The Battle of Ba Sing Se
1
Dawn had not yet broken, though the campsite thrummed with activity anew. The earthbenders took off first, as well rested as they could be after the arduous work they'd undertaken across the past weeks. Toph, however, betrayed no sign of exhaustion: she had strengthened her endurance further after coming short in many fights in the past, starting with the debacle at the airship factory. She led her troops proudly, predominantly comprised by gladiators and benders from Omashu. Together, they built the large tunnel through which around three hundred earthbenders would approach Ba Sing Se. The last glimpse Sokka saw of his friend was Toph's proud grin… and a thumbs up she offered him from a distance as she stood by the large cavern she had started digging herself. He had returned the gesture, unsure if she'd feel it at all when there were so many soldiers with her… but it was no true goodbye: he'd see her again in just a little while.
Once the earthbenders marched off to their first mission, it was time to organize the rest of the army. Each commanding officer gathered their troops, reeling them into formation as the logistics teams took down the tents gradually. The logistics' groups had their own leaders as well: their group would follow the army, carrying further weapons and armor for their soldiers, but they would take a step back once the battles commenced, serving as support for the armed forces as they did the heavy lifting to breach and enter the city.
Where some procedures had been slow and even clumsy during their initial march, multiple days on the road had seen to an increased efficiency with each task the logistics crew took upon. Everyone ate quick breakfasts, all waterskins were full – especially those of the waterbenders –, everyone was furnished with their battle gear… they were ready.
Sokka's heart lurched inside his chest, as good as doing somersaults over anxiety and excitement alike. Yes, he believed they could succeed today… but he was keenly aware of how difficult and trying the challenge ahead would be. Countless people before him might be wounded, they might even die today, and they didn't even know it… it was up to him to ensure that they would fight their hardest to triumph and survive. It was up to him to ensure that, if such tragedies did happen, their sacrifices would not be in vain.
The squads assembled, group by group, on the campsite's area. The surrounding mountains of the Fighting Cliffs made it so sounds would echo across the area: Sokka's voice would carry through the valley they had taken temporary residence in. Thus, he stepped up to a natural platform on the mountainside where the White Lotus leaders awaited him. Aang, Zuko, Katara and Kino stood nearby as well, and each of them nodded firmly at Sokka as he took his place at the ridge, head held high.
That they expected him to give a rousing speech didn't come as a surprise. As unsettling as offering speeches might be, Sokka did have a few ideas of what to say this time so that their army would triumph in the right way. That, above all else, was what concerned him before their march into the city that awaited them.
And so, following suit with the greatest example he had ever known, the person he had admired most as she had spoken, unprepared, to a crowd who had welcomed her words eagerly, he spoke now to a massive army, awaiting his command:
"Beyond this mountain chain stands the Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se!" Sokka started, his voice as loud as he could make it: the entire army fell into reverent silence at his every word. "Breaching it is but the first step we'll take to reclaim the city from the Fire Nation's clutches. They don't expect us… they don't know what's coming for them, and they won't be prepared to defend themselves against the initial tide of our assault. With each step we take forward, we will come closer to achieving our goal… and that goal, today, is setting Ba Sing Se free.
"We are not an occupation army like theirs. We are not a force that thrives in destruction and violence. Ours is an army of liberation! Ours is an army of justice! We fight to honor those who have fallen… we carry each of their souls with us, and may they steel our blades, strengthen our bending and fill our hearts with courage to see this battle through to the very end! We know who our true enemy is: he lies in wait, shielded by as many defenses as he can hide behind, cowering away from us. We will make him tremble all the more once he realizes that he will be the last of the warmongering Fire Lords!"
A roar of celebration burst with those words, and Sokka waited firmly as it died down, unsurprised to see gleaming eyes, surging excitement by the numerous forces before him. He had no doubt they might fail to understand what he was urging them to do… so he'd do best to try to reel them in anew.
"Ours is a cause of harmony and peace," Sokka continued, once the voices quieted down. "We're not blind killers, ready to slaughter anything in our path: civilians will go unharmed. Any of them who wishes to aid us in any capacity will be welcomed in our forces. If the enemy soldiers surrender, we will show them the respect they denied everyone else when they trampled over us, our wills and spirits crushed underneath their boots. We will fight to the last if need be… but we are not like them. We're not soulless, mindless husks incapable of thinking for ourselves or speaking our minds: we are a force that sets out today to Ba Sing Se to bring back the Earth Kingdom so many of you were born to, the Earth Kingdom that will be restored to its greatest potential once the Fire Nation's campaign of conquest is thoroughly thwarted! And this won't be our last stand: our rebellion is only beginning!
"Fire Lord Ozai doesn't know what's coming! He has no idea we're destroying his hold on the continent, and he will lose his temper like a mad dog as soon as he learns of it! But we are sturdy as the rocks our earthbenders will bend, as adaptable as our waterbenders, as resourceful as the airbenders… and a much truer fire than theirs burns in our hearts! A fire that seeks to right their wrongs, to set right all of which they have broken all across our world…!
"The freedom we fight for is founded on the truth that has guided us all on this path: Balance!"
He drew his sword upon speaking the word, raising it over his head: each element of its construction was perfectly balanced… just as the world would be, once the war truly ended. The entire crowd watched in awe as he aimed the weapon to the sky, encouraging them with his words, with his gesture…
"Waterbenders, earthbenders, firebenders and non-benders! Warriors and archers, soldiers, and civilians, men and women… Omashu residents, White Lotus members, Fire Nation deserters, gladiators! Our very association, our very army is the embodiment of the balance we seek to bring back to this world! Today, we reclaim what was lost! We fight for the living! We honor the past by protecting the future! We break all chains that hold back our freedom! Today, our hands will rebuild what has been broken! Today, we will defy destiny if we must to save our world, and we will do so with our heads held high! Our cause is the truest there could be… and no Fire Lord, and none of his weak-willed armies, could ever hope to stand their ground against us! We have taken back Omashu, we will take back Ba Sing Se, and we will bring retribution to the Fire Lord with the greatest storm of an army ever seen in the Hundred Year War!"
The thunderous cheers and war cries seemed to echo Sokka's words now, as though they were truly brewing a storm in their midst. A smile inevitably slipped past the corners of his lips as the cries suddenly started to take shape…
"GLADIATOR! GLADIATOR! GLADIATOR!"
His chest tightened as the word resonated with his heart, reminding him all too well of the voices that had chorused another name long ago, in the sand pits that had seen him rising from the status of a complete unknown into a warrior countless had admired and cherished… and now, he stood before this army as a leader. As the greatest menace the Fire Lord had ever faced… as the symbol of a reborn world he meant to continue building well past today, come what may: they would triumph in Ba Sing Se and their army would power onwards, strengthened and empowered, to whatever the next stage towards defeating Ozai might be…
"They do say that calm precedes the storm…" Jeong Jeong said beside him, and Sokka smirked as he glanced at him, lowering his sword arm slightly now. The shaggy-haired firebender nodded in his direction, showing approval Sokka had genuinely never expected to see from him…
He carried something with him, too. Something Sokka hadn't noticed until then.
Jeong Jeong raised a cobalt-blue helmet in Sokka's direction. Its shape, wolf-like, reminded him starkly of the one he had worn briefly in the Gladiator League… but this one wasn't of Fire Nation make. The usual ridges, stylish and angular weren't at all like those of the Fire Nation uniforms… they were, instead, smooth and decorated with the blue and white colors the White Lotus bore on their uniforms. It could have been a sign of attempting to claim him for themselves… and yet there was no symbol of the White Lotus across it. It was, instead, a helmet suitable for the Blue Wolf.
Sokka breathed deeply and nodded as he took the helmet. He placed it over his head quickly: another roar of applause and war cries followed as his blue eyes blazed with resolve and determination as he regarded his forces once more, raising his weapon ever higher.
