Chap. 34
No Sacrifice, No Victory
As Sozen's Revenge lurched towards them, the members of the Army stood their ground with pride and determination on their faces. Looking down at them, one would have thought he was looking upon a battle hardened war force, ready to fight against any odds, even ones such as this. And for many members of the Army, this was true. They had been in many battles before against superior opponents and knew how to battle to the best of their ability. But others, who had never faced a battle of this magnitude before, felt fear and uncertainty under their brave faces. They felt shame at it, cursed themselves for having cowardly feelings, destroying their victory before they even got a chance to fight. But what they didn't know was how the veterans they fought with also struggled with those feelings. Even the Knights, immune from death, felt fear at the sight of the metal monstrosity that clanked towards them. But just as their younger counterparts were doing, those veterans were burying their fears, and trying to channel those fears into strength and determination against this new foe.
And they would need it this day. As they watched, Sozin Reborn halted in its tracks, and then rose up its gigantic flaming hands. Pointing them towards its foes, the machine suddenly release huge streams of flame towards them. As the Army scattered, the machine began to swing its arms, creating walls of flame that sought to crush the Army below it. But the training they had endured did not leave the minds of the Army members. As King Bumi dodged the flames, he managed to pull a few Earthbenders with him and get them out of the range of the attacking machine. Helping the two benders to their feet, the former ruler pointed at the vulnerable legs of Sozin Reborn. The two soldiers nodded, and the three benders quickly nodded and moved into position. Using their skills over the Earth, they raised three huge boulders up from the ground, and hurled them at Sozin Reborn. But when the rocks reached their target, they simply bounced off, not even denting the exterior of the machine. But even worse, the impact was apparently enough to get the machine's attention, as it's sculpted face turned towards them. Bumi and the solider quickly began to move, as the giant arms turned in their direction.
But before that could happen, six pairs of chains suddenly wrapped around the arms and began to pull them back towards the Army. As Hierro struggled under the strain, the Firebenders began to unleash a concussive series of fireblasts upon the machine, delivering whatever damage they could, which appeared to be minimal. Then they suddenly halted in their attacks, as the Airbenders released two concentrated streams of air directly at the machine's hands. The streams found their way into the fire-holes and quickly extinguished the burning flames there. Before Sozin Reborn could react, the Waterbenders released their own power, as the holes were doused with water. As they continued to spray, Bosque and Desierto discharged a rain of seeds and sand along with the water. Once it was inside the holes, the seeds began to grow inside the machine, creating a mass of organic tissue to help the sand clog up the inner workings. The Army let out a cheer, thinking that they had been able to strike a blow against this behemoth.
But they were wrong. For as they watched, a series of sharp blades suddenly popped out of the machine's arm. Moving swiftly, they traveled down the arms, slicing through the chains that held it. Hierro fell back with a grunt, as the Army watched the machine hold up it's hands again. There was a series of loud audible clicks, then some sparks, then the hands were flaming again, as if whatever had clogged them did not even exist.
"The fires have been re-ignited, Minister." The worker said from inside the cockpit.
"Good. Resume the attack." Qin replied with a malicious smile, as the worker resumed his operation of the machine. Sozin Reborn was living up to its name quite well. And why should it not? After all, the Fire Lord had commissioned the best engineers in the Fire Nation to design it. They had been given the best materials and weapons to use in their construction. But best of all, they had been given explicit instructions and information on how to make this machine impervious to the powers of both benders, and the Elemental Knights. The Fire Lord was wise enough to learn of his enemies' strengths and tactics. That was why the ignition sequence for the hands could burn away any foreign mass. That was why the metal had been forged with pieces of rock and debris inside, preventing the Metal Knight from tampering with it. True, the appearance of the Airbenders did present concern, but Qin was not overly worried. Their powers might've taken down his men, but there was no force in the entire world that could stop this juggernaut. Soon the Army would be crushed, and Qin would return to the capital with the Avatar and the traitorous royal children in hand.
"Keep firing! Don't let up!" Tierra yelled, as he shot another rock towards the machine. Behind him, Toph and the other Earthbenders tried to follow, but even they could see their attack was having no effect.
"Groundquake, our attack isn't working! We need a new plan!" Tyro cried out, as he and Haru launched another series of rocks that bounced off the machine harmlessly.
"I'd love to hear it then!" Tierra replied. But as he turned back to the machine, he saw the huge wave of flame that it had unleashed at him. Moving quickly, he started to draw up the earth into a shield, but before he could even start, he saw the ground rise up before him and take the full impact of the blast. Whirling around, he saw Toph moving out of an Earthbending pose.
