Chapter 37: The Comet: Part One
Before The Storm
From the top of a plateau next to a river Avatar Aang surveyed the makeshift army below, assembled from various factions from across the globe. For the first time west coast earthbenders met Dai Li agents, northern tribe waterbenders met swampbenders, warriors from Kyoshi Island met deserters from the Fire Nation, southern tribe sailors met freelance pirates, all united against a common foe. With some of the best benders in the world and over a thousand fighters at their disposal, these united forces were ready for one final stand.
Only two days remained before the return of Sozin's Comet, two days before the fate of the world would be decided. Everyone spent their valuable time preparing, practicing fighting forms, sharpening weapons, securing supplies, planning tactics, endless battle drills, anything that could improve their odds. Combining the different elements at their disposal was their greatest asset, as the enemy only possessed the element of fire.
And yet Aang still worried, doubts still plaguing him. "I just hope this is enough."
Next to him on the plateau was Katara, having the same worries as Aang. "If this isn't enough, nothing will be."
"I know, but still," Aang said. He watched one of the swambenders work with a northern tribe waterbender, bending the same wave of water for an amplified effect. "It's an awfully big gamble."
"It's all we have," Katara said. Her gaze drifted to a red tent that stood next to a forest, separated from the rest of the encampment. "I just wish we didn't need her help."
Inside the red tent Azula sat cross-legged with her hands cupped above her knees, her eyes closed and breaths slow in meditation. A blue flame burned in the air just above her hands, filling the tent with blue light. The blue flame grew and shrank with the rhythm of her breaths, held in check entirely by the strength of Azula's will.
The flap at one end of the tent opened as someone entered, and Azula only knew one person that would dare interrupt her meditation. "What is it Ty Lee?"
Ty Lee sat down next to Azula, looking at her in the blue light. "I'm worried," Ty Lee admitted. "Are you sure that we have to do this? It is your own brother we'll be facing."
"Yes, I'm sure," Azula said. "And it's too late to turn back."
"No it isn't," Ty Lee argued. "We can still double-cross these guys, tell Zuko what they're doing and how to beat them, that would get you back on top again."
Azula smiled and opened her eyes, looking at Ty Lee. "That does sound appealing." She paused and looked into her blue fire, then looked back at Ty Lee again. "But Zuko would see right through it. He will find what we've been up to, and only make him try to get rid of me sooner."
"But not right away," Ty Lee reasoned. "You're the only heir left until Zuko has a kid, and it's going to take him a while to change that."
"That only guarantees a year, any longer depending on Mai's mood," Azula said. She focused her gaze on her blue flame again. "No, I won't let myself be at their mercy."
Ty Lee's gaze fell to Azula's blue flame, the bending signature of the princess. "If we do this, if you're spotted fighting against Zuko, won't you be killed immediately?"
Suddenly the blue flame swelled and burned brighter, before changing color from blue to orange and red, then settling into a calm burn. "Not anymore," Azula said, now looking into the light of a normal flame.
The change in the light allowed Ty Lee to see a mask on the floor, no longer hidden by its blue shade matching the earlier blue light. The eyeless holes of the blue oni mask seemed to stare at Ty Lee, instilling just as much fear as Azula could make. "You've thought of everything."
"Oh I'm sure I've missed something," Azula said. She put out her flame and shrouded the tent in darkness, before their eyes adjusted to dim sunlight piercing the tent's fabric. "No one can account for random chance."
"Like finding those Dai Li guys," Ty Lee mentioned.
"Alright boys, show me what you've learned."
In a nearby stone valley Toph was facing the dozens of Dai Li agents she'd recruited, after she had taught them enough earthbending to do what she wanted with them. In synchronized motions the agents all bended the ground beneath their feet, pulling it up and around themselves into stone armor. Each agent now stood at a height of fifteen feet, while their armor was half as wide. The armored agents all assumed a fighting stance, ready to test themselves for their teacher.
With a smile on her face Toph earthbended her own stone armor, encasing herself within a twenty foot tall stone golem. Then she charged at the armored agents and plowed into them, swinging stone arms into armored agents and tossing them away. Rocks flew everywhere when stone fist met stone armor, shattering armors when their agents failed to keep up their concentration. Three armored agents tackled Toph at the same time, pinning her down for a few seconds before she threw them off.
Those few seconds were enough time for five armored agents to improvise a strategy, building on the techniques they had learned. Two of them reshaped their armors into a pair of thick legs, another jumped while reshaping his armor into a giant torso that attached to the legs, and the other two leaped while reshaping their armors into a pair of long arms that attached to the torso, combining into a single thirty foot tall giant. The agent in the giant's torso looked down from a seemingly small stone head, while using his fingers to earthbend signals through the rock to coordinate with the others.
"Now that's more like it!" Toph yelled, and then she charged at the giant. And when she was close enough Toph made her golem leap at the giant's head, while also pulling back a stone fist for a knockout punch.
