Last of Our Kind

This is another of the episodes I don't like as much. Firstly, because I am an archaeologist (in training) and hated the fact that so much damage was done to a historical site in the name of science, even if it was just a cartoon. Secondly, it is incredibly hard to rewrite! Aang is always the one with the major lines and it is so hard to work in other characters. Hopefully I'll do at least a moderately decent job.

Oh, and a third problem I had with this episode only came after I read "What SHOULD have happened in AtLA." I don't want to point it out here, just go and read the fic. It's absolutely genius.

I don't own Avatar the Last Airbender or the following quote.

"The Future is, of all things, the thing least like eternity. It is the most temporal part of time-for the Past is frozen and no longer flows, and the Present is all lit up with eternal rays."
― C.S. Lewis, The Screwtape Letters

The Changes We Face

Learning that Wenona was some sort of super-powerful Waterbender destined to help teach the Avatar came as quite a shock. Wenona herself had tried not to think too much about it, not wanting to feel the pressure of the responsibilities connected with being the Water Source as she had enough to deal with already. Sokka had responded to the information the same way he usually responded to things that shocked and confused him; he gave an exclamation of "WHAT?!" and promptly passed out. Keng, on the other hand, reacted in immense fascination, looking at his eldest sister as if she were some sort of ancient relic that had been touched by spirits. Aang and Katara both treated this as a welcome surprise; both had known Wenona had some sort of special power ever since what happened on Roku's island, and Aang realized that this explained why he felt such a connection with Wenona, that she had been his Waterbending master in all of his lifetimes. Wenona then went on to mention what she had been told about Miakoda, the first Water Source, and the strange dreams and visions she'd been having.

"But, if that's true," said Katara, "then that means there are three other Sources still out there."

"Two, actually," Wenona corrected. "Master Achak told me that when the Air Nomads were…removed from the world that the Air Source reverted straight into Aang's spirit and won't appear again until there are more Airbenders in the world."

Aang looked at the ground thoughtfully.

"I always knew my Airbending was strong," he said. "But, ever since I got out of the iceberg, I've felt like it's even stronger."

"I'm guessing that must be a side-effect," said Wenona. "I'm not entirely certain what the Sources are other than teachers, but I think they might be more than just that. After all, they'd have to be if they're reincarnated just like the Avatar."

Over the next few days, Wenona got the distinct feeling that things had changed in the group in regards to her. She couldn't figure out what it was, but it seemed like everyone was treating her differently. Not really in a negative way, of course, but Sokka did appear to be trying not to get on her nerves too much. Keng was asking a lot more questions about the visions she'd been having, often going to the point where Wenona had to force herself not to snap at her youngest sibling. Aang was asking to practice Waterbending with her more often; Wenona wasn't sure if this was a natural thing caused by her being the Water Source, or if it was purely something that Aang was doing because of the revelation itself. Katara was the only one who didn't seem majorly affected by it.

"I suppose I kind of knew there was something different about you, Nona," Katara said upon being questioned by her sister. "You always were a strong Waterbender, even when we were kids. I mean, you did make a huge crack in the village wall when you were only five."

"You can't possibly remember that," Wenona retorted.

"No, but half the tribe certainly did."

"Oh…right." Wenona gave a sheepish smile.

"Hey, don't worry. The guys will get used to the news soon enough and things will go back to the way they were. You'll see."

Wenona smiled at her younger sister. Katara always was good at reassuring people.

The Gaang was almost at the furthest tip of the Earth Kingdom. Once they reached the coast, it was nothing but water until they reached the Northern Water Tribe. All they really had to do was cross through the Jungney Mountain Range and they'd be on their way. Aang was getting excited as they made the ascent, talking about how the Northern Air Temple wasn't too far from where they were. As night started to draw near, the Gaang managed to find a campsite where a number of mountain-dwellers and travelers had set up for the evening. Once the sun had just about sunk beneath the distant horizon, everyone gathered around a large campfire and one of the mountain-dwellers began to tell a story.

"…so, travelers," the man said as he finished his tale. "The next time you think you hear a strange large bird talking, take a closer look. It might not be a giant parrot, but a flying man. A member of a secret group of air-walkers who laugh at gravity and laugh at those bound to the earth by it!"

"Aren't Airbender stories the best?" Aang said as the storyteller began to make his way around the audience, holding out his cap for contributions.