"Gladiator Army! Omashu Army! White Lotus Army!" he called them anew. "We march into Ba Sing Se as one! For balance, for freedom… to victory!"
An approving roar seemed to shake the valley, the mountains, the whole world as a group comprised by so many different people, with no end of dissimilar circumstances, found common ground in the leader they meant to follow into battle. Drums from the music squad took to a celebratory beat as well, the tsungi horns echoing the emotions and convictions everyone shared: this would be their most challenging battle yet, but they were ready to charge into it with their every ounce of strength.
Perhaps it shouldn't have felt like an occasion for any manner of revelry, perhaps he should have been more sober and strict than he had been… but Sokka breathed deeply as he regarded his forces with unabashed pride. They had made it this far through no end of hardships, and they'd continue to do so going forward. Reclaiming Ba Sing Se would not be easy, but Sokka trusted that their strength, as well as the unpredictability of their attack, would take Tiang's forces by surprise. With any luck, they would fail to organize a proper defense even in the Lower Ring… but if that didn't happen, Sokka would nonetheless fight to his utmost and lead the forces under his command into the triumph he had promised them they could achieve.
"Well… there we go," Aang said, eyes wide as plates as he regarded the army with uncertainty: the adrenaline rushing through many of their soldiers suggested they'd know very little sense or restraint in the battle ahead. Sokka clapped Aang's shoulder as he climbed down from his ridge, sheathing his sword once more. "We're really going to do this, huh?"
"You know what to do," Sokka said. Aang swallowed hard and nodded. "Make sure nothing happens to my sister, alright? I'll kick your ass if she has even a teeny tiny scratch on her by the time we reunite again…"
"No need to threaten me, I'll do my best…" Aang said, flustered: Sokka couldn't hold back a soft chuckle, squeezing his shoulder gently.
"This isn't going to be any easier than Omashu was. If anything, I'm sure it'll be harder," he said, eyes flickering towards Zuko, standing by Aang's side. "But the three of us will reveal ourselves today. It means we'll paint targets on our backs, of course…"
"Which means we'll get my father's attention off the South Pole for sure," Zuko said, firmly. Sokka nodded. "I'm more than ready to do that, if that's what you were wondering about."
"I'm done hiding. I'm done staying off the limelight out of fear of the consequences," Aang said, firmly. "It's not that I want to sound arrogant… but I'm the Avatar. If anything… it's them who should fear me. Right?"
"Definitely," Sokka smiled.
He clapped the Avatar's shoulder one more time, nodding at Zuko quickly: he took off to the head of his own group, the firebenders under Sokka's direct command, while Aang climbed Appa's saddle, helping Kino jump aboard as well.
Katara didn't take off without hugging her brother first. Sokka patted her back gently as she clutched at him tightly.
"Please… don't be too crazy, okay?" Katara said. "Though I know that's asking too much from you, you don't really know restraint…"
"Not a clue of what the word means, no," Sokka smiled. Katara shook her head, pulling back and clasping his arm gently.
"Just don't get yourself killed or half-killed out there. You've gone too far as it is to falter now, alright?" she said. Sokka nodded firmly.
"I've lived through too much to fall apart here, that's for sure," he said, offering Katara a weak grin. "It's not like we'll be apart for as long as we were in Omashu anyway. I'll call you in if I think I need a couple of crazy benders to give me a hand with anything…"
"Heh. Crazy benders," Katara smirked, smacking his armor gently as she finally pulled away. Sokka chuckled, watching her march to Appa as well. "Take care, Sokka. I'll kick your ass if you don't."
"Understandable," Sokka said, smiling and nodding. "You'd better take care too, though. Don't go around trying to fix everything by yourselves like you did in the South Pole, alright? No crazy attempts to dive straight into the Imperial Palace from here…"
"Heh. Sounds like a fun time…" Katara said, teasingly. Sokka scoffed at her as she climbed on Appa's saddle, still smirking down at her brother.
"Kino?" Sokka said, turning towards the musician, who gawked at him in confusion. "If she does something stupid, I authorize you to blow that tsungi horn as hard as you can in her direction to make her stop."
"Hey…!" Katara gasped. "You know how loud he can be with that thing!"
"And if it's worse than stupid, just… throw the tsungi horn over her head and capture her with it, maybe that way she won't go picking fights with the enemy forces all by herself," Sokka suggested next: Kino couldn't help but chortle at Katara's outrage.
"Sokka, you ass…!" she exclaimed: Sokka smirked at her before patting one of Appa's legs kindly.
"Watch over them too, buddy," he said. Appa growled kindly at him, his large eye blinking in understanding of Sokka's request.
Aang smiled before shaking Appa's reins and speaking the usual flight command. Once they took off, shooting into the skies, Sokka was left behind with the massive forces that finally seemed to be settling down. He ventured a glance at the White Lotus leaders, the three Grand Lotuses who had been speaking among themselves and seemed moments away from taking their positions and roles in the organized army.
"We follow your lead, General Sokka," Piandao said, smiling at his apprentice, bowing his head respectfully in his direction.
"Then… get ready," Sokka said, breathing in somewhat nervously. "My troops will charge in as soon as we spot Toph's signal. It still might be a while… but we'd better be ready for it anyway."
"We will be," Jeong Jeong said, firmly. "Today, we witness your prowess firsthand and we will add our strength to yours. However challenging as it may be…"
"We'll be victorious today," Sokka finished. Jeong Jeong nodded, as did Piandao and Iroh. Not much further away, General Fong smiled approvingly as well, and Anorak nodded in Sokka's direction.
The Gladiator took off, a fire of purpose and determination burning in his chest: the mounts awaited past the first rows of hills, having been herded there briefly before the earthbenders took off. Most the mounted squads were already astride their ostrich horses, and the gladiators who would ride moose-lions with Sokka awaited him patiently, with Jet taking their lead momentarily until Sokka arrived. The Blue Wolf nodded at the Savage Hook as he approached Foo-Foo Cuddly Poops: the creature seemed to understand the atmosphere breathed war and conflict, and instead of being mischievous in his particular, spoiled sort of way, Foo-Foo Cuddly Poops appeared to be as stern today as his rider was.
Sokka climbed on the saddle with a quick movement – the moose-lion did a quick lap on himself to regain his balance. After that, Sokka spurred him on, northwards. He raised a hand, gesturing at the rest of the forces to gather behind him. The heavy footfalls of the creatures followed him as he marched forward, each step reminiscing of how he had guided the army when they first set out from Omashu.
The mountains of the Fighting Cliffs weren't too steep. After a few bends along the way, Sokka found a perfect vantage point from which to observe the wall: he drew out the spyglass he'd brought with him for the purpose of keeping an eye out for Toph's sign, near the wall.
He didn't see it just yet… and the sun was rising by now. Sokka breathed deeply, holding up his fist to urge the rest of his forces to slow to a halt. They obeyed promptly: the cavalry was followed by the infantry and ranged squads, marching together at as steady a rhythm as they could muster on the uneven terrain: proper disciplined marching would begin once they made it past the safety of those mountains… once they charged into the plains that spread between the Fighting Cliffs and Ba Sing Se.
The city seemed calm. Its pristine white walls appeared too tall, too thick to be threatened by assaults of enemy forces… but the Fire Nation expected no enemy forces to begin with. There was a strong chance that a lot of the defenders by the walls wouldn't be earthbenders: if that was the case, their odds of fighting successfully against Toph's team would be as good as non-existent.
The troops stopped behind Sokka: they would remain hidden while he stood alone at the highest ridge, feeling the glow of the sunrise falling upon him. Every passing moment brought them closer to the beginning of their high-risk operation, the mission that would turn the Fire Nation's conquest on its head… the mission that would change everything in the Hundred Year War.