The giant's longer reach allowed it to strike first, throwing a punch before Toph could finish her attack. The blow hit Toph's golem and tossed it forty feet away, and the giant caught up to it in a few large strides. Both long arms came crashing down on top of the golem, blocked only by Toph crossing the golem's fists to catch the attack. Force from the blow made the golem's feet sink into the ground a few feet, but Toph held her ground against the larger opponent.
Suddenly the golem's chest burst open and Toph leaped out of it, planting her feet on the ground in between the giant's legs. Toph threw both arms out to earthbend the giant's feet, shattering the stone and the giant's footing at the same time. The entire giant toppled over immediately, breaking apart as its pieces hit the ground, scattering the five agents inside amongst the crumbling stone.
Toph climbed on top of the crumbled stone, where all of the agents could see her. "We're going to have to work on stability." Toph gestured to the pile for the agents still in their own armors. "We can't have this happening in the middle of a real fight."
"Understood," the agents said.
Right away the agents got back to work practicing the stone armor earthbending, refining the technique for greater effectiveness. Toph smiled as she monitored the agents' efforts, proud of the unprecedented force at her command. "Haru's got nothing on this."
In an open field Haru was watching a group of earthbender rebels practicing with the Kyoshi Warriors, working together to find ways to improve their fighting abilities. The few Fire Nation deserters that could firebend simulated an attack by throwing fireballs, which the earthbenders and warriors fought off together. The warriors focused on deflecting the fireballs with their war fans, allowing the earthbenders to focus on offense by throwing boulders.
While the combined effort was making improvement, Haru thought they could do better. He spotted Suki among the Kyoshi Warriors, wearing a fresh uniform with new face paint. "Hey Suki, want to try something different?"
Suki stopped her practice and walked over to Haru. "What did you have in mind?"
"Just brace your legs," Haru recommended.
"Uh Oh," Suki muttered, even as she did brace her legs.
With a clench of his fist Haru earthbended stone boots around Suki's feet, and with a thrust of his fist Haru propelled those boots with earthbending, and those boots took Suki along for a ride. Suki slid across the field three times faster than she could run, but still remained upright and able to swing her war fans. Her sudden speed surprised the deserters simulating an attack, forcing them to scatter as Suki barged through their formation. That disruption allowed the earthbenders to strike down the deserters to end the simulated battle, while also spreading Haru's idea to the earthbenders and Kyoshi Warriors.
By pulling his arm back Haru summoned the stone boots, which took Suki back to him. When she was only a few feet away Haru stopped earthbending, except to break apart the stone boots so that Suki could walk freely. But after one step Suki stumbled and fell, and Haru quickly caught Suki in his arms. "Are you hurt?"
"Sprained ankle," Suki answered, wincing in minor pain. "I'll be alright."
"Let's get you to one of the healers," Haru insisted. He placed Suki's left arm around his shoulders and helped her walk towards one of the Northern Water Tribe's tents. "I'm sure they'll only need a minute to fix a sprain."
Inside one of the large blue tents used by the Northern Water Tribe, Healer Yugoda was busy teaching some of the swampbenders how to use waterbending to heal injuries. She insisted that every waterbender learned at least the basics of healing, so that wounds taken during battle could be fixed immediately and allow the warriors to get back into battle sooner. Even some of the male waterbenders from the northern tribe showed up for lessons, setting aside traditions in favor of pragmatism.
After one lesson Yugoda was preparing for the next one when she heard someone enter, and she turned to see a woman around her age there. Yugoda remembered seeing this elderly woman from a distance when first reaching the Southern Water Tribe, and when Hakoda had returned he'd introduced her to Pakku as his mother, though nearly everyone in the southern tribe called her Gran Gran.
"The next lesson is in ten minutes," Yugoda said.
"I'm not here for lessons," Gran Gran said.
Something in Gran Gran's voice got to Yugoda, stirring up memories from a long time ago. Yugoda took a closer look at Gran Gran's face, seeing something familiar underneath the wrinkled skin. "Have we met before?"
Gran Gran smiled. "It's been about sixty-five years, old friend."
That's when Yugoda realized who Gran Gran really was. "Kanna?" Yugoda said, remembering someone from that long ago. "Is that really you?"
Kanna's smile grew larger. "Yes, it really is me."
Completely speechless at the discovery of an old friend, Yugoda walked closer to Kanna. All the memories from growing up came flooding back, from playing the same ice hut as toddlers to racing in the canals as children to secretly dunking insufferable boys in cold water as teenagers and everything in between. They embraced each other in a full and passionate hug, just like they did on the night Kanna left the northern tribe to escape an arranged marriage. It was a moment that Yugoda had thought would never happen, and one she wished could last forever.
"I thought I'd never see you again," Yugoda admitted.
"Plans change," Kanna said. She let go of her friend and looked into her eyes. "I still wish you could have come with me."
"It was hard enough getting you out," Yugoda said, tears starting to fall down her cheeks. "But that doesn't matter anymore. We found each other again, that's what matters."
"And we haven't forgotten each other," Kanna added, starting to cry with joy.
"Does he know?" Yugoda asked, remembering the reason why Kanna left in the first place.
"No," Kanna answered. She smirked while wondering how her former betrothed would react. "I want to see how long it takes for Pakku to figure it out."
