologist said with a smile
Captain Ng bends a small flame on his hands "That sounds like bullshit and I don't tolerate bullshit very well." the captain warned "I know the Earth Republic Revolutionary Army is filled with idiots, but do you honestly expect me to believe that they're that dumb...look at you...you don't even know any earth bending, there is no way they'd send a scrawny twat like you to capture an amazonic Kyoshi warrior! Well, that makes you harmless, along with the fact that you are stupid as you are weak."Ng said as he withdrew his hand flame.
Baifou was relieved that he was not going to get any torture treatment, but sat in his cell with a worried look on his face.
Aang made it on board the vessel by sneaking into the waste run off. Aang took a deep breath before entering the putrid passageway. He made it out on the other side into the lower halls of the ship.
"Ugh...! I hope I need have to go through that experience again!" Aang told himself
He sneaks around the ship and looks at some of the modern conveniences of the ship such as radios as well as Fire Nation technology he is familiar with such as combustible engines. He stumbles upon a lounge room where sea men would take their mind off of work and the problems of their world to get drunk, watch each other wrestle or watch fire bending sailors have low-brow Agni Kai matches. One of the drunk sailors catches Aang
"Hey lad." he said in a slurred voice "What's a boy your age doing in the navy? Shouldn't you be in school, worshiping the Fire Lady?" the drunk asked
Another drunk sailor stepped in "They don't teach you anything at school, just math, reading, science, civics, Fire lady worshiping and all that useless crap! They need to teach boys like you how to fight, how to soldier, how fire bend, shoot a gun and wield melee weapons!"
"Come on now, he isn't hurting anyone, perhaps we can teach him how to play Pai-sho." an officer said while placing game pieces onto a board. The officer asked for his name. "What's your name, kid?"
Aang did not want to reveal himself, so he picked out a name of a Fire Nation person he was familiar with.
"My name is...Zuko." Aang answered
Everyone in the quarters laughed at him.
"You mean the same Zuko that was banished by Fire Lord Ozai a thousand years ago? A sailor asked
"You mean the same Zuko that betrayed the Fire Nation after killing Admiral Zhao during his failed invasion of the Northern Water tribes?" another sailor asked
"The same Zuko that was coaxed into rejoining the Fire Nation by her sister, only to remain a traitor?" the officer asked
Aang shaked a little not wanting to reveal himself as non-Fire Nation to the crewmen. "Well, my parents named me that!"
All the sailors laughed again. "But Zuko is a disgraced name in today's Fire Nation, you see...our current Fire Lady wields vast power in our nation, her and her bureaucracy control and direct everything; morals, economy, roads, infrastructure, foreign policy, ext" the officer told Aang. "Under her, Zuko is considered a disgraced name along with Iroh, Ursa, Mai or Ty Lee."
Aang's eyes widened as he was familiar with those names.
"Well Zuko...it seems that you're familiar with those names...as if you knew them from a thousand years ago, but yes, those names are considered disgraceful for a reason...those people betrayed the Fire Nation a thousand years ago. But I don't care if your name is Zuko, in fact, I find it hilarious that your parents would name you that." the officer remarked
"So...does Azula rule the Fire Nation?" Aang asked
"Wow...do you live in a cave? Don't you know about Fire Lady Azusa? She is the absolute ruler now! But she acts very much like Azula, I even heard that her Fire bending is better too." The officer replied. "But truth be told, she is not a woman to mess with. Many government officials and military leaders critical of her have challenged her to Agni Kai, but none of them could beat her. She is like an exact reincarnation of Azula herself." The officer added. "But enough poltics, it's too depressing, let's play some Pai-sho!"
The PA blared "All crewmen, report to the upper deck!"
"Come on lad, put on this uniform, Captain Ng doesn't want to see you in your pajamas." the officer threw him a small sized Fire Nation sailor uniform.
Aang followed the crew onto the deck. On the deck, he saw the large gun turrets and missile launchers. He was quite fascinated by the modern weaponry. He also took a good look at the communication devices; the radar, sonar equipment and the radio tower above the cockpit.
"Hey lad, you look like you've never seen the deck of a ship before...but I guess that's because they had you work in the engine room below and you're still a lubber." one of the sailors remarked
"Uh, yeah." Aang replied
Captain Ng walked back and fourth in front of the sailors and petty officers.
