AN: Yall get this today, tomorrow I'll be posting chapters for two of my other stories.
Chapter 10 The Battle Of Caldera.
The Day of Black Sun had come.
As Sokka reviewed his maps, Aang had finally woken up. "Top of the morning!" The Avatar said, jumping over a bush and landing beside Toph.
"You sound like you had a good night's sleep." Katara commented as she rolled her sleeping bag up.
"Ready to defeat the Fire Lord? What's your plan, gonna glow up and hit him with a little Avatar State action?" Toph asked, punching the air twice.
"I can't…" Aang said, his smile fading. "When Connor shot me, he pierced my heart, locking my fourth chakra. Cutting off my fifth, sixth, and seventh, severing my connection to the cosmic energy of the material universe."
Toph blinked once. "You know I didn't understand like three of those words you used, right?"
Katara looked out towards the bay, and sighed. "Do you think that fog's going to delay the invasion force?" She asked, as her brother stood up and smiled.
"No, that is the invasion force." Sokka said, as the fog began to clear. Northern and Southern Water tribe colors flew over the steel conning towers and wooden masts of the ships approaching the island.
As the wooden Southern Tribe vessels pulled into the secluded bay, with Aang and Toph both creating earthen docks for them, the larger ironclad Northern Tribe ships anchored at sea, quickly changing their flags to that of the Fire Nation Navy.
Chief Hakoda stepped off of his ship as Sokka and Katara came running down to the beach to greet him.
"You made it!" Katara said, hugging her father, as Sokka approached.
"Did you pick up everyone I told you about?" Sokka asked.
Hakoda smiled at his son. "I did, but I'll be honest with you, some of these people aren't the warrior type." Hakoda looked over his shoulder at the swamp benders stepping off the ship, as several row boats came ashore from the ironclads parked at sea.
"Katara?!" The girl in question turned to see her old friend Haru stepping out of a rowboat and onto the dock with his father.
"Oh my goodness, Haru? You grew a mustache?!" Katara asked, as she gave the taller boy a hug.
Toph turned her attention away from the meet and greet, as two docks down she felt someone she knew step onto the beach. "No way!" Toph walked over to the dock she'd felt the shaking from, and standing in front of her was The Hippo and The Boulder.
"Hippo is happy to see blind bandit!" The Hippo said loudly.
"You two numb skulls looking for a rematch?" Toph asked, before she was picked up by The Hippo and given a hug.
"Negative. The Hippo and I, no longer fight for the entertainment of others. Today, we fight to reclaim our kingdom." The boulder said, as he flexed his arm for emphasis.
"Sweet." Toph said with a grin.
An explosion came from the ship docked furthest to the left. Everyone ran as quickly as they could to the dock where the ship was moored, only to come skidding to a halt, as Teo, his father, and several of Jet's Freedom Fighters came running down the ramp.
"What was that?" Sokka asked, as The Mechanist patted his still smoldering hair out.
"Oh just a nitrogen based explosive I've been working on." The mechanist coughed.
Teo wheeled around to face everyone. "My dad's been trying to find a replacement for gunpowder to use in the guns we have."
"It's highly unstable." Pipsqueek said.
"And smelly." The Duke said from the larger boy's shoulder.
"It's great to see you all." Sokka said, as he stepped forward and shook Longshot's hand.
"It's nice seeing you guys too." Smellerbee said.
"I told you that was the wrong bottle man!" Chey the Fire Nation deserted said, as he stepped off the ship after putting out a small fire. "Whoa. Hey everybody." He said with a wave.
"Chey's been helping me with one of those ideas of your Sokka." The Mechanist said.
"Which one?" Sokka asked.
"A few." Chey said with a shrug.
"Oh, speaking of!" Teo said, as he pulled a staff from his wheelchair. "Aang, My dad and I made this for you."
As Aang took the staff, he curled it to test its weight, before swirling the wood, and deploying two sets of blue bat-like cotton wings, with separate hand and foot holds. "A new glider! This is amazing!"
"I'm glad you like it!" The mechanist said. "The folding arms took me a while to figure out, but the wing shape is a vast improvement over my first few square glider designs. There's also a special feature I've integrated into the base of the staff." The Mechanist said.
"Ahem." Chey said loudly, as he crossed his arms.
"Right right, the idea was Chey's. If you twist the handle bars far enough a friction cord will ignite a rocket charge at the base of the staff. Just in case you ever need a speed boost, or can't use your air bending to fly." The Mechanist said.
"Wow, I'd have never thought of that." Aang said, going to twist the handle bar.
"Well don't do it now, or you'll need to replace the rocket." The mechanist warned. Aang grinned sheepishly.