On the far side of the river Master Pakku was having a friendly duel with another waterbender, and was having his first real challenge in decades. In the northern tribe nearly an entire generation of waterbenders had either been trained by him or trained by masters he knew, making it very difficult for anyone to surprise him with waterbending. That made Pakku all the more eager to spar with Huu, so that he could to prove to himself that he wasn't getting complacent or losing his edge.
Where Pakku preferred fast whips of water that slashed at his opponent, Huu used slower and larger waves that slammed into a foe. The slower style threw off Pakku's timing for blocks, making temporary water shields too early and they would fall apart too soon, letting Huu's attacks through when the defense was down. And during Pakku's attacks Huu countered the bending with his own, halting the water's forward motion and spilling it back into the river.
After sparring for five minutes Pakku decided to show off, bending enough water around his legs to make a cyclone that lifted him thirty feet high. From there he swooped down and threw water faster than Huu could react, getting through Huu's defenses and knocking him into the river. But then Huu stayed beneath the river's surface longer than expected, doing something down there that Pakku was unfamiliar with.
The surface of the river burst open as a twenty foot tall monster rose upward, composed entirely of weeds and plants that grew on the riverbed, save for a wooden mask on the front. From inside the monster Huu bended the water inside the plants, controlling the monster like an extension of his own body.
"Well that's something different," Pakku said to himself.
Huu's monster waded through the river to the base of Pakku's cyclone, and then swung an arm into the base of it. Raging waters tore apart the plant matter composing the arm, but not before it disrupted the currents essential to keeping the cyclone stable. The base of the cyclone came apart in torrents of water, while the rest came crashing down in gravity's pull. Pakku fell into the river just upstream of Huu, where he started bending water into large spikes of ice. Those spikes pierced the vegetation but deliberately missed Huu in the center, and then Pakku bended the ice spike away from each other, tearing the monster apart and dropping Huu into the river.
At the same time Pakku and Huu surfed to the shore on waterbended waves, planting their feet on solid ground not far from each other. Both were breathing fast after so much bending, and both were wondering what other tricks would come next. Pakku bent some water around his arms to make whips for another round, while Huu bent water around his legs for defense in the next round.
"Are you two done measuring yet?"
Immediately all of the water splashed back into the river, both Pakku and Huu turning to see Hakoda standing nearby. The interruption completely killed Pakku's concentration, and that was no condition to test himself in. "We are now," Pakku answered.
"But we must do this again sometime," Huu insisted. He walked up to Pakku and made a polite bow. "It's been a privilege to duel with such an honorable man."
"The privilege is mine," Pakku said, returning the bow. Then he turned to Hakoda. "Did you want something?"
"I wanted to meet my daughter's teacher," Hakoda answered. He turned towards Huu and offered a hand in friendship. "Katara's said good things about you."
"It's nice to hear that," Huu said.
Believing that Huu and Hakoda deserved some privacy, Pakku turned and started walking away. But when he was almost out of earshot a thought crossed his mind, something that he might regret not acting on later. So he turned back and walked towards Huu and Hakoda, his hand reaching into a deep pocket and into a small satchel inside.
"Heads up," Pakku said, taking a pair of Pai Sho tiles out of his pocket and tossing both of them to Huu and Hakoda.
After catching one tile Hakoda looked at the symbol on it. "The white lotus tile?" Hakoda questioned. "Isn't this the worst piece in Pai Sho?"
"What's Pai Sho?" Huu asked, staring at the identical white lotus tile he caught.
"There's more to it than just a game," Pakku explained. "Hold onto those tiles, there are other likeminded individuals who help those who keep the White Lotus Gambit."
With his own white lotus tile safely tucked away in his sleeve, Jeong Jeong patiently waited at the top of a large hill. In the distance he spotted a messenger hawk flying towards him, arriving on schedule in response to another hawk he'd sent several days ago. The incoming hawk dived out of the sky and landed on Jeong Jeong's extended arm, and he used the other hand to remove a rolled piece of parchment from a tube on the hawk's back, and then he read the delivered message.
Report received. Unexpected development, but welcome. Covert operatives focusing elsewhere, will not interfere with probable Avatar activity. Keep doing what you've been doing. Grandmaster out.
Jeong Jeong reread the message until he had it memorized, then burned the parchment in his hand. Without context the message had no meaning, just in case it had been intercepted by the enemy. But with context Jeong Jeong knew exactly what the message meant, that his secret society approved of the makeshift army the Avatar assembled, as it would allow them to devote more resources to covert activities instead of fighting during the comet. It also meant that Jeong Jeong now had orders to remain where he was, as it fitted within the grand schemes of Grandmaster Iroh.
"If only you could be here," Jeong Jeong muttered, thinking that the makeshift army could really use some help from the Dragon of the West. But he had to settle for sending another message back, even if there was barely enough time for the hawk to reach Iroh before the comet would arrive. So he took out a new piece of parchment along with a brush and ink, then wrote his new message.
Orders received. Continuing with current objectives. Odds of success higher than previously estimated, but still low. Will be unable to report again before mission outcome. May the Spirits be with you. Deserter out.
