Chapter 36 - The Harbor

Sequential explosions occurred behind the invasion fleet as Hakoda instructed the ships under his command to continue westward with all due haste. Following the initial destruction from the frigate that Sokka had managed to maneuver into a prime position, chaos and pandemonium tore across the Fire Nation Central Fleet. His Son had managed to perform a miracle and had taken the enemy fleet off the board without compromising the integrity of the invasion fleet or delaying its departure.

The Water Tribe Chieftain continued to shout orders to his own crew as he refused to dwell on what Sokka's clever solution had very likely cost him personally. There would be time enough for that later, given any of them survived the day. Further, the commander of the allied invasion fleet couldn't afford to get distracted in front of his men. They all had everything riding on the line for this attack. Everyone had sacrificed. It was simply Hakoda's turn. He had simply been more fortunate than most to be able to say good-bye first.

The Water Chieftain had to ignore more than once the concerned glances that Bato offered his way each time the second-in-command looked back at the turmoil behind them. Brushing an unbeckoned tear that threatened to fall, Hakoda spared his first look backwards as well.

The enemy flag ship had taken the worst of it. Thick, dark smoke billowed out from the side of the hull as water raced into the blown-out crater in the metal plating. Within minutes, the enemy flag ship settled beneath the waves as the other enemy ships struggled to contain the damage and casualties from the surprise attack.

From above, clouds of ash rained down heavily, the aftermath of the explosion mixing with and intensifying the fields of rich smog that rose from the smokestack funnels of the surviving vessels. The smell of charred metal and black powder permeated strongly across the sea winds.

The ocean waters themselves were littered with Fire Nation sailors, alive and dead, although there appeared to be a shocking number of the latter. The survivors struggled to grasp whatever flotsam they could find as they desperately attempted to paddle towards the still floating portions of the once majestic Central Fleet armada. Entire sections of the sea burned with flammable blasting jelly and oil, making the trek all the more harrowing.

The Water Tribe frigate that had been the source of all the destruction had been reduced to nothing more than scorched, splintered wood and debris; those parts of the frigate that hadn't been completely incinerated in the first place. Anyone and anything that had been within the immediate blast radius of the concentrated array of blasting jelly had simply ceased to be.

It was a commotion on the deck of his own flag ship that drew Hakoda's attention back to his present surroundings.

"I can't believe you, Zuko!" shouted Jin angrily as the Earth Kingdom girl got right up into the face of the Fire Prince. "You're telling me that you let Sokka go on his reckless attack, just like that?!" Jin only got more irate when the firebender didn't respond and instead averted his gaze. "I thought you were his friend!"

"Call Edel down from the skies! Or turn one of the ships around!" urged Katara frantically. "We can go back and get him! It's not too late! Sokka can't be gone! He just can't be!"

"No," came the firm declaration from the front of the ship as Hakoda marched down the steps and into the amassed crowd of people surrounding the furious teenagers. "Sokka gave us this opening to get away and continue the invasion. We're not throwing his gift away so carelessly!"

"He is your Son! My Brother!" yelled back Katara in tears. "He would go back for any one of us!"

"You think I don't know that?!" growled Hakoda fiercely. "How callous do you think I am?" The Water Chieftain was struggling to keep his resolve, not that any of the gathered onlookers were going to say anything about that. "But we can't afford to send Edel or any of the ships back. There are still plenty of ballistae over there just waiting for the opportunity to shoot her down and countless angry Fire Nation sailors who would jump at the chance to try!"

Hakoda clenched his fist so tightly that the whites of his knuckles nearly popped. "There's a larger picture here! Sokka understood that! Sokka knew that! That's why he did what he did! That's why Zuko and I knew that it wasn't right for us to try and talk him out of it! We can't afford to get caught up in a fight here! The target has to be the Fire Capital! We're only going to get one chance at this! That's why Sokka wanted us to keep going! And we're not even sure if-" Hakoda caught himself before he could finish his sentence.

"If Sokka's alive? That's what you were going to say, wasn't it?" ranted Katara as her Father looked downward. Katara knew that she wasn't being fair. Sokka just had to go and play the hero. Now, everyone was suffering for it. Gritting her teeth, the waterbender looked off to the side. "You can't even say it, can you?"