Connor had spent the morning stuffing his pack full. He'd visited the warehouse where most of the contents of his ship had remained, and pilfered what he thought would be useful… Then took a bottle of liquor as well, knowing no one would miss it.
After Azula had readied her things, stashing them away at Connor's house. She'd written a letter of apology to Ty Lee in the event she was unable to see her again, explaining that she didn't deserve to be dragged into a fight that wasn't hers, and how horrible of a friend Azula had been to her. She expected Zuko to have done something similar for Mai. Prepared to leave, the princess found Connor waiting outside of Ty Lee's apartment building.
"Ready?" Connor asked.
"I don't think anyone could ever be ready for what we're about to do." Azula said, as Connor checked his double barrel pistol one last time, before holstering it. "Where's Zuko?" Azula asked, realizing he was not with Connor.
"Said he'd meet us in the bunker." Connor said with a shrug. Azula didn't believe that for one second, but now wasn't the time to worry about her brother's inability to lie.
Azula started walking, and Connor followed close behind her. "You know, this is your last chance to play it safe. Zuko and I can do this without you. You don't need to put yourself at risk for me."
Connor sighed. "Azula, you and your brother are either about to become traitors, or one of you is going to become the fire lord… That's too great a risk, and too great a reward for just two people to gamble on. I'm not leaving you for any reason. After everything else, I'm damn well not gonna let a little treason stand between us. I'd slay a thousand men, and give up drinking before that."
Azula stopped walking, and turned to Connor. "That's the sweetest thing I've ever heard you say… You don't need to stop drinking just for me." She said, standing on her toes as he leaned down, the two quickly exchanging a kiss. "But I expect a thousand slain men before the wedding." She smirked.
Standing on the deck of one of her father's wooden sail ships, Sokka and Katara looked out past the fog cover that had been created.
"There they are. The great gates of Azulon." Hakoda said, passing his telescope to Sokka.
"I don't see any gates." Katara said, as she squinted at the horizon.
"It's really more like a giant iron net that lights on fire." Bato said., before Sokka gave the telescope to his sister.
"Well with any luck, they won't go up until after we want them to." Hakoda said, as he hand signaled a nearby ironclad ship. "Alright, everyone below deck."
As the fog cleared away, the captured ironclads, under their false flag, with an absence of victory markings, ignited burn piles on their decks to create a thick black smoke. From behind them, the sail ships of the Water Tribe opened fire on the metal vessels with two bow mounted cannons each. To the far off observer it would be clear as day that damaged Fire Navy cruisers had come under attack. With the distance between them, the ironclads were able to steam into the guarded bay, as the great gates were raised behind them. The sail ships, rather than end their chase, instead loitered in the waters beyond the gates, before sailing south to harass a Fire Navy port near shore.
As the ironclads above steamed towards shore "signaling for repairs," below an unorthodox machine of iron, wood, and earth, quietly slipped through the deep blue waters of the bay.
"You've really outdone yourself, Sokka." Hakoda said, as he put his hand on his son's shoulder, as the two looked out the forward viewport of the undersea boat.
"Yeah. Somehow you managed to create a worse method of travel than flying." Toph said, gagging.
"I can't take the credit, it was the mechanist that did all the work." Sokka said.
"Ah, but a brilliant idea it was all the same. Water bender controlled ballast…" The mechanist looked over his shoulder at Katara who was busy regulating the water in the ballast tanks below her. "... Earth bender controlled propulsion…" Behind her, The Boulder used his bending to push and pull a stone piston attached to a wheel by an arm. The wheel itself was connected to a drive shaft that stuck out the rear of the submersible craft, ending in a screw propeller. "And state of the art plane controls." The mechanist said, pulling on the steering wheel, causing the submersible to tilt upwards as it sailed under the sea, before he corrected the course. Chey cleared his throat again. "Of course, the cargo is it's own brand of brilliant."
"The one thing we're limited by is the need to resurface for air." Chey said.
"Fortunately, the low profile of the submarine will be hidden by our surface ships above." Hakoda offered.
After the invasion force had resurfaced, and Aang had taken flight, the fleet pushed on towards Caldera and the Royal Port Plaza.
The submarine's were now directly below the surface ships, their movement dictating the opening attack. As the surface group drew near the plaza security gate, everyone below the water had stilled in anticipation. From the view ports, the submarine helmsman could see the gates before them opening. And as they approached, matching the surface speed of the ships above them, they pitched upwards to clear the low bed of the bay, one submarine even bumping into the cruiser it was hiding under. Passing through with no sign of the Fire Nation Home Army being the wiser, three of the surface ships began to veer left, making a wide arc, as they fell in line, one by one, while the other two cruisers pulling up to the beach between them.