Once the ink was dry Jeong Jeong rolled up the parchment and placed it inside the hawk's tube, then sent it off to deliver the message. "Who'd have thought that you'd have us stop your own nephew?"
In the Fire Nation forty of the most elite firebenders available were assembled on one of the highest volcanic peaks, standing in formation between the tamed sky bison herd and the Fire Lord. Eleven sky bison were available for use during the comet, one down from the dozen found with Air Nomad Aang's translated texts. Fire Lord Zuko knew that the missing sky bison was Ty Lee's personal favorite, and that she would only be gone if Azula had asked her to leave.
And yet Zuko wasn't surprised, only disappointed that his sister had chosen now of all times to betray him. He'd expected something more subtle from her, like a poisoned meal or that mute assassin, not outright desertion in this critical time. But Zuko didn't officially declare Azula a traitor just yet, not when there was a chance he could use her treachery to his own benefits. But in the moment Zuko put the thoughts of his sister aside, needing to make a grand speech to inspire the firebenders in front of him.
"We stand at the crossroads, where destiny itself is ours to command. A hundred years ago my great-grandfather changed the world, making it possible for our nation to expand beyond the archaic borders enforced by Avatars past. But now we will not just change the world, we will remake it. From these bison we will burn down the remains of the old world, and from the ashes a new world with rise, a world where all the lands are Fire Nation. This will be our world, now and forever, until the end of Time!"
The elite firebenders rallied together at the end of the speech, truly believing the worlds of the Fire Lord. They marched to the sky bison and boarded the metal saddles in groups of four, each group meeting a pilot that's sole responsibility was guiding the sky bison. Only the middle sky bison remained unoccupied, its saddle having golden markings that identified it as the Fire Lord's bison. When all of the elite firebenders finished boarding Zuko walked to his bison and climbed into its saddle, where he found his very familiar pilot waiting for him.
"You need a speechwriter," Mai criticized.
"I thought it was good," Zuko said. He looked around and saw that the other sky bison were ready to take off. "Get this beast in the air."
Mai grabbed the reins and pulled. "Yip-Yip," she commanded, and the bison took flight. The rest of the herd soon followed, flying in a V formation behind Mai's bison.
As it was going to be a long flight to the Earth Kingdom, Zuko laid back in the saddle and strapped himself in. "Wake me up an hour before we get there."
"You're going to sleep up here?" Mai questioned.
"What else is there to do up here?" Zuko asked.
A smile crept across Mai's face. "I can think of one thing."
"We'll do that after we win," Zuko promised.
"I'm going to hold you to that," Mai assured.
As Zuko tried to sleep his thoughts drifted to the coming battle, going through every possibility in his mind. One certainty was that the Avatar would interfere somewhere down the line, but how soon was unpredictable. The Avatar's friends would be there as well, always there to be a thorn in his side. Of special interest was the menace that followed Zuko all the way from the North Pole to Ba Sing Se and even the Fire Nation Palace, the nonbender that was far more cunning than he appeared.
Late in the evening Sokka was having trouble sleeping in his tent, and for good reason. Tomorrow was the big day for the makeshift army, when they would move out to get into position for Sozin's Comet. They were going to attack Fire Nation territory before the comet arrived, to push back the enemy while the playing field was still even. That would force the Fire Nation to waste precious time retaking territory they had before the attack, lessening the total amount of damage they could do with amplified firebending.
Knowing that sleep wasn't coming anytime soon Sokka crawled out of his sleeping bag, and then he stood up and stretched his arms. He was about to leave and take a walk when the flap of his tent was pulled back from outside, and Sokka was surprised by who he saw entering. "Yue? "
"I couldn't sleep either," Yue admitted.
"Yeah, it's hard to sleep when the world could be gone by the end of the week," Sokka said.
"I know," Yue said.
There was an awkward silence between them that lasted far too long, a personal matter left unsettled. "Yue, did you tell anyone about the spirit world?"
"No," Yue answered. She looked down at her feet, feeling slightly embarrassed. "To be honest, I thought I dreamt it."
"You dream about me?" Sokka asked.
Yue couldn't hide a slight blush hitting her cheeks. "Sometimes," she admitted. "It's usually whenever Pakku talks about arranging a marriage for me."
"Don't let him," Sokka insisted. "You should be with who you want to be with."
"That's not it," Yue said. She hesitated to say more, but she needed to get it out in the open. "Sokka, Pakku wants me to marry you."
"Well you'll just have to tell him n- Wait! Me?!" Sokka blurted out. He needed a few seconds to process the news. "Since when did Pakku want that?"
"Since we met your dad," Yue answered. "Hakoda refused to be a part of arranging a marriage, spirits bless him, and Pakku respected that."
"That still doesn't explain why," Sokka said.
"He thinks it's best for both our tribes," Yue added. She held up her hands and put them together. "The children of two chiefs marrying would truly unify our people."
"Politics," Sokka cursed, shaking his head. "Why does it have to be politics?"