"Sokka's alive," asserted Zuko firmly, speaking his first words since silently enduring Jin's fury at being told about Sokka's crazy gambit. When everyone looked at the Fire Prince, Zuko added confidently, "He said he had a plan."

Jin shook her head as she shivered. "Sokka always says he has a plan. But when have any of his plans ever actually gone to plan?" The Earth Kingdom girl walked closer to the Fire Prince dejectedly with her arms crossed across her chest, her hands holding close to her elbows. "You haven't forgotten about that bad omen we received from the fortune teller, have you? What if this is what that prophet was talking about?"

The grim expression on Zuko's face persisted. The air of melancholy hung over the group with an almost suffocating weight. Despite breaking free from the entrapment at the Pale Cliffs without a fight, the morale of the invasion fleet was at an all-time low at the potential loss of one of their key members. Sokka had unequivocally been the heart of the team.

Hakoda's flag ship shook violently as everyone's eyes surged to the starboard side of the deck to see a little earthbender retracting her small palm from where it had struck the metal railing. A deep concave, fist-shaped indentation had been left in the plating. "If Sokka said he had a plan, then Sokka had a plan," barked Toph, her own eyes hidden by her hair bangs. "You should have more trust in your friends!"

The little earthbender's words seemed to cut through the gloom and stir some life back into the others that had been caught up in the despair lingering around them. Surprisingly, it was Bato who spoke up next as the Water Tribe Warrior stood upon a barrel to address the larger gathering of Water Tribe warriors, Earth Kingdom soldiers, and Fire Nation deserters amassed on the deck.

"You all realize what just happened, don't you?" implored Bato as he gathered everyone's attention. "We managed to evade a costly sea battle so that this invasion could proceed as planned. And did we do anything to cause that?" When he was met with silence from the gathered crowd, Bato roared, "No! We didn't! We're supposed to be the soldiers fighting this war to save our people! And Hakoda's only Son took it upon himself to pick up a matchstick and do what needed to be done! A kid did that! So, we better damn well step it up! Discard any lingering doubt right now! Work hard, work fast, and let's get into this fight the second we hit that harbor!"

Approving murmurs began to spread across the assembled host of resistance fighters. Bato pumped his fist up into the air. "For the Young Wolf! For Sokka!" A chorus of "Young Wolf!" began to echo across the deck as the rallying cry spilled over to the other ships of the westward sailing invasion fleet.

The gloomy atmosphere that had threatened to take hold of the last bastion of hope appeared to reverse course under Bato's call to arms. Putting a hand on his best friend's shoulder, Hakoda whispered a silent "Thank you." The Water Chieftain needed to hear Bato's building up of Sokka's sacrifice as much as everyone else did. Bato gave a understanding head nod back in response.

Katara and Jin looked back at the aftermath of billowing smoke and destruction littering the horizon in the distance. "I do trust in Sokka," muttered Jin after a minute. "But why does he have to be so darn heroic?"

"Sokka's going to have a lot of explaining to do about why he thought this was the best option when he gets back," confirmed Katara as she supported the Earth Kingdom girl. "And of course, I trust my Brother too. He'll probably show up in the middle of the invasion in some grand fashion."

"Sokka always has to make an entrance," asserted Jin faintly with a slight head nod.

Eventually, both the waterbender and earthbender proceeded together elsewhere on the ship. The looks on their faces promised swift retribution to any Fire Nation solider who stood in their way.

As everyone filtered away at their own pace, Zuko found himself standing against the ship railing as he continued to brood. 'Was this really the best option, Sokka? Did I really just sacrifice a friend for a chance at victory?' he thought to himself. 'Doesn't this make me no better than Azula?'

The Fire Prince felt someone lean against him. As his eyes traveled down, Zuko saw Toph resting her head against his side as the firebender finally noticed the puffy Earth Kingdom girl eyes that were barely holding back tears, which had been covered by the earthbender's hair bangs earlier. "Sokka's... Sokka's not coming back, is he?" muttered the little earthbender, her voice barely above a whisper.

"He did say that he had parts of a plan," answered Zuko absently as he still felt the words ring hollow from his mouth.

The two of them continued to observe the aftermath as the Central Fleet grew smaller and smaller in the distance. Well, Zuko continued to observe. Toph demanded that the Fire Prince at least describe to her what he was seeing.