The surface ships not yet docked came to a steady halt about a ship's length from the shore, their port sides facing the plaza, and as the submarine's surfaced on the dock's of Caldera's port, the flags atop the Ironclads were rapidly changed from that of the Fire Nation to the flag of the Water Tribes. The two docked ships dropped their ramps, as the bows of the submarines opened on the beach.
Cannon fire from the defenses of the port were exchanged with the Water Tribe ships, and as the volleys flew, stone cracked, and iron held strong. The many submarine's cargo doors opened and smoke billowed from the bows of the vessels, as steam powered "Land Creepers" emerged.
The long, wide and tall, caterpillar tracked, box shaped steel vehicles, their cannons jutting out of the front, lurched as they crawled onto the docks, their heavy armor providing cover for the flood of men following behind them.
As the surface ships rained iron onto the initial defenses of the city port, two other deadly instruments of war were deployed from their decks. War balloons, with two gliders hanging from each one, took to the air from the decks of the captured ships. Pushing forward passed the forces on the ground, the airborne craft, and their gliders both harassed the plaza defenders, despite the incoming gun fire, dropping fuze lit grenades onto the cannon emplacements upon the surrounding cliffs.
As the Land Creepers pushed forward in an inverted V, providing protection to the infantry from the front and sides, the many water benders of the Foggy swamp tribe and Northern Navy continued to hold the beach head, freezing water from the bay to fortify the landing zone. Of course they had a little back up from Hue, and his monstrose amalgam of seaweed.
From hangers within the plaza, the Fire Nation rapidly deployed tanks of their own. The latest generation being a vast improvement over the original design, or the improvised mobile artillery platform. It's engine and transmission were kept in the rear. A metal turret protruded from the top of the vehicle's center, and in the front, sat the driver encased in a sloped metal shell. Within the lead tank of a staggered formation, the gunner cranked the handle to the turret drive to aim the cannon to his left. Finding the side of a Land Creeper to be a suitable target, he lit a fire in his left hand and touched off the fast burning match.
A cloud of smoke billowed from the short gun as it fired, the iron ball denting the box-like Land Creeper, though whistling as it bounced off into the air. Under recoil, the tank's cannon was shoved back along a set of rails in the turret, and slid downward, so the muzzle was pointed up. The loader to the gunner's back pulled a bag of powder up from the main body of the tank below him, and dropped it down the gun. "Load, canister shot!" The gunner said, as he turned the turret and acquired a new set of targets, being the infantry lagging behind their armor. As the loader shoved a bag of lead into the bore, and began to push the gun back into position, the tank jostled, before flipping onto its side.
The Boulder kicked the earth twice more, putting more stone jack stands beneath two more tanks, upending the heavy vehicles alongside The Hippo and Toph. Their most pressing work done, the earth benders rejoined the mass formation as it pushed forward towards the city's secondary defenses.
The royal plaza's gate was packed with lines of Fire Nation soldiers, forming their ranks on the steps of the narrow valley, the elevation providing them with the ability to fire over the heads of the formations in front of them, raining lead onto their attackers with seemingly no breaks between the volleys.
The rearmost land creeper at the right flank of the inverted V suffered a catastrophic fate, as the driver was struck in the head through his view port by lucky shot. His body slumped forward onto the controls of the vehicle, causing it to veer right and into the wall of the plaza, leaving its weak rear armor exposed. A cannon gunner at the top of the cliff saw his chance, and put a round into the back of the metal monster. Inside of the cramped land creeper, the hot iron round that had penetrated the cabin, was currently lodged in the coal store, setting it ablaze as the crew tried to evacuate, moments before the commander could pull himself free of his top hatch, the tank's powder load ignited and the armored vehicle blew up.
With the rear right of the attacker's formation exposed, men fell in droves to lead shot from the city's defenders, before the armored formation shifted into a line giving the infantry more frontal cover. Above, the gliders suffered losses, as nearly three quarters had been picked from the sky, their wings clipped by birdshot, as musketeers on the cliffs had organized an attack to down them.
Through their losses, the attackers managed to reach the port's stronghold at the end of the valley, pushing the Fire Nation mass infantry formations back. Creating earthen cover for themselves on both sides from the ground, the earth bending soldiers of the invading force approached the back wall of the plaza, and slapped the stone, before pushing outwards against it. The ground rumbled, and in two separate places the walls of the plaza checkpoint fell inwards towards Caldera.