"Was it realistic?" asked Katara. "Is that how it was back then?"

"I laugh at gravity all the time." Aang started to chuckle. "Hah, gravity."

"Jingle, jingle," said the storyteller, holding out his cap.

Sokka dug through his pockets and didn't find anything.

"Sorry," the youth said.

"Hmph, cheapskate," the man said in annoyance. Wenona dug through her purse and threw in a couple silver coins. "Thank you very much, young lady."

As the man began counting the donations, Aang approached him.

"Hey, thanks for the story," he said.

"Tell it to the cap, boy," the man replied, holding out the cap. As the man wasn't looking, a coin fell out which Momo picked up and placed back with the rest. "Aw, much obliged, little bat-thing," the man said as he turned around.

"It means a lot to hear Airbender stories," said Aang. "It must've been a hundred years ago your great-grandpa met them."

"What are you prattling about, child? Great-grandpappy saw the air-walkers last week." He pointed over towards an old man who grinned toothlessly and waved.

The next morning as they took off, Aang insisted that they stop by the Air Temple to see if any Air Nomads might have survived the war. Wenona wasn't so certain, though, as she believed that if there were surviving Airbenders that one of them would be the reincarnation of Aang's Air Source.

"Hey, we're almost to the Northern Air Temple," said Aang. "This is where they had the championships for sky-bison polo."

"Do you think we'll really find Airbenders?" Katara said to her siblings.

"You want us to be like you or totally honest?" said Sokka, not looking up from his attempt at carving a small block of wood.

"Are you saying I'm a liar?"

"I'm saying you're an optimist. Same thing, basically."

"What about you, Nona?"

"Honestly, Katara," Wenona said quietly, "I don't think so. It's probably best we don't get his hopes up," she whispered, gesturing towards Aang. "You remember what happened at the last Air Temple we visited."

"Hey, guys! Look at this!" Aang shouted.

They all looked up and saw the Air Temple and, to their sheer astonishment, people flying on what appeared to be gliders.

"They really are Airbenders!" Keng gasped.

However, Aang's expression fell.

"No, they're not," he said.

"What do you mean they're not?" said Sokka in disbelief. "Those guys are flying!"

"Gliding maybe, but not flying. You can tell by the way they move they're not Airbending. Those people have no spirit."

At that moment, a young boy on one of the gliders shot by them, laughing gleefully.

"I don't know about that, Aang," said Wenona. "That kid looked pretty spirited."

Aang locked eyes with the other boy and grinned as a silent challenge was put forth. Aang took off on his own glider and began to chase the boy through the skies. Back on Appa's saddle, however, another person on a glider came dangerously close to impacting with them.

"We better find some solid ground before it finds us," Sokka said.

Wenona took over the reins and steered Appa to land on a clear courtyard attached to the temple.

Meanwhile, Aang was closely following the laughing boy. The two seemed to be in a contest to see who could perform better loops and spirals in the air.

"Go, Teo!" another kid shouted from the courtyard where the Gaang had landed.

"Show that bald kid how it's done!" said another.

The two were fairly evenly matched when the boy, Teo, spoke to Aang.

"Hey, there! You're pretty good!" he called out.

"Yeah, I know!" Aang called back. "But I can do more than fancy gliding!" Aang soared down to a long wall of the temple and released his glider, running along the wall a bit before hopping onto an air-scooter. He rocketed along a good distance and then jumped back onto his glider.

"Wow!" Teo said. "I don't think I can do that! But here's a good one!" He pulled a lever on his glider and smoke began to pour out of a compartment. Teo looped and swerved until an image was produced, that of a caricature of Aang scowling. "What do ya think?!"

"It's great," Aang said shortly as the two landed.

As Teo landed, a group of other kids came over to detach his glider from his chair, which he then began to roll thanks to the wheels on it. It was then that it dawned on Aang and the others that the boy was crippled and couldn't walk, making Aang feel somewhat guilty about trying to show him up.

"Hey, you're a real Airbender," Teo said once he got close enough to see Aang clearly. "You must be the Avatar! That's amazing! I-I've heard stories about you!"

"Thanks," Aang said bashfully.

"Wow, this glider-chair is incredible," said Sokka.