"You didn't feel the heat from that thing?!" she asked.
"I was…. Engaged in other activities." He replied sheepishly.
"I suggest we engage in another activity…. Retreating!" Tyro yelled, as the machine suddenly popped open a compartment on its chest and a series of rockets suddenly shot forth. Moving quickly, the small regiment of Earthbenders ran in the opposite direction, as the machine continued its trek towards them. They fired back with Earthbending whenever possible, but the machine seemed to have an endless supply of flame and rockets to launch at them. Thankfully, after a few moments, two blasts of lightning managed to disperse the rockets and temporarily stun the machine. The Earthbenders turned to see Azula, Truneo, Pakku, and a few Airbenders running to aid them. As the machine stumbled back, the Airbenders unleashed a powerful gust of air the forced it backwards, as Pakku and the Earthbenders used their power to aid in the attack. As Sozin Reborn stumbled back, Tierra said, "That's not going to stop it forever. Does anyone have any ideas?"
"We need some way to cut off its weapons. After that, we should be able to take it apart with our combined bending." Pakku replied
"How? None of us have the range in our bending to reach the weapons. And besides, you saw what our attempts did before." One of the Airbenders said.
"That was then. This is now." Azula said. "I know how the Fire Nation constructs its weapons. I know their weaknesses. Tierra, Trueno, can you contact the other Knights?"
"Yeah."
"Tell them to gather as many benders as possible. I have an idea, but I need everyone to work together to make it a success." Turning to the Airbenders, Azula singled out one in particular and asked, "Your name is Malu, right?"
"Yes."
"Can you gather your people and get them to follow my plan?"
"That depends. I don't really see a reason to follow you myself at the moment, Firebender." The leader of the Air Nomads replied, crossing her arms.
"You do realize that a giant mechanical man is shooting fire at us?" Pakku asked.
"Yes. But I'm not about to blindly follow a Firebender without at least listening to what her plan is." Malu said.
Azula looked at the Airbender then said, "Fine, I guess I can't blame you. Here's what I had in mind…."
"The Army has fallen back, Minister. Shall we pursue?" the worker asked.
"By all means. But try not to destroy all of them. I want the Avatar and the Royal children alive." Qin said, as he watched the machine advance once again. Already, the Army before him had begun to scatter to the four winds. The Airbenders might be able to return from the dead, but even they could not defeat the awesome power of the Fire Nation's greatest weapon. Already, Qin could see the rewards he would gain when he returned home. He could see the Fire Lord praising his efforts, promoting him, giving him riches beyond….
But Qin's thoughts were interrupted suddenly as the machine rocked forward, then hung in place.
"What's going on here?" Qin demanded, as the worker began to frantically work the controls.
"I don't know sir. We appear to be stuck in something. I cannot raise the legs."
"Well, fix it!" Qin yelled, as he looked out the window to try to figure out what was going on. But what he saw was something that only confused him more. A group of Airbenders was flying towards them, and each of them carried a Waterbender on their glider. What on earth are they up to? Qin wondered.
"Almost there!" Aang yelled, as Katara held on bravely to the boy's glider.
"You know, I never hated being a Waterbender until now!" she yelled back.
"Sorry." Aang said. "I know you hate heights."
"Thanks, but I think we've got something bigger at the moment. We'd better hope Azula's plan works." Katara said, as they neared the machine.
Aang nodded, and quickly began to angle his glider into position, as the other Airbenders followed suit. As they flew over the machine, they could see Desierto, Tierra, and the other Earthbenders using their power to soften the earth around the machine and let it sink into the ground. They moved past them and flew into place, right over the machine's 'shoulders.' Once they were ready, Katara and the other Waterbenders began to bend their water down onto the machine. As it landed, the water began to gather and freeze onto the metal, putting the first part of Azula's plan into motion, as the machine began to struggle to move. As it stood there helplessly, Oscuridad and Bosque moved into place on the ground. Bringing their weapons up, they began to charge the machine, running faster and faster ever moment. Finally, they reached the machine and upon doing so, leapt high into the air, their weapons glowing with Elemental energy. As they rose higher and higher, they grabbed onto the machine's frozen arms and swung off them to the shoulders. Then, using their respective blades, they sliced through the frozen, brittle metal with twin yells of fury. The arms hung for a moment as they descended, then with a crack and a downpour of ice and metal, the two arms fell off the machine and hit the ground lifelessly.