Fire Nation forces, now pushed back from their strongest defense, were caught in the open, and in a state of covered retreat, staggered rows of musketeers and cavalry drawn cannons fired and moved rearwards as the slow moving armor of the invaders crept forward.
Sokka, his father, and sister, all observed the battlefield from Appa's armored saddle, the bison taking cover behind a half fallen wall. Sokka checked the spring driven timing device The Mechanist had given him. "Only a few minutes left until the eclipse. At this rate we might not even need it."
"We've still got a lot of ground to cover, and we've lost men. Don't get cocky, son." Hakoda said, before he looked over at his daughter.
"Wait... Is that?..." Katara trailed off, as she saw Aang flying back towards the battlefield.
Aang landed on Appa's back, and Sokka turned to him. "Please tell me you've back because the Fire Lord turned out to be a huge push over, and you didn't need the eclipse to beat him." Sokka begged.
"He wasn't home, no one was. The entire city's been abandoned." Aang said, as he knelt down.
Realizing that every Fire Nation soldier was carrying a musket, even the benders among them, Sokka's eyes went wide. "They knew about the eclipse... And they knew we were coming." He said, looking up to the hillside of Caldera's palace city in the distance.
Azula and Connor had been sitting inside the forward bunker for a few hours now, waiting for the invaders, preferably led by The Avatar, to blow open the door. Azula rested on the metal throne in the center of the room, as Connor sat on a rock stool he'd had to create for himself.
Connor sighed. "What's taking so long?"
"Patience Connor, they don't have all day." Azula said, before there were two knocks on the door.
"Oh, and Zuko finally decides to show up." Connor said, before unbelievably, the locked door of the bunker was dented inwards, though no explosion could be heard from the other side. Two more dents in the same location appeared, before finally the lock was busted off of the metal entryway, and the door swung open. Toph Beifong stood in the doorway, before Aang rushed past her and pointed the tip of his staff at the duo.
Azula smirked, seeing The Avatar, the blind earth bender, and the two water tribe siblings. "So, you are alive after all?" Azula asked. Aang's jaw dropped. "Zuko told me there was a good chance that you survived, but that hardly matters... I had a feeling it would take more than a few nails to kill you."
As Zuko stood outside of his Father's bunker, he waited, feeling his inner fire slowly dim, as above ground the moon eclipsed the sun, and his bending faded away. "I'm ready to face you." Zuko said, before opening the door.
Ozai looked up from his tea, past the squad of musket carrying imperial guards. "Prince Zuko, what are you doing here?"
"I'm here to tell the truth." Zuko said flatly.
Ozai waved his guards away, then spoke. "Telling the truth during the middle of an eclipse… This should be interesting."
"First of all, Azula lied to you about what happened in Ba Sing Se." Zuko said once the room belonged to just him and his father.
"And why would she have done that?" Ozai asked, not believing his son.
"Because The Avatar's alive." Zuko said, his father's eyes going wide. "He's probably leading this invasion. Azula figured he could have survived being shot, but I knew that he would. She lied because she was trying to protect her servant."
Ozai stood, and shouted at his son. "Get out! Get out of my sight right now if you know what's good for you!"
Zuko stood his ground. "And that's another thing. I'm not taking orders from you anymore." Zuko drew his swords from over his shoulder before his father could take a step. "I'm going to speak my mind, and you are going to listen."
Above ground, the invaders suffered heavy losses. As their armored formation had shifted from a line into a double colomb, the gunners on the land creepers and infantry formations fought their way up the hill, taking fire from above, until they came to the last switchback, where The Fire Nation soldiers had dug in like ticks. Now in the fight of their lives without their most versatile firebenders providing close range support, the soldiers were shooting from hastily dug fighting pits that had been made by the rear guard in preparation for their retreat to the city.
The forward most land creeper pressed ahead without fear, before it struck a mine buried in the road. The left track was blown off, and the armored vehicle's right track kept rolling, sending the steam powered vehicle rolling down the hillside, crushing the five rearmost men at the back of the attacker's formation. The invader's movement came to a halt, as they realized the road had been trapped.
Bringing what earth benders they had to the front of the colomb, the martial artists drove their fists into the ground, causing the ground to shake and the mines to either detonate or rise to the surface. The attackers with guns began taking pot shots at the mines to detonate them, as the Land Creepers held their positions and bombarded the Fire Nation trenches. The two armies had reached a stalemate.
Far away in the city of Omashu, The Mad King Bumi, chained high above the city in an iron coffin, saw that the sky had darkened, as the moon moved in front of the sun. "Oh, that looks promising." He said to himself, before straining his neck flinging stones from below him, sending them flying into the locks that bordered his cage. A free man, once again, Bumi dropped from the coffin, and engaged in a little tomfoolery.