"If you think this is good, wait until you see the other stuff my dad designed," said Teo, rolling his chair inside, the Gaang following behind him

As they entered the temple, Aang felt a growing sense of sadness and dread. The temple looked almost nothing like it did when he was last there. All sorts of strange machines filled the place as pipes lined the walls.

"Wow!" Sokka exclaimed.

"Yeah, my dad is the mastermind behind this whole place," Teo said. "Everything's powered by hot air. It even pumps hot air currents outside to give us a lift when we're gliding."

"This place is unbelievable," said Aang.

"Yeah, it's great, isn't it?"

"No, just unbelievable."

"Aang used to come here a long time ago," Keng explained to Teo. "He's just a bit shocked it's so…different."

"So better!" Sokka amended.

Aang looked up at a wall mural that had been badly damaged by the pipelines.

"This is supposed to be the history of my people," he said. Wenona was surprised the boy hadn't burst into tears yet; although, she was also not too happy about the destruction of something so culturally and historically significant.

Aang moved on and stared down dejectedly at a pool of some strange, green substance in an old fountain and jumped back as smoke shot out of the mouth of the bison sculpture.

"I'm sure some parts of the temple are still the same," Katara assured him.

They rejoined the group to find Wenona about ready to slap Sokka upside the head for his comments on how much better the Air Temple was due to all the technology it now contained. Katara asked Teo if there were any places that hadn't been subject to the modern 'renovations.' Teo led them out towards the old Air Nomad dormitories that didn't appear to have a trace of machinery in them.

"It's nice to see at least one part of the temple that isn't ruined," Aang said.

As Aang and Keng examined a sculpture of a seated monk, there was a sudden rumbling.

"Look out!" came a voice, just as the wall and statue were smashed to pieces before their eyes. As the dust settled, a group of people emerged from the other side of the hole.

"What the doodle!" declared the leader of the group. "Don't you know enough to stay away from construction sites? We have to make room for the bathhouse."

"Do you know what you did?!" Aang shouted, taking a defensive position. "You just destroyed something sacred! For a stupid bathhouse!"

"Well, people around here are starting to stink," the man said, completely unfazed.

"This whole place stinks!" Aang sent out a blast of air that shot the wrecking device off the side of the mountain. "This is a sacred temple," Aang continued sternly. "You can't treat it this way. I've seen it when the monks were here. I know what it's supposed to be like."

"The monks? But, you're twelve."

"Dad," said Teo, "he's the Avatar. He used to come here a hundred years ago."

"What are you doing?" Aang persisted. "Who said you could be here?"

Teo's father turned away.

"Hmm, doing here," he said quietly. "A long time ago, but not a hundred years, my people became refugees after a terrible flood. My infant son, Teo, was badly hurt and lost his mother." The man sniffled sorrowfully. "I needed somewhere to rebuild, and I stumbled across this place. Couldn't believe it! Everywhere, pictures of flying people! But empty. Nobody home. Then, I came upon these fan-like contraptions."

"Our gliders," said Aang.

"Yes! Little, light flying-machines! They gave me an idea. Build a new life for my son, in the air. Then, everyone would be on equal ground. So to speak. We're just in the process of improving upon what's already here and, after all, isn't that what nature does?"

"Nature knows where to stop," Aang pointed out.

"I suppose that's true. Unfortunately, progress has a habit of getting away from us." He shifted his gaze up and pointed towards a bunch of candles. "Look at the time!" He turned towards the other men who were with him. "Come! The pulley system must be oiled before dark."

"Wait, how can you tell the time from that thing?" said Sokka, pointing at the candles. "The notches all look the same."

"The candle will tell us. Watch." The middle candle let off four short bangs.

"You put spark-powder in the candle," Sokka deduced.

"Four flashes. So, it's exactly four hours past midday. Or, as I call it, four o'candle." This made Sokka start laughing. "If you like that, wait 'til you see my finger-safe knife-sharpener. Only took me three tries to get it right," he added, removing his three wooden fingers from an attachment to his hand, causing Sokka to flinch. "Follow me!"

While Sokka went off with Teo's father, who was known as "The Mechanist" by everyone, Teo turned back to the rest of the Gaang.

"Hey, Aang, I wanna show you something," he said.

Teo led them back into the main part of the temple and along a corridor. Aang continued to look sullen and stare around at all the changes.

"I just can't get over it," he said. "There's not a single thing that's the same."

