Gladiator

by Seyary-Minamoto

In a world where the Avatar wasn't found, the Fire Nation took over two nations and they strive to overcome the last one. Water Tribe warrior Sokka seeks to fight for his people's rights, but he's captured by his enemies. His life is no longer in his hands as he fights as a Gladiator, and his fate will eventually depend on the Fire Nation Princess, who needs him for her own ends...

313. Chapter 313: The Battle of Ba Sing Se 2

A/N:

I'm very sorry for taking as good as an extra day to update. It's been a chaotic week for an array of IRL reasons, so much so that I just flat out blanked out on what day of the week it was. But anyway, here we go!

The Battle of Ba Sing Se

2

The loud noises by the gathered army covered for the sounds of the rapidly working earthbenders under the Inner Wall. Now with bolstered numbers, Toph's squad ensured to dig a large chasm under the Inner Wall's foundations: their steady progress was more thorough this time than before, as the buildings within this structure were larger and far more sophisticated than in the Outer Wall: the next gaps they would break into the wall would be quite dangerous, too, but the initial one was almost ready. They just had to go a little further, spurred into working faster by hearing the chanting rhythm chorused by the army's members, slamming their pikes on the ground to follow the song's beat.

The time was ripe now. The opportune moment approached. Toph could sense movement within the city: troops were rushing in, both to evacuate the citizens in the area and to fortify the wall further. Waiting any longer, even if the secondary openings in the wall weren't fully ready yet, would give the city too much time to build defenses. She wasn't about to give them that chance, whether it was the wisest choice or not.

"Hey, Nanami!" Toph shouted. The other earthbending leader nodded in her direction. "We're cracking this now. Get ready to take down the last of it, and then get to Daeshim's side as the wall goes down. I'll go to Captain Monument."

"As you command, sir," Nanami acknowledged, nodding in Toph's direction.

Once more, they would seal themselves in underground chambers meant to protect their groups from the chaos and the dust brought up by the crumbling wall. The team would split in two after the Inner Wall had to be torn down, and they would create two more gaps in the Inner Wall, just as Sokka had planned it.

Before tearing down the singular pillars and beams they had left supporting the bulk of the wall, Toph ordered her forces to release another dust cloud right at the foot of the city's wall, knowing Sokka would notice it. On cue, she sensed his mount rearing up, and she smiled once she confirmed he was prepared to take action now that the earthbenders were prepared to do the same.

Above ground, no intentions of surrender had been shown by the Fire Nation. The cloud at the foot of the wall arrived a little sooner than Sokka had expected it, something that would benefit his army greatly. If the chaotic situation in the battlements was anything to go by, it was likely that the Fire Nation's defenses were far from articulate still, regardless of the time and chances they had to prepare themselves so far…

"Spearmen!" Sokka called: the drumming sound of the pikes hitting the ground ceased quickly. "Shields up! Spears forward!"

The command spread quickly through the musical squad: each orderly non-bender squad was led by shielded pikemen, prepared to serve as an initial line of defense that would march slowly but, hopefully, steadily into the city. Their shields weren't as bulky as those of the Water Tribe, but Sokka hoped the large, round designs favored by the Earth Kingdom troops would offer better mobility than his culture's tall shields, as well as proving effective against whatever manner of ranged projectiles that might attempt to reach their army.

He spurred Foo-Foo on, and the moose-lion took to a light trot, at a safe distance from the spears that now were raised firmly towards the city. The remaining, disorganized forces at the battlements seemed more scrambled and nervous now, unsure of what the enemy intended to do next… and Sokka would make the most of the chaos as he marched back and forth before the frontlines, as good as taunting the enemy on the walls. Any second now… any moment now…

He stopped at the right wing of the army, where the mounted forces he would lead during this part of the assault awaited him. Jet would lead the left wing personally, and Sokka only had a moment to glance at his ally from across the large army, confirming with a nod that he was ready for the next stage of the plan.

Then, his attention was claimed by a cracking sound, akin to lightning, that startled those on the battlements ahead.

For the second time in hours, Sokka watched as a group of panicked troops felt the very ground underneath their feet shattering, fading away, sinking into nothingness. His forces retained their formation, standing at a safe enough distance to remain unaffected by the crumbling wall… but they had a perfect view of the destruction of that wall as it seemed to be swallowed by the ground below.

Screams, shrieks, panic, last-minute attempts by earthbenders to salvage the situation went nowhere: in the end, only those who jumped off the wall, whether into the city or out of it, seemed to have any chance to survive the slow destruction of the fortification that had kept them safe for ten years.

Sokka breathed deeply: inevitable guilt swirled in his gut at the knowledge of the lives his latest schemes had cost… lives he knew he wouldn't be able to restore, no matter what he did. Just as the countless lives the Fire Nation had stolen already, and that they had believed were justifiable deaths in the face of their conquest and goals. While he hadn't wanted to be anything like them, he knew his mission required him to not falter, to show no weakness, to guide his forces through the horrors they would have to inflict, just as those that had once been inflicted upon them.

"Brace yourselves!" a voice called within the army: the shielded warriors raised their protections over the level of their eyes just in time for the rising cloud of dust, the product of the fully crumbled wall, spilled in both directions of the walls.

In a manner of moments, the cloud of dust was swept away by the swinging tail of the sky-bison: Aang guided him to the ground once more, spurring him into helping their forces stand strong against the onslaught of dust rushing at them.

That same dust rose around the wall too, causing further trouble for the already chaotic and disorganized Fire Nation army: even the troops that had assembled successfully behind the wall were now in disarray over the unsettling cloud that concealed the enemy forces from sight all too well. More new squads were arriving to defend the Fire Nation's control of the city, but it didn't seem they would suffice, not when their foes had achieved the unthinkable somehow…

The Inner Wall had been breached: the assailants had access to the Lower Ring, and they were about to make the most of it.

"Archers at the ready!" Sokka bellowed.

The ranged troops, behind the spearmen, clasped their bows and arrows firmly.

"Infantry… MARCH!"

The last of the Gladiator's orders was obeyed firmly by the spearmen and archers right away: the sound of the thunderous footsteps, falling on the ground in unison, was bound to chill the blood in the hearts of the many soldiers waiting behind that wall, soldiers who could see nothing other than that horrific dust cloud, the only remnant left of that section of their sturdy wall… and then the voices of commanding officers within the attacking army shouted, in quick succession:

"FIRE!"

The snapping of bowstrings preceded the rain of death that hailed on the forces immediately behind the wall: however trained they were, however long they had served in the Fire Nation army, nothing had prepared them for a catastrophic battle that already seemed lost when it had barely just begun…

---

The monorail Tiang and Jin rode was progressing through the Middle Ring when a sudden, urgent command saw the vehicle stopped in one of the area's stations. Tiang, perplexed, climbed off the vehicle, followed by his wife: he had given express orders for their train not to be stopped, and for all civilian operations of the vehicles to be ceased until this battle's conclusion. That his orders would be ignored meant something dire, urgent had most likely happened… and he learned exactly what once he stepped into the platform: Commander Wangdu, the officer Tiang had left in charge of communications for now, greeted him with a somber semblance.

"General… the Inner Wall has fallen."

Tiang's eyes widened. Jin, behind him, covered her mouth with her hands.

"Already? What…?!" Tiang gasped, shaking his head. "How?!"

"It's hard to say…" Wangdu admitted, apprehensive. "But reports say the wall seemed to drop into the ground, as though it were quicksand, or…!"

"Then… it's the work of earthbenders," Tiang concluded, frowning heavily as his mind supplied him with the most reasonable explanation. "They may have undermined the wall's foundations, but… there have to be many of them for a strategy of the sort to succeed, otherwise…!"

"The enemy seems to number around five thousand, General," Wangdu said, his voice trembling slightly. "T-there's only a handful of visible standards, they're clad in blue uniforms…"

"Blue?" Tiang repeated. "Could you see the symbol on those standards?"

"Indeed, sir: the White Lotus."

Tiang's stomach sank, even if he had already suspected as much. His fists trembled as he processed the unwanted revelations: Fire Lord Ozai had long attempted to rout the rebellion of the White Lotus, but he had no knowledge until now of whether he had succeeded or failed at that endeavor. Considering there was a force of around five thousand at Ba Sing Se, tearing down the Inner Wall within instants, it seemed the Fire Lord had failed abysmally, in the end.

"Jin…" Tiang said, turning towards her with a stern frown. "Go back to the Upper Ring."

"What? No! Tiang, you said…!"

"I know I did, but I need your help in gathering the reinforcements that will strengthen the Lower Ring as long as we can contain them where they breached the walls," Tiang said, clasping her shoulders firmly. She gritted her teeth: she'd have a role to play indeed, but she couldn't shake off the suspicion that her husband simply wanted to protect her. "Inform the populace of what's happening, both in the Upper and the Middle Rings. Gather all available forces and prepare them to reinforce the Lower Ring as soon as possible… though, if they happen to take the Lower Ring faster than we expect, use those forces to strengthen the Middle Ring instead. I would rather not allow the Lower Ring to fall to them, but…"

"I-it's hardly up to you," Jin said, gritting her teeth. "Not at this point, anyway. But the Lower Ring is large and taking control of the whole area won't be child's play. Even if they have five thousand troops…"

"Even then, we outnumber them. We can outmaneuver them as long as we start doing so now," Tiang said: his hand fisted Jin's hair as he pressed one more kiss to her lips… a kiss he direly hoped wouldn't be the last. "I will come back to you as soon as I can. Go now."

Jin nodded: she was holding back tears, but she marched with dignity to the train once more. Tiang conveyed his orders for the vehicle to carry his wife back to the Upper Ring, and then he was left to wait for a new train to be brought for himself, so he could join the Lower Ring's forces. Yet before it arrived…

"General Tiang, sir… there's one more thing you need to know," Wangdu blurted out suddenly, startling Tiang as he was starting to ponder how best to organize their defenses – the White Lotus might have earthbenders attacking from below ground, which meant they'd have to fight on two levels, presumably, once the enemy entered the city and its catacombs. If the hostile earthbenders were defeated underground…

"What is it? Did they take any unusual formations, do you have any insight on what they might attempt to do next?" Tiang asked. "I'm thinking that, if they manage to take the Lower Ring, we'll send our earthbenders underground, to the catacombs: that might give us a chance to stop them before they can try to break their way into the Middle Ring next."

"Y-yes, sir, that seems reasonable, but…" said Wangdu, uneasy. Tiang frowned.

"What is it?" he asked, nervously.

"The man leading this army is…" Wangdu started, breathing deeply. "I haven't seen him for myself, not now, not ever before, but… the report that reached us from the Inner Wall, before it collapsed, stated that… that it was the Blue Wolf."