His first act was to toss the three would be fire benders off the side of the mountain top with his bending, before he saw more soldiers approaching him, each carrying one of those boom tube things that the giant white boy had with him when he'd visited months ago. "STOP! Or we will shoot!" The leader said.
"You and what army?" Bumi asked which a chuckle, before he fell backwards into the stone floor, and burst free from the ground below them, sending the three flying as he punched up into the air. Finding that it would be funny, Bumi used what earth was available to give the giant statue of Ozai sitting on top of his city a fake mustache, before knocking it over, lifting one side of the stature with the earth foundation beneath it. Seeing his work done, Bumi turned, and found a new line of men with muskets, though much larger than the first group. He pouted at them. "Well that's not fair at all."
In Ba Sing Se, the sun dimmed.
With the fire benders powerless, the musketeers working with weapons too long to be used effectively in the urban hellscape that was the lower ring, the remnants of the Earth Army, the citizens of the militia, (many of whom were former revolutionaries,) and the Dai Li in exile, all staged an uprising.
Without swords, and without muskets, the earth benders threw their rocks, as the non-benders drew home made pistols, kitchen knives, and clubs made from table legs. They flooded the streets of the city from the shadows, and for eight whole minutes, did their best to purge the soldiers from their land. Many still died in the fighting, their sacrifice not having been made in vain.
All across the Earth Kingdom, as fire benders lost their power, and the citizens of the Fire Nation lost their nerve at the sight of their sun being swallowed by the moon, militias and mobs took the opportunity they had to fight, the battle cry of a bleeding nation sounding out above the wind, "Freedom will reign!"
In Azula's bunker, Aang stepped forward before anything else could be said. "Where is he? Where's the Fire Lord?"
"Just leave her Aang, we can find the Fire Lord on our own." Katara said, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"Well that's sort of insulting. I haven't been sitting here waiting all day just to be ignored." Azula said as she stood up.
"Stop wasting our time, and give us the information we want. You're in no position to argue without your bending." Sokka said, pointing his musket at her.
"Connor is." Azula said, pointing her thumb at the tall boy beside her, his pistol drawn.
"Not that we want to." Connor said, not raising his gun as Sokka did.
"Either way. I suppose it's time to play nice." Azula said, stepping forward. "With the eclipse, we're on far more equal ground than at any other point where we've met so far. I see this as the only opportunity where you and I will be able to make peace, Avatar."
Sokka looked over at Toph to see if Azula was lying. Toph narrowed her non-functional eyes. "I can't tell if she's being honest or not."
"Then hear me speak, mystic. Azula and I want to help you dethrone Ozai." Connor said.
"Your belief in her words means nothing to us." Katara nearly spat.
"You've backstabbed us before. Do we look stupid enough to fall for your false surrender again?" Sokka asked.
Azula raised an eyebrow. "If you want an honest answer, yes, I think both you and your sister do look that stupid, but that's not exactly the point."
Katara grit her teeth, and lashed out at the two with a whip of water from her pouch. Connor pulled his fist left, dragging a section of the wall out to disrupt the attack, the water splashing against the stone.
"So much for peacemaking." Connor said with an eye roll, as he holstered his pistol.
Zuko lowered his swords as he spoke to his father. "For so long, all I've wanted was for you to love me. To accept me. I thought, it was my honor that I wanted, but really I was just trying to please you. You, my father, who banished me, just for speaking out of turn. My father, who challenged me, a thirteen year old boy, to an Agni Kai. How could you possibly justify a duel with a child?" Zuko asked.
"It was to teach you respect." Ozai said.
"It was cruel, and it was wrong." Zuko said, pointing his right sword at his father.
"Then you've learned nothing." Ozai lamented.
"No. I've learned so much more. Growing up, we were taught that the Fire Nation was the greatest civilization in history, that the war was just the result of trying to share our greatness with the rest of the world. And what an amazing lie that was. The rest of the world is terrified of the Fire Nation. They hate us. And we deserve it. We've destroyed entire cultures, and have ruined peoples lives because of Sozin's dream. A dream Azulon and you have twisted into something worse than even he could have imagined. And I can't let it go on. The era of fear and chaos that we've created needs to be replaced by one of love, and peace."
Ozai let out a short laugh at his son's words. "Your uncle's gotten to you hasn't he?"
Zuko smiled to himself. "Yes. He has."