Minutes ticked by, and discipline was enforced by the leading officers of each faction of the army. Their strategic positions at the moment were mainly meant for the purpose of maintaining the integrity and firmness of their forces: as long as everything went according to plan, the greater challenge would begin once they were marching to the Inner Wall…
Sokka kept his spyglass upright, an eye focused on that wall, waiting patiently for the knowledge that everything was ready. However anxious everyone might be, they had to wait…
Underground, Toph and her group had barraged through the earth at higher speeds than when they had dug through the mountains: they weren't worried about alerting anyone on the plains above them this time. They weren't even worried about startling the troops up at the walls once they reached them: the soldiers weren't bound to understand what was happening even if they felt any tremors shaking their walls before everything was ready.
"Alright… get to work. We're digging out the biggest bloody chasm ever under that wall," Toph ordered her troops: they gave out a solid, affirmative response.
"Yes, sir!"
She wasn't sure why it pleased her so much to hear them address her that way, but it did all the same: Toph smirked as she guided her numerous troops in the systematic excavation underneath the large wall. She took to strengthening the earth directly underneath the wall, left there as a rather brittle ledge ready to crumble once the right moment arrived for them to tear it down. Several other earthbenders worked with her at that task while the others continued to dig down further, deeper, all to create a perfect chasm beneath the wall. If all went well, the actual destruction to the wall would be minimal, for most of it would simply be tucked underground, safe and sound…
But the chasm had to be deep, very deep, and that was what the large earthbending force worked towards. The complicated process of creating and closing that massive cavern through the mountains to bring them here, as well as the building of the bridge that got them across that river, had seen to the increased synchrony of their motions, to a high-caliber teamwork that would keep the Fire Nation on their toes both now and in the coming battle. Little by little, the trench beneath the wall grew larger: once the wall's steady ledge was properly kept in place by Toph and the group aiding her directly, they joined the dig and made matters far smoother and faster upon doing so. The exhaustion they should have felt was nowhere to be found as their leader continued to command them seamlessly, and they compressed and spread open the earth right beneath the towering wall…
Once she stood at the very bottom of the chasm they had built for over half an hour of constant, Toph dared slam her foot down: her seismic sense spread all the way to the top of the wall… and she smirked once she sensed the chasm was much deeper than the height of the wall above them.
"Alright… go back up, everyone. This is going to be pretty dusty," she warned her troops: they nodded again.
"Yes, sir!"
The slope they had created in the process of digging the chasm became a staircase under the bending of Toph's forces. Little by little they rose higher until they were nearly at surface level: they built a sturdy defensive wall there, with only one crack for easy access for Toph and the few earthbenders she'd chosen to help her with tearing down the wall. But before they did that…
"Captain Monument?" she called: Shanyuan stood up straight as he approached her, solemnly.
"Yes, Colonel?" he said.
"We're ready. Go give out the signal," she confirmed.
"Understood, Colonel!" he declared, proudly.
Shanyuan and Daeshim were the earthbending captains under Toph's direct command. They had borrowed a few troops from the White Lotus army too, namely from Jeong Jeong's group, led by Colonel Mengyao: while he was supposed to be on Toph's level of command, she was the de-facto leader for their army's earthbenders and Jeong Jeong had ensured to convey that to his officer. He obeyed her just as everyone else did, standing ready to destroy the wall with her while the group hiding behind the sturdy wall, Shanyuan among them, began the steady, delicate process of creating a puff of dust right above them…
It took them about three minutes to stir up a strong, large enough dust cloud to catch Sokka's eye: he lowered the spyglass upon spotting it, his chest heaving with anticipation.
"They're ready," he said to no one in particular, swallowing hard as he put away the spyglass once more.
The troops immediately behind him were the mounted squads, whether those under his direct command or under that of the rest of the White Lotus leaders. They would lead the charge now, serving as a shock factor that would pave the way for the infantry to march in afterwards. His eyes glided across the force of cavalry under his command, comprised by around two hundred prepared fighters, most of them astride ostrich-horses… while twelve gladiators straddled their moose-lions, instead.
"Stand ready!" Sokka called back, his voice carrying down to the infantry:
On cue, a tsungi horn blew the command Sokka had just given them. The same sound echoed across the gorge as the music squad carried over the message all the way to the end of the army. Where the infantry had been restless before, they steadied their stances and stood prepared for the charge they would be committing to next.
Sokka unsheathed his sword again: Foo-Foo's reins clasped firmly in hand, he let himself confirm with the leaders of the mounted squads that they were ready, too…
He aimed the weapon at the wall, spurring Foo-Foo with his heels and reins.
"CHARGE!"
He was the first to take off. Behind him, the rest of the mounted forces followed. He heard the rhythmic trotting of the moose-lions, followed by a much different pace of the ostrich horses: before long, everything was a cacophony of noise as they marched down the mountainside and rushed across the large plain that stood between them and Ba Sing Se's pristine Outer Wall.
There was no telling whether they had been seen yet or not, but Sokka knew it was only a matter of time before the enemy forces began ringing alarm bells, urging their sentries to repeal the invasive force. Would they have earthbenders hurling rocks at them? What would their range be? He had little to worry about, Sokka knew… for as soon as their foes attempted to level any attacks in their direction, Toph's squad would bring down that wall and destroy their defenses. His heart raced as fast as their cavalry did as he anticipated that moment, as he prepared himself eagerly for it…
A charge by cavalry in an arrow-formation towards Ba Sing Se sounded like a concept of long-past times… a rather foolish concept, at that, for no one could have ever hoped that a group of mounted soldiers would ever succeed at tearing down Ba Sing Se's legendary wall. Without actual siege equipment, no enemy could ever hope to defeat their city's defenses… no enemy was supposed to so much as attempt to do so, nowadays.
And yet one of the sentries pacing the Outer Wall slowed to a halt in the middle of his patrol when his eyes fell upon a distant group of galloping forces, unequivocally marching in their direction.
His jaw dropped. The spear in his hand trembled. It had to be a dream of some sort, a complete delusion, there was no way some manner of army was marching towards them right now… let alone such a small one. But it was far too organized for it to be a herd of wild beasts, wasn't it? It couldn't be something as casual as that, let alone when it was rushing clearly, deliberately, towards the Outer Wall…
The soldier snarled before running to the nearest watchtower. Whoever was within it might have noticed the incoming attack already, but if they hadn't…
"We're under attack!" the soldier roared as he made his way to the tower: the sleepy, bored sentries were wide awake quickly upon hearing words they never though they'd hear while serving in this city.
Their puzzlement only increased when they spotted the incoming cavalry charge. Their jaws dropped at first… and then they snapped out of their shock, quick to begin preparations to repeal the assault they'd had no earlier warning for.
The Major by the walls, clad in the Fire Nation's uniform, was an older man who had fought in the two sieges of Ba Sing Se. He scowled at the sight of what he immediately recognized as a puny, pointless force… and his chest tightened at the realization that no one with sense would commit to a frontal attack of that nature just for the sake of it. No one was that stupid…
"Send word to Governor Tiang!" he roared at the younger cadets within the walls. "Earthbenders, prepare to repeal the attack!"
The troops, however trained they might be, hadn't anticipated any manner of attacks or assaults. The sentry roles in the Outer Wall had been a notorious source of boredom, an easygoing post for their forces ever since the Fire Nation army had conquered Ba Sing Se. Revolts had been expected from within the city, early on… later, they weren't expected at all. Had the city been led by anyone other than Governor Tiang, it was even possible that they would have grown sloppier, careless about assigning troops to the defense of the Outer Wall at all… that Tiang hadn't done so, however, was what would allow them to prepare to defend from this utterly confusing attack right now.
The alarm bells began ringing across the wall, spreading gradually and sending a message that called for reinforcements: more sentries raced down the wall, on their way to assist their fellow soldiers who continued to await the arrival of that distant cavalry charge…
But the Major noticed something upon raising his spyglass beyond the cavalry's charge: another mass stood not too far behind the first one… a much thicker, larger group of armed forces had started mobilizing towards Ba Sing Se as well, once the cavalry charge was about halfway to the walls from the Fighting Cliffs.