Sometime after Zuko had finished his descriptions of the results of Sokka's reckless gambit, Toph shook her head as she forced a laugh. "Sokka always did like to cause a spectacle." Drying her eyes, Toph settled her composure as she turned to walk back below decks. Pausing at the stairs, the little earthbender stated over her shoulder, "That plan of his... he never mentioned it being an escape plan, did he?" When Zuko didn't answer her, the grimace on Toph's face returned. "I thought as much."


"My arm! It's still burning!" shouted a Fire Nation sailor in anguish as a medic tended to his severely torched appendage.

Applying an thick burn ointment to the wound, the medic snapped back, "Shut it. You're fortunate enough to still be breathing. There are several who weren't so lucky. That explosion decimated our fleet."

Everywhere onboard the deck of the Akagi, sailors were rushing around; pulling other sailors out of the water, attempting to put out flames and burning debris, and tending to the wounded. The anguished howls of pain weren't helping. The Akagi itself was one of the remaining frigates that had managed to survive the initial explosion from the Water Tribe ship.

It was simply chaos. The ship captain had been on deck when the explosion from the Water Tribe ship occurred and had taken a wooden splinter straight through the chest. The lack of immediate leadership wasn't helping matters.

"You! What's your name?!" ordered a Fire Nation Lieutenant as he grabbed one of his men.

The Fire Nation sailor in question, who had been running about amongst the distress, paused as his panicked eyes began to focus as he realized someone was asking him a question. His nervous answer as he struggled to recall his own name was, "Me? I'm... uh, Taka, sir."

"Taka? Good, that's a strong name," replied the Fire Lieutenant. "I'm Lieutenant Daizan. I'm going to need you to breath. You look like you're going to pass out. Here," the officer handed the sailor a coil of rope. "Join the others on the railing, help pull more survivors from the drink. We need every available hand we can get."

Fumbling with the rope, Taka barely managed to catch the heavily, woven cord. With an awkward salute, the sailor made his way to the side of the ship and secured the lifeline to a post as he threw the cable out to a cloister of sailors attempting to climb up the side of the Akagi.

Grabbing another Fire Nation sailor as he dashed by, Daizan demanded again, "Sailor, what's your name?"

The frantic sailor's nerves had been getting the better of him as well as the sailor took a moment to realize his commanding officer was asking him a question. "It's So-Soto, sir!" managed Soto as he corrected his stutter.

"Alright, listen to me Soto, grab a mop. There's too much blood pooling on the deck around the wounded and we've got people running everywhere. Unless you want more accidents to occur because of a slick deck, I need you to swag the deck around the triage area immediately," explained Daizan swiftly and calmly.

With a newfound sense of purpose, Soto nodded in comprehension before remembering to salute and quickly dashed off to accomplish his appointed task.

Turning to look at the triage center, Daizan grabbed one of the sailors attempting to treat a heavily wounded person. "Hey! Hey! This one's done. You're not saving him! There are others who still have a chance!"

The medic shoved the Fire Nation officer away. "No! I'm not done here. I can still save him."

Daizan gripped the rookie medic by the shoulder and pulled the young boy to his feet. "What's your name?!" When the medic didn't respond, Daizan shouted louder into the face of the anxious sailor. "What's your name, medic?!"

"It's Wang, sir!" shouted back the rookie medic.

Turning the young man's face so that Wang could get a better look at the person who the rookie medic had been trying to save, Daizan solemnly pointed out, "Look, Wang! Look at him! He's gone! You're wasting precious time that you could be using to save someone who still has a chance!"

Getting a better look at the patient's face, it was clearly evident that the heavily wounded man had already succumbed to his injuries. In frustration, Wang threw the roll of bandages in his hand to the ground. "I could have saved him!"

"You did what you could, sailor," assured Daizan. "Now, keep at it. Without men like you here, we would have lost more already."

Under Daizan's guidance, as the surviving Fire Lieutenant stepped up and took charge of the pandemonium that had been running rampant, the environment onboard the Akagi was steadily transitioning into a state of controlled chaos. Getting the attention of the helmsman, Daiman urged the navigator to steer the ship closer to where more sailors were in the water to lessen their swim and increase their chances of survival.

Just as the havoc above deck appeared to be managed, the Akagi shuddered violently. "Did we hit something?!" shouted the Fire Lieutenant to the spotter up in the crow's nest.