Yue grabbed Sokka's shoulder and pulled him close, surprising him with a passionate kiss. When Yue finished she left Sokka speechless. "Let him have his politics. I wanted to be with you before he approved. I still do, and that will not change."
Once Sokka recovered from Yue's kiss, he made one of his own. They held each other close during that kiss, only stopping when they needed to breathe. "This changes things, doesn't it?"
"I can live with that," Yue said. She eyed Sokka's sleeping bag, and then walked towards it while gently pulling Sokka along. "But right now, we really need to rest."
A few minutes later…
"Hey… That's not restful."
On the next day the entire makeshift army made the final preparations for battle, confirming their assignments and assembling for deployment. Toph's Dai Li agents grouped together on the northeastern side, Haru's earthbender rebels and Suki's Kyoshi Warriors were in the west, the pirates and Water Tribes began boarding the ships on the river, Aang, Katara, Azula, and Ty Lee were standing next to Appa and Anya, and the Fire Nation deserters dispersed amongst the three ground based groups. Though united under one goal, strategy demanded that they divide and conquer.
Simultaneous attacks on four different locations were needed to maximize the damage to the Fire Nation, to take each by surprise before any could alert the others with fast messenger hawks. One group had to engage the army stationed between the colonies and Earth Kingdom territory, to prevent those firebenders from advancing eastward. Another group had to attack the coastline, to prevent the navy from transporting reinforcements between ports. A third group had to travel to Minara and destroy that outpost, to prevent it from being used as a launching point to invade Ba Sing Se. And the final group had to engage the sky bison fleet, to stop Fire Lord Zuko.
"I call dibs on the outpost," Toph said. Before anyone could say otherwise Toph was already heading northeast on a mound of fast moving earth, followed by the Dai Li agents bringing Sokka and Jeong Jeong with them.
"We'll handle the colonial front," Haru said, referring to the earthbender rebels and the Kyoshi Warriors. With Suki at his side Haru led their combined forces into the west, having the rebels transport the warriors on moving mounds of earth. A few deserters came along for firebending support, which Tyro kept a close eye on.
"Dad and Pakku have the seas," Katara said. She watched all of the Water Tribe ships set sail downriver, northern and southern tribes taking the swamp tribe with them to the coast.
"And we have the skies," Aang said. He started walking towards Appa with Katara beside him, while also watching Azula and Ty Lee walking towards Anya.
But while walking towards the sky bison Azula stopped in her tracks, and started rummaging through her pockets. "Almost forgot," Azula muttered. She took something out of her pocket and tossed it to Katara. "I believe that's yours."
Katara was surprised by what she caught, a very familiar piece of jewelry. "My mother's necklace!" she nearly screamed. She stared at the carved stone and fingered it over and over, convincing herself that it was real. "You had it all this time, and actually kept it?"
"I needed that for a shirshu," Azula answered. "But it won't do me any good anymore. It has to have lost your scent by now."
Once Katara was certain that she wasn't dreaming, she put the necklace around her neck where it belonged. Katara nearly gagged on the words she needed to say, having never thought she'd ever say them to Azula. "Thank you."
Those words made Azula hesitate, hearing something unfamiliar in Katara's tone. It almost seemed like real sincerity. "Um… you're welcome?" Then she turned away from Katara and walked over to Anya, catching up with Ty Lee on the sky bison.
Together Aang and Katara climbed aboard Appa, the former taking the reins while the latter sat in the saddle. From his view on Appa's head Aang saw Ty Lee in the same place on Anya, looking back at him. For a split second Aang felt a kind of kinship with Ty Lee, as if they were both where they belonged with the reins in their hands. At the same time they gave the command to their sky bison.
"Appa,"
"Anya,"
"Yip Yip!"
In the small hours of the morning all was quiet in the colonies, save for light patrols that kept them safe during the night. Dreams of power beyond imagination were common among the sleeping firebenders, and soon those dreams would become a reality for one day. And with that power the colonies would expand deeper into the Earth Kingdom, burning down the thick forests to open the land for farming and livestock.
One of the easternmost colonies was in a prime location to start a blaze, a small village next to a thick forest. The village was near a strange dam made out of stone pulled up from the riverbed, which had later been reinforced with wooden beams cut from nearby trees. A new dam downstream was in the middle of being built with conventional methods, as the locals didn't trust the stone dam to last more than a year before an inevitable collapse under the strain of holding back a river.
"No, we are not breaking the dam," Haru insisted to the fifth earthbender to suggest that idea. His and Suki's portion of the army was in position behind a hill near the village, nearly ready to charge over it to engage the enemy. "We're here to drive the Fire Nation out of this area, not indiscriminately kill everyone in it."
Standing next to Haru was Suki, and she added another reason against breaking the dam. "We also want to make the Fire Nation waste time retaking the village later. If we wipe it out there would be no reason for them to slow down here, and we'd have to face extra strong firebenders even longer than we have to."
The earthbender got the point and walked to position within the other rebels, who were waiting in formation for the order to attack. Meanwhile Haru and Suki took point near the top of the hill, crouching down to remain hidden from view on the other side. There they waited for the right moment to begin the attack, and it came when the eastern sky began to brighten. The start of dawn was the signal to begin, but only for the Kyoshi Warriors at first.