"W-what in the…?" he gasped… then he set down the spyglass, handing it to his Lieutenant. "Inform me of the size of that group, the one by the mountains! I will send word to General Tiang myself!"
"Yes, sir!"
His missive was quick, hasty, and it flew off to the Imperial Palace when the mounted enemies were finally closing in. The Major stepped out of the tower: his assembled troops of benders, as well as non-bending archers, stood ready to strike.
"Begin to attack on my command!" the Major's voice echoed: the mounted troops were almost within the archers' range, almost…
A sudden, thunderous sound startled him before he could give out the actual command.
A tremor under their feet broke the prepared stances of all the soldiers up at the walls.
Snapping, cracking, violent shaking…
And suddenly the solid stone wall underneath their feet sank into nothingness.
Arrows dropped, some flew chaotically in no reasonable direction, the prepared earthbending projectiles fell apart … as did the watch tower. As did every tile, brick and merlon on the battlements.
The cavalry charge was within range now, of course… when there was nothing to be done about it. For the wall was going down, sinking, crumbling, shattered by the very strategy the Major had suspected could be in the works somehow. Yet he had no warning, no notion of what could have been happening, whatever the enemy could have been plotting, how grand their resources might be…
He fell, along with the men who had assembled with him, lost and confused, unable to stop from wondering how the thick, impregnable wall had been destroyed…
Dust rose wildly around the falling wall. The spectacle it offered was uncanny: it sank as though the very grounds underneath it had become quicksand – though Sokka knew Toph and her forces had achieved something far more ambitious than that, as long as they'd followed his commands. Soldiers screamed along with the cracking sounds of shattering rocks: when the sunken wall hit the very bottom of the chasm, the integrity of the wall was still damaged by gravity and momentum as the Fire Nation's forces were claimed by the hard ground below their unstable feet.
Not a single member of their cavalry charge was in danger. No one was even close to being harmed by the stray arrows that flew off in wild directions. A considerable section of the wall had fallen, consumed by the ground once they reached the strategic spot where, now, Toph's earthbenders waited underground for the cavalry to march forth with their weapons at the ready, war cries echoing in the distance as they prepared to ensure none of the soldiers who had survived the fall would hinder their forces once they marched into the city.
Sokka powered ahead: an earthbender, it seemed, had regained some of his footing and raised a rock to hurl it as a projectile in his direction, for he was spearheading the charge. He anticipated the large rock, spurring Foo-Foo to veer carefully as he sped up further, dodging the first rock, then the second, and once the man was preparing to raise a third…
Sokka's sword struck out towards the cowering man once Foo-Foo was too close for the earthbender to attack: in dodging out of the creature's way, their foe was in perfect reach for Sokka's sword to hack across his chest.
The next to rise, to attempt to strike at Sokka was a firebender: he steered Foo-Foo in that direction, dodging the fire, swiping it away with his club, but this time Foo-Foo huffed violently and trampled the bender with his antlers, leaving Sokka without a target: the rest of the survivors were already attempting to flee into the Agrarian Zone, hounded and chased by the mounted cavalry, cleaved by spears, blades and the occasional antlers, until their forces had been completely outdone. Sokka glanced back at his mounted force: no casualties or injuries yet, and the way into Ba Sing Se's Agrarian Zone had been opened successfully. They certainly had done well for themselves so far.
"We're through the wall!" Sokka roared, leading Foo-Foo back outside the Wall's area as he returned to where the dust cloud had risen: the earthbenders were climbing out of there by now, and Toph let out a devious cackle as she leapt out into the surface once more. Sokka breathed deeply upon confirming she was alright, regardless of having remained underground in the middle of such a dangerous situation…
"That was fucking hilarious! I wanna do it again, Sokka!" she laughed deviously: the Gladiator couldn't hold back a small smile at her wicked delight, and he stretched an arm out to clasp hers, bringing her astride Foo-Foo behind him.
"Everyone alright on your end?" he asked. Toph smacked his arm in a positive response.
"Just a few scaredy dorks when the wall went down, but they're good troops. They did their jobs just fine," she said. "Though… this is just the starting point, right?"
"It is," Sokka said, glaring at the distant ends of the crumbled wall, the areas that still stood despite the destruction of the wall that Toph and her forces had dragged down into the ground. "Got to smooth over this mess now, though. Our infantry has to get through…"
"And those goons left up at the walls have got to go, too," Toph smirked. "You up for it?"
"Well… might as well, if you guys give us a hand," Sokka said, glancing over at the other earthbenders. "Care to strengthen the walls so we can climb up and chase down the rest of them?"
Shanyuan let out a proud, affirmative sound before leading his troops to the left side of the wall. Daeshim did the same with the right one: the walls were thick enough for the mounts to climb over them, and while most creatures weren't exactly accustomed to the climbs over manmade structures, within about ten minutes, the progress that would enable them to do so, by smoothing the cracked walls into ramps or stairs had been near fulfilled to its entirety.
By then, the infantry had marched halfway to the wall. By then, the alarm bells ringing across the still-standing areas of the Outer Wall were louder and more persistent than before: more soldiers rushed in on the site of disaster, attempting to remediate the situation that they soon found unsalvageable: a few commanding officers began preparing their troops so they'd respond to the enemy attack, leading them to the shattered wall steadily… only to be greeted by moose-lions and ostrich horses that rode up the wall, trampling over everything in their wake: earthbenders sat behind the riders, strengthening the grounds beneath their mounts' paws to ensure they wouldn't trip or fall as they rushed against the squads of archers that attempted to defend themselves against the incoming charges.
Arrows weren't as much good close-up as they were at ranged combat, especially once the trampling mounts took down everything in their path. Little by little, all attempts to strike down the deadly forces that had taken the Outer Wall fell apart, more so once the ostrich horses and moose-lions reached the top of the wall. The earthbenders dismounted and took to cracking new chasms into the wall, tearing out chunks of it in order to render the battlements impassable for any new forces that might approach. Even so, a few others attempted to do so: Sokka had been urging Toph to climb off Foo-Foo and attack at range once a group of archers approached the wall, still at proper range to fire…
Only for them, and their arrows, to fly off and fall down the wall when a violent gust of wind, produced by Appa's gigantic tail, tossed them over the side of it without a care in the world.
"Eh… that'll work too, I suppose," Sokka said, waving at his sister and the Avatar: Kino blew a long note in his tsungi horn, signaling that the first stage of their mission had been complete.
The message echoed in the distance: the infantry troops were marching in, and Sokka's chest swelled as he watched his army once more. They certainly weren't the largest army there ever had been… but they had made it this far without significant setbacks of any nature. If all continued this way...
"Alright, time to smooth over the land for our infantry," Sokka said, yanking Foo-Foo's reins and urging him to rush back down the wall.
The moose-lion returned to solid ground, where many of Toph's earthbenders had already taken to smoothing over the grounds and dragging away the corpses of their enemies. Around half a mile of land had been conditioned for the marching of their infantry: led by the three Major Generals of the White Lotus, each faction reached the wall with undeniable high morale and enthusiasm after witnessing the outcome of the first stage of their plan.
"An absolute success," Piandao smiled at Sokka, who nodded positively at him.
"Now… we capitalize on that success," he said. "They know we're here now. They'll be counterattacking as best they can going forward… so let's do our best to stick to our plans. The Inner Wall is next…"
"And we're going to fuck it up again," Toph said, firmly. Sokka nodded.
"It's not going to be as easy and smooth as the first one was, more forces will be expecting us there… but that's not going to stop us now."
"Then lead the way, General Sokka," Jeong Jeong said, nodding in his direction. "As of now, we follow your lead… and once the time comes, we will fight as well."
Sokka nodded: he raised his sword once more, ushering the fully army into the Agrarian Zone. The war cries accompanied the booming sound of the tsungi horns, the drums thundering again with a marching beat that everyone followed dutifully: Sokka marched at the head of the army as Toph rested briefly behind him, draining one of the waterskins that had been strapped on Foo-Foo's saddle for her exclusive use.
