The Battle of Ba Sing Se
Chapter 20
Part 1: The Outer Wall
Sen-Su was with the rest of the Earth army, awaiting the final battle that was soon going to take place outside the outer wall of Ba Sing Se. The great city is the last free city and the only thing that stands between the Fire Nation and total conquest of the Earth Kingdom.
The Fire Nation has closed in on the city, bringing with them all the forces necessary to break through the walls. The Earth Kingdom troops hid in trenches surrounding the massive walls of the city. They would remain hidden until the precise moment they were needed.
Sen sat with his back to one of the walls of the trench. Each trench was in the shape of a rectangle, roughly large enough to hide twenty men from enemy view. As a captain, Sen was in charge of each man in his trench. He would await the signal from the general, then lead his men into battle.
Getting up from his sitting position, Sen took out a small spy glass. After extending it to its full length, he peered out over the dessert landscape. In the distance he could see the Fire Nation camp who, waited patiently to attack. The stand off had nearly gone on for a day now, with no real fighting between the two armies. Only did they exchange the occasional long range attack.
What is she waiting for? Sen thought, referring to Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. What did she have to gain by waiting? If it was it a siege, the Earth King could easily send out the thousands of reinforcement troops stored within the first wall. No, it was something different. Sen-Su had heard of the Princess's legendary cruelty in battle tactics and never did she lose.
As Sen-Su watched the Fire Nation army, he noticed that they were getting ready for another long range attack. Their catapults were loaded and ready for the command to launch. Noticing the inevitable oncoming attack, Sen ducked back into the trench.
"It's gonna rain fire!" He shouted using Earth soldier slang for a fire ball attack.
He motioned to the Earthbenders, to raise a slab of rock to cover their trench as the fireball struck the giant wall of Ba Sing Se. Part of the wall crumbled, sending huge pieces of stone to the ground. The earth trembled as the debris struck close to where Sen was hidden.
ATLAB
Iroh watched his nephew hand a customer his tea. He had never been prouder of Zuko than he was at this moment. He truly was a changed man, Iroh was never exactly sure what went on inside that head of his, but it actually seemed that Zuko was content with his life. That was certainly the change he needed.
Zuko left his customer and came back behind the counter where Iroh was watching him.
"We need one cup of Jasmine tea and the special." Zuko said, turning his attention to the task at hand. Iroh remained silently amused at his nephew's new work habit. It did not take long before Zuko noticed his uncle was giving him an odd stare. "What?" Zuko asked.
"Nothing," Iroh shrugged, "it's just that I never seen you so enthusiastic about work."
Zuko was going to reply but he stopped as he heard an explosion outside. It was the Fire Nation, both he and Iroh knew they were at the outer wall, waiting for their opportunity to attack. The bombardment had been happening all morning, but this sounded as if the Fire Nation had hit something big.
Most people in the shop ignored the noise, thinking that it was just part of some big construction process. Iroh and Zuko knew differently. The Fire Prince dropped what he was doing as he rushed outside. His uncle was close behind him. As they peered out across the roof tops, they could see a pillar of smoke rising in the direction of the explosion. Zuko turned to the right as another explosion rippled through and another cloud of black smoke rose up in the air.
The scent of smoke reached Zuko's nostrils, he knew his sister would bring a massive invasion force. Perhapes the biggest in history, Azula was here with one goal in mind: Destroy the Earth Kingdom. People continued through the streets buying and selling things. Accasionally someone would turn and look off in the distance towards the smoke, but would shrug it off and continue on their business, little did they know that their days were numbered.
ATLAB
In the trench out side the outer wall, Sen waited patiently until the steady bombardment slowed, then telling the Earthbenders, to lift their cover, letting in the sunlight. It was a beautiful day, but the sun was nearly blocked out by the cloud of smoke that rose up in the air. Shattered chunks of the wall, lay around the trenches, each piece easily big enough to crush a man.
Sen took out his spy glass and peered across the soon to be battle field. The ground trembled as he spotted a line of Fire nation tanks coming towards them through the smoke. Sen slid back into the trench, signaling the Earthbenders in the group to go into action. Each one leaped out of the trench, high in the air until they landed in front of the tanks. Working in perfect unison, they defended aganst the tanks until they were just a pile of smoking metal.
The Earth benders soon rejoined him in the trench. Doing a role, call he found that he had not lost a single man.
"Well done," he congratulated them and turned back to the problem at hand. The poor visabilty the smoke caused was almost completely gone. He noticed that the other trenches had done just as well. Metal pieces lay scattered across the battle field. A sudden sence of patriotism came upon Sen-Su. Perhaps the Fire Nation had underestimated the Earth Kingdom.
As the smoke continued to clear, Princess Azula emerged riding on her Mongoose-lizard. Two girls were at her side, each on their own lizard. Azula raised her hand, giving the comand to move forward. Thousands of Fire Nation troops marched behind her, others rode on rhinos while, more tanks cut a path through the battle field.
Looking up at the watch tower in the wall, Sen waited for the singnal to attack, but it never came. He waited longer, annoyed at first, because the thought of the Generals gambling with their lives was more then he could handle, but that feeling soon gave away to dread. Something was definitely wrong. Sen waited as long as he could, before the Fire Nation troops were upon them.
"Attack!" Sen cried, taking the battle into his own hands. His troops jumped out of the trench and the other men in other trenches followed his lead and engaged the enemy. The Earth warrior drew his sword and joined the battle as well. The Earth Kingdom troops fought well aganst the Fire Nation. Neither side gaining much ground on the other.
Sen-su blocked an attack coming from his right. The metal of the blades clanked together before he sent the man down to the ground. All was going well, but it was far too early in the battle to tell who was winning. Sweat dripped from Sen's brow as he defeated another man.
Azula hung back, those two girls still at either side of her. They stood watching the battle, it was not that unusal for a general to stand back and watch, but what threw Sen off was a fourth figure who appeared by her side. He was not riding a lizard and was dressed in the uniform of a Di Lai agent.
The thought of betrayal sent a shock though his mind. The Di Lai had betrayed them. He had no doubt that the agent who stood by the Princess' side was none other than Lang, who had disappeared before Sen and Loam could confront him. Loam, himself a navy captian was on Chameleon bay holding off the Fire Nation Navy.
As Sen continued to fight for his life, the sound of a horn reached his ears, signaling something. Perhaps it was retreat, but no, the Fire Nation out numbered them 2 to 1. It had to be something else. Sen did not have a chance to finish his thoughts before the ground shook violently. Sending the soldiers off balance. It was the wall and it was coming down!
Not sure what to do, Sen shouted to retreat and join the men who waited inside the walls as a reserve.
"The Di Lai betrayed us!" He shouted, "fall back inside the wall!" He ran around telling anyone he could find.
Sen slowly worked his way back, defending against the Fire Nation soldiers as his men began to fall around him. The Fire Nation marched forward, with Lang and Princess Azula at the head. Some of the Earthbenders attempted to raise a new wall but that attempt was futile, because a lightning strike from Azula made the wall crumble.
ATLAB
Zuko felt the Earth move beneath him. The Fire Nation was certainly up to something big. He knew that Azula never failed at anything and she was after him, the Avatar and now the whole Earth Kingdom. Soon she would have all three. Zuko hated to admit, but he needed help. He was sure Uncle Iroh would understand why he ditched work. It was finnaly time for the Fire Prince and the Avatar to work as one.
Author's Note: I originally planned for this to be the last chapter, but I found that I am unable to fit everything I wanted to in it without it feeling rushed. So I am splitting it into a two parter. Thanks for reading! Update coming soon.