"Negative, sir!" came the frantic response. "There's no wreckage near us!" The ship shook turbulently a second time. The spotter pointed to a plume of smoke from one of the artillery catapults. "The fire's spreading to the munitions!"

Alarm swept across the Lieutenant's face. "Water! We need buckets and water! Now! Everyone! Form a line! Drop what you're doing and form a line! Immediately!"

Even as the Fire Lieutenant urgently barked his orders, the man could see that it was going to be too late. Time seemed to slow across the burning deck of the Akagi as flames began to lick at the much larger stockpile of unlit catapult shots.

The Fire Lieutenant shut his eyes at the imminent explosion that was going to take the entire ship and claim another lost for the remaining Central Fleet. Only, instead of an instant searing of blistering hot flames, the Fire Lieutenant heard the cascading splashes of the entire inventory of long range ammunition on the ship deck falling into the sea.

Opening his eyes and recovering from the impeding dread that had threatened to take the crew, the Fire Lieutenant noticed Taka panting heavily as the sailor was leaning against the emergency release lever to jettison the explosives into the sea. Cheers rang out amongst the crew. They all knew just how close they had came to meeting their ends at either cataclysmic fiery death or drowning beneath the murky waves from a swiftly sinking ship.

As the fire break line was formed and buckets were passed down, the flare up of flames on the ship deck was slowly and surely coming under control. The Fire Lieutenant approached the savior of the crew as he helped the lad back to his feet.

"And to think, ten minutes ago, you were running around with your head cut off," smirked Lieutenant Daizan. Slapping the Fire Nation sailor on the back, Daizan came to a resolution. "I'm in desperate need reliable manpower, and you've just been field promoted. Excellent work, Lieutenant Taka. As for me, I'm the Captain now. Captain Daizan."

Bewilderment was readily apparent on the newly elevated officer; however, before Taka could answer his reward, a mighty clamor arose on the far side of the ship. Unsure of what was causing the uproar, both Taka and Daizan quickly made their way over.

Being lowered onto the deck of the Akagi was a charred and unrecognizable body. However, it was the garb the figure was wearing that was causing the turmoil and the uncontrolled comments.

"That's him, isn't it?!" shouted one of the sailors on deck.

"That's got to be him!" declared another.

"No one else would be wearing those disgusting colors," growled a third.

Captain Daizan pushed his way to the front of the crowd as he bent down next to the singed body with a stern expression. Lieutenant Taka remained standing next to his kneeling commander. "What do you think, Captain?" asked the new officer. If the other sailors had any qualms with the new title given to the former Lieutenant Daizan, they didn't voice a challenge to Taka's announcement.

"I think... that we just found what remains of that damn Water Tribe saboteur that did this to our fleet," cursed Captain Daizan. "Looks like the stupid bilge rat got himself caught up in his own trap."

Pulling a knife from his belt, Daizan asked, "Anyone of you lot know much about water savages?" When the Fire Nation Captain didn't receive a response from the amassed crew, he gripped the torched hair of the body laying on the deck. "They call this a wolf's tail. It's just a mockery of an honorable and proper topknot." With a deft swing of his blade, Daizan cut the hair free from the top of the dead boy's head.

Then, ripping a piece of the blue tunic from the Water Tribe boy's decreased body, Daizan wrapped the severed wolf's tail into a makeshift blue cloth bag. "Now, we have proof that we caught and executed the filthy saboteur." Several approving grumblings murmured out from the Fire Nation Central Fleet crew members.

Kneeling a second time as he secured the trophy to his belt loop, Daizan pulled a hardened leather boomerang holster with the projectile weapon still inside from the back of the cold Water Tribe body at his feet. Standing once more, the Captain shoved the weapon and its sheath into Taka's chest. "And a prize for the one whose bravery just averted a disaster for the Akagi!" A thunderous roar of triumph rang out from the amassed sailors as Taka endured a barrage of slaps on the back and merry shoves.

After the humiliating defeat the Central Fleet had just suffered, Captain Daizan's shrewdness was on full display. By overtly tossing his newly promoted officer a bone, the self-appointed Captain had quickly garnered the support of the ship's survivors and delivered them a much needed win.