As Aang smashed through the wall of earth Connor had pulled out, both the red head, and Azula backed up a pace. "Alright, that's our exit que." Connor said. Rolling a punch right to drag a piece of the stone from the floor and send it flying sideways at Aang, as Azula took off, ducking behind the bunker's metal support beams to avoid a blast of lead shot from Sokka.
As Aang smashed the rock before it could hit him, and Sokka slung his gun to draw his sword, Connor bolted left towards the wall, and Azula ran from her cover towards the door. The Fire Nation princes leapt clean over a slice of water sent at her by Katara, as Connor charged right through a pillar Toph pulled from the wall to stop him, and the two left the room together.
Running down the tunnel to their right, Connor looked at Azula. "Guess Zuko was right. We should have waited until you could protect yourself."
"Whatever, let's just get them to my father, and maybe we can fix this mess." Azula said, before coming to a halt, hearing Sokka behind her.
"Wait, everyone stop attacking." The water tribe boy said, lowering his sword.
"Finally come to your senses?" Connor asked.
"They're just toying with us. Connor can still bend, and he has his gun, but they haven't even tried fighting." Sokka said.
"Not true, Connor's thrown a punch. We're just taking you to the Fire Lord." Azula said, putting her hands on her hips.
"You're just stalling to waist our time." Toph said, pointing at Azula.
"Your friend just said that genius. And since you can't see, I'll let you know, I'm rolling my eyes." Azula said, making good to exaggerate the eye roll.
"I'll roll your whole head!" Toph threatened.
"Easy Toph, she's just baiting you." Sokka said.
"I'm really not." Azula commented. "If you want to fight the Firelord, then follow us."
"So what now, just ignore her?" Aang asked, doubting Azula's words.
"We should have done that from the start." Katara said.
"If we're fast, there's a chance we can find the Fire Lord on our own." Sokka said, turning away from Azula.
"Or, if you accept our proposal, the two of us could take you right to him." Azula offered, pointing down the tunnel behind her, as the group all turned and walked away.
"Ignore her!" Sokka said, still walking in the wrong direction.
Connor looked at Azula, who shrugged. "Well say something." He said.
Azula took a breath, then sighed. "If you want I can sweeten the deal." She said with a smirk. "Sokka isn't it? You know, your girlfriend, the one from Kyoshi, I captured her before infiltrating Ba Sing Se. She's still a prisoner of war. If you'd like, I can have her removed from jail before the others once the war's over." Azula offered.
Sokka grit his teeth as he turned, raising his sword, and charging at Azula.
"Oh no." Azula said, realizing she might have incidentally struck a nerve.
Connor drew his cutlass in a reverse grip with his left hand, and blocked Sokka's opening attack, shoving the smaller fighter away from him, before looking over his shoulder at Azula. "That wasn't what I had in mind."
As Zuko put his swords away, he continued to speak to his father. "I'm going to leave, and free uncle Iroh from his prison. And I'm going to beg for his forgiveness. He's the one who's been a real father to me."
Ozai chuckled. "Oh that's just beautiful. Maybe he can pass down to you the ways of tea and failure."
Zuko exhaled. "I've come to an even more important decision than freeing Iroh. And it's not a decision I've made alone. Azula, her servant, and I have decided, we're going to join The Avatar, and help him defeat you. They should be on their way here right now."
Ozai's eyes went wide for a moment. "So you've turned your sister against me?" He asked.
Zuko shook his head. "Azula's turned against you on her own. She's changed since we were kids. And I think I know why." Ozai looked away from his son in thought. "She's seen the world just like I have, and she knows what we've been doing is wrong. Though I suspect her falling in love with her servant might have helped."
Ozai put his face into his hand. "I knew it. I knew she'd been corrupted by that savage freak. Why else would she insist on taking him to Ember Island?"
"I guess that makes both of your children disappointments, huh?" Zuko asked, as Ozai looked at him again.
"Well then?" Ozai asked, looking at his son again. "If you're both full blown traitors, and you intended to dethrone me, why didn't you just draw your swords and end me once I sent away the guards?"
Zuko smiled to himself again. "Because I know my own destiny. And killing you, isn't it." Zuko said, as he turned to leave.
"Coward! You think you're brave for facing me, but you'll only do it during the eclipse. If you have any real courage, you'll stick around until the sun comes back out." Ozai said, as Zuko reached the door.
Zuko looked over his shoulder for a moment. "By then. The Avatar will have done what he needs to do, and I'll be Firelord."
Ozai grew a smirk. "Well if I am to die, don't you want to know what happened to your mother?"
Zuko relinquished his grip from the door handle, and turned back to look at his father. "What happened to her?"