"Now you'll save your strength," Sokka advised her, knowing all too well that she'd prefer marching on her own rather than on a mount. "We're going to need many more digging antics of yours once we get to the Inner Wall."
"Grand," Toph smirked. "You know, it's kind of fun having a bunch of people under my command. Bossing them around is neat."
"No surprises in hearing that, coming from you," Sokka smirked too. "Alright, drink as much water as you need, eat something too if you want… it'll be about an hour before we reach the next wall. With any luck, they won't have assembled a proper response to our incursion yet, but if they have…"
"If they have, we'll be ready," Toph said, firmly and sternly. Sokka nodded, eyes glowing with purpose underneath the shade of his helmet.
"We'll be ready," he repeated, hands tight around the reins of his fierce steed.
Their every effort to ensure they could deliver a first strike stealthily, successfully, had paid off. Tiang's forces had been as unprepared as Sokka had wanted them to be. Things would become much more complicated going forward… but he certainly hoped the Governor's ability to articulate the defenses of such a large city would falter against his own ability to lead what he hoped would be the most efficient and effective assault on Ba Sing Se in known history…
The ringing of the bells across the Outer Wall had eventually reached the Inner Wall in the more narrow areas between both walls, namely the northeastern area of the city. Thus, warnings of hostilities had reached the Imperial Palace in a matter of moments. Governor Tiang's forces were hard at work to pinpoint the source of the chaos… until a messenger hawk arrived, bearing a message from the Outer Wall's commanding officer.
"General Tiang!" one of the Palace's guards called for the city's highest authority, the letter in his hand. "A message from the Outer Wall!"
"Finally," Tiang said: he had gathered some of his most trusted military advisors, but they had barely convened for a few minutes when the message finally arrived.
The Governor took the letter in his hands directly, and the four men with him awaited his reaction eagerly. A scowl upon Tiang's face suggested there was very little usable information in the missive, however:
"A… mounted charge assaulted the Outer Wall. They numbered around two-hundred forces," he recited. "And a large infantry, of unknown size, seemed to be marching on Ba Sing Se at the time as well. The Colonel suspected there was more at play than a simple frontal assault, though… and yet he doesn't convey anything else in this message."
"It's not enough information to go on," said Commander Tengchao, snarling as he punched the war table with uncontained anxiety. "We need more information than that!"
"We'll send word to request it," Major Fu replied, firmly. "But we need to stay rational and calm. The Outer Wall is sturdy: a charge of cavalry wouldn't do any damage to it, not even if they carried bombs with them. Explosives only could go so far in damaging structure of that caliber…"
"Were there no siege weapons reported?" asked Commander Wangdu. "Anything that suggests they were genuinely prepared for…?"
"General Tiang! A new message from the Outer Wall!"
The newly arriving messenger seemed to have raced even faster than the first. Tiang frowned, reaching for the scroll and tearing it open quickly…
The utter astonishment on his face did nothing to reassure the commanding officers with him: Tiang shivered as he lowered the scroll, stating the truth with an unstable, trembling voice:
"The Outer Wall has been breached. They've invaded the Agrarian Zone."
"What?!" Wangdu exclaimed. The others gasped in horror as Tiang shook his head.
"There's no explanation given… but the wall has been torn down. It's likely the work of a considerable force of earthbenders," he said, reading the missive frantically. "Their cavalry has massacred the sentries near the walls. Their infantry is marching into the Agrarian Zone as we speak…"
"They might attempt to lay waste to our crops, starve the city…!" exclaimed Tengchao, frantic.
"We'll assemble a response in the Lower Ring, to the south," Tiang said, firmly, glancing over at the map of the city before him. "We'll send word to all available troops in the vicinity to gather there and bolster the strength of the Inner Wall. Though… I want most our troops on the ground. If they have siege equipment or earthbenders strong enough to tear down the Outer Wall in a matter of moments, I won't risk losing more of our men to falling walls. Equip the sentries with archers and send word for the tanks to be conditioned and prepared…"
"The tanks…?" the last of the commanding officers, Benzhong, repeated the words. "Most of them will take hours to prepare, Governor…"
"I'm aware of that… but the sole reason why that would be a drawback to using them is if we expect the city to fall in less time than that," Tiang said, firmly: the eyes of every commanding officer in the room widened fully. "We won't let Ba Sing Se fall. We don't know what we're up against, and that's part of our problem. Send word to the Outer Wall, to everyone available, and have them gather information on whoever the hell is attacking our city so that we may prepare our defenses as best we can."
"Understood, General."
The Fire Nation officials discussed among themselves how to obtain information as best as possible – they had a few hot-air balloons at their disposal, courtesy of the Mechanist, aerial scouting might be risky but it seemed the safest option they could resort to. Benzhong, in charge of the tanks, had taken off to prepare them, but Tiang knew all too well that they wouldn't be primed and ready for combat for a fairly long time. If this attacking force was as powerful as to tear down the Outer Wall through resources unknown… curses, but how? Had any survivors witnessed the destruction of the wall, made any guesses as to how it had been achieved? How could an army of such size march upon the city with no warning…?
"Commander Wangdu," Tiang called the man, who immediately broke off his conversation with the others to focus on his leader. "Please go to the Communications Office. Learn if there were any reports of armed forces amassing somewhere nearby, any manner of information… this army may have two hundred mounted soldiers, but if the infantry numbers were beyond the Major's reckoning, it means it's a considerable force. Something this big couldn't have been stirring up, rising right underneath our noses without alerting anyone of its existence!"
"I will do so right away, General," Wangdu answered, rushing off without another word.
Tiang dropped his head on his hand before sinking in a chair by the war table. It had been a perfectly normal day… until it wasn't. Until suddenly his entire world had been upended for no foreseeable reason… that wall, broken in a single attack, a single day? They had strengthened it further after the last siege, he had ensured to patch up the holes left by General Iroh's initial siege as well as his own, when he had entered the city through the Drill's prowess ten years ago. He knew, firsthand, how damn difficult it was to break into Ba Sing Se… how had they done it? How…?
"Tiang?"
A shiver rushed down his spine when Jin's voice reached him. He leapt to his feet, brushing off the wrinkles on his outfit as though to appear more presentable before his wife, even if he refused to meet her eyes.
"I… sorry. I meant to go back before you were finished with breakfast, but…"
"What's going on?" Jin asked, stepping closer to him – by then, the remaining commanding officers marched off, offering them some privacy Tiang could only be grateful for. "I've heard the bells in the Outer Wall were rung but… there's no way the Fire Lord is launching any attacks at us, is he? He wouldn't have any reason to…"
"It can't be him," Tiang said, firmly. Jin raised her eyebrows. "If… if Fire Lord Ozai had any cause of displeasure with me, he wouldn't have raised a massive army and brought it to our walls with no warning. We've done everything he wanted from us… the city is under Fire Nation control. He has no reason to attack it…"
"Then what is this? A massive army, you said?" Jin asked, eyes wide. "Tiang…"
"They've already torn down the Outer Wall, Jin," he said: her horror made itself apparent immediately, a hand rising to her gaping mouth. "I… I don't know how. I don't know, I… I'm trying to gather information but it's going to be a while before we know anything for sure. Whoever this is… they are a thousand times more effective than the Fire Nation, than I ever was. The Fire Lord lacks the strength, the resources, to achieve a feat like this one… I'd know, I was part of the two sieges the Fire Nation launched on this city. But this is… it's no siege this time. It's something bigger than that."
"An… an army of Earth Kingdom rebels?" Jin guessed. Tiang's jaw tensed as he ground his teeth tightly. "Could they have gathered enough strength to do this? I've never heard of any real, coordinated efforts on that sort of scale before, but…"
"But maybe it's not just the Earth Kingdom," Tiang said, his eyes darkening, his brow furrowing. "Maybe… maybe they've finally acted."