The words seemed to mean nothing to Tiang for an instant… until reality clicked in his mind once more. Until the first time he'd heard that specific name boomed inside his mind.

He had received word of the Princess's visit, so many years ago: she had a gladiator, and she was traveling across the Former Earth Kingdom territories on a tour where she had brought her fighter to many Arenas abroad. The nervous, uneasy Water Tribesman had been tense on that very first encounter… the Princess had been abrasive and commanding. They had vanished from the Palace with next to no warning during that visit… and Tiang hadn't seen them again until they had been chased down by Dai Li renegade forces, arriving in his Palace in the most chaotic possible way.

Their behavior had been different then. Their camaraderie had already strengthened… their energy had changed considerably, and instead of a master and her slave, they had genuinely appeared to be partners, fighting side by side in the League and beyond it. That growing bond had seemed to become tighter yet upon their every visit to the city, down to the very last one… the one where Tiang had grown fully convinced that they were concealing a secret relationship.

And then the Princess's life had fallen to pieces.

He had witnessed her wedding. He had brought her Lu Ten's guzheng, in the hopes that it might ease her sorrows, and it seemed to be the only moment during that unsettling evening in which the Princess had been responsive to someone at all. That dead-like state… the dreadful occasion, too, had only convinced Tiang, altogether, that the Princess had lost the man she loved. That the rumors about the fire in the Grand Royal Dome meant he was likely dead… and if not, that he had no choice but to flee the Fire Nation only to be slain by the Fire Lord's forces in due time.

Perhaps he hadn't been wrong about that last guess, in the end: only, it might just be that the Blue Wolf had been the one to slay the Fire Lord's forces instead.

He was at the head of a White Lotus army? The Blue Wolf, the man who had eaten recklessly in the Palace's banquets, the one with that easygoing smile whenever the Princess was near him, the one who had impressed Tiang so profoundly in that very last fight in the Green Gates…

The Blue Wolf. Sokka. The Princess's likely lover had led an army to Ba Sing Se, and so far, he was winning.

"H-how do you know for certain that…?" Tiang asked, trembling violently. Wangdu swallowed hard.

"He identified himself to the soldiers in the Inner Wall's battlements. He unsheathed a sword… a black sword. I don't know much about him, but perhaps that's…"

"That was his blade," Tiang said, eyes wide. "T-the black blade, he's the one who…"

It was him. Or it was, maybe, someone impersonating him? Why would anyone do such a thing, though? It made little sense for that to be the case…

"He was requesting… demanding for your surrender, sir," Wangdu said. The words brought a frown to Tiang's face.

"As if I could give out such an order…" Tiang said, shaking his head. "I will not relinquish this city. I cannot do so. I haven't fought as long as I have to rebuild Ba Sing Se's strengths only to scurry away at the first sign of conflict: send word immediately to the frontlines, have all able-bodied troops create a chokepoint at the broken wall, and may the archers rain fire upon that spot to keep them from marching in. We may not have the numbers in the Lower Ring to stop them yet, but we can certainly thin their ranks considerably. They should not be able to afford breaking the wall any further, so they'll have no other points of access into the Lower Ring: the army that holds that gap in the wall will be the likely victor of this battle."

"Understood, sir!"

Wangdu took off at once, meaning to convey Tiang's orders through the hawks he'd received across the past hour. Tiang breathed deeply, watching as a new train was brought into the station… the one he'd climb, and the one that would bring him to the Lower Ring, to the thick of the fierce battle waged now for control over Ba Sing Se's Inner Wall: he wouldn't abandon his forces when they needed his leadership and guidance most direly.

---

The collapsed wall proved to be a severe blow to the Fire Nation troops' morale, but more than that, it instilled powerful fear into them upon knowing themselves bereft of what they had assumed would be guaranteed protection. Forces accustomed to being on the offensive side of a conflict would often fall apart when the time came for them to defend instead, and the Fire Nation had mostly taken aggressive and violent approaches to the war throughout the past hundred and ten years: being the victims of an army as unstoppable as their own, if not more so, might just be the recipe to break them.

Even so, they gathered whatever strength they could even before the dust cloud faded: most the surviving forces, the ones who hadn't fallen to the volleys of arrows that had taken advantage of their disorganization, had taken cover behind buildings as they waited for the scene before them to clear up. By then, more of the reinforcement troops marched up to the new gap in the wall, rushing in once they realized how dire the circumstances were for their allies. The first group of reinforcements managed to shoot back a few volleys of arrows, of which only a handful managed to slip past the blocks of shields that were now marching slowly through the uneven chaos left in the wake of the wall's collapse. The arrows on the attacking army's side, however, continue to fly resiliently, causing the new groups of reinforcements to scatter for cover as well: the chokepoint they were supposed to take advantage of would be lost if more enemy lines continued to advance. The shielded warriors marched forward with their spears, jabbing them forward in menacing gestures to demonstrate they were ready to impale their weapons into whatever senseless enemy attempted to rush them…

Even so, the uneven grounds were complicated for the attacking army to traverse. The occasional warrior or archer would slip over the debris, tripping, breaking formation even if only briefly. The Fire Nation troops didn't have many chances to make the most of those openings, but they succeeded at it on three different occasions, causing some damage to the enemy forces at last.

Then, a thicker group of reinforcements arrived: their commanding officer, a firebender, marched with purpose astride his Komodo rhino, shooting fire blasts at the enemies as soon as they were within range.

"Form up!" he commanded: his forces started the initial push of defense with shields of their own, and a full squad of firebenders launched flaming attacks that bounced off their enemies' reinforced shields, prepared with inwards insulating materials to ensure the warriors' arms wouldn't burn under the flames of the firebenders.

It had been too easy so far, and it wouldn't continue to be that way from now onwards… the Fire Nation army was experienced and notoriously merciless when they took the initiative, and there was no reason to expect otherwise now. The commanding officer organized the troops, rallying them for a pushback that fulfilled General Tiang's orders: the group of shielded warriors marching in would be surrounded by the newly arriving reinforcement squads, and those who had been shrinking back would fight fiercely anew…

It was time, then, for one of the aces in the Gladiator and White Lotus army to join the fray: Appa flew into the battle carefully, guided by Aang's nervous steering… and he slowed on the exact place Katara had requested him to stop at.

"And… here goes nothing!" she roared: some of the barrels Appa had been carrying on his saddle were emptied by her waterbending.

A waterfall poured upon the firebenders with no warning threw off their defenses all over again, breaking the relentless firebending assault and even serving to distract the enemy through the sudden arrival of a new element of chaos in the middle of that battle.

Of course, that also meant the archers would take to shooting at Appa, which compelled Aang to impulsively steer the bison higher than before, wincing even if he knew, objectively, that those arrows weren't in range… and that Appa, of course, could swat them off with his large tail, as he promptly did.

Their stunt enabled the spearmen to march forward, no longer pressed back by the Fire Nation's defenses: some were reckless enough to remain on the path of the expanding spears, but the majority pulled back by instinct, refusing to fall against their enemy over whatever strange distraction they'd set up with that fuzzy creature.

"Okay…! We're doing better now!" Kino exclaimed, watching as their army continued to march into the city, not fully unopposed, but far more smoothly this time around. Momo clung to his leg, anxious over the warfare spreading underneath them. "We should report to Sokka!"

"Shouldn't I try to mess with them again first? It was kind of fun…" Katara smirked. Aang sighed: the carnage below could have been much worse, but he wasn't remotely as amused by the situation as Katara was.

"Let's check with him first… we'll come back if he thinks we should do some more damage," Aang decided, steering Appa out of the walls once more.

He remained attentive to the hot-air balloon in the distance, wary of whatever weaponry it might be carrying and that the soldiers might aim directly at Appa if they had a chance to do so… so far, nothing of the sort had happened. He hoped the flying vehicle would not be as hazardous as he feared.

He dove back down to the cavalry charge that waited by the right wing of the army. Sokka breathed deeply as they approached, nodding in acknowledgement as they slowed to inform him of the events within the walls – he didn't have a particularly good view of it from outside, where the barrier still stood strong.

"We're pushing through, but they're gathering more reinforcements!" Aang exclaimed.

"I sabotaged their firebenders, if just for a little!" Katara added. Sokka nodded in her direction.

"Try to keep doing that until we can get the firebending squads in. They'll be in defensive roles for the time being," Sokka told them. "Now then… keep watch on those reinforcements, let me know once they're in place!"

"Yes, sir!" Kino nodded, clasping his tsungi horn firmly.

Aang breathed out slowly: they'd go back into the fray to, hopefully, ensure the tides of the battle remained in their favor.

Meanwhile, Sokka waited. It was one of the harder lessons he had learned with Piandao long ago, but he hoped he had learned it properly after all these years: patience would yield victory today. Charging in before they were ready, before the situation called for it, would only hinder their progress and extend this battle for much longer than intended. The bulk of the infantry marched onwards, if slowly, attacking the enemy relentlessly and persistently, but the formation wouldn't be likely to stand forever: once the Fire Nation's army was broken, some of their own squads would have to chase down the escaping enemy forces throughout the Lower Ring… this battle couldn't be turned against them, not when they had come as far as they had already.

Within the walls, matters were growing more complicated anew: while the attacking army had made some headway in marching into the city, it wasn't enough progress just yet: more troops to back up the first ones arrived one after the other, casting flames and shooting arrows at the enemy. The projectiles mainly served to slow them down: arrows continued to fly from within their formation too, though they didn't find their objectives in the Fire Nation's soldiers often now that they were both more protected and frequently hiding behind cover.

Yet matters grew even more difficult once a larger force marched into the scene from the Middle Ring: Aang's jaw dropped at the sight of the thick lines of soldiers, many astride Komodo rhinos and mongoose dragons, all aiming to counter their enemy as effectively as possible. Some of those forces seemed to bear a green sash over their uniforms, too… earthbenders?

Among them rode one man in a Komodo rhino, wearing an armor that was both ornate and weary with use. He seemed young for a Fire Nation commanding officer, but he took to shouting orders quickly: moments after his first command, the group he had led to the Lower Ring spread into a circle around the chokepoint, continuing to surround and block the way for the rebel army…

"Uh, that's not fun," Kino said, gritting his teeth before picking up his tsungi horn and blowing powerfully in it: the signal that enemy reinforcements had arrived thundered across the battlefield, and soon was echoed by the other musicians down on the ground.

Ultimately, this was what Sokka had been betting on… but it wasn't likely that this commanding officer was part of the Gladiator's predictions: he had gathered his earthbending troops, who seemed prepared to follow their leader's orders…

"Break their formation!" Tiang commanded, aiming his spear in the direction of the enemy's slowly marching force. "Earthbenders, shake the ground and stop them!"