Sentries on patrol spotted the attack coming down their side of the hill and immediately sounded the alarm. Loud bells rang through the village to awaken the soldiers still sleeping, while also making the civilians complain about being woken up at dawn. Early risers joined the sentries in defense of the village, assembling in a thirty man block formation outside the eastern entrance facing the attack.
In the few seconds before the battle could begin the sun rose above the horizon, shining right into the eyes of the village's defenders. Momentary blindness caught the soldiers off guard and left them vulnerable, which the Kyoshi Warriors did not hesitate to exploit. At the bottom of the hill they collided with the village's defenders, swinging war fans and katanas into the blinded foes. The dozen warriors struck down just as many soldiers before the eyes of the soldiers adjusted to the light, just in time to see boulders plummeting down at them.
From the top of the hill the earthbenders hurled boulders over the warriors and into the soldiers, aimed for the ones in the middle of the block formation. A dozen more soldiers fell in the middle and back of the formation, but deliberately missed the soldiers in front to avoid hitting the Kyoshi Warriors fighting them. Then the warriors withdrew several feet and scattered, providing a clear line of sight for the earthbenders to throw blocks of stone straight at the remaining soldiers and strike them down.
Among the earthbenders Haru struck down the last soldier, which gave him a clear view of the village ahead. "Charge!" he ordered.
While everyone rushed towards the city Suki matched her pace with Haru, running side by side with him. "I bet you've always wanted to say that," Suki guessed.
"Yes, yes I have," Haru admitted.
As the warriors and earthbenders entered the village they found more trouble ahead. From every house and building soldiers hurried into the streets, some moving so hastily that they didn't get properly equipped for the battle at hand. Missing boots, unsecured armor, and lopsided helmets were a common sight among the soldiers, metaphorically caught with their pants down. Even with that disadvantage the soldiers put up a fight, focusing on firebending from a distance to compensate for incomplete equipment.
Fireballs shot through the streets and were lobbed over buildings, small ones aimed at specific targets and large ones aimed for groups. Swift swings of their war fans allowed the Kyoshi Warriors to deflect the small fireballs, dispersing the flames into the air where they went out in the wind. Thick stone walls were earthbended out of the streets to block the large fireballs, shielding the earthbenders from the heat. After serving their purpose the stone walls were earthbended into smaller blocks of rock and propelled at the firebenders, striking down several at a time.
Slowly but surely the attack moved forward into the village, capturing it street by street. But as the fight went on the resistance intensified, a result of soldiers deeper in the village having more time to get ready. And one by one an earthbender or Kyoshi Warrior fell to a well-placed fireball, weakening their ability to drive out the firebenders.
"I hope the others are doing better," Haru muttered aloud.
In the west it was still the middle of the night, concealing the approach of several ships sailing down the coastline. The Water Tribe fleet was approaching one of the largest ports among the colonies, built around the mouth of a large river flowing into the ocean. Dozens of transport ships were docked in the port, nearly ready to begin shipping troops up the river into the heart of the Earth Kingdom. But at night only the skeleton crews were keeping the ships operational, a weakness that was practically begging to be exploited.
Not a sound could be heard from the ships coming from the north, courtesy of waterbenders calming the waters around the ships' hulls to conceal their approach. Blue sails were nearly impossible to see in the dark of the night, hiding from casual view all but one of the ships. The red sails of the pirate ship stuck out like a sore thumb in the fleet, which sailed behind the rest in an attempt for it to hide behind the Water Tribe ships.
Aboard the lead ship were Hakoda, Pakku, and Huu, waiting for the right moment to signal the fleet to attack. The crew carefully steered the ship into the port, entering the waters shared by the river and the sea. Worry spread amongst the crew, warriors, and waterbenders, fearing that they would be spotted any second. It wasn't until they were close enough to see individual sailors on enemy ships that Hakoda gave the signal.
"Open Fire!" Hakoda ordered, raising up one arm and making a hand signal.
Waterbenders on deck immediately followed the order, ceasing their concealment waterbending and switching to offense. At the edges of the ship they bended water up from the sea and coated cannonballs with it, suspending the metal within the water. Then the waterbenders hurled the water coated metal at the enemy ships, their attacks possessing the precise aim of waterbending yet having the sheer striking power of hard metal, puncturing holes in the enemy ships' hulls with each hit. The nearest ships were hit dozens of times, enough strikes hitting below the waterline and making those ships begin to sink beneath the waves.
After the first barrage an alarm sounded throughout the port, loud horns blaring from every ship and from towers on the shore. Firebenders stationed on those towers lit emergency beacons on the roofs, piles of oil-soaked wood that burned brighter than any firebender's flame. With large mounted mirrors next to the beacons the firebenders focused the light onto the water, revealing the Water Tribe fleet invading the port.
"Man that's bright," Hakoda complained, using an arm to shield his eyes from the light of the beacons.