"Who?" Jin frowned, too. Tiang snarled as he revealed his latest guess:
"The White Lotus."
Suddenly, it all made so much sense. Suddenly, the possibility that he could be facing a much stronger, sturdier, scarier enemy than any who had assailed this city made much more sense: Tiang knew next to nothing about the secretive society, but it had been a general understanding that their hideout was somewhere in the Earth Kingdom's continent. Had they truly gathered every rebel they could find? Had they strengthened an army until it could barrage against the Fire Nation's forces holding Ba Sing Se?
"W-what… what are you going to do? What do you need me to do?" Jin asked, clasping Tiang's hand tightly. He squeezed her fingers gently, his eyes softening as he finally dared meet her eyes.
"I… I want you safe. I want you…"
"No," she said, firmly. Tiang's eyes widened. "I'm no fighter, you know I'm not, but I'm not sitting on the sidelines and leaving you to face this danger on your own, Tiang."
"I… I don't know what's going on, not for sure, not for real," Tiang said, cupping Jin's face delicately. "You're my wife. I'm not letting those forces, whatever they are, come any closer to this Palace if I can help it… but you're valuable. I won't let you fall into their hands, I don't even want to imagine what they might do to you…!"
"I understand that, but I'm not a porcelain doll. I'm not some brittle vase that can't think for herself," Jin said, firmly. Tiang gritted his teeth again. "Let me assist you. I can help organize the resources you'll need, gather any allies you may need, you know I can…"
"You can, but…" Tiang started… and yet her words made perfect sense.
Jin was beloved in this city, more than he ever hoped to be – more than he ever cared to be, too. More often than not, she had been the face of his government, winning over the support and hearts of the people when Tiang himself only earned their distrust. While things had certainly improved over time, Jin was still the most inspiring figure in the city… and Tiang could very well let her fulfill her wishes by giving her the duty of inspiring their fighters, strengthening their morale and resolve while the threat was still not close enough to striking at the heart of their city.
"Alright… alright," Tiang said, eyes gleaming with determination as Jin's heart lightened slightly at his acceptance. "Stand with me. I'll ensure you can address the city and inspire our soldiers. For now, though… help me call for evacuations. The Lower Ring will be the first to be struck, and the less casualties, the better. The attack is coming from the south…"
"Then we'll give the orders, ride the monorail there ourselves if we have to," Jin said. Tiang nodded affirmatively as she cupped his face, pressing a light kiss to his lips. "We will get through this. You have made this city stronger than it ever was. Ba Sing Se has seen more than enough warfare for a lifetime… and we will repeal whoever these invaders are. We didn't survive all those battles just to falter now."
"If things get dangerous… you'll get out of the way as soon as possible, love," Tiang said, firmly. "But for now…"
"For now," Jin said, smiling somewhat reassuringly at him. Tiang nodded in appreciation of her resolve.
He reeled her in for another kiss, for a tighter hug: however resolute as she was, an unsettling doubt dwelled in his heart… it had taken root there since Lu Ten's catastrophic death. The knowledge that he wasn't enough, that he wasn't good enough, strong enough, smart enough… that he had no right to be here. That he had no right to do everything he'd done. That his every success meant something darker, some manner of consequence, of retribution, awaited him around the corner…
That doubt shook him profoundly now as he trembled in his wife's arms: even if he wanted to believe the city was strong, that his forces wouldn't falter against whatever this enemy might be, that damn weaseling, unsettling snake slithering inside his gut told him his hours were numbered… that the reckoning of Ba Sing Se's conqueror had finally begun.
The army progressed onwards through the Agrarian Zone in an orderly march. The logistics groups led their carts and carriages through the grassy farmland, attempting to stick to the roads where the wheels of their vehicles would progress most smoothly. While some of the forces were notoriously careless about where they stepped, they were under orders not to lay waste to the Agrarian Zone's crops: their campaign was categorically not a siege, thus, their strategy would never hinge on the destruction of the city's resources. Sokka wanted civilians as safe as could be within the circumstances, for the liberation of Ba Sing Se meant they fought to offer the city a new future, one where they would bow no more to the Fire Nation's rule: they were here to protect people, not to make their lives more difficult than they already had been.
He marched at the head of the army, still with Toph sitting behind him: the earthbender had been grateful for the chance to rest at first, but by now she was clearly bored once more. Sokka wasn't slightly surprised to realize as much, ever aware of his friend's fickle and chaotic nature.
The Inner Wall loomed further ahead: rail tracks connected to the Outer Wall stood at either side of their army, if at a fair distance from where they marched. There weren't any trains traveling over them so far, and Sokka wondered briefly if all train transport had been halted, perhaps devoted exclusively to transporting troops and military resources to defend the city from their attack… Tiang and his forces might have given out such orders already.
He spurred on his moose-lion, giving Toph a brief warning of what he'd do next. She grunted but acquiesced, as Sokka eased his mount's march near Iroh. The old man was startled by Sokka's presence, but the Gladiator nodded in his direction.
"Your forces are ready for the next stage, General Iroh?" Sokka asked, sternly: the coldness in his eyes almost suggested Iroh was but another enemy rather than an ally, but the firebender stayed calm regardless of the Blue Wolf's fierceness.
"They are at your leisure, General Sokka," he said, bowing his head in his direction before glancing at a middle-aged woman beside him: she bowed her head at Sokka as well.
"We will do the bulk of the digging this time," Colonel Nanami said, hoping her words would be of some reassurance for Toph.
"If you want," Toph said, simply. "I'm still going to teach you how to keep that wall where we need it to be until the right moment, though."
"We will be honored to learn from you, Colonel Beifong," said Nanami.
"Alright, then. Ready to dismount?" Sokka asked Toph. She hummed and patted his shoulder.
"Guess we'll hang out again beyond the Inner Wall?" she said.
Sokka nodded, and Toph jumped off Foo-Foo's saddle, dropping heavily next to Nanami: Sokka took off to gather the rest of the mounted troops, urging them to set down the earthbenders they'd been riding with as well. They gathered with Toph and Nanami at the center of the army's formation, strategically falling behind the leading squads of the army so that, once the bulk of them had gathered together, they would begin digging a new tunnel that would carry them all the way to the Inner Wall. They were at the optimal distance to do so now, close enough to their target but distant enough that the enemy forces, even with spyglasses, would fail to recognize something was happening amid the many moving troops…
Sokka continued to organize his forces, helped by the musicians' squad who were strategically positioned throughout the army: he gave the orders for the cavalry squads to assemble into their positions at the wings of the army now, no longer marching as a charging force, hoping that the defenses assembling within the city would be preparing for facing a cavalry squad first, rather than infantry and benders.
As he was in the middle of all such organization, conveying orders left and right, a sudden speck of green in the sky brought a frown to Sokka's face. He spurred Foo-Foo on, as he scrutinized that green figure that hovered far away, within the city's boundaries: he had a hand at designing and building vehicles of the sort, long ago. His brow furrowed upon recognizing the design, even from this distance.
"Call the Avatar down to me, now," Sokka told the nearest musician: the stout man nodded and blew powerfully the Avatar's call sign into his tsungi horn.
Appa dove towards the sound slowly, careful not to cause chaos in the formation Sokka had assembled so far. Sokka marched ahead, hoping not to put Appa in uncomfortable positions near too many upright infantry spears or tense war mounts.
"There's something flying out there, Sokka…" Katara blurted out immediately: Sokka nodded.
"You saw it too, then," he said. "Don't bother attacking it, not unless it flies carelessly in our direction. It's not worth the effort, they may just end up baiting you into the city before we're ready to take it, and they could ambush and attack Appa while the rest of us can't help… yes, that tactic worked for you guys in the South Pole, but I won't risk it here."
"Thanks for that, but… are you sure?" Aang asked. "What is it, anyway?"