"What are we going to do with the body, sir?" asked Wang as he nudged the lifeless corpse still littering the metal deck with his foot.

Gesturing for the rookie medic to move aside, Daizan vindictively grinned. "He's already all charred up real nice. Be a shame not to finish the job." With a fire blast from his arm, the Central Fleet firebender incinerated what was left of the Water Tribe saboteur that had been dragged up onto the ship deck. "And that's for all the pain that damn savage caused us!"

In chorus with their commander, several other firebenders joined in to create an array of fire columns as the vengeful sailors shouted curses and jeers at the smoking body in front of them. Moments later, only a blackened and scorched mound remained. With the push of a mop, Soto shoved what remained back into the sea below as the waves quickly claimed the mess.

"As soon as we finish recovering the survivors, we'll make for the Fire Capital," instructed Captain Daizan as he frowned over the ship railing with disdain.

"To catch the invaders from behind at the Great Gates of Azulon?" asked Lieutenant Taka.

Daizan laughed in response. "I like your way of thinking Taka. You'll make a fine officer." Then, shaking his head, the self-appointed Fire Nation Captain corrected, "But we're to make for the northwest shores of the royal capital. Before we were redirected to this disastrous assignment, we had been ordered to reinforce a special project for the Fire Lord there. Let the Fire Princess take the fallout for Admiral Chun's failure to stop the invasion force at the Pale Cliffs. We'll be honored as heroes for killing the saboteur, avenging the Admiral and our fallen comrades, and rescuing as many as we could."

Several hours later, the remainder of the Central Fleet began their journey westward to fulfill their original assignment. The new flagship, the Akagi, leading the way.


Shimmering blue ocean water spread out in every direction along the calm seas as the lead Water Tribe vessels made their way towards the Fire Nation capital. A short distance behind them, enough claim they were pursuing but not attempting to close the gap, followed the main contingent of Fire Nation deserters on their own ships. The crews were making good time. The sea winds were working in their favor and speeding their sails along.

Before them, on a small manmade island, rose a large stone statue of an emperor, easily over a hundred feet tall, with the man's arms spread out wide as if to hold something in each of them. Parallel in either direction on the shoreline of the tiny island itself were twin dragon statues, both facing the stone emperor.

"There they are, the Great Gates of Azulon," proclaimed Hakoda as he stood on the deck of his ship, flanked by his Daughter and her friends. Bato was on watch with his spyglass as he scanned the horizons.

Katara frowned as she looked out at the giant statue of the former Fire Lord. "I don't see any gates."

"They are there alright," assured Hakoda. "Katara, you and the swampbenders need to whip up some fog cover for us right now."

Katara started to bend the moisture in the air into a murky fog as Bato signaled with flags for the swampbenders on the other ships to do the same. Tho turned to his friend Due. "We'll sneak by them statues real good like. Just like we sneak by that Fire Navy blockade!"

Although the sea mist itself appeared natural for this time of day, there was an another issue. The entirety of the fleet was enveloped in thick mists that prevented anyone from seeing within or without. Just as their enemies couldn't see them, the allied invasion force couldn't see past the fog either. But they knew that they were rapidly approaching the Great Gates.

"Keep it up, we're almost through!" encouraged Hakoda to his Daughter as she continued to bend. Addressing his helmsman, he added, "Stay on course. Don't slow down."

Almost on cue to contradict that order, a loud series of bells and alarms started to ring out as an impossibly large metal net rose out from the sea, connected to the arms of the Fire Lord Azulon statue in the middle and both dragon statues in either direction. Once the complete net was raised, sparks ignited from the hands of the statue as the entire lattice was set ablaze in a raging barrier of flame. Several patrol boats started to race towards the sea mist as Hakoda cursed aloud.

"Damn it. They aren't taking any chances," the Water Chieftain sharply surmised. "Everyone! Below decks now!" He turned to address the Mechanist. "Let's hope this invention that you and my Son designed works."

The Mechanist gave a grim nod in return. The submarines were untested as the Mechanist didn't have waterbenders handy during the design phase to help him conduct early trial tests for the movement and steering mechanisms. Not only that, but Sokka's blueprints had left a lot to be desired in terms of legibility. Still, the Mechanist had faith that he had filled in the gaps accurately enough to be functional... theoretically anyway. "It will work," the engineer declared resolutely.

