This was his moment to shine. His moment, no one else's. Father was in his bunker, too important to be risked in messy battle. Azula was in the old bunker with agents wandering the tunnels, ready to be 'interrogated' into giving directions right into her trap. Both with their parts to play.
His was to fight the invaders head on and prevent them from taking the capital. However he wished. Everyone had their orders; this was a fighting retreat to slow them down and keep them in the kill zones for as long as possible. And come the eclipse total, they would retreat and let the turrets do their damage. For eight whole minutes their enemy would have the absolute advantage of bending against non-benders. He was to make sure they paid with blood for every step they took before, with time during, and with their lives after.
He would make sure they never attempted this again.
The alarm sounded, and though he could not make out the ships through the waterbent fog, he knew they were there. Jet skis with elite Homeguard benders and fighters rushed the boats and soon signalled that they were empty.
A trick. Of course. What else could he expect from barbarians invading during a Dark Day?
He watched the sky and the water through his spyglass, still marvelling at its quality; much better than any he had seen before. And then he saw the shadows moving through the water. He stared. Ships sailing under the water? The mechanist.
Grappling hooks were fired but were beaten by waterbenders. More from the north? Then the strange ships reached the beach and it no longer matter. Ballista went crashing down upon them but didn't cause much damage, the ships were too strong. Now it was his turn.
"Attack!" His Imperial Firebenders, assigned to his command for this task, moved in pairs to send massive fireballs down to explode against the front of the... Whatever they were. It seemed to work as the fire lingered, preventing anyone from leaving the unusual contraptions. And then the tide swelled unnaturally and the fires went out. Waterbenders. Gah.
The ships opened and now tanks rolled out. Tanks. Now they were being copied. Great. Except they were made of rock... Powered by earthbending? Zuko watched as fire and missile had little effect on them save to slow them down.
It wasn't fair. Earthbenders ruled the land, waterbenders ruled the sea, airbenders ruled the sky, and firebenders ruled nothing. They had to take and conquer, had to struggle and fight against everything that would kill them if they did not stop it. Had to use strength and power of every kind to survive. It had made them strong and taught them the value of cunning and intelligence.
So they learnt how use fire to bend the world. So they purified earth and forced it to give up metal. So they were clever and used metal to make many things. So they tamed the ocean with metal and fire. And now they had just taken their first steps towards taming the sky. Maybe they could spread their control under the water too, now that they knew it was possible.
Fire is the supreme element.
So he watched the tanks move, watched the waterbenders stay behind to protect the submersible boats, watched as the turrets were disables one by one with rocks and blade and- ice? Katara.
She was riding the sky bison, meaning the Avatar had gone on ahead. Straight to Azula. Still, the flying monster was the invaders' greatest advantage. And it was wearing metal.
He gave orders for attacks to be focused at the front, just before if possible, and the very bottom of the tanks where there was that small gap. No sense letting it go to waste. And then he ran to join the battle.
The turrets had been taken down along one side so he made his way to the other, hidden elevators and tunnels letting him get there unhindered. There he waited for the bison to come charging in. And it did not disappoint.
The armoured bison swooped in too quickly for him to see who or how many were riding it, but it did not matter. As soon as it was in range, quite a distance away, he began charging his lightning. Paused to take aim at such a fast target, he let it loose.
Lightning blazed blue white across the sky and those on the ground stilled and looked up, shocked out of battle for the moment. The bison had sensed danger and swerved to avoid it, but the lightning was too quick. It struck metal and the beast groaned out in pain, falling out of the sky as muscles tensed and mind fled away to dark places devoid of pain.
Shouts filled the air, soon followed by missiles as the earthbenders sought revenge even before the muted crash made them all wince. Blue fire blasted the more accurate rocks apart, and then lightning flashed down to strike holes in the tanks. The Homeguard rallied before such skill and fought harder, determined to prove themselves and defend their home.
Zuko risked a glance at the sun, not long to go now. He raced along the cliff throwing fire and lightning as he went. Time passed as the invaders fought their way through the gauntlet. The bison was back on its feet now and following the tanks sedately, apparently too injured to fly or move quickly, it's armour removed to lesson it's burden, he judged. So he kept up a steady stream of attacks towards the front of the group to give them pause.
A blue glider flew down and joined the group sheltering between the tanks. It had to be the Avatar, but blue? What did it mean? Then a mound of earth sprang up and rolled along the ground carrying the Avatar's little group with it towards the capital. So they had found the empty palace and were looking for the bunker. Wise to come back for his companions first, but foolish to continue. How could it be anything but a trap?
He wanted to follow them and take them on himself, but that wasn't the plan. They were for Azula, and she has her Dai Li with her. He had his own fight right here. So he waited for them to disappear around the corner, no sense encouraging them to take him down first, and resumed his attack.
It didn't hit his target. A wall of rock sprang up to meet his lightning, and then another on the other side. They were tall and thick and slanted enough to dissipate most of the force behind any attacks sent their way. The invader moved forward, and more wall was brought up. Damn earthbenders.
Several of the tanks had been abandoned so the earthbenders could instead run alongside and build walls to guard their flanks. And they left the walls standing as they went so attacks could only come from the very front or directly above. They would aid in any retreat, as well. He had to get in front of them.
How had they raised the walls? The floor was hardened metal over treated wood over metal, specifically designed to make earthbending difficult, which was why the invaders had brought their own boulders. He fell back and risked a glance through his spyglass and made out two giant tears running through the metal, as if someone had simply torn it apart like parchment. What was going on? He suspected the blind earthbender.
Blue fire burst from his hands forming jets behind him, and wide unfocused fire cushioned his feet as he slid across the ground. They said Jeong Jeong was able to hover tens of metres high. They'd eventually learn how, but for now this was useful enough. Zuko flew across the clifftop hovering a fingerswidth off the ground. He grew faster and faster and then with an explosion behind him, leapt across the artificial ravine to land on the other side, ahead of the stunned invaders thanks to the zig-zagging path.
Lightning charged and earthbenders fell. It was down to the last minutes before the eclipse, he had to make every second count. The Homeguard realised this as well and broke ranks to attack as best they individually could while presenting a less regimented target. It worked in all the confusion between lightning from the front, courtesy of Zuko, and giant fireballs arching down from the sides, courtesy of Imperial Firebenders still working in pairs.
But the eclipse would be there within the minute, so Zuko signalled the retreat and sent one last bolt of lightning before joining them. A few more minutes and he would have had them! But it was time for the next phase in the defence. He made use of his jets to propel himself to the next fortification and almost made it before his fire sputtered out, so he ran the rest of the way and entered the bunker.
Arrows were meant to be the first volley, but they had not expected tanks nor so many earthbenders. Where had they come from anyway? Who had gathered them all? It wasn't the Avatar or the earth king. No matter. Arrows wouldn't be effective so he would change the plan, arrows took time to make well and he would not waste them by the thousand.
So. No firebending, and skilled earthbenders defending the main force while taking out every turret as they went. The earthbenders would just raise defences around the group to stop any attacks... Hmm, maybe arrows were the answer after all.