"Then someone's going to have to fix that," Pakku said. He ran to the edge of the ship and jumped off it, diving into the water below. Beneath the surface Pakku spun himself faster and faster in the water, taking control over enough of it to create his signature cyclone that thrust him high above the ships. From the top of his cyclone Pakku bent some of the water into a cloud of fog and spread through the air towards the beacons, obscuring the direct line of sight and scattering the light all over the port.
"My turn," Huu said. He jumped into the water and sank all the way to the bottom, landing inside a thick field of kelp that covered the seafloor. There he bent the water inside the kelp to create his signature plant monster, which then rose to the surface next to the shore. It ambushed soldiers hurrying to board one of the docked ships and started throwing vine-like arms into them, tossing the soldiers aside like a child's toys.
While Pakku and Huu did their parts Hakoda gave another hand signal, which a crew member in the ship's crow's nest relayed to the fleet with a lamp and a mirror. "Bring in the pirates!"
After the signal was relayed the fleet split in two, bombarding opposite sides of the port with water-thrown cannonballs. In the opening path between ships the pirates sailed into shallower waters, and when it was close enough to the enemy the pirate ship turned to get its starboard side facing enemy ships. And on the deck of the pirate ship its captain gave the order to attack to his crew, who had just finished loading many cannons.
"Fire At Will!"
Crewmen behind the cannons lit fuses to ignite black power within the weapons, shooting cannonballs with far more power and speed than their waterbending counterparts. These cannonballs pierced the hulls of enemy ships and tore through metal walls behind them, some even going so far as ripping through the hull on the other side. Several enemy ships were sinking beneath the waves when the pirates stopped firing, needing time to reload the cannons.
Then the Fire Nation counterattack began, the ships still afloat moving away from the shore and closer to the Water Tribe. When they got close enough the firebenders aboard started throwing fire at their enemy, setting wooden hulls and sails ablaze as well as some of the crew. But in naval combat the firebenders were out of their element, while the waterbenders were surrounded by theirs. Water flowed out of the sea to put out the flames, and then the waterbenders began coating the hulls and sails in ice to shield them from more fire.
Burned crewmen on the lead ship retreated inside the main cabin, where healers were stationed to treat the wounded and get them back into the fight. Among the healers was Princess Yue, working with a waterbender to purify salt water into fresh water for the healers. Yue held up a thin cloth sheet while water was bended through it, straining out the ocean salts that made healing more difficult and painful. Every last drop of fresh water was put to use healing burned crewmen, and Yue was content to do her part helping the healers.
But as she worked Yue couldn't help but worry about Sokka, having a gut feeling that told her something was wrong. Come back to me, she thought, hoping that would happen when it was over.
"This has to be the most wrong thing I have ever seen."
Sokka was standing on a hill to the west of Minara, where the morning sun had just finished rising over the horizon. Far off in the distance he could see the outer wall of Ba Sing Se, and could just barely make out the Fire Nation drill still parked near it. But much closer was the outpost's tower marking its place in the landscape, surrounded by the buildings used by the soldiers and the civilian tents that circled the outpost. But it wasn't the outpost's presence this deep in the Earth Kingdom or the Fire Nation circus next to it that had Sokka complaining, it was the force that was invading Minara.
Three dozen Dai Li agents were approaching Minara from the west, each walking inside fifteen foot tall sets of stone armor. Leading the slow charge was Toph in her twenty foot tall stone golem, eager to show off the results of her teachings. They made no effort to conceal their approach or use any kind of stealth, instead going for enough sheer brute force to frighten the Fire Nation soldiers ahead. Civilians wisely fled as far as possible from the armored Dai Li, but the military stood their ground with their tanks.
"It's showtime!" Toph announced. She stopped at the outskirts of Minara and the agents stopped as well. Toph turned around and faced the agents, raising one stone arm into the air. "Dai Li: Earthbend and Combine!"
Two agents reshaped their armor into a pair of large stone feet, four more agents leaped on top of the large feet while merging their armors into large stone shins. Another four agents leaped into the air while merging their armors into stone thighs, which landed on the stone shins and formed stone knees when they connected together. Five more agents leapt on top while creating a large stone hip, followed by eleven more agents adding a giant stone torso and shoulders. Another four agents leaped up and made a pair of upper arms, followed by another four agents making a set of elbows and wrists. One last pair of agents leaped onto the ends of the large wrists while becoming large stone hands, one of which caught Toph in mid-leap and let her jump again to reach the top.
On top of the stone shoulders Toph reshaped her golem into a large stone head that resembled a blockier version of her own, completing the creation of a hundred and fifty foot tall and sixty foot wide stone colossus. Toph used earthbending to coordinate with the agents spread throughout the colossus, very slightly moving the stone in the direction she wanted and letting the agents do the rest of the earthbending needed to make the colossus move. And she commanded the agents to make the colossus walk towards the outpost, each giant step shaking the ground like a small earthquake.
The power at her command inflated Toph's ego, and the colossus's large and cavernous mouth amplified her voice. "Let's Wipe Them Out!"
Within the shadow of the colossus Sokka stared at the sight. "I stand corrected, that is the most wrong thing I have ever seen."