"I don't know about that," said Teo, reaching down to pick up a black-and-white hermit crab. "The temple might be different, but the creatures that live here are probably direct descendants of the ones that lived here a long time ago." He handed the crab to Katara.

"You're right," she said. "They're kind of keepers of the temple's origins." She handed the crab to Aang, who smiled down at it.

"Besides, there's one part of the temple that hasn't changed at all."

Teo continued to lead them through the temple until they reached a large, wooden door with an intricate lock.

"It looks just like the one at the Southern Air Temple," Wenona pointed out.

"Only an Airbender can open it," Teo continued. "So, inside, it's completely untouched; just the way the monks left it. I've always wondered what it was like in there."

"Aang?" said Katara.

"I'm sorry," Aang said. "This is the last part of the temple that's the same as it was. I want it to stay that way."

"I completely understand," said Teo. "I just wanted you to know it was here."

"Thanks."

They all turned and started heading back towards the outside. Keng, however, suspected there was something still bothering Aang and held back a bit with the Airbender.

"What's really the matter?" he said.

"I don't know what you mean," Aang replied.

"Don't mock my intelligence, Aang. I can tell there's something else still bothering you about the changes to the temple. What is it?"

The young Avatar stopped walking and glanced out a window to look at the sky. He hadn't told any of his friends before, but Monk Gyatso had told Aang that this was where Aang's father lived. Aang couldn't remember his parents at all, just a man's laugh and a woman's soothing voice, and he hadn't been allowed to see them. Other Airbender children were allowed to see their parents at certain times of the year when they were permitted to stop their training; but Aang wasn't even told the names of his parents. It was one of the few things he hated about his own culture, that they would separate him from his mother and father just so they could separate him from his father-figure years later.

"Guys, come on!" Wenona called back. "Teo's gonna show us how to use the gliders!"

Aang gave himself a shake and continued walking, Keng following him with concern on his face.

"The wind will carry you," Teo explained as they stood in the courtyard. "It supports something inside you, something even lighter than air. And that something takes over when you fly."

"I've changed my mind," Katara said as she stared out at the open stretch of sky in front of her. "I think I was born without that something."

"Impossible," Teo said with a laugh. "Everybody has it."

"Spirit," Aang said, drawing their attention. "That's the something you're talking about."

"Yeah. I suppose it is."

Once Teo had gotten his own glider attached to his wheelchair, the group prepared for take-off.

"Are you ready?" said Teo.

"No," Katara said, whimpering nervously as she jumped out into the air. She began to scream as the glider descended but began to laugh a bit when she realized she wasn't falling to her death. Behind her, the others had all followed her out into the sky.

"Hey, check this out!" Wenona shouted. The older girl shifted her weight to one side and her glider tilted until she was flying upside-down. Then, she leaned forward, making it shoot up, until she shifted her weight again and made it swoop down.

"That was great, Nona!" Aang shouted.

"I can't believe we're flying!" Katara added.

"Just make sure you keep your mouth closed so you don't swallow a bug," Aang advised.

"Teo was right about the air. All I had to do was trust it. Let it carry me."

"Even though Teo's not an Airbender, he really does have the spirit of one." Aang swooped down to rejoin Teo back at the courtyard.

"I've been thinking," Aang said to the older boy. "If you wanna see what's in that room, I'd be happy to open the door for you."

"Great."

"Wait!" Wenona shouted. "How do we land these things?!"

"What if we land over in the-" Katara started, only to be cut off as she started to choke. "Ugh! Ack! Blech! Bug! That was a bug!"

After managing to get the Water Tribe siblings back down from the air, the group returned to the sealed door.

Meanwhile, Sokka and the Mechanist had gone to the older man's study where he had shelves full of blueprints and models for new inventions. Sokka accidentally knocked some stuff down with a crash.

"I said don't touch anything!" the Mechanist said. As Sokka started to pick up the debris, the Mechanist came over as Sokka tried to pick up a model of a large balloon with a basket containing an egg attached to it. "Oh, don't worry, that experiment's old and that egg was part of last week's lunch."

"Ugh! Week old egg smell," Sokka said in disgust as he sniffed the air.

"Quick! Find that egg!"

The two began to search the floor.

"How can something that's so small you can't even see it make such a big stink!" Sokka exclaimed.