"Change of plans crews. We shall bombard the Kyoshi Island and provide support for our marines who shall pound the shores of the Island. Air support will be provided. Once we take the Island, we will kill everyone, destroy everything. Our seabees and combat engineers will be sent in to build a forward base that shall consist of a naval refueling station, two air strips for our air craft, barracks, vehicle yards, pill boxes, bunkers and they will be responsible for pouring unagi poison into the bay. The Kyoshi Island will be used as forward base for our upcoming invasion of the Earth Republic and the Southern Water Directory." the Captain explained "Those are direct orders from Admiral Zemin, the War Council and the Fire Lady herself...May the Gods bless the Fire Lady." The captain added
Aang went into shock and rose his hand
"Sir? When is the invasion of Kyoshi taking place?" Aang asked
"First thing next week at hour 0400, we plan to surprise them while they are still asleep." the Admiral responded
"Now as for this captured Earth Republic rat, he was captured on Kyoshi." A few armed sea men drag Baifou out "We found this rat spying on the Kyoshi, we believe the Earth Republic may also have an interest in the Kyoshi Island but this man refuses to tell us!" The captain draws his navy sword and sets it on fire with his fire bending. "Perhaps this rat would like a taste of Fire Nation power."
"BAIFOU!" Aang runs up to him
"What is the meaning of this...GO BACK TO YOUR POSITION YOU SORRY ASS GRUNT!!" the captain shoots a fire ball at Aang and knocks him on the ground. Just as the captain was about to burn his face to set an example for the other crewmen, Aang gets back up and knocks him by creating a sudden gale of wind. He creates a wind ball and rides around on it, trying to dodge the captain's attack.
"Whoa...did Zuko...air bend?" a sailor asked
"Zuko is definitely not Fire Nation nor could his name be Zuko." The officer who knows him from the leisure quarters remarked.
The captain swings his fire sword at Aang, missing him with each swing. Aang knocks him out again with another gale.
"It looks like he can move air around." a sailor remarked
"No...impossible, Air benders are long extinct...there's not way...unless..." the officer said
"Unless what?"
"Unless if he's the Avatar! The current avatar is still the same one from a thousand years ago, the same one that defeated Ozai and Azula! It's him...he's back from a millennia of sleep."
Some of the crewmen watch Aang fight the captain. Some of the crewmen try to help the captain by trying to get a shot from their weapons on the avatar. He kicks his wind ball at the shooting sailors, knocking them overboard. The captain creates a fire whip and begins swinging it at him, the fire whip singes the side of his arms. Aang pulls out his staff and tries to block Ng's hits. He glides into the air with his staff-glider and kicks the captain in the forehead.
When Captain Ng was down, Aang aimed his staff at him and demanded the captain release Ming Baifou. "Release the Earth man, now!"
"Go ahead, avatar...keep running! The Fire Nation will capture you this time!" The captain told him "The Fire Nation is much stronger now than it ever has been before, even stronger now than in Ozai and Azula's time! Your Water Tribe friends, that earth bending brat and the traitor Fire Nation prince are no longer alive...all you have now is that loud mouthed chump." the captain told him. "Don't expect to be so lucky this time."
Aang removes Baifou's restraints. "Thanks buddy! I thought you were going to leave me with those Fire Nation monsters!" Baifou shouted out.
Aang gets upset with Ming "Not all of them are monsters, not all of them are enemies, the people I've met on this ship were pretty nice, they knew how to have a good time even when the world around them looked dark." Aang told the archaeologist "I even had Fire Nation friends in the past that helped me fight against them a thousand years ago."
The officer walks up to Aang "so you're the devil that gave the Fire Nation hell back then." He cracks a slight smile and bows "It's nice to meet you, Aang. I guess that's why the Fire Nation you made up for yourself was Zuko, because you knew him." He hears the ship alarm blare "We better get you and your friend out of here." The officer got them on an emergency raft.
Back on Kyoshi
Aang tells the Kyoshi warriors and the peasants about the planned Fire Nation invasion of Kyoshi.
"Aang, there is no way we can stand up to the Fire Nation military, especially after seeing how some of our warriors died in the hands of just a few Fire Nation marines. They have much better training, tactics and weapons than what the Earth Republic can throw at us." Reina explained with a worried face. "We should seek refuge in the Southern Water Directory, they're friendly towards us." Reina suggested
"Yes, but the Souther Water Directory is farther away from us and it will be very hard to transport everyone here to there, we might as well seek refuge some place closer...like the Earth Republic." One Kyoshi warrior suggested.
"Earth Republic? You must be joking...they're going to indoctrinate us with their crazy "revolutionary" ideals!" a Kyoshi warrior protested.
Aang and Baifou left the Kyoshi Island after the Kyoshi warriors came up with an agreement, send half of the population to the Southern Water Directory, send the other half to the Earth Republic and hope to rendevous at the Southern Water Directory later on. The Fire Nation are back on a warpath, the Kyoshi Islands will fall into Fire Nation hands and it is unsure whether the disorganized Earth Republic or the pacifist Water Directories will stand a chance against the united and powerful Fire Nation.