On the next hill over Jeong Jeong agreed, unable to keep his eyes off the unprecedented feat of earthbending. "Note to self," he muttered. "Give Toph a tile when she turns sixteen."
Despite facing a threat the likes of which they'd never seen before, the Fire Nation soldiers still put up a fight. Firebenders in the tanks shot fire at the colossus's legs, so many of them shooting fire that the combined effort coated the large legs in flame. But the stone was so thick that only the surface was blackened by flame, leaving the agents inside completely unharmed. From further away catapults were quickly loaded and fired, hurling flaming boulders at the colossus that struck its chest. Even then the colossus merely shrugged off the attacks, continuing its slow walk into the outpost.
When the colossus reached enemy lines it casually stepped on one of the tanks, crushing it underfoot like a tin can. Soldiers fled from the path of the colossus's giant steps, desperately trying to avoid getting squished into bloody paste. Drivers shifted the tanks into reverse and drove backwards, keeping ahead of the colossus while firebenders inside continued to shoot fire at it. Tents on the outskirts of Minara were flattened and pressed into the ground by the giant steps, all of which were empty as the owners had already fled.
A dozen giant steps brought the colossus to Minara's defense wall, where it stopped with half a dozen tanks crushed under its feet. The colossus reached down with both hands and grabbed onto the top of the wall, metal screeching as it crumpled in clenching stone hands. Then the colossus pulled up and tore a chunk of the wall out of the ground, ripping open an eighty foot wide gap. Soldiers stationed on the wall jumped off as the chunk was raised into the air, while soldiers on the ground saw the colossus throw the wall chunk into the outpost, slamming into several buildings and demolishing them.
Far behind the colossus Sokka and Jeong Jeong casually walked into the path of destruction, finding the affected area abandoned by the Fire Nation. "They're quite a devastator, aren't they?" Sokka said.
Jeong Jeong didn't respond, as his attention was focused on the rampage happening up ahead. He couldn't help but wonder what Toph might do with the Dai Li after the war, doubting that they would go their separate ways once it was over. Such power was hard for anyone to give up voluntarily, and too much power could corrupt anyone. Part of him feared that they had just unleashed a force that the world wasn't ready to handle, one that could become a problem if it wasn't countered now.
But Sokka didn't share those fears, trusting Toph completely. His thoughts turned to how the others were faring in their fights, especially with what his sister was going to be facing. "Let's hope that Katara and Aang are doing just as well as Toph."
Two sky bison were flying near the western coast of the Earth Kingdom, where the sun was just starting to rise over the horizon. Below them were hundreds of stone pillars that seemed to rise up from the ground, marking the location as the Wulong Forest. This was where the big burn of the continent was supposed to begin, according to Azula's knowledge of Zuko's plans. But the skies to the west were completely clear, and time was running out before Sozin's Comet.
"Something's wrong," Aang said, pulling on Appa's reins to get him to slow down. "Zuko should be here by now."
Katara glared at the other sky bison, immediately suspecting betrayal from Azula and Ty Lee. "She'd better have a good explanation."
Aang guided Appa over to the other sky bison, having him fly side by side with Anya. There Aang leaped across the gap between bison and landed in the other saddle, leaving Katara behind to hold onto Appa's reins. Then he faced Azula, slightly annoyed that she was wearing the same blue oni mask that Iroh had worn when freeing him from prison. Even though he didn't like it Aang understood why Azula was wearing the mask and had a black hood covering her hair, so that her identity could be concealed from the firebenders that would be escorting Zuko.
"Your brother's not here," Aang said.
"I've noticed," Azula said.
"This better not be a trap," Aang warned.
"If it was you'd have been caught in it already," Azula said. "No, Zuko must have changed his plans after I left."
"So where is he?" Ty Lee asked.
Azula stood up and paced around the saddle, trying to anticipate her brother's movements. "He must have found another route to Ba Sing Se." She stopped pacing and took out a map of the world, which she pinned into the saddle. With one finger she traced a direct line from the Fire Nation Capital to Ba Sing Se, which crossed over the Wulong Forest. "But what route could be faster than a straight line?"
"Hang on a sec," Aang said. He unpinned the map and put the left and right ends together, then crumbled the top so that all of its edge met in the middle, turning the map into a crude globe. Then he traced a different direct line from the Fire Nation Capital to Ba Sing Se. "There's your faster route, he's flying over the North Pole."
"Which Zuko already conquered and won't slow him down," Azula added. She cursed and slammed a fist into the saddle. "We're nowhere near him!"
"And the comet's nearly here," Aang said.
Suddenly the sky to the east turned deep red, which quickly spread across the heavens. The rising sun faded away as a new light source outshined it, which appeared to be a giant ball of fire with a tail of flames behind it. Clouds in front of the fire were pushed aside, swept away in the path of the inferno. With its arrival the temperature began to climb all over the world, granting the power of a hundred suns to every firebender on Earth.
"Correction," Azula said. "Sozin's Comet is here."
A/N: Any similarities this chapter and the next two have to Legend of Korra's latest episode are purely coincidental. I was not expecting the final battle to be fought on a titanic scale. I'd be more specific, but spoilers.