The Chronicles Of Kaurava: Part 7
A Sudden Shift In Dominance
Previously on Avatar: Hammer Of The Elements
Right when it was on the verge of destruction at the hands of the Combine Army, the planetary resistance led by Avatar Aang and Primarch Krishna recieved a much-needed sorcerous power boost from an unknown benefactor, who seemed to be watching the entire war unfold from far, far away.
This sudden act of "divine intervention" leveled the playing field, allowing Kaurava's defenders to fight the nightmarish aliens on equal terms.
The only thing left to do now, is to rage against the dying light, not vanishing without a fight!
While the two armies clashed in the rubble and wreckage-strewn background, Krishna stared down his most formidable opponent yet- a Hive General of the Combine Empire, Shub-Niggurath, best described as a monstrous amalgamation of goat, octopus, mushroom, deformed humanoid, and giant insect, whose very appearance could potentially damage the eyes of any mortals who looked upon it.
"I've had about enough of you rebel scum spoiling our mission of Manifest Destiny," the creature said, its hateful gaze and sensory perception totally fixated upon the Primarch. "Now, prepare to face OBLIVION!"
"Never been too good at that!," Krishna replied sarcastically and indifferently, before blazing into battle with his firebending technique, propelling himself through the air like a living rocket engine.
In response, several hooked and barbed tentacles lashed out at lightspeed velocity and wrapped themselves around him, causing the giant warrior immense pain and holding him firmly in place.
"AAAUGH!"
"You didn't think I'd see that coming? You're HOPELESS... HOPELESS AND ALONE!"
Saying this proved to be a fatal mistake on Shub-Niggurath's part... as he was bombarded with elemental fury and bolter shells from all directions.
The mounted monster buckled and screeched in agony, as chunks of meaty biomass were blown off its hide and vaporized to a red mist.
Furthermore, Commander Mithrarin was wielding a guandao-sniper-rifle hybrid that emitted smoke from being fired seconds ago, while his eyes were filled with steely conviction.
"I beg to differ, dishonest tyrant! Loyalty and brotherhood are rewards of their very own- we'd sacrifice our lives for each other, and put trust in one another, whereas someone like you could simply be disposed of by your colleagues, and replaced by a more fitting substitute! In truth, you are the one who is alone!"
On Aang's command, the resistance surged forward and tore into the Combine's armies like a harvester tractor through a field of grain, each warrior blessed with radiant supernatural power, and more specifically, the ability to warp reality to a limited degree.
"Forward, unto VICTORY! The future is in our hands!"
Shub-Niggurath and its vanguard invasion army never stood a chance against such righteous might. Benders, Astartes and non-benders alike used everything from melee weapons and firearms to improvised explosives and even their bare hands to utterly eviscerate the xenos filth, in a roaring rampage of retribution. Robotic suits of starmetal armor and biomechanical war machines were swatted aside as if they were just ordinary insects, while a river of pure chromatic devastation ripped straight into the densest part of the remaining Combine forces.
When the dust settled, and the surge of psychic power faded, the vile alien menace was no more, reduced to ashes in the wind, as the sun rose on the desolate, blasted landscape.
Everyone was so exhausted from exerting so much energy in that 30-minute long berserker frenzy, that it was hard for the triumphant defenders to stand on their feet at all. They felt shocked and bewildered beyond belief that their unforgiving, blood-soaked struggle for survival, something inevitably bound to fail, had actually earned sympathy and genuine respect from a divine power, turning the tables on the sadistic alien conquerors, who would've otherwise enslaved and subjugated Kaurava like countless worlds before it.
Even the starfaring humans from the Imperium, who were fully involved in this war of liberation, had absolutely no clue of the identity behind the anonymous figure who delivered this miracle, though in truth, he was hiding in plain sight.
Shortly after coming to grips with what they had just accomplished, a raucous and zealous cheer erupted from the victorious army of humanity, with the tough, boisterous crowd celebrating by kicking around and toying with the now lifeless robotic bodies of Combine droid infantry, some of the only remains of the enemy that hadn't disintegrated in the elemental storm of retribution.
But just when things seemed like they were finally going in the right direction of the heroes of Kaurava, a blinding explosion of a magnitude that defied belief flashed across the horizon, taking up the whole sky and leaving everyone briefly sightless (except for General Toph Beifong, the notorious Blind Bandit.)
When everybody regained their sense of eyesight, Legion Commander Mithrarin cursed loudly and stomped on a killer droid's rusty metal skull, which had been corroded by amplified Waterbending attacks. The Space Marines had received dire news of a threat that the ground forces had basically forgotten in the heat of battle, and the apparent victory right after.
"God DAMN it! We forgot about the Combine's mothership! They've activated another one of their stupid trap cards, somewhere out in deep space!"
Right as he said that, the whole legion's armament and equipment- Power Armor, Bolters, and traditional martial arts weapons alike- disintegrated into dust, and faded from reality itself.
"What just happened?!," Zuko shouted at Mithrarin, demanding an answer, along with the whole crew of Benders other and indigenous warriors.
"My BOOMERANG AND MY SWORD!," Sokka screamed, in anguish from losing his most prized possession and his signature dueling weapon. "They're GOING TO PAY."
"What kind of coward renders his opponent completely and utterly defenseless before closing in for a one-sided slaughter?!," Katara exclaimed.
Primarch Krishna immediately made a theory, attempting to explain the sudden disappearance of everyone's vital equipment.
"The Combine must have some sort of bizarre, unexplainable technology that robbed us of any meaningful way of defending ourselves," he said in an austere tone.
"Hold on a minute!," Reika said with an astonished look on her face. "I can still use my bending, though!"