"A hot-air balloon," Sokka explained: the three riding Appa gasped in surprise. "Yep, first one you see. I honestly forgot but… the last time we were here, we more or less brokered a bit of a trading relationship between the Mechanist and Tiang's government. I should've remembered, but… at least it's just hot-air balloons. They're not as dangerous as armored airships could be…"
"Then… what are they doing?" Katara asked, puzzled. "If what you explained is true… why would they be bringing it out right now? Is it they always have aerial patrols of the city or something?"
"They definitely don't," Sokka said, shaking his head. "I think they're gathering information, trying to figure out how big and strong our forces are. So… the less attention we bring to the lot of you right now, the better."
"But we'll still stand ready for anything," Aang said, breathing deeply. Sokka nodded.
"I'll call for you again if I need you. Fly low and close by," Sokka said.
Aang nodded and the sky bison took off, hovering above the army, aiming for landing and marching by a spacious area around the middle level of their assembled forces. Sokka let out a deep breath as he ushered Foo-Foo onwards: so far, nothing too worrisome had happened… and yet he felt more anxious than he had been in Omashu. Perhaps it was the knowledge that any strategic mistakes, any failures to read his enemy might result in thousands of deaths…
He wouldn't let that happen. He hadn't come this far to falter, not against Tiang, not against anyone. Even if his opponent managed to assemble a serious force to counter his, Sokka would find ways to outsmart him and make use of his plentiful resources to overtake the city.
Fifteen more minutes of march saw them reaching the vicinity of the Inner Wall. It looked massive, of similar height as the Outer Wall they had destroyed and crossed earlier. Yet Sokka noticed far more movement in the battlements than before: the Outer Wall had successfully alerted the city that an attack was being carried out on Ba Sing Se. Their foes were prepared, or preparing, to strike back and keep them at bay…
Not knowing that they meant to stay at bay of their own volition until Sokka himself ordered otherwise. He marched ahead, leaving the mounted group briefly so he could take his place at the head of the large army. They were close to the likely range of their foes' arrows, so Sokka called out, loudly:
"Halt!"
The tsungi horns carried over his command throughout the army: within a matter of moments, the entire mass of six thousand troops, including their mounts, stopped firmly, facing Ba Sing Se's tall Inner Wall. It seemed impregnable, though not as sturdy as the Outer Wall had been: there were visible gaps within the wall where the train's tracks, suspended on tall platforms, carried people across the Agrarian Zone into the city and vice versa. While nothing moved in the vicinity other than in the battlements, it seemed they hadn't sealed the gaps within the walls through which the monorail traveled. It wasn't something particularly meaningful, but it suggested to Sokka that their defenses hadn't been as tightly organized yet as they might have wanted to make them…
Still, the dig underneath the Inner Wall would take plenty of time, who knew if perhaps longer than before. There was much work to do, even if there were more squads assigned to those duties than there had been with the Outer Wall: once the walls went down, the city would await, and within it, General Tiang's forces. The Lower Ring was, by far, the largest and most densely populated area of the city… it would be the hardest to seize in full, but gaining proper dominance over a significant portion of the Lower Ring might suffice to send Tiang's other soldiers fleeing into the Middle Ring. At least, Sokka hoped so.
Most his plans for what they might do in the Middle Ring hinged on however Tiang would respond next. His chest heaved as he clutched Foo-Foo's reins tightly, his eyes rising to the battlement directly in front of him: numerous archers stood at the wall's crenels, arrows nocked and ready to fly… to no avail, for they had effectively stopped too far out of their range.
One man seemed to stand at the battlements, clad in full Fire Nation commanding officer's regalia, an ornate maskless helmet on his head. His armor was difficult to detail from a distance, but it reminded Sokka of Zhao's defensive gear, his preferred outfit for just about every occasion…
The man in question rose up, gathering as much air as he could before letting out a thunderous shout, across the silent plains where the army stood:
"Set down your weapons! Leave Ba Sing Se at once!" the man roared: his voice carried in the oppressive silence that had spread in the disciplined army.
Sokka breathed deeply too, gathering his strength for what he guessed would be a shouting match – he certainly found himself envying the announcers from the Gladiator League for their very effective bullhorns now…
"I don't think so!" was Sokka's rather eloquent response: he heard a few chuckles behind him, and he even felt tempted to smile as the man at the top of that tall wall seemed utterly affronted by Sokka's nonchalant answer. "I'll make the same offer to you, though! Set down those weapons and leave Ba Sing Se at once! You'd make matters much easier for us if you did!"
The man's outrage was more apparent yet now: he gave a loud order, one that seemed to startle the soldiers near him. Sokka breathed deeply, turning towards his nearest musician squad member:
"Call for the Avatar."
The musician did as he was told: the booming call sign for the Avatar saw Appa taking flight just in time, as the sound of snapping bowstrings preceded a volley of arrows that flew in their direction…
The arrows would fall short. There was no wind to carry them further forward, and even the most sophisticated bows in the enemy's ranks wouldn't have reached Sokka's position… but even so, a demonstration of power to daunt the Fire Nation troops was in order.
Appa roared, turning abruptly in midair: his tail swept a potent stream of wind that broke the flight of all the arrows, knocking them off-course and sending them back towards the wall in a careless clutter. Now, the commanding officer froze in place while the army before him remained impassive: a few cheers had risen for Appa's maneuver, but Sokka raised a fist visibly to silence them quickly.
"General Tiang is not a heartless, mindless brute!" Sokka shouted: the commanding officer gaped down at him with utter fear and confusion, but he didn't seem to be about to shout anything else right now. "He has to know we wouldn't have barged into his city this way if we didn't have the strength for a large-scale attack! But I'd rather not do that… and I'm sure you'd rather I didn't, too! Tell your superior officer that if he surrenders, Ba Sing Se will go unharmed!"
"Y-you…!" the commanding officer stumbled over his words, nervousness doing a number on his stern demeanor. "We will never surrender! This city is ours!"
"This city has only been yours for ten years!" Sokka responded. "And just as you took it by force back then, we can take it by force right now! Ah, and we don't need any big and fancy comets to do so! Because, you see, greater forces than that are on our side! The forces of harmony, the forces of balance! We're here to bring back true harmony to this city, to this world: give up now, and you'll witness the creation of a new world yourselves! You'll get to live in it, bask in it, understand why balance matters! Fight, and you will be cut down at once! Your choice, big guy!"
Sokka's careless, deliberately offensive way to refer to the commanding officer seemed to incense the man further… but the fear that stayed his hand was strong. He spoke among his troops, it seemed, giving commands that Sokka wasn't sure he was comfortable with. It wasn't likely that their defenses would survive the assault they were preparing for them… but said preparations weren't ready yet. They might take a little longer still… so he had to wait patiently until the earthbending teams underground released their signals to reveal everything was ready to begin.
"Seriously, call Tiang here! I think he'll be reasonable; we've always gotten along quite well!" Sokka shouted: he had to win some time. Engaging the man in a shouting match was an agreeable way of doing that.
Of course, the claim that he was friendly with their city's leader snapped the commanding officer's patience once more.
"How dare you speak of Governor Tiang so carelessly?! You rebel scum, don't you dare talk of him with such familiarity!" he roared. Sokka let himself smirk, ever amused by how easy it was to injure the Fire Nation soldiers' pride.
"I've earned that familiarity, though!" Sokka declared, proudly. "I've dined in his halls, you see, in that very Palace I'm sure you've never set foot in! I've been his guest, I've slept in the silken sheets of their beds, I've eaten their grand banquets! The very best of his cooks… she makes the greatest roast duck anyone's ever tasted! Did you know that? I bet you didn't!"
"Y-you… enough! You do not know of what you speak…!" the man shouted: he thought he was lying, did he? Sokka smirked, knowing he'd have to take matters further yet, then.