As Bosque and Oscuridad landed, they quickly turned to see their handiwork. Seeing the arms lying in a pile, they smiled, then Bosque yelled out, "Now!" At that, the Firebenders emerged from their hiding places and moved into one large group. With Zuko, Iroh, and Azula at the head, they quickly brought their power to bear, unleashing a huge, unstoppable wave of fire at Sozin Reborn. The machine, now rendered almost helpless, could only stand there and take the blow, as the heat of a thousand suns was forced upon it. Its metal skin began to blacken and char; some of it even began to melt. As the flames bore down, a hatch in the headpiece suddenly opened and two figures suddenly emerged. Leaping down from the shoulders of the machine, they landed on the soft grass and began to run. But they didn't get far, as the earth around them suddenly began to surround them. Within seconds they were trapped. As Qin and the worker struggled to free themselves, a young girl dressed in yellow and green walked up to them with a smile.
"I thought I could hear a couple of heartbeats in that thing." Toph said, as she folded her arms against her chest.
Qin snarled at her, but as he heard the huge clang of Sozin Reborn falling to the ground, and the might cheer he heard from the Army, he knew that his dreams of rewards and glory had just died.
In the next few hours, the Army of the Avatar worked hard to secure their new position. Qin and all the Fire Nation soldiers were swiftly imprisoned. The major weapons of the factory were destroyed. Sozin Reborn was dumped into the ocean. The factory was repainted with Army colors, and when all that was done, the members of the Army began to plan a celebration that night. And that night, the inside of the factory was host to a party of great joy and happiness. But it was also home to a dark and difficult conversation, in which truths were told that might have spelled the end of the Army's campaign.
Aire sighed as he entered the room. He knew that when he left this room tonight, things were going to change. He didn't if they'd ever change back either. But he knew that there was nothing that he could do other then accept his fate and deal with it. It was something he'd been doing his entire life; never really choosing to do those many difficult things over the centuries, but doing them anyway, despite the consequences. Those things flashed across his mind, as he looked over at where Aang stood, a smile on his face, so unaware of the hate that would be in his mind later.
"You wanted to talk to me, Aang?"
"Yeah. I wanted to thank you, Aire."
"Thank me?" the falcon asked, feigning surprise.
"For bringing the Airbenders back." Aang said, emotion beginning to enter his voice. "I-I thought I was alone for so long. And then, to see gliders and sky bison again…. I don't know what to say."
"It's ok." Aire said. "You don't have to say anything."
"No, I do." Aang said. "I know you brought them for the Army, but this is the best gift I've ever had. It's been difficult lately, with the Army and everything, but seeing my people again makes me feel whole. And none of it would be possible without…"
"Aang, please stop." Aire said, unable to take anymore.
"Why? What did I say?"
"Things I don't deserve to hear. Aang, do you know how I found the Airbenders? I found them because I knew where to look."
"What?"
"Aang, I always knew that the Airbenders were still alive. I always knew where they were. All the Knights did. We just never told you."
"But….I…. I ….. Don't understand…. Why would you……"
"Because we couldn't. The Architects forbid us. We were supposed to keep them secret, until the time was right. It wasn't easy for us, but we had no choice."
Aang's face fell completely as Aire continued. "We had to keep them secret for their safety. The Airbenders were always part of bringing down the Fire Lord. They're the one people that he doesn't have any defenses against. It was too risky to let anyone know they were still alive, even you and the others. If even one word had gotten to the Fire Lord, he would've started looking and never stopped until they were weeded out and destroyed."
"I didn't want to do this, Aang." Aire said, as he started to move towards him. "I knew how much you were hoping to find other Airbenders. I saw how much it hurt you to think that you were the only left. I wanted to tell you so badly. We all did. But…. It was a sacrifice we had to make for the whole world. And if the last of the Airbenders had been destroyed because you or someone you knew had found out, I knew you would have never forgiven yourself. So we kept quiet, because we thought was keeping them safe, and keeping you from being hurt. Maybe we were wrong, but we were trying to do the right thing."
Aire looked up at Aang, who was staring at the floor by this point. Praying that maybe this time, things would work out differently, Aire reached for the boy's shoulder. But nothing changed. Aang shrugged off the falcon's hand, and then raised his head up to look at him with anger and betrayal in his eyes. It was a look Aire had seen before. That was why he did nothing as Aang threw a thousand curses at him with his eyes. That was why he did nothing as Aang pushed him aside and stomped out of the room. Aire only stood there silently, as he mentally cursed himself, and wished, as he had so many times before, that he had not been reborn as an Elemental, and not burdened with so many other people's hopes. That he could be ignorant and selfish, and not feel the pain of those around him. But instead, he'd been cursed with a conscience and responsibility, that made him feel all the pain around him, as well as his own. Tonight was simply another example of that phenomenon. And there were so many more tonights left to experience.