The earthbending squad he had brought with him was remarkably reduced in size compared to the ones who had arrived in the Gladiator and White Lotus army: around twenty earthbenders had joined the fray, snuck between the gaps left by the Fire Nation's soldiers, intent on sabotaging the terrain underneath the attacking infantry's feet, causing them to trip, to slow down, to stumble to the ground… and once such incidents instigated sufficient chaos, the firebenders and archers took to attacking once more.

"Well, here we go!" Aang shouted: he steered Appa in so Katara could douse the enemy once again, but it would be much easier said than done this time: the Fire Nation's forces were constantly increasing in size as new squads joined in, little by little…

Below ground, Toph gritted her teeth as she sensed the approach of those troops. The newly arriving enemy troops were starting to reach the same level where they had dug into the foundations of the wall… meaning, the moment to strike had arrived.

"Send both signals, now," she commanded: Shanyuan shook the ground above them, raising a gust of dust, while another of the earthbenders sent a tremor through a small tunnel they'd crafted, connected to the one at the very other side of the wall: the other half of their group of earthbenders awaited Toph's sign to begin the final stage of their operation to infiltrate the Lower Ring.

The cloud of dust rose at the foot of the wall, and Sokka tensed up immediately at the sight of it: they had two minutes to finish preparations. He breathed deeply, turning towards the forces behind him.

"Get ready!" he called back: immediately, the eager troops reared up, looking forward to charging into battle once more.

The reinforcements within the city kept rushing in, backing up the forces by the hundreds, if not the thousands. The earthbenders continued to cause strife for the assaulting force, breaking their archers' balance, their shields unstable…

The cracking of rock once more seemed to shatter the whole world in half with its sharp, thunderous sound.

Those who had heard it the first time, the survivors of the first collapse of the Inner Wall, recognized the sound immediately, even if they failed to pinpoint its origin right away.

General Tiang, standing among his forces, coordinating their defense, froze upon recognizing the noise as the herald of serious danger for his troops…

This time, he wouldn't have to wonder how the wall had crumbled. This time he wouldn't have to struggle to make sense out of the enemy's efficient choices: he witnessed for himself, with his very incredulous eyes, as two full sections of the Inner Wall, at either side of the already large hole, collapsed into the ground, as though there were no earth underneath them at all.

The wall shattered, crumbled, sank into the ground, raising a new cloud of dust: the forces near the crumbling wall were affected by the debris, whether breaking formation to dodge it, or not breaking it at all and taking severe injuries, if not deadly ones, over their disciplined attempts to ensure the formation wouldn't crumble.

There were three gaps in the Inner Wall now, three different points of entry for the army. The infantry that remained outside the Lower Ring now split off in three different groups: one would continue to reinforce the frontlines, and the others would march into the Lower Ring by following the cavalry charge that was ready to rush in once the final rock collapsed:

"CHARGE!"

Sokka and Jet seemed to shout at once, even if they wouldn't hear each other while standing so far apart: the two wings of the army rushed in next, taking full advantage of the chaos caused by the shattered walls to flank the Fire Nation army on two sides.

There was no defending against the ferocious charge that rushed in, with beasts as fearsome as the moose-lions, with steeds as loyal and steady as the ostrich-horses. There was no protection to be found from those sharp beaks, from those large antlers… from spears, from swords, from a black blade that was poised to draw blood once more.

Foo-Foo was the first to rush in: he lowered his head deliberately, cleaving multiple foes with his antlers and giving Sokka ample opportunity to slay them by doing so. His sword swept back and forth across the enemy forces with no restraint, slicing cleanly through armor, flesh and bone alike: he parted the way for the rest of the cavalry charge to join him in cutting down as many soldiers as their weapons would allow them to lay waste on, while their steeds fought fiercely and slammed into the foes in their paths just as well.

Their battlefield, the Lower Ring, was now filled with screams of sheer panic from the Fire Nation's forces. The pincer they had been caught in now made it so that the earthbenders' efforts to sabotage the enemy frontlines would go forgotten. The rebel army could very well retire back into the Agrarian Zone only to march in through those two new gaps in the Inner Wall, if they cared to…

The situation by the broken wall was unsalvageable for the Fire Nation forces. Most the summoned troops were already here… and the ones that weren't would be met by the infantry that now rushed into the city too, through those large gaps their cavalry had ridden through first. The Lower Ring was large, of course it was… but it was mostly indefensible if breached this way. Tiang would know… for he had done the same thing ten years ago, if not in this manner. He had a massive drill at his disposal, and even if it was a slow vehicle, he had successfully carried out the incursion from that point onwards: once the Lower Ring failed to hold off an enemy attack, there was but one choice to be made…

A choice that made his heart sink in dread. It was not an order he wanted to give, under no circumstances… but he could see what the outcome would be if he didn't. It was already happening: the Fire Nation's forces were falling apart, trapped between three different charges of the enemy's army:

"FALL BACK!" Tiang shouted: his command startled his troops, but they seemed ready, even grateful, to obey it. "FALL BACK!"

His voice and command carried over as other commanding officers took to shouting it as well. Wangdu, beside Tiang, shuddered in dread over the meaning of that command.

"W-we're not about to relinquish the entire…!" he started: Tiang's fierce eyes fell upon him.

"Send word to the incoming reinforcements to build barricades: they'll hold off their cavalry's advance! The earthbenders by the Middle Ring must go underground, to the catacombs! We'll make sure to intercept their underground forces when the chance arises and stop this madness!" Tiang shouted: he took to guiding his forces now once more, offering whatever assistance he could to the soldiers rushing away from the outpour of enemies.

He flung fire in their direction, tossing his spear as a javelin right at the nearest ostrich-horse: the weapon impaled the creature's chest and it collapsed quickly, becoming a momentary obstacle in the path of the incoming foes.

"FALL BACK!" Tiang continued to shout: Wangdu had already taken off to convey his orders at haste. While he didn't want to relinquish anything in the Lower Ring at all, their current position at the wall could not be retained for another moment.

Their only hope would be to limit the enemy to a specific area of the Lower Ring, if possible, and neutralize them once further reinforcements were available. Most of their tanks wouldn't be ready yet, Tiang knew so, but if they could hold off long enough to bring them in, the battle's outcome wouldn't be certain yet, regardless of Ba Sing Se's wall's collapse.

Deep in the fray, Sokka caught the sounds of the retreating soldiers while he was halfway through cutting down a daring firebender: he held Foo-Foo back from attacking again as he scanned the battlegrounds quickly: they were fleeing, but a retreat that would take the enemy deeper into the city wouldn't guarantee his victory. Sokka couldn't afford allowing them to fortify the Middle and Upper Rings any further. He couldn't keep everyone from running away, but he wouldn't allow the bulk of the enemy forces to escape, nonetheless.

"Chase them down!" Sokka shouted, raising his sword and aiming it towards the escaping enemies. "The Lower Ring is ours!"

He would have preferred to express a much more complex idea than that one, but he knew the circumstances wouldn't allow it: the simpler his commands, the easier for his troops to follow them. He rushed in, leading a charge that hounded and hunted the escaping soldiers and that, soon, was a charge meant to encircle and recapture them in their midst instead. Most were too terrified to do anything at all, but some attempted to fight back violently, unwilling to be killed without a fight. Sokka held off from cutting down the fearful ones indiscriminately… but his allies cared little to preserve the lives of Fire Nation soldiers.

Numerous Fire Nation soldiers succeeded in escaping, but at least half of them had been trapped in the circle forged by the mounted forces and the infantry: the carnage was inevitable, for most were cut down unceremoniously while the loose ends continued to run back to where Tiang had been calling them.

"Fall back! Fall back!"

His voice carried through the battlefield, to be abided solely by the troops who had escaped on time from the enveloping maneuver of the enemy army. Some of the invaders, however, seemed keen on giving chase to their escaping foes: one enemy soldier had cut down two Fire Nation escapees already while riding his ostrich-horse…

Tiang gritted his teeth: he reached down to clasp a spear carried by one of the fleeing soldiers, startling the man upon doing so.

"Ask for a new spear from the reinforcements!" he shouted, raising the weapon and aiming it at his opponent.

The ostrich-horse's rider had taken to riding down a firebender who struggled to get away. Tiang clasped the spear firmly before launching it with full strength…

It pierced through the rider's thigh, still carrying enough momentum to stab through the creature's body: it toppled to the side, crushing the rider who screamed in despair as his world turned upside down just when everything had been in his favor. The escaping firebender wasted no time scrambling towards Tiang's Komodo rhino, grateful to be saved from what had already been a lethal fate for many of his allies.

His actions wouldn't go unnoticed forever, Tiang knew: he spurred on those he could find, those he could still save, to continue marching back to the next line of defense the rest of their forces should be establishing deeper in the Lower Ring. His voice echoed a few more times, carrying his orders: a few hostile members of the enemy army attempted to attack him and he fled from them at once, for he certainly wasn't about to give the enemy a chance to swarm him, as it seemed they intended to…

He only caught Sokka's eye once he was casting fire blasts behind himself, ensuring not to be pursued any further by his enemies. The Gladiator had already done his fair share of work to break the initial group of Fire Nation defenses within the Lower Ring: he encouraged the others around himself to show restraint to the soldiers who surrendered and none to those who carried on fighting even in such a desperate situation. Still, just as he was swinging his sword towards the ground, wiping it clean from blood as best he could, his eyes fell upon the retreating Komodo rhino and the many infantry soldiers of his own army who attempted to chase him down.

"Don't pursue now!" Sokka shouted: a handful of those warriors heard him, and it took them a moment to abide by his order. "Don't let them lure and bait you away from the bulk of our forces! Stand your ground!"

"That's… that's General Tiang, isn't he, General Sokka?" asked Colonel Nishi, one of the men directly under Piandao's command and one of the riders who had accompanied Sokka in the two cavalry charges today. "Are you certain we shouldn't take him out as soon as possible?"

"I'm certain he won't make it as easy as that," Sokka said, sheathing his sword. "They're pulling back. We've seized at least some of the Lower Ring already, and after the damage we just did against his forces, we can continue to push them back once we gather our bearings too. We won't have to pursue him right away, we should be in good enough shape to defeat him once we catch up to him."

Nishi nodded in acceptance of Sokka's words – the fabled Fire Nation General who had taken Ba Sing Se was known to be a formidable soldier, a capable bender of considerable power as well as a master of weaponry. Perhaps there was wisdom in wearing him out first, in waging a war of resistance upon him, rather than simply cutting him down right away.

"General Iroh!" Sokka called, spurring Foo-Foo forward, to where the rest of the infantry stood.

Iroh had involved himself in the bulk of the battle, directing forces in ways he hadn't since the very last time he had been in this city. The memories were unwelcome, but he had shaken them off quickly while attempting to keep his troops from taking too much damage, and helping them inflict as much as possible upon the enemy. He had only just helped a group of earthbenders under his command across the walls, and he was startled to hear Sokka marching in his direction.