"I've gotten to meet his wife too! Maybe you ought to call her, instead!" Sokka shouted. "Jin's from the Lower Ring, isn't she?! She met Tiang in a teashop there! Then he married her, against the will of all the highborn nobles who wanted him to marry one of their daughters instead! Isn't that a fascinating story?!"
This time, the officer froze on the spot: was he even aware of Jin's humble origins? Perhaps it was well known, perhaps it wasn't. But that Sokka would bring it up so carelessly certainly had taken the man by surprise, especially Sokka's knowledge pertaining how Tiang had refused to obey the mandate of the high class and chosen a Lower Ring wife…
"I'm pretty damn sure she was proud, wasn't she, of Tiang's great investments and work to restore and improve the Lower Ring?" Sokka shouted next. "He credits her for the success of his rule in Ba Sing Se! She's insightful and cares about this city like no one else does! Go on and ask her, then, if she wants us rushing into her hometown, into the Lower Ring, causing chaos and wreaking havoc as your forces did ten years ago! I'm pretty sure she'd prefer as little violence possible, wouldn't she?!"
"D-don't speak for…!" the commanding officer shouted, but he froze in the middle of his words. Sokka's familiarity with the two rulers of the city seemed to have finally bothered him too much to speak against it, daunted by his opponent's apparent thorough understanding of his enemy.
"Should I keep going?!" Sokka bellowed. "I fell through a roof inside the Palace once, nearby broke my back because of that! One of my allies destroyed the staircase that leads to the Palace and turned it over itself to attack the Dai Li! Ah, there's a whole slew of Dai Li officers locked up in the dungeons and cells underneath the Imperial Palace, including their leader, Long Feng, because I helped put them there! And you know who else is in that Palace's holding cells?! Earth King Kuei!"
An actual gasp rushed through the army now: it wasn't information they'd been aware of, but Sokka didn't mind revealing it now. It seemed to be a surprise for the commanding officer on that wall, too…
"He's been in that cell for ten years!" Sokka shouted. "Waiting, hopelessly, for the day when rebel forces would retake this city… and that day has finally arrived!"
His words saw the entire army erupting in cheers now: even the musician squads played a marching tune, the one they had rehearsed most… one that intimidated their enemies into staying frozen in place on that wall. Several archers had lowered their weapons by then, some had rushed into the towers and buildings attached to the battlements…
The commanding officer's trembling hands fell upon the merlon before him. He raised his voice again, but Sokka couldn't hear it among the noise his group was making. Thus, he raised a hand and tightened it into a fist: at once, the noise of his army was muted once more. Even the White Lotus leaders at either side of him watched him approvingly, impressed by his seamless command of such a massive crowd.
"Say what?!" Sokka shouted once silence had settled: the commanding officer trembled violently when he screamed again, his voice frayed and cracking:
"Y-you will never take…! Y-you…! Back away from this city at once!" he screamed, his face red, almost to match the crimson highlights of his uniform.
Sokka let out a soft laugh: the man's comebacks were only growing more hopeless by the minute, and he was starting to suspect his stalling for the earthbenders wouldn't be served well if he kept this up.
Perhaps it was time to reveal the most crucial element of information the Fire Nation wanted, though. They were looking for intel, those hot-air balloons floated almost by the Inner Wall's level by now: he would make matters easier for them, then, and ensure his foes would know exactly who they were dealing with. His knowledge, his intimate understanding of Ba Sing Se's workings, would terrify Tiang's forces, more so once they realized how well-acquainted Sokka was not only with the city's layout, but with the army they would fight, with the kind of behavior and tactics the Fire Nation might resort to, with the resources at their disposal…
Whether Ozai had ever chosen to reveal any information about him or not, Sokka didn't know yet. Whether these people believed him dead or alive, Sokka had no idea. But today, effectively, he would come back to life in the eyes of those who believed him dead… starting with the damn Fire Lord.
"No can do!" he exclaimed, shaking his head. "I didn't come all this way just for the fun of it! We haven't been rearing up for months just to back down when you're the ones who are scared shitless of what we'll do to your forces…!"
"The Fire Nation's armies aren't…! We will never yield to you! General Tiang will defeat you and your puny army before you can so much as blink, you wretched… rebel!"
"Rebel is the best you can do?!" Sokka smirked. "Guess you still haven't put it together, have you?! You still don't understand, do you?!"
He reached up for his sword's hilt, gripping it tightly as he unsheathed it slowly. The sunlight would fall upon that blade… and its glow would not be silver and bright. There was only one known blade as dark as night… and it was the one Sokka revealed in front of his army, in front of the gaping soldiers standing at those battlements… a sword that had become symbolic of him, representative of a man who had made a name for himself on a battlefield much more controlled than the one he had prepared, here and now.
He couldn't know for sure if the men on those walls understood who he was right away. Perhaps they would, perhaps they wouldn't: ultimately, though, he had to make sure they got it. He had to make sure Tiang understood the true identity of his enemy.
Thus, Sokka pointed the dark blade squarely at the man who had been shouting at him so far, and he spoke his truth with unabashed pride:
"Tiang is free to fight back if he wants to: I will face him myself and I will cut him down if that's the fate he chooses!" Sokka roared. "He would not be the first to die by my hand, and he certainly won't be the last: this war will end, and I will see to it that Fire Lord Ozai's reign of destruction is undone for good!
"I've stood my ground against him, no matter how many times he tries to kill me! He singled me out as a foe to obliterate, but I will never break, never surrender against that pathetic excuse of a Fire Lord! For I am the Blue Wolf! I am the Gladiator! And I lead the army that will storm across the Fire Nation and restore true balance across this world!"
Sokka's eyes gleamed with pride as a powerful flame burned within his chest, swirling up towards his sword hand, filling him with the urge to fight back at full strength and defeat the full bulk of the Fire Nation's forces… forces that cowered now: recognition crossed many of them, some pulled back from the battlements, and even the commanding officer from before seemed startled enough to pull away… but not enough to fail to hear Sokka's latest words: his ultimatum to the forces that guarded the Inner Wall:
"We will take this city today! Ba Sing Se will be free!" he roared. "Soldiers on the wall: this is your last chance to offer your surrender!"
The army behind him broke out in full celebration of his words, backing him up with their passionate war cries of full-blown support: the group riding Appa watched Sokka in utter awe, amazed by his command of the situation, by the steady grip with which he held that sword. Jet, off by the side on his moose-lion, smirked proudly at the remarkable leader that unassuming gladiator had turned out to be.
Similar thoughts crossed Zuko's mind as he stood among his firebending forces: he couldn't suppress a smile, wondering just how utterly astounded his sister would be if she had witnessed Sokka's shameless shouting match with that soldier on the walls…
Piandao watched him with pride, much as Iroh felt his chest tighten with purpose he had never imagined he'd feel while facing this city again. Jeong Jeong stood firm in place: a fire he hadn't wanted to answer to reared up within his chest once more… a fire that he expected might be similar to the kinds of flames the Gladiator had spoken to him about, on the previous day. A fire of purpose… a fire of life.
The threatened soldiers, meanwhile, were shaken to their cores: the rumors about the mysterious disappearance of the Blue Wolf had spread all the way to Ba Sing Se, where he had been a popular fighter to the point where even those who didn't frequent the Arena knew of him…
The man at the head of that army, the sole army in known history to break through Ba Sing Se's Outer Wall in a single day, was the Princess's gladiator.
He threatened to retake the city among thundering drums and blaring tsungi horns… among war cries and chants that daunted all those who heard them. Their chanting, their music, the beat of their drums conveyed a message strengthened by the man who held his sword, aiming it at his foes upon that wall: the Blue Wolf was alive… and he was ready to bring hell on earth upon the Fire Lord's loyal legions as he liberated the Earth Kingdom from Ozai's nefarious grasp.
A/N:
Sorry for the slight delay, some personal matters have spiraled a little out of control, but here's today's chapter. Double update next week, keep that in mind!