"When I asked my father, Fire Lord Azulon to revoke Iroh's birthright, he commanded me to kill you, my first son as the price to be paid for the title of heir. And I was going to do it. Your mother found out, and she swore that she would protect you at any cost. She knew I wanted the throne, and proposed a plan. A plan, where I would become Fire Lord, and you would be spared…"
As Sokka pushed himself back to his feet, he pointed his sword at Connor. "Where's Suki?!" He asked in a shout.
"Ay, calm down, and we'll tell you, if you let us speak our piece." Connor said, as he spun his sword into a proper handshake grip.
"No! You're going to tell me where you're keeping Suki, now!" Sokka yelled, as he swung his sword again, only for Connor to wind it away with a flick of his wrist.
"Sokka, like you said, they're just wasting our time." Aang pleaded with his friend.
Connor backed up a step and spoke to Azula. "As are we. Zuko should have come to us by now, so he's probably done something stupid. We might need to leave."
Azula quickly assessed the situation for a moment. "Fine. If you're so desperate to face my father without my help, his chamber is all the way down this hall and to the left." She said, turning to run, as Connor backed off with her.
Connor pulled out and held up the silver German pocket watch he'd taken from the ship's cargo within the warehouse. "You've got about forty five seconds before the eclipse is over. Do with that what you will." Connor said, before turning and running after Azula.
The gang stood in silence for a second. "That's not enough time." Sokka said to himself. "We failed."
Ozai continued to smirk. "Your mother did vicious treasonous things that night. Poisoning my father, forging his final will. She knew there would be consequences and accepted them. For her treason, she was banished."
Zuko felt tears well in his eyes, one dripping down his right cheek. "She's alive?" He asked.
"Perhaps." Ozai said. "But now I realize, banishment is far too merciful a penalty for treason. Your punishment will be far steeper."
As the Sun above ground peeked out from behind the moon, both Ozai and Zuko felt their inner fire return, and as fast as the lighting he drew, Ozai conjured two arcs within a half second, one in each hand, that he fired at Zuko.
Reacting only fast enough to catch the twin bolts, and hold them for a moment, Zuko, for the first time with only his uncle's teaching, redirected lighting. The single stream of energy Zuko returned was sent low towards his father's feet, and with a boom, the Fire Lord was sent flying back into the wall, as a cloud of dust concealed Zuko's escape.
Above ground, the invasion force had wasted their eight minutes of darkness in pushing past the Fire Army trenches, and over the hill into the city proper. The resulting fight through the city was something they had not prepared for. Guns were set at seemingly every street corner. Cannons were hidden inside of shops, grenadiers dropped bombs from rooftops, and Fire Benders with their powers returned, were all too willing to risk burning down their own buildings if it meant taking out a handful of soldiers. The Land Creepers, so large and slow, had trouble avoiding traps, and maneuvering in the tight passageways of the city, turning the invasion's second greatest advantage into a liability. One was boarded by a fire bender, who stuck his hand into the nearest open hatch, and burned out the crew.
After everything, the invasion was halted only five blocks into the city, as that lead tank was destroyed. The invaders were quickly pushed back over the mountain crest, and forced into defensive positions there, their original assortment of five Land Creepers now reduced to just two. They made their own trenches at the bottom of the highest switchback, in the hopes of wearing down the Fire Army.
With the universe seemingly determined to make their situation worse, the invaders looked up to the sky, as they heard fog horns blare. Coming over the hills to the north, massive, grey, canvas covered, cylindrical airships, held aloft with hydrogen, and propelled by steam engines carried on gondolas below the craft, encroached on the invaders position. Red war balloons flew beside them, dwarfed by the flying tubes made of steel and cloth.
Hakoda looked around at his men, most of whom had by now gathered muskets from fallen Fire Nation soldiers, and issued a command. "Don't just stand there, fire at those things!"
Though a few war balloons had grown holes, with one falling from the sky, the airships suffered little if any damage. In fact, the remaining airborne invaders with their green balloons, originally out of reach, became prime targets for the musketeers and cannon crewmen aboard both Fire Nation balloons and airships alike.
As Aang and his friends returned to the battlefield, he saw the fighting below. Appa landed behind the frontline, and Sokka was the first to jump off his back, reporting to his father. "It was a trap. Azula knew we were coming somehow."
"Things aren't going much better here." Hakoda said.
"We need to get to the beach as fast as we can, and break out of the bay, now." Sokka said, as the airships loomed over the invaders position, the bomb doors opening. "Oh no… FIND SOME COVER!" Sokka shouted, as explosives began to drop from the airships.