"Yes, General Sokka?" he bowed his head quickly: Sokka always towered over him, more so when he rode a moose-lion.

"Can you reach out to your contacts within the city from here?" Sokka asked. Iroh nodded promptly.

"I will proceed to do so at once," he said. "Shall I reach out to those in the Lower Ring alone, or…?"

"Everyone, if you can," Sokka said, rolling his shoulders back as he glared over the horizon, in the direction of the Middle Ring… of the Upper Ring, too, and the Imperial Palace. "With any luck, the ones deeper in the city will be ready to support us when we break past the next walls."

"Right away, then, General," Iroh nodded, bowing his head once more before rushing away to the logistics groups: a handful of messenger hawks would suffice for him to reach out to the sleeper agents of the White Lotus that had infiltrated the city.

Sokka rode over the rest of the chaotic battleground: numerous corpses, mainly of Fire Nation soldiers, lay across the area between the first lines of houses and the broken wall: there was no sign of anyone nearby, so the civilians had been evacuated successfully, from what he could tell. He could only be grateful for that: the death toll was already considerable, and they had only broken past two walls so far.

There were several injuries on their side, but it seemed the shields had mostly served them well. If there were two hundred casualties on the Fire Nation's side, there had to be about twelve on the Gladiator and White Lotus Army… a rather small number, considering the chaos of the battle. Superior tactics certainly might win the day… but Sokka couldn't drop his guard. As much as he believed he could outdo General Tiang, he couldn't take anything for granted. Pushing him and his forces back all the way to the Middle Ring would be easier said than done.

Appa roared as he dove down towards Sokka again: his three riders seemed tense, but all remained unharmed. Sokka nodded in their direction, knowing they would be eager for more instructions, as well as to inform him of what they'd seen from above.

"They've pulled back a lot, but they're not going to the Middle Ring yet," Aang told Sokka.

"They're building barricades, from the looks of it!" Kino said. "I think they want to focus on annulling the mounts, the moose-lions definitely threw them off!"

"What kinds of barricades are they?" Sokka asked. "Just regular spikes?"

"They're building some ditches, too," Katara said. "And setting more spikes inside them. I don't know how far Foo-Foo may be able to jump, but I don't think the ostrich-horses would be able to handle that kind of leap easily…"

"Then the cavalry might just need to be set aside for the time being, huh?" Sokka reflected, breathing deeply. "Well, so be it, we weren't going to ride all the way into the Upper Ring anyway. Katara, have you located any significant water supplies yet?"

"Uh, nothing noteworthy so far, no," Katara admitted. Sokka bit his lip. "I'm sorry, I…"

"Don't be, just head up there again and look for something," Sokka said, nodding reassuringly in her direction. "There's bound to be more water in the next two rings, but if you can find anything here…"

"We'll look," Katara assured him. Sokka offered her a nervous grin.

"Also, try to find out how big a perimeter they've given us, and if you see them bringing in any bigger weapons to fight back, too," Sokka said. Aang nodded next.

"We'll be right back, then!" he announced, steering Appa back into the sky.

"Is everything going according to plan so far?" Jeong Jeong's voice reached Sokka mere instants after the sky bison took off: him and Piandao bore very little damage over their outfits as they approached Sokka, though droplets of blood stained Piandao's tunic and sword.

"Much of it, yeah. Though I didn't expect General Tiang would join us personally, at least not so soon," Sokka confessed. Both Jeong Jeong and Piandao frowned upon hearing those words.

"General Tiang was already here, then? I didn't see him," Piandao said. "I suppose he's taken to leading his forces personally?"

"He has been one of the most successful military officers during Ozai's tenure as Fire Lord," Jeong Jeong said, frowning heavily. "We cannot take our victory for granted, no matter how successful our incursion has been…"

"I don't intend to take it for granted, but Tiang's not the greatest Fire Nation leader there's ever been," Sokka said, with a shrug. "Only one person in the Fire Nation would seriously give me pause if I were to face her in a battlefield, and not for the obvious reasons…"

"Are you quite certain she would be that much more competent than General Tiang?" Jeong Jeong asked, clearly skeptical. "As far as I understand, Princess Azula was never involved in operations of this caliber, in any manner of warfare…"

"She did lead forces, troops, whether big or small, in multiple operations," Sokka said, firmly. "And she faced off against Rhone and his blasted spear while saving hundreds, thousands of lives. Where she only failed to save one man, any other leader would have likely led their forces into a massacre that day. So… yeah, Tiang conquered Ba Sing Se, but I have the feeling Azula could've done it even more effectively and smoothly than he did. She'd definitely have optimized all our plans into utmost perfection… might be we wouldn't have had to kill anyone, and we might not have lost any of our forces, either. But it is what it is…"

"Sokka, what you have achieved so far is beyond… well, beyond what any of us could have predicted, at the very least," Piandao said, earnestly. Sokka offered him a tight-lipped grin. "It's entirely possible she'd be as floored by your success as all of us are."

"Well… I suppose we'll find out about that eventually, as long as we continue to win now," Sokka nodded, turning his attention towards the depths of the city once again.

The Middle Ring's wall stood so far away, and they'd be fighting Tiang's forces every step of the way until they reached it. He still had a few more ideas on what else to do to march forward… but he couldn't shake off the feeling that the Middle Ring would make matters much more difficult, and the Upper Ring would be the biggest challenge of them all. Still, he had to succeed here and now in order to face those challenges later… and that was what Sokka intended to do.

"Master, gather the spearmen for the next push forward," Sokka said. Piandao nodded and Sokka turned to Jeong Jeong. "Can you gather the firebenders, too? I want them to stand with the spearmen, ready with defensive firebending. They're not bound to try to set the city on fire just to oust us, at least I hope not… but if they did, they most definitely won't expect us to have firebenders on our side to counter their attacks."

"Certainly not," Jeong Jeong nodded.

"General Fong?" Sokka called the man: the earthbender hadn't been among those who had marched underground, and he rushed up to Sokka with a bright grin, eager for the next strategy they'd put into practice. "Gather all available earthbenders and team up with the ranged squads: hoist them up to the rooftops so they can snipe enemy soldiers from there. Your earthbenders can also do ranged attacks from above if the situation allows it…"

"Understood, General!" Fong bowed his head swiftly, calling for his forces and summoning all earthbenders hastily.

Toph's group, it seemed, was only climbing out of the chasm now: Sokka sought her out quickly once he noticed her, confirming that, as filthy as she was, the troublemaker earthbender remained unharmed, even if slightly tired after the massive bending feats she had taken upon with her group.

"Who'd you need me to pummel now, huh?!" Toph growled, punching her own palm halfheartedly. Sokka smiled, shaking his head.

"You and your group can take a break for now. Stay back with the logistics groups," Sokka said. Toph snorted dismissively. "Look, I need you strong and ready to tear down more walls when the time comes. If you wear yourself out completely, who will I ask to knock down the Palace stairs if I need that again?"

"Heh. I suppose you could always ask Twinkle Toes, but he's too much of a wimp to pull it off," Toph smirked proudly. Sokka chuckled, shaking his head.

"Then don't make me rely on him. Take a break for now, I'll call for you when I'm ready. You've been brilliant so far," he said.

The logistics group would continue to tend to the wounded: a few of the waterbenders, those with basic healing knowledge, offered some aid in those respects as well, though Anorak caught Sokka's eye quickly and nodded in his direction once he noticed the troops were gearing up to go once more.

"Should we remain on standby still?" Anorak asked him. Sokka breathed deeply.

"Yeah, but keep an eye out for Appa. I've told Katara to find a water source for your group to use freely in combat," Sokka said. Anorak nodded. "If she finds one, you'll certainly come in handy in pushing and breaking their line however possible."

"It's almost too easy, wouldn't you say?" Anorak said, frowning. "I know they weren't expecting an attack, but…"

"They can't defend this city as well as the Earth Kingdom could," Sokka said. Anorak raised an eyebrow. "Their earthbenders are sparse, their forces are mostly firebenders and non-benders. They're better at taking the offensive and aren't often cornered, so…"

"Yeah, well, it makes sense… but I thought they'd have better defenses in place, I suppose," Anorak remarked.

"Well… they didn't see us coming at all, that's true. But they didn't expect our army to be as complicated to fend off as it is either," Sokka said, with a shrug. "We have many earthbenders, several firebenders, and a group of waterbenders they haven't even noticed yet…"

"And an Avatar," Anorak admitted. Sokka smirked.

"Who the hell could be prepared for an army like ours with no previous awareness of its existence?" he asked.

As much as he still was nervous and tense, Anorak couldn't help but smile too. Sokka certainly had a point… and it was a point they'd do best to exploit: pushing back against the Fire Nation relentlessly would mean their foes wouldn't have enough time to devise better tactics to properly neutralize their army.

Thus, a new march began: the spearmen marched forward and in between each spearmen stood a firebender, ready to provide further defense and to take the enemy by surprise, for the likelihood that Tiang or his forces would have noticed the firebenders in the enemy ranks was slim, at best. The mounted squads followed the large groups of non-benders and firebenders while the earthbenders and archers stuck to the side streets, mostly remaining unseen so the enemy wouldn't anticipate their attacks.

Eventually, barricades appeared within their line of sight: at first, it seemed the enemy had set up blockades to impede the entrance into a handful of streets… but as they approached the first barrier, the men standing behind it cast flames upon the large, sharpened wood shafts that barred the paths before running away swiftly.

It happened a handful of times, forcing their groups to resort to firebenders sooner than intended – Zuko led some of the benders who took down the flames, but as much as he was proud to be of help, something about the situation felt off. Naturally, the apprehension rose in the leaders of the group until Sokka finally commanded for their troops to halt.

"We're being lured like fools," he said, frowning heavily. "They're tiring us out by making us work through those barricades, they set them up as decoys. They've likely prepared a serious defense and they're just baiting us in its direction: if we keep going like this, they're simply going to try to butcher us once we get there."

"Then what should we do?" asked another of the firebending squad leaders, Commander Yusheng.

Sokka ground his teeth, pondering the situation quickly: he refused to send his forces into danger mindlessly. Sending a small group to lure the enemy wouldn't be wise, for Tiang would likely intend for his forces to hold their ground and to only strike once they had defeated enough foes to severely debilitate their army. Swift raids against the Fire Nation forces might be a possibility if only Sokka knew what kind of traps Tiang had prepared for them…

That was, ultimately, the key of the issue. While he wanted to believe there was nothing the enemy forces could hide that would outdo his own, he couldn't trust blindly that it would be the case. They had one advantage on their side that they'd do best to make use of… so Sokka reached for the nearest member of the music squad, and soon enough, the Avatar's call sign echoed across the city.