"That's the solution to our problem!" the Mechanist declared, referring back to earlier when he had shown Sokka the room that was full of natural gas that occasionally had gas-leaks.

"Yeah. If we put a whole nest full of rotten eggs in the cellar where the gas seeps up…"

"…The gas will mix with the smell of rotten eggs."

"Then, if there's a leak…"

"…You smell rotten eggs. Then you just follow your nose to the place where the smell is coming from…"

"…And plug up the hole where the gas is escaping!"

The two looked at each other and exclaimed: "YOU'RE A GENIUS!"

Just then, there was the sound of a bell ringing.

"Something's wrong," said the Mechanist. "I've got to go!" He ran out the door, Sokka right behind him.

The doors of the temple sanctuary creaked open and light filled the room. Everyone gasped at what was inside. Instead of statues of the past Avatars like what they saw at the other temple, this room was filled with dozens of war-machines, all marked with the red and black Fire Nation symbols.

"This is a nightmare," Aang said in horror.

"You don't understand!" came a frightened voice behind them. They all turned to see the Mechanist standing there.

"You're making weapons for the Fire Nation!"

There was a moment of shocked silence before Sokka suddenly lashed in.

"You make weapons for the Fire Nation?!" he shouted.

The Mechanist hung his head in shame.

"Explain all this! Now!" Teo demanded.

"It was about a year after we moved here," his father responded. "Fire Nation soldiers found our settlement. You were too young to remember this, Teo. They were going to destroy everything, burn it to the ground. I pleaded with them, I begged them to spare us. They asked what I had to offer. I offered my services. You must understand, I did this for you."

Teo turned away, refusing to look at his father. The Mechanist walked back to his study in sadness. Once the Gaang had a few minutes to clear their heads, Aang and Teo went after him and found him tinkering morosely with his air-balloon model.

"When are they coming?" Aang asked.

"Soon," the Mechanist answered with a glance at his candle, which sent off a spark. "Very soon."

"You can't give them more weapons."

"If I don't give them what they want, they will destroy this place."

"How can I be proud of you when your inventions are being used for murder?" said Teo.

"I need some time to think."

At that moment, another bell went off and the Mechanist shot to attention.

"You need to leave. Go!"

"We're not leaving," Teo said firmly.

"Then hide. Quickly!" He ushered them out of sight and pulled on a rope that operated a lift.

A man steadily rose through the opening in the floor. He was distinctly Fire Nation and looked very official.

"You know better than to keep me waiting," the man snapped. "Give me what you owe us so I can be on my way." The Mechanist hesitated. "Well? Is there a problem?"

"No! Right this way." He gestured towards the door, but, suddenly, Aang air-blasted it shut.

"The deal's off," Aang said, leaping into view.

"The Avatar?" said the Fire Nation official.

"Aang, don't get involved," said the Mechanist.

"If I don't get what I came for, the Fire Nation will burn this place to rubble."

"Get outta here!" Aang shouted, blasting the man in the face. "You're leaving empty-handed!"

"Then the destruction of this temple will be on your head." The man went back to the lift and descended back down through the floor.

Aang, Teo, and the rest of the Gaang stood on a bridge overlooking the temple.

"This is bad," said Sokka.

"Really, really bad," Keng added.

"Aang, what are we going to do?" asked Katara. "How can we possibly keep them all away?"

"I'll tell ya how," he answered. "We have something they don't." He pointed towards the sky where people were soaring about on gliders. "Air power. We control the sky; that's something the Fire Nation can't do. We can win."

"I want to help," said the Mechanist, suddenly appearing.

"Good. We'll need it.

A meeting was called in the Mechanist's study to discuss the battle strategy for the attack.

"We finally got the war-balloon running thanks to Sokka," said the Mechanist. "This boy's a genius."

"Thank you," said Sokka. "You're a genius."

"Thank you."

The rest of the Gaang exchanged looks.

"See, the problem with the old war-balloon was you could get it airborne, but, once you did, it just kept going," Sokka explained, demonstrating with the model. "You could put a hole in the top, but then all the hot air would escape. So the question became 'how do you keep a lid on hot air?'"

"Ugh, if only we knew," Katara muttered to the others, who started to chuckle quietly.

"A lid is actually the answer. If you control the hot air, you control the war-balloon."

"Hmm, that's actually pretty bright of you, Meat-Head," said Wenona.