As the earth benders within the small army created shelter for their comrades, the Land Creepers could do nothing but take their punishment, the lead vehicle of the two being hit directly by a bomb. The metal shell was blown outwards, and the vehicle's remains caught fire, its wreck and dead crew blocking any attempt at another advance up the hill.
Once the bombardment had stopped, the airships continued towards the beach. "Hold on…" Aang said. "They're going after the ships!"
"We're going to be trapped." Sokka said.
"Not all of us." His dad said, stepping forward. "The youngest of the group needs to get on Appa, and leave, and leave quickly."
"What? No, dad, we're not leaving you. We're not leaving anybody." Katara said, hugging her father.
"Katara, you have to. The Avatar is the only chance we've got left." Hakoda said.
"Then I'll stand and fight with you." Aang said, planting his staff.
"No." Hakoda said. "You most of all need to go. We can't risk losing you. You are the last bastion of hope the world has, and you have to live to fight another day. The rest of us will do what we need to."
Holding back tears, Aang nodded, as he jumped up onto Appa's back. While Hakoda and the men of the tribes prepared to surrender with honor, many of the Earth Kingdom men took their weapons, and prepared to vanishe below ground with the assistance of their earth bending comrades, intending to continue their fighting elsewhere in the Fire Nation.
Teo hugged his dad before the mechanist spoke with Hakoda about making their capture as easy as possible.
Haru gave a solemn nod to his father Tyro, before the older man created a tunnel for his group of escapees.
Smellerbee had cried when Longshot hugged her, before he turned to follow Pipsqueak and Tyro on their path of insurgency.
The Duke waved at everyone as Toph helped him up onto Appa where Katara and Sokka were waiting.
Aang took a calming breath, hoping his voice wouldn't crack while he spoke his parting words. "Thank you all for being so brave, and so strong... I'm going to make this up to you.
Back within the city, Connor and Azula ran through the streets after they'd retrieved their bags. Their state of hurry going ignored by the soldiers stationed within Caldera, the news of their treason having not yet spread. "Well that went horribly." Azula said, as she rounded a corner, Connor on her tail.
"Gee I wonder why? It's almost like you couldn't go ten seconds without irritating someone." Connor said, catching up to her.
"All I did was tell the truth, why is it that when I do that no one believes me?" Azula asked, putting a hand to her armored chest.
"Might have something to do with all the previous lies." Connor said with a shrug, the two stopped as they heard a whistle. Looking right, they saw Zuko standing in an alley.
"Where was The Avatar?" Zuko asked.
"He refused our help. And where have you been?!" Azula asked, as he joined them in their run towards the industrial park.
"I went to speak with our father. I told him the truth." Zuko said.
"Oh and I bet he was just thrilled to hear how we've betrayed him so." Azula said with an eye roll.
"He took it better than I expected actually." Zuko shrugged, as the three reached their destination, a war balloon, modified for civilian sky tours of the capitol, anchored to its dock, abandoned. The three took to the air, and seeing The Avatar's bison, followed his heading, north by north west.
Hakoda did a head count as the Fire Army's soldiers started marching towards them from the top of the hill. He had to hold back a tear... The invasion was a hopeless failure. Nearly half of the force had died, with the tattered remains either injured, fleeing into the fire nation countryside, or prepared to become prisoners of war. His good friend Bato lay unconscious in the rear, missing a leg, his chances of survival dwindling.
Hakoda didn't even know what the situation at the beach head was, but given how the airships had lingered over the ships and submarines, bombing them into scrap, he couldn't imagine many survived. Raising the white flag he held, Hakoda approached the Fire Nation formation, and closed his eyes before being taken by his arms.
Now safely in the air, and far from the city, Connor sat in the balloon's basket already feeling air sick, as Azula stood beside him. Zuko fed the flames of the fire powered engine with a lump of coal, and looked over at his sister, who sighed. "Fine…" Azula said. "You were right dum-dum."
"I was right about what?" Zuko asked.
"You were right about trying to speak with The Avatar after the invasion. The battle made things far too hectic, and he wouldn't listen." Azula crossed her arms. "I've royally screwed us, haven't I?"
"I think we'd have been pretty screwed either way." Zuko said, looking down at Connor, then over at Azula. "It sounded like dad knew about you two... Or at least had a suspicion."
"And?" Azula asked.
"Well, he called me a coward, and blames Connor for, and I quote, "corrupting" you." Zuko said. "So I'm pretty sure that he's been looking for an excuse to get rid of both of us since we got home."
"So what now?" Connor asked.
Zuko looked down at Connor. "Now, we follow The Avatar's trail, and hopefully he'll be more willing to listen to me… And I think I know exactly where he's headed." Zuko said, looking out at the bison flying far off in the distance.