Katara had only just finished refilling the barrels she had resorted to earlier when the sounds of Aang's summons reached them. The pump she had been using wasn't large enough to serve as a thorough water source like the ones Sokka had hoped they'd find: they had no choice but to take off without a proper answer for the Gladiator, who awaited them impatiently with an army on stand-by that lingered in a safe area, where all barricades had been destroyed already.

"What's going on?!" Aang exclaimed, slowing Appa as soon as they reached their army's leader. Sokka breathed deeply as he raised his gaze towards them.

"They're baiting us. They've set up a trap of some sort and I'm not keen on letting us fall headfirst into it," Sokka said, firmly. "Can you guys scout safely and figure out whatever the hell they're hoping to hit us with?"

"Of course, right away," Aang nodded: Appa groaned before taking up to the sky again, trotting over the sides of buildings before taking flight.

The Fire Nation had certainly gathered many reinforcements by now: a much larger barricade stood ahead, past a bend where all side streets had been obstructed with more wooden stakes and even a few earthbending walls. Kino gritted his teeth as he sharpened his gaze to scrutinize the main cluster of Fire Nation forces: an assortment of firebenders was in position around a black vehicle he had never seen before… and yet he knew exactly what it was as soon as its turret turned towards them and aimed a large ballista projectile straight at Appa.

"Aang!" Katara exclaimed: the Avatar yanked the sky bison's reins, ensuring he dodged the projectile by a considerably small margin.

"A tank?!" Kino squeaked, clasping the saddle's edge nervously.

The turret, needing to be loaded with a new bolt, now cast a flaming projectile in their direction through a secondary cannon: once more, Aang and his group dodged it dangerously. At this rate they would be shot out of the sky if that tank managed to reload its projectiles, so they made for the same spot Sokka had been at moments ago. The Gladiator and White Lotus army stood alarmed over the projectiles that had almost found purchase on their best scout:

"It's a tank!" Kino shrieked: Sokka's eyes widened. "Sokka, they've got a tank!"

He couldn't hold back a snarl: fool that he was, tanks had slipped his mind as a factor in this fray until now. He had never even come across a functioning one in all his years in the Fire Nation… but it stood to reason that there would be tanks in the city where they had been a key factor in the Fire Nation's conquest.

But he had seen models in the Mechanist's garage. He had studied their blueprints with the man who had invented them: Toph would reduce them to scraps easily if she could get her hands on them, and she wasn't the only one who would have a chance to capitalize on her skills to destroy the armored vehicles that had brought victory to the Fire Lord's forces in this very city.

"Fly low!" Sokka shouted at them: Aang nodded, ensuring to conceal Appa behind a building.

"A tank?!" exclaimed one of the nearest soldiers.

"The earthbenders can deal with that!" exclaimed another one. "Tear a hole underneath it and…!"

"These tanks are a lot more resilient than you'd think," Sokka said: everyone fell silent in his vicinity as he spoke the words gravely. "They're furnished with climbing gear, with a mechanism that allows the cabin to turn on itself so it can keep attacking even if it's been flipped over itself… it's not going to be something we can strongarm just like that. They were always meant to be resilient."

"Then what can we do?" Jeong Jeong asked, eyeing Sokka warily. "We cannot remain pinned down here."

"Not at all," Sokka agreed, breathing deeply as he glanced at Aang meaningfully. "How many were there?"

"We only spotted one… I don't know if there's more than that further in, though," Aang said. Sokka frowned heavily.

"Just the one… if that were all, we'd be fine," he said. "But if there's one… there's likely more out there, even if not here just yet. They're bound to be the heavier reinforcements they can bring into this battle. How many troops were nearby?"

"A lot. Might be around as many as there were just before you charged against the defending group in the wall?" Katara said, grimacing. Sokka breathed deeply and nodded. "Also, all nearby streets are blocked with more barricades, whether wooden ones or earthbending ones: they've made it so our only way out is either through them or to retreat, pretty much."

"Huh… well, they've narrowed things down for us quite nicely, if that's the case," Sokka said, turning around and finding the eager General Fong with his gaze: "Begin the process of hoisting the archers to the rooftops. I want a flurry of arrows towards the enemy at the ready."

"Yes, sir!" General Fong nodded: he gave the orders quickly and the earthbenders at his command got to work.

"What is your intent…?" Jeong Jeong asked, puzzled. "If that armored vehicle is as resistant as you say it is, volleys of arrows won't deal any damage to it."

"They won't… but they'll be an unforeseen element that should distract their forces, if not hinder them considerably." Sokka said, breathing deeply. "Whatever blockades they've set up for us, whatever traps they've prepared will have been for nothing if we succeed at striking back without falling into them. They're relying on wearing us down before pushing us back to the gates, hoping not to take more steps back until we've surrendered… but we won't surrender, and if they don't continue to retreat, they'll die. Simple as that."

Sokka's determination sat well with those who could hear him. He ushered Foo-Foo forward, caressing Appa's horn carefully upon doing so.

"He's unharmed?" he asked. Aang breathed out slowly and nodded.

"For now… yeah. But that tank's scary, Sokka," he said. "What do you think we can do to stop it? The archers will help with the surrounding soldiers, but…"

"Katara…" Sokka said, glancing at his sister. She met his eyes nervously. "How do you feel about riding Foo-Foo, if just for a bit?"

"W-what, me?!" she gasped, eyes wide.

"Aang, be at the ready with Appa. Kino, you'll stay here and give the command for the rest of the forces to storm in with me once I call for you," Sokka said. Kino blinked blankly twice before nodding.

"What are you going to do…?" Jeong Jeong said. Sokka breathed deeply, turning towards them.

"We need to take down that tank. Until we do, we won't make further progress," he said. "But I think Aang and I can handle that: once we do, you'll lead the infantry forward. Have the firebenders reduce the barricades to ashes if possible, alert the recovering earthbenders to help smooth any damaged terrain so we can progress onwards, once the tank is out of the way. Who knows how many traps they've set up deeper into the Lower Ring? So…"

"There's a chance they didn't, if they hoped to make a stand here," Piandao said. Sokka breathed deeply and nodded.

"Let's hope that's so," he said.

Nervous as she was, Katara jumped over to Foo-Foo's saddle. Sokka helped her climb safely, clasping her arm and turning towards her with a meaningful stare.

"This is going to be a risky operation. You're going to serve as our bait… so that means you get to wear this, for now."

He removed his helmet, setting it on Katara's head carefully. She grimaced, the weight unfamiliar and unsettling.

"So… if I'm understanding this correctly, I'm going to pretend to be you," she concluded. Sokka smiled a little and nodded.

"They'll attempt to attack you. You'll have to be ready for anything, but above all else, I want you to lure their attention away from me. Charge into the closest earthbending wall they built, to the left, alright? Anyway, pretend you're on your way to attack them from the left while keeping as much cover as you can. Dodge their attacks as much as possible… just make sure they have no idea what's going on, alright?"

"Do you want me to avoid bending? If I'm pretending to be you…" Katara asked. Sokka smirked and shook his head.

"What would be more terrifying for those guys than seeing the non-bending Blue Wolf pulling off some of your best waterbending moves? They'll shit themselves: do it." Sokka said. Katara smirked too. "Good luck, Katara. Make sure to stay safe, alright?"

"You too, with your head exposed now…" Katara said. Sokka smiled and shook his head.

"I'll be alright. This, as usual, is a weird plan… but that's not odd coming from me, huh?" he said. "I'll disable that tank once I have the chance, and I'll take down as many of those soldiers as I can once I'm there. If you see the tank falling apart or so, feel free to ride in, scoop me up, give me a hand without freezing my boots to the ground by accident…"

"And if I happen to freeze you by accident…?" Katara asked, innocently. Sokka scoffed.

"If you do, I'll never let you live down your shame for attacking your brother and commanding officer. Everyone will know that was your tantrum for not wanting to follow my orders, and no one will take you seriously as a warrior and fighter ever again," Sokka said, folding his arms stubbornly over his chest. Katara let out a soft chuckle.

"I'm not going to freeze you, dummy. Come on, get going, then. I'm actually kind of excited about this now," Katara said, biting her lip with anticipation.

"Do your best, sis," Sokka smiled, squeezing her shoulder before leaping off Foo-Foo's back.

He focused on Aang next, instructing him to attack the Fire Nation's forces from the right flank after Katara first directed their attention to the left. Causing a commotion, making them second-guess their instincts and confusing them with two unforeseen attacks at once might just offer Sokka the opening he needed…

As long as Foo-Foo Cuddly Poops cooperated, that was.

The moose-lion huffed with confusion when Sokka climbed off… when he still felt someone on his back regardless of Sokka's absence. Katara blinked blankly, clasping the reins as best she could, but the creature took to growling and turning on itself, as though attempting to confirm his suspicions that his usual rider was no longer the person on his back.

"Easy, boy, easy…" Katara said, with a nervous grin. "Everything's okay, Sokka will be back with you in… woah!"

"Alright, Appa and I can…" Aang was confirming Sokka's new orders when Katara jolted on Foo-Foo's back. "Katara?"

"Woah, boy! Take it easy!" Sokka exclaimed, reaching over to Foo-Foo, his hand reaching over to pat his flank gently. The gesture appeased the moose-lion… and yet it also seemed to make him all the more nervous, too: why wasn't it Sokka on his back? Who was on his back, if not him…? "Stay still for now, alright? There, good boy…"

Sokka grimaced as he glanced over at Aang. The Avatar nodded reassuringly, Appa's reins well in hand.

"I'll be okay, I'm clear on my orders," Aang said, reassuringly.

"Kino… you're supposed to climb off Appa," Sokka said. Kino winced.

"Must I…?" he asked. Sokka smiled awkwardly.

"Communicating orders to the army is your job right now, remember?"

"Oh, fine," Kino said, biting his lower lip before slipping off the saddle with a quick jump, keeping his tsungi horn firmly in place around his body, and Momo perched over one of his shoulders. "Be careful, Aang, Katara… Sokka, too, I imagine, but you two would take off first, right?"

"Right…" Katara grimaced. Sokka breathed deeply. "I guess I'm going first of all, right?"

"You'll be… the chaos-stirrer, so to speak?" Sokka said, patting Foo-Foo reassuringly once more. "I'm sure you can pull this off, but… damn, buddy, calm down. It's okay. Katara, try to lead him right to the blocked street immediately, alright?"

"Okay…" Katara swallowed hard. Sokka whispered a few more reassuring words to Foo-Foo… and then he pulled back.

"This… sounds like a rather mad idea. Unsurprising that you'd come up with mad ideas, I suppose, but still…" Jeong Jeong said, glancing at Sokka judgmentally. Sokka grimaced, watching as his sister struggled with controlling his mount, Sokka's helmet awkward over her head.