"Okay," Sokka continued. "We've got four kinds of bombs: smoke, slime, fire, and…"

"Stink!" the Mechanist finished. "Never underestimate the power of stink!"

The teams lined up on the courtyards of the temple and waited for the signal. Because this was warfare, Aang had insisted that only those who were older participate so that the younger children wouldn't run the risk of getting hurt or worse.

"They're coming!" a little girl cried out.

"Are we ready?" said Teo.

"Yes, but where's Sokka with the war-balloon?" said Katara.

"We'll have to start without it," said Aang, opening his glider and getting into position.

Everyone braced themselves as Aang took up the lead. The young Avatar set off at a run and the rest of them followed. The air teams dove towards the Fire Nation troops that were steadily making their way up the mountainside. The young people launched their bombs at the troops, knocking them down or sticking them in place. Aang managed to cause an avalanche that took care of most of the soldiers along the mountain path. Unfortunately, things started to take a turn for the worse when a series of metal grappling-hooks shot out of the cloud bank and latched onto the top of the mountain, pulling large tanks up with them.

"Aang! Huge problem!" Wenona shouted.

Katara and Keng were nearly knocked from their place on Appa, from which they had been rearming members of the flight team, when the grappling-hooks had shot up. The flight team tried to detach the hooks, but the tanks had a feature that just shot up another hook when it started to fall. A number of tanks had already reached the top and the troops inside were starting to shoot fire-balls.

"Those things are unstoppable!" Katara shouted as she flew beside Wenona and Teo.

"I think I know how they work," said Teo. "I remember my dad tinkering with the counter-balancing system; something to do with water. Works great, huh?"

"Water?" the sisters said.

Katara jumped onto her sister's glider and the two of them flew down to where Aang was battling furiously with the tanks. The two girls sent waves of ice that trapped the tanks they were aiming at, freezing them and causing whatever held the machines together to fail and the tanks fell to pieces. They repeated the process several times before they looked up to see they were outnumbered. Aang deflected several fire-blasts that came their way as two more tanks got close; luckily, Keng steered Appa down to help and the knocked the tanks back long enough to give the others time to get on his back and make their retreat.

"We're out of bombs," Teo said once they were all back at the temple.

"Come on, Sokka," Katara said quietly. "Where's that war-balloon?"

As if she had said the magic words, the very device rose into the sky. On board the craft, Sokka and the Mechanist flew over top of the Fire Nation troops and tanks.

"Hey, why aren't they shooting at us?" said Sokka.

"The insignia!" the Mechanist exclaimed. "They think we're on their side!"

"Then I guess they won't see this coming," Sokka said as he cut the rope on the first bomb, releasing the slimy substance onto the enemy forces below.

"Bombs away!"

The tanks started to stick in place as they dropped the bombs; however, more were coming up the side of the mountain.

"Oh no, that was our last one," Sokka said.

"Wait a second," said the Mechanist, sniffing the air. "You smell that?"

"Rotten eggs! There!" He pointed towards a deep chasm. "That's where the gas is escaping!" Sokka, getting an idea, began to detach the fuel tank.

"What are you doing? That's our fuel source!"

"It's the only bomb we've got."

Sokka finished loosening the object and pitched it over the side, sending it clanking down into the chasm. A few seconds passed before BOOM! A huge explosion shook the whole mountainside. When the smoke cleared, the tanks were gone and the few troops remaining began to flee.

"Look!" Aang declared. "They're retreating!" Everyone started to cheer.

"WE'RE GOING DOWN!" Sokka shouted as the balloon fell rapidly.

Aang took off into the air and soared down to help them. Sokka attached a rope to his boomerang and tossed it out so that it wrapped around the boy's feet as he flew past. Sokka and the Mechanist held on tight as they just barely escaped with their lives.

"You know what?" Aang said as they all gathered at one of the lower courtyards of the temple. "I'm glad you guys live here now. I realized…it's like the hermit crab. Maybe you weren't born here, but you found this empty shell and made it your home. And now you protect each other."

"That mean a lot coming from you," said Teo.

"Aang, you were right about air power," said Sokka. "As long as we've got the skies, we'll have the Fire Nation on the run."

Meanwhile, down at the base of the mountain, the Fire Nation minister from earlier and a group of his soldiers came upon the wreckage of the war-balloon.

"This defeat is but the gateway to many victories," he said.