The Hidden Valley's Hydroblade took some polluted beach water and formed a pair of icy hoarfrost katanas- her preferred means of dispatching cowardly alien invaders.
Zuko and Toph were able to shoot flames and create rock pillars, respectively, unveiling a hidden weakness that the Combine had. Isan launched gale force winds, and Daoyu shot a volley of arrows made of obsidian, which only added further validity.
"We seem to have almost no physical means of harming them at this point," Mithrarin deducted. "So we'll have to make do with whatever magic we have. The powers of the Warp are our salvation."
"Even if Bending is only magic in the loosest sense of the term, depending on the physical prowess of its user... we can still use it to our advantage. Assuming we still have the favor of whatever god or spirit helped us earlier, we could find a way to generate enough destructive elemental power to threaten the Star Fort Mothership's defenses."
"But who could possibly have enough mastery in Bending to pull off such a miraculous feat?," Reika wondered aloud.
She then looked towards Aang and Krishna, along with everyone else, therefore answering her own question.
"One of us is going to have to fly up into the cosmos and face the Combine's capital ship on their own," Krishna said, with hints of regret in his voice. "Even if the star travelers have their own substantial fleet, they won't be able to lend any help. They might as well be sitting ducks right now. If I die up there, I won't be able to fulfill my apparent purpose of guiding mankind towards a brighter future... but regardless, this is the only choice I have left."
Just then, Aang announced something that nobody was prepared for, despite the recommended course of action being quite evidently crystal-clear by now:
"No! Don't say that! You know what... I'll be the sacrifice!"
"My whole life has been spent confronting tyrannical institutions and correcting great injustices. First the demonic Fire Lord Ozai at the height of the 100-Year-War, then Krishna's terribly misguided revolution before he had a change of heart, and now, a cosmic horror that threatens to blot out the sun itself, extinguishing all hope for humanity."
"Let me be the one who gives up my life... my only wishes are that you will all be better off without me in some way, and that I will finally be reunited with my first family and friends, condemned to extermination all those years ago. Please allow a new Avatar to handle this new era, and bring balance in the uncertain future to come... and please forgive me, for the unforgivable mistakes I've made."
"No!," Katara screamed. "We won't let you! There has to be some other way!"
Aang remained adamant in his decision, however.
"When duty calls, you must answer... no matter how inconvenient it may be. The time has come for me to pass on the torch. Now, you must find your way forward in this turbulent time.Be like water, my friends. Farewell."
The Avatar launched himself into the air and landed in the cockpit of an aerospace fighter, parked on a coastal cliffside, one of the few surviving combat vehicles that the Imperial regiment present at Port Orochi had deliberately kept away from thebattle.
When Mithrarin and his Spirit Warden Astartes tried to apprehend Aang for stealing the spacecraft, he spewed magma-hot flames at them, forcing the Marines to take cover behind some rocks.
"How does he know how to pilot that void fighter? It's almost as if someone is feeding him intel from afar! Could it be the very same being who lended us a mighty hand in the bloodbath with the Combine Army?"
Within minutes, Aang was in space, and following instructions that had appeared in his thoughts, completely out of the blue. His tattoos began to glow with otherworldly power, and soon, his whole body was doing the same thing, as if his spirit was about to leave his body behind at any moment.
After an hour or so of flying past all the planets, neighboring worlds that the Elemental Nations would have inevitably begun exploring if technology had progressed faster, the wayward Avatar came across a fleet of colossal starships locked in one-sided combat, with a vessel the size of a small planet preparing to unload its sunlike primary weapon upon defenseless targets- undoubtedly the enemy flagship that had given the spacefaring humans so much grief.
Deep down, Aang wanted to believe that he could simply use his starfighter's useless weapons to destroy the mothership, and return to his friends and found family. But once again taking a look at his glowing body and clothing, as well as listening to the voices in his head, which came from both the past and the future, he realized what he had to do.
"You must actively shape your own destiny, and the destiny of the world."
"Everyone in this kingdom must have a voice if justice is to prevail over tyranny."
"Some friendships are so strong, they can transcend lifetimes."
"When we hit our lowest point, we are open to the greatest change of all."
"I realize that although we should learn from those who came before us, we must also forge our own path forward."
"You will be required to use force in order to achieve your goals and pursue what is right... and you may be required to sacrifice yourself to preserve peace for all."
Avatar Aang, defender of the weak and helpless, champion of the downtrodden and oppressed, and paragon of selflessness and courage, met his end defying the ultimate evil, giving his life away to protect the ones he loved.
The tiny fighter craft darted towards the seemingly inexorable juggernaut of tyranny, and obliterated it in a single, fated collision, the indomitable human spirit emerging triumphant from the immense mystical explosion, like a phoenix rising from the ashes... something that could only be described as being caused by the collective willpower and virtue of all Mankind.
The war for Kaurava had been won, and humanity had prevailed against all odds... but at what cost?
The Imperium of Man was intent on sticking around, to say the least, and things would never go back to the way they were in the land of Bending.
NOTE: The finale of the Elemental Hammer storyline is on the way! Thanks for all the support you've shown for this crossover project. I really appreciate it.
When this story is finally done, I'm going to make a full-on encyclopedia style project for the Second Legion of the Adeptus Astartes, the Spirit Wardens, who are now reunited with their Primarch.
This upcoming wiki will chronicle all the history of the Bender Space Marines, through the Great Crusade and the Horus Heresy.
Also, sorry if this ending seems anticlimactic. I wanted Aang to selflessly sacrifice himself so he could pass on his role to Korra for a future installment of Hammer of the Elements.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure you already know who decided to gift obscene Warp powers to the Avatar and his comrades, for the sake of having Kaurava cooperate with the Imperium in the future.
See you around for the finale.