"Be careful and keep all your senses on the battlefield, you can't know when they're going to attack you, so…" Sokka advised her again. Katara grimaced but nodded: she had at least six waterskins she could resort to in case she was attacked, and she had done her best to learn from Anorak's water recycling tactics, too…

But focusing on that and steering Foo-Foo at the same time might prove overwhelming. Katara gritted her teeth, handling the reins as best she could… and then Foo-Foo took off, without warning, straight into the open street where the enemy forces meant to ambush theirs.

"Katara…!" Aang yelped, but there was nothing to be done now: the moose-lion raced off, into the street where a tank awaited, its turret ready to shoot more ballista bolts and rain fire upon any foes that stepped into view.

"Ah, shit!" Sokka growled, glancing at Kino. "Tell the archers to attack, Katara's going to need as much help as she can get…!"

Kino didn't hesitate to blow the archer's call sign and attack command: General Fong and the troops he commanded began raining fire and earth upon the enemy forces, attempting to distract them from Katara and achieving a partial success, at first. The Fire Nation was quick to build earthbending defenses to block the arrows' path as best as possible, but their attention shifted elsewhere quickly when a large creature emerged from the street they had been watching so far…

Katara's experiences riding otter-penguins certainly hadn't prepared her for the sheer madness of sitting alone on the back of a disgruntled moose-lion. Foo-Foo Cuddly Poops certainly didn't seem so cuddly as he roared ferociously, exposing the waterbender to the troops who had been waiting patiently, watching for signs that would reveal their foes were finally ready to rush into their ambush.

As confused as they were by what appeared to be an uncontrolled moose-lion, the Fire Nation troops geared up to strike at the single mounted enemy that had rushed into the ambush while bracing themselves as best as possible against the arrow fire raining from above.

"It's the Blue Wolf!" roared a captain, standing behind the rows of ready barricades that concealed the tank, as well as the thickening Fire Nation forces.

"Attack!" Tiang, now dismounted and standing by the tank, gave out the fierce command.

Sokka's advice to focus on the enemy rather than her mount was the correct one, Katara found, for the tank fired a flaming projectile their way and she had to lean on one side of Foo-Foo to dodge it. Spears were flung in her direction, arrows fired towards her…

She barely succeeded at uncorking one of her waterskins to freeze the projectiles into a screen before her.

The arrows and spears dropped at a safe distance from her, and Katara recovered the water quickly after the ice shattered on the ground.

No more attacks arrived yet, and she had no need to ask herself why: all the soldiers behind the wall of barricades had been paralyzed, watching Katara riding clumsily towards the earthbending walls the Fire Nation's honorary citizens had built on the streets.

Foo-Foo charged into the street, ready to clobber the earthen wall with his antlers recklessly, into what Katara already suspected would be a trap-ridden street: the waterbender was prepared to make matters easier by unleashing further water, all the water she had at her disposal, to set up an ice sled that would send her and Foo-Foo down through the streets at full speed. A layer of ice would help them avoid the damage of the sharpened wooden stakes that indeed stood within the street, behind the earthbending wall.

"W-what did he…?!" a Fire Nation captain bumbled, utterly petrified as the wild moose-lion took to ramming fiercely into the earthbending wall: Katara did her best not to scream, not to say anything at all, for her voice would immediately give away that she wasn't her brother…

And that they still believed she was Sokka, from this distance, clearly was the sole reason why they'd given her any respite from their ranged attacks just now: Tiang's jaw dropped, and it continued to dangle open as the moose-lion finally barged into the street with a tall leap: the waterbender on its back brought her water down at full speed, protecting herself and the creature as best as possible from a promised charge right into the set of wooden stakes by building her ice sled.

Her precautions were perfectly justified when Foo-Foo's harsh landing, past the lines of stakes, revealed a large pit had been dug in the street: the light layer of earth disguising this second trap crumbled and revealed deadly, sharp spears within that hole, spears that would have punctured through them at once if Katara hadn't saved herself and Foo-Foo by rapidly freezing her water supply into as thick and solid an ice platform, safely crafted above the spears.

"Come on, you crazy…!" Katara squealed, reutilizing her bending water to continue building their path above the trap-ridden street before them…

But as it turned out, ice wasn't a normal surface for a desert-dwelling creature to run on. Foo-Foo roared, making enough of a fuss to startle the horrified soldiers back into alert: had the creature died in the pit? Had his rider died with him?

"S-sir…! Sir! The Blue Wolf… should we go check on him?!" the Fire Nation captain asked, clasping Tiang's shoulder hard. Tiang nearly stumbled upon being shaken by his ally's hand.

"He… he wasn't a waterbender. He… he's a non-bender. A non-bender…" Tiang said, trembling violently where he stood.

The Blue Wolf had always been a non-bender, it was one of the strangest elements about the man and his partnership with the Princess. He had seemingly come from nothing, nowhere, and she had ensured to turn him not only into a competitive warrior, but one strong enough to defeat even the best gladiators in the League. Not once, though, had Tiang heard of him waterbending at all. Not once had he seen any evidence that the man was anything but what he showed himself as…

Not once had he believed he would ever lead forces of this magnitude against the Fire Nation, either.

The man had allied with the White Lotus. Hell, maybe he was one of their leaders, if he truly was the one rallying their army right now. For how long had he been part of their organization? Since when had he been planning on conquering Ba Sing Se in this unrelenting rush of force? Had he been biding his time all along, using the Princess as a front to scheme and prepare to strike away at the Fire Nation, a mission for the White Lotus's campaign to defeat the Fire Lord…?

Had he used the Princess for these purposes, too? Was that the true reason why Ozai had punished Azula that way? Was that why the Gladiator had been nowhere to be found for months? Had Ozai attempted to get rid of the Gladiator upon learning of the treacherous, disloyal allegiances that bound him to the faction that had allegedly attempted to kill him once? Perhaps that murder attempt had been a lie, an act to convince the Princess that he wasn't part of that organization at all…

Would Azula be so easily deceived? It was hard to believe that could have happened. Tiang couldn't fathom that a sharp woman such as her could have ever fallen prey to such a cruel scheme, to a man who might have even concealed his waterbending powers from her…

"Go… send a squad to confirm his mount is out of the fray," Tiang said, snarling, fists trembling at either side of his body. "And if he's still there… cut him down, if you're able. If not, lure him here so that I may kill him myself!"

"Yes, sir!"

He wouldn't stand for it. Fire Lord Ozai's choices had been unacceptable… but if the Gladiator had been meaning to betray the Princess in such a horrific manner all along, it meant all the men in Azula's life were utterly unforgivable bastards. Tiang had no business protecting her so fiercely, they weren't all that close… but Lu Ten's spirit somehow burned bright within his soul right now: no one could dare betray that girl and expect him not to retaliate against them. Lu Ten wasn't here to look after his cousin: Tiang intended to do so in his stead.

Katara struggled to keep Foo-Foo on task as he slipped painfully down the ice-topped street: as much as the ice cracked under the creature's weight, Katara's constant bending ensured they'd be safe from falling right into the spear-laden traps below them: she finally eased up on the bending when they reached the street's next intersection, bereft of traps, and Foo-Foo groaned in relief once his paws were no longer freezing against a smooth surface he could find no traction on. He growled fiercely, and Katara grimaced as she reeled back the ice apologetically.

"I'm sorry! I know that wasn't fun, but…!" she started… and then she heard the footsteps of approaching soldiers.

She breathed deeply, amassing her water in a dangerous, large orb before spurring Foo-Foo onwards by digging her heels into his flanks. Foo-Foo roared, rushing down the street just as the first soldiers began to emerge ahead, from the street that connected directly into the tank's location, as far as Katara could guess.

"W-wha…?!" gasped one.

"The Blue Wolf's not down! He's still alive! His mount is safe!" another one roared, ensuring he would be heard back where General Tiang stood.

The General snarled, unsurprised and yet incensed upon learning that the man he felt a sudden animosity towards still sorted past every hurdle and dangerous trap they attempted to set down along his path.

"Then attack! Attack him now!" Tiang exclaimed: the firebenders attempted to do so only for their flames to be suffocated by the water their enemy flung in their direction.

The noise of their battle gave away that Katara's stunt was going as well as it possibly could, even with Foo-Foo behaving so recklessly. Sokka breathed deeply before patting Appa's flank now: Aang's anxious expression gave away that he had been quite desperate to offer Katara his aid at once.

"Go, now. Right flank," Sokka said, sternly. Aang nodded.

"Right away," he said: "Yip yip!"

Appa took to the skies, floating over the buildings and rushing down towards an area that had been barricaded and closed off, surely with traps, pits of spears and wooden stakes as well. His flight enabled him to rush towards the Fire Nation's main line of defense much faster than Katara had, and as she was making such a chaotic fuss on the other side of the sabotaged ambush, Aang had the perfect opportunity to deliver a surprise blow against the soldiers who either focused on defending from aerial attacks by Fong's squads, or on the situation with the moose-lion. Thus, they only noticed his approach when it was too late:

A swat of Appa's tail saw at least fifteen soldiers flung off, in the direction of the tank that was now readying to fire in the direction Katara was expected to emerge at. The sudden, violent crash between the flying soldiers and the ones prepared to stand their ground wreaked havoc over the Fire Nation's prepared, disciplined forces: Katara and Foo-Foo emerged at the opposite side of the large gathering of Fire Nation forces just as they changed their focus to Aang and Appa.

The tank's turret had been spinning towards the new threat: the tank's decision to switch focus to Aang benefited Katara, as she had failed to recycle enough with water to attack her foes with. Appa was a large target… and he would struggle to dodge the vehicle's arrow projectile in the limited area of that small street. General Fong gave a ceasefire command to his own archers for that same reason: they couldn't risk raining friendly fire upon the Avatar.

"Okay… okay," Sokka watched what he could of the battle from behind a building that offered him sufficient cover: he would be pleased by the slow crumbling of the Fire Nation's defenses if only his sister and Aang, and their respective steeds, weren't in such danger at that very moment. "I'll give the next command when I've dealt with the tank, Kino. Stay here and be patient."

"I will. I will," Kino answered, firmly. Still clinging to him, Momo chirped, almost as if wishing Sokka good luck.

One more deep breath. One more second…

With that, Sokka unsheathed his sword and sprinted down the street as quietly as he could go, heavily armored as he was.

The turmoil at both flanks of the Fire Nation's defenses meant Sokka had rushed halfway down the street by the time the first soldier caught sight of him: the black sword in his hand only worsened the confusion of the situation.

"T-The Blue Wolf?!" exclaimed the soldier, aiming at the street.

Only a handful of soldiers heard him and noticed the approaching threat… and eventually, their reactions alerted Tiang, too, that something else was coming their way.

He gasped upon glimpsing the familiar face of the Gladiator, the dark blade he had ever wielded clasped tightly in his hands.

"ATTACK!" Tiang shouted: the chaotic formation, the frozen men, the ones flung against buildings, couldn't seem to make sense out of how to fulfill their commanding officer's orders, for they hardly knew what he wanted them to attack now.

Only a handful of spears flew in Sokka's direction, and afterwards, fire blasts that couldn't find purchase as he dodged them effectively: the sudden onslaught of attacks alerted other soldiers that something urgent was happening by the barricade… but it was too late for them to react. The tank's turret was turning towards the street once more, after failing to deliver any damage against Katara or Aang…

Sokka leapt high, a foot landing on the barricade that was meant to stop his forces, their mounts… and he jumped higher still with the momentum of the initial leap, hovering past the blockade that proved incapable of containing him. The flames cast by the firebenders had caught the wooden stakes of the barricade by now, and Sokka seemed to float above them, sword at the ready…

The black blade spun as he tossed it at the tank at full speed and strength.

It slid through the turret, all across the functioning tank's system, chopping off part of a wheel before the vehicle's engine sputtered off in a quick explosion.

From this proximity, Sokka finally detailed the tank in question: the turret had a large cannon along with the ballista, a newer modification furnished with powder-based projectiles that would fire fast, though lacking the impact of the original weapon. Gaps within the structure of that turret allowed the firebenders riding the vehicle to shoot flames at anyone who came too close to their tanks… but they were rather busy attempting to escape from the newly flaming, unusable tank now to do so.

Enemy fire rained upon Sokka as he fell past the barricade. The Gladiator dodged it swiftly, aware that he had captured the attention of the enemy forces now, but at great cost. His sword had landed somewhere in the chaos and he had to retrieve it at all costs: it was bound to be his main method to undo any tanks they bumped into later on.

His club and boomerang ever served him well in the battlefield: he dodged as many projectiles as he could, receiving the others against his breastplate, counting on his sturdy armor to defend him against flames and sharp weapons alike. He rushed in as a storm, club slamming with no mercy into the ribcages of his foes, his boomerang slashing across his enemies as well while he heard screams and chaos all across the street: Foo-Foo Cuddly Poops was ramming into the Fire Nation forces at Sokka's left, and Appa continued to swat at the others to his right, giving Sokka the chance to continue attacking his foes as he rushed towards the tank, searching for his sword. Ideally, he would have called forth his forces by now, but he needed to find Space Sword in the pandemonium first, otherwise, the Fire Nation soldiers might take advantage of the chaos to steal it for good…

The firebenders riding the smoking tank had climbed out of it now, coughing as they readied themselves to continue fighting without their weaponized vehicle anymore. Yet they weren't the ones who picked up the blade that had wound up latched into one of the broken sprockets on the vehicle's wheels.

Sokka scowled, keeping his arms outstretched, weapons at the ready to fend off any other foes who might attack him… but for now, his attention had been claimed by General Tiang: for the first time, Sokka stared down his own sword in the hands of a hostile party.

"Blue Wolf," Tiang growled: never had Sokka seen the placid, easygoing man in such a state of outrage and displeasure. His eyes were bloodshot, his hair in disarray, dirt and blood staining his face and uniform. "It's truly you, after all."

"Hand that over. You might chop off your own head by mistake… General Tiang!" Sokka exclaimed, dodging a spear and elbowing the soldier responsible for it straight in the face.

The opening the soldier offered Tiang didn't go to waste: the General rushed in, attacking with a fire blast that was followed by a twirl of the sword. Sokka dodged, leaping back towards the burning barricade just in time to avoid the sharp end of his own weapon.

"How dare you attack this city?!" Tiang roared, launching more firebending attacks, potent enough to consume the barricade further. "How dare you bring forces down upon us…?! Is this what your fabled loyalty to the Princess amounted to, truly?!"

Sokka had managed to remain level-headed throughout today's many battles… but there were words that could trigger his irrational side quite easily, and those happened to be among them.

"Shut your damn mouth if you don't know what you're talking about, Tiang!" Sokka roared: he tossed his boomerang, landing a blow on another soldier, only for Tiang's next strike to follow.

Sokka leapt to the side, and Space Sword slid through the wooden barricades smoothly. Sokka's club swung up, straight towards Tiang's jaw, but the man leaned back just in time, shooting a blast of fire into Sokka's armor through a quick kick.

Sokka's situation was complicated, to say the least. Katara's water had long run out after one too many fights against firebenders, and now she relied on Foo-Foo to sort past the many attempts by the enemy forces to jab their spears into his legs and hide. She helped however she could by kicking foes away, but there wasn't much of a chance that she'd be able to help unless she reached Appa, the water containers on his saddle, and unleased their content upon their foes…

Aang gritted his teeth: the archers and earthbenders on their side stood by on the rooftops, and they couldn't risk firing anywhere near the vicinity of the Blue Wolf, his sister or the Avatar. Aang could see more Fire Nation soldiers were pouring in from the north, reinforcements that had likely been strategically positioned deeper down the streets with the purpose of standing by in case the tank failed at its task somehow. It had failed indeed… but they would be overrun any moment now. While they had claimed a victory against the tank, it was possible that they might not claim one against Tiang's forces, in the end.

A volley of arrows suddenly took flight from the Fire Nation reinforcements: the projectiles were aimed in Appa's direction.

Aang only had a split second to decide how to proceed… even if he knew Sokka wasn't bound to approve of his choice, he raised a hand towards the flurry of arrows.

"Your betrayal won't go unpunished!" Tiang roared at Sokka, attacking away with Space Sword in hand: Sokka deviously dodged out of the way instead of striking at one soldier nearby, and Tiang's wide arch actually hurt his ally instead. "N-no…!"

"Told you to hand it over!" Sokka shouted, rushing in and kneeing the shaken Tiang's stomach violently. The man bent forward… but he didn't relinquish his sword, even then. "I betrayed no one! Let alone would I ever betray her!"

Tiang snarled: Sokka's words shook him, as well as his understanding of the situation, or lack thereof. His alliances were still questionable, his choices confusing… but if the Gladiator believed he hadn't betrayed Princess Azula, was this madman on a crusade for her sake? To avenge her, perhaps, after the horrors her father had inflicted upon her…?

The possibility only solidified in his mind brief instants before a gust of wind picked up near him… and then a pillar of stone shot out right underneath him, slamming his chin painfully, violently, and knocking his helmet off his head.

At that point, Tiang had no choice but to relinquish Space Sword. Sokka yanked it back to himself, profoundly relieved to retake his weapon… and confused as to where the friendly earthbending had come from.

Until he raised his gaze and spotted Appa hovering right above the battlegrounds.

Aang stood at his animal companion's neck, arms outstretched in a firm earthbending stance that switched to the power-packed fists of a firebender, next.

He rained fire upon the troops before him, then he broke open the barrels on Appa's back and unleashed a flurry of water towards the troops near Katara, providing her with new water to bend. His initial gust of air had broken the flight of the arrows intended to attack his steed, as well as shoved many foes out of Katara and Foo-Foo's way: now Katara let out a bark of relieved laughter as she took to wielding her renewed water supply to strike fast and hard against every soldier on her path.

Aang continued bending afterwards, though, breaking the ground below the soldiers, shooting plums of flames as he targeted foes with non-lethal blows, casting aside any projectiles they attempted to launch at him by flipping them away with airbending. His arms swayed in a powerful circle and a massive air current began to spin right underneath Appa: Tiang, struggling to get back on his feet, gazed at the tattooed man atop that sky bison in sheer horror… in sheer panic. This couldn't be happening. This couldn't be real.

This couldn't be the Avatar, could it?

"You… you don't stand a chance."

Sokka's words caught Tiang unawares once more. The firebender's panicked gaze fell upon Sokka's: shock spread across the battlefield. The reinforcements froze on their tracks at the sight of the first airbender to be seen by Fire Nation forces in over a hundred years… no one seemed to have the strength, the spirit to attack anymore, no matter if Sokka, Katara, Aang, Appa and Foo-Foo were vastly outnumbered still.

"Surrender… and the death toll will solely be what it has been thus far," Sokka told Tiang, who finally rose back to his feet by supporting his weight on the broken tank behind him, jaw throbbing painfully. "You're not stupid. You've always been a reasonable guy. So be reasonable now, too… and surrender before this gets any worse, General Tiang. I don't want to do this any more than you do. But if you won't relent…"

"Y-you had no reason… no right to bring forces down upon this city…" Tiang said. Sokka huffed.

"Neither did you, and that didn't stop you ten years ago," Sokka said, bluntly.

Tiang squared his painful jaw: the soldiers near him were panicking, most already fleeing well before he gave them any commands to either hold their ground or run away. The airbender's feat, the Gladiator's threats… everything seemed poised to overwhelm the General who snarled fiercely at his enemy.

"The Earth Kingdom army fought against me… until the last moment," Tiang said, glaring at Sokka. "I can't do anything less than that."

"Tiang…!"

The firebender shot a blast of fire into the tank: an even larger explosion blasted in their battlefield, briefly throwing off Aang's bending feats. Sokka snarled, covering his eyes with a hand as Tiang rushed away: he cast his boomerang in the firebender's direction, catching his armored shoulder only barely before the man roared an order he certainly hadn't wanted to give.

"RETREAT! PULL BACK! TO THE MIDDLE RING!"

Sokka snarled, rushing in to pick up his boomerang: a group of soldiers seemed to snap out of their dazes, ready to fight fiercely, to even die in order to ensure their General could retreat. They blocked Tiang from Sokka's path and launched attacks on Appa next: Aang extinguished their flames, kicking their weapons out of their path, blasting all their arrows away systematically, too…

"So be it," Sokka growled, hacking down the barricade behind him: he wasn't surprised to find some of the White Lotus's forces had marched into the street now, willing to provide support and aid if possible. "KINO! NOW!"

A war cry followed the sound of Kino's tsungi horn: squads began pouring into the street, ready to tear down the barricades and give chase to the escaping foes. The snipers on the rooftops of the Lower Ring heard the command for a full assault as well: arrows flew at full speed at their enemies, successfully piercing some of their armor and reducing the Fire Nation forces, whether those attempting to retreat, or those intending to block the path to allow their fellow soldiers to reach the Middle Ring safely.

Some of the ones who fell behind, ready to die for their cause, didn't get their wish: Katara froze them to a wall, knocking them out quickly as Aang and Appa finally dove down gradually. Foo-Foo, anxious, rushed back towards Sokka's side: the Gladiator, at first focused on the fray ahead, turned quickly upon sensing the creature's approach. After a quick glance to confirm that, miraculously, both Katara and Foo-Foo remained unharmed, Sokka shook his head as he clutched the creature's reins.

"You crazy rascal, you could've made a mess of that whole operation!" he said. "But damn, I'm glad you didn't. That was…"

"Chaotic? Lucky? Terrifying? And yet it feels like the best damn thing we could've done to mess up that tank of theirs," Katara said, with a weary grin: she glanced at Aang, though, and that smile faded as Appa landed before the unconscious and dead soldiers before them. "Aang…"

"I… I'm sorry, Sokka," Aang said, glancing at his leader with unrelenting remorse. Sokka's eyes widened. "I know you wanted to keep my identity hidden until the Middle Ring or so, but…"

"Heh, you saved our lives. You shouldn't apologize, and I should be saying thank you, instead," Sokka said, smiling a little. "Good work, Aang. Plans get derailed sometimes, you know? And you just have to go with your gut once you know you can tip the scales in your favor. You did well."

"I… you're sure?" Aang said, with a slow smile of his own. Katara grinned at him too.

The barricades still standing behind them crumbled to pieces slowly over the work of the rest of their forces: the way to the Middle Ring was clear for their army now. They would be able to march forward through the very path the Fire Nation's forces had escaped through. Sokka breathed deeply as he watched them progress from a distance: his archers had stopped firing by now, as the enemies were too distant to be caught in their arrows anymore. Even so, numerous bodies lay unmoving on the wider street that had enabled their troops' escape.

"Well, we've done a number on them," Sokka said, breathing deeply as the rest of the army's leadership finally rejoined him, Aang and Katara. He turned towards the newly arriving Generals, finding Zuko standing with them, too.

"You guys alright?" Zuko called for them. Sokka nodded in his direction.

"A little worn out… but we're okay," Katara answered, climbing off Foo-Foo's saddle carefully. The moose-lion huffed in her direction… but he proceeded to prod at her gently with his snout next, as though to apologize for panicking as he had. "Oh, well. I forgive you for nearly getting us killed, Foo-Foo, it's okay…"

"General Sokka…" Jeong Jeong called him, stepping across the shattered barricades, a frown on his face. "Has the Avatar revealed himself?"

"Yeah, he chose to do it before either me or my sister were killed," Sokka confirmed. "While they may yet be surprised with Zuko… they know the Avatar is alive now. They know he's with us, too."

Jeong Jeong's frown deepened, then receded. He let out a deep breath and nodded.

"We may be able to exploit this. They will be fearful of the Avatar, for certain," he said.

"They ran away because of that, so… yeah, they are sure to be terrified, going forward," Sokka said. "But now that they've fled to the Middle Ring… it means we can gather all the reinforcements Iroh thought we'd find around these parts. And it also means we can search for better water sources for our waterbenders to use, going forward."

"That'd be great," Katara said, with a weak smile.

"So, for now… we march on," Sokka said, raising his head towards the street: the Fire Nation forces had rushed away by now, and they would attempt not only to build up a better defense – perhaps with even more tanks at their disposal, if they were ready – but to restrict their foes to the Lower Ring. They had already relinquished a considerable amount of territory and population… and they would plan to prepare defenses as well as an eventual offensive to slaughter the Gladiator and White Lotus army as soon as possible.

Their large army, carefully guided by earthbenders who sensed traps and directed their troops away from them, abided by Sokka's orders and marched across the Lower Ring. The sun rode higher in the sky by then, breaking past the mark of noon as their troops progressed steadily and only slowed once the Middle Ring's wall was within sight. They halted at a safe enough distance from the Middle Ring's wall, staying well outside their enemies' range, as well as to avoid potential projectiles from the tanks if there happened to be any manning those walls.

The more spacious streets of the Lower Ring offered them a large enough area for their troops to gather and get some rest: some squads had taken to securing the Lower Ring further, ensuring that the city's guards wouldn't prepare any attacks from the rearguard that might hinder their march. By the time they were settling down in the area, a group of locals arrived as well: not all the sleeper agents in Ba Sing Se were ready to join them yet, but around fifty had answered Iroh's call by then and were supplied promptly with weapons and armor for the battles to come.

The Lower Ring's evacuations had been chaotic and not as effective as they were meant to be: several common folk had stayed in their houses, especially the ill and the old, but a few rebellious teenagers had rushed up to their army as well, eager to join it. It stood to reason that there would be others, eventually, who would choose to do the same thing.

"It looks like we should take our time in the Lower Ring… doesn't it?" Zuko told Sokka, as they watched the newly arriving strangers rushing up to their army with no shortage of admiration and interest, some of them wary, but most of them ready to join forces with their group.

"Frankly, I'd like to press on right away…" Sokka said, running a hand over his hair before letting out a deep sigh. "But you're probably right. We didn't take many losses, but the Middle Ring won't lack challenges."

"And we won't find many more allies there," Zuko said. "At least, it's more likely that Lower Ring people will join us willingly and in good faith rather than those in the Middle or Upper Rings, I'd imagine."

"The Upper Ring's bound to be worse, yeah. So… we take a break, I suppose," Sokka said, breathing deeply again as he marched up to the other White Lotus generals to inform them of his decision.

Naturally, Iroh approved of the choice as he continued to recruit more Ba Sing Se locals to their cause. Jeong Jeong seemed tense, but he acquiesced to the idea, and Piandao trusted Sokka's judgment right away… though he offered his student a warning, regardless:

"Any time we take to prepare further will also be time for them to strengthen their defenses. We can't sit idly by for too long or we might have to face a full army of tanks like the one that gave us so much trouble to tear down earlier."

"I know, Master," Sokka said, breathing deeply. "But I'd like to think Toph's in better shape to do something about that, going forward… if she is, she'll probably turn a fair number of those tanks into scraps before anyone's the wiser. I'll do my best not to relinquish my sword again, no matter how urgent the situation gets… though, honestly, I feel like I ought to attach a chain to it or something. Then I could fling it off, cut whatever's far away from me, reel it back in…"

"Perhaps you just want another meteorite to fashion all your weapons from… your boomerang as it is wouldn't be able to cut through solid metal, I suppose," Piandao said. Sokka shook his head.

"Not likely, no. So, I guess I'll just take what I can get," Sokka said, with a weak smile. "We'll discuss our approach to taking the Middle Ring next… but I feel like I ought to do something else about our enemies, first."

Piandao raised his eyebrows as Sokka explained his intent. Jeong Jeong frowned but said nothing, perhaps aware that Sokka's idea wasn't likely to pay off… but knowing, too, that Sokka's willingness to make such offers to his foes was one of his unexpected strengths as a leader and warrior. It might not work… but it might convince the Fire Nation troops of the weakness of their own General if they found themselves slaughtered needlessly by following his orders.

Thus, Sokka and his select group of closest and strongest allies marched up to the Middle Ring's tall wall. They slowed at a safe distance from the wall still, though the sight of the Avatar certainly deterred the enemy archers from attacking with arrows anew: no longer was the young man astride his sky bison as he stood on the ground, fully visible for everyone in his Air Nomad attire, blue arrow tattoos in plain sight.

Sokka didn't see Tiang on that wall, but he knew he had to be nearby somewhere. Thus, he drew in a deep breath and raised his voice as loudly as he could afford to:

"General Tiang! Fire Nation forces! I'm here to demand your surrender!"

Where the request had seemed unthinkable when he had spoken it to the officers in the Inner Wall, it certainly was no such thing now. Sokka frowned heavily, defying the soldiers on the walls with a fierce scowl that he trusted they'd feel, no matter how far away they might be.

"You have one hour to yield peacefully to our army!" Sokka roared. "No more lives need to be wasted, not on our side, not on yours, as long as you make the right choice now! Fail to do so, and you'll fall along with this city!"

The fidgeting men at the wall seemed terribly nervous, unwilling to fire their bows, likely out of orders by their superiors: as long as the Gladiator settled for speaking, there would be no need to engage him or his forces in battle… a battle that the Fire Nation wasn't all that likely to win, something they were painfully aware of after the enemy's last display.

"Think it over, General!" Sokka shouted. "Your actions have already caused enough blood to spill in Ba Sing Se's streets! The only way to stop the carnage is if you give up now… for I won't slow down until Ba Sing Se is ours! Surrender or face the full brunt of our army! It won't turn out any better for your forces than it has so far!"

Silence still. Sokka raised his head high before urging the others to begin marching back: his sister stood at his right, Aang at his left, with Zuko by his side while Kino stood with Katara, too. Toph and Jet rounded out the full group, standing behind their friends while the White Lotus generals stood further back, showing themselves blatantly before the Fire Nation now that they were in the middle of an uneasy ceasefire. Some of the other leaders of their army stood with them, too, such as Anorak, Shiju and General Fong, all poised into daunting the Fire Nation's forces into surrender: they hadn't lost a single leader of their forces yet, whereas the Fire Nation's troops had failed to take a proper stand against the tide of the attacking army at just about every point in time.

The Gladiator and White Lotus army behind them took to chanting more war cries as their group returned: the sounds of their voices carried across many districts of the Lower Ring, alerting even more people of the fact that something unusual, something big, was happening in their city, if they somehow hadn't noticed it yet…

And the voices carried over the Middle Ring's wall as well. Wangdu, nervous, glanced at a furious and daunted General Tiang: enough blood had certainly spilled in this city, and Tiang certainly could be blamed for most of it… his life had been set on a path of carnage for as long as he could remember, only for that path to lose its glory once Lu Ten had died to save him.

From then on, he had fought out of shame. Out of the need to prove himself valuable, to make sure Lu Ten's sacrifice wouldn't have been in vain… but where he had felt his spirit deep within him upon fearing the Gladiator had betrayed Azula profoundly, suddenly he didn't feel that sensation anymore. Suddenly, he found himself wondering if, perhaps, Lu Ten would have surrendered. If, perhaps, he would have been charging into battle alongside the Gladiator, rather than standing on the Fire Nation's side…

Tiang stepped forward, watching the enemy briefly: the Blue Wolf's tall shape, his leadership stance, the fearlessness with which he turned his back on the enemy, knowing full well that he could be attacked… confident that he would remain unharmed, even if he were. The very sight of him, that black sword sheathed over his back, that strong stance and purposeful intent, drove Tiang's usual dread deeper into his gut: this was it. This was his final stand. Today, he'd pay the price for every wrongdoing he'd ever been responsible for. Today, he'd fail the Fire Nation, the Fire Lord… he'd fail Lu Ten, he'd fail Jin, everyone he had ever loved, everyone who had ever loved him. Today, he'd finally have to face and accept that nothing he did, no achievements to his name, could ever justify his prolonged existence:

He wouldn't surrender: the Gladiator wouldn't need him to do so in order to attain victory, anyway.