As everyone filed onboard the submarines, hatches were closed and sealed tightly. Each submarine was jettisoned from underneath the underside of the Water Tribe ships minutes before Fire Nation sailors boarded the Water Tribe vessels on the surface, disappearing swiftly into the murky depths. Narrow porthole viewers and shallow lights were all they had to guide them onward to the Fire Nation capital.

Above the waters, firebenders swarmed the abandoned Water Tribe ships. Taking no chances, the sailors destroyed everything in sight with quick bursts of fire and slashes from their weapons. However, it didn't take them long to realize that the vessels were devoid of any fighters, weapons, or munitions.

"There's no one on board the ships, ma'am," reported a male firebender with a salute as his commanding officer walked aboard from the extended gangplank.

"Search the ships again," ordered the female Fire Nation Captain. "They didn't just disappear into thin air. These ships couldn't have-"

Suddenly the giant burning metal net from the Great Gates of Azulon made a screeching and snapping sound as the entire steel net plummeted back down into the choppy waters below. Even more smoke from the rapidly extinguished fire rose to join with the lingering sea mist. Vision across the sea dropped to near zero from within the rapidly expanding murky haze.

As the confusion and discourse rippled through the ranks of the Fire Nation defenders, no one noticed the additional Fire Nation deserter battleships that quietly slipped within the ranks of Fire Nation patrol boats. Moving swiftly, the Fire Nation deserters wasted no time moving past the defanged Great Gates and making a surge towards landfall.

"How did you manage to get the Great Gates to give way like that?" asked Captain Jee as he stood alongside the Fire Admiral.

"Chey's little fire ferrets," noted Jeong Jeong as if that answered everything.

"Come again, sir?" muttered Jee in confusion.

Jee remained staring at the stone statue of Fire Lord Azulon as the Fire Admiral's ships sailed by unchallenged due to the discord rippling through the Fire Nation defensive garrison as to why their Great Gates lost their netting. "People always think a soldier has to be the one to take action on a battlefield," mused Jeong Jeong. "No one ever even looks twice at a cook, or a porter, or anyone they consider lower than them. Turns out a lever doesn't care who pulls it. Who knew, right?" He smiled faintly. "I imagine the watchmen in the statue gate room will be found incapacitated in some manner or the other.

Jee gave a low whistle as he admired the handiwork of Chey's spy network. "Speaking of which, where is Chey? I can't find him on the ship. And I don't think I've seen him around for the last few days."

"Chey's working another angle. One that required my best scouts," answered Jeong Jeong. "The Fire Lord has an information blackout on some special project close to the Fire Capital. Chey's working on figuring out what that is and how dangerous it is for us."

"Do you think we'll have to worry about that special project during the invasion?" asked Jee with concern.

Jeong Jeong glanced out across the swaying ocean waters. In the distance, he could just barely make out the shoreline of the Fire Capital at the very edge of their visible range. At their current speed, their ships would make it there in less than an hour. He was unsure how fast the submarines could travel, but Jeong Jeong assumed that those inventions would be at least a little slower than a battleship despite the Mechanist's assurances that the underwater crafts would be as nimble as a skiff once the waterbenders got used to them. This was going to take a some guess work to time their arrival to be similar to the rest of the forces.

Answering the Fire Captain, Jeong Jeong eventually replied. "Those submarines won't be expected by the Fire Nation. Who's to say that our opponents aren't developing their own inventions? We need to be ready, no matter what comes today."

Captain Jee gave an affirmative salute and statement of acknowledgement. However, Jeong Jeong barely heard the other man. No, the Fire Admiral's thoughts were elsewhere. He could hear the sounds of warfare echoing in his mind yet again. The same sounds that he had thought he had escaped when he decided to run from his duties once before.

The fierce battle cries and the wails of anguish as lives were snuffed out on both sides. Jeong Jeong had sworn he would never do this again, and yet here he was, gambling his last hopes on a young prince, a final chance for the Fire Nation to correct its course.

Jee almost didn't hear the Fire Admiral as Jeong Jeong whispered lowly to himself, "Once more unto the breach, dear friends, once more."


The Water Chieftain watched as his Daughter focused in concentration to propel the lead submarine forward underneath the Great Gates as the Mechanist steered and provided directions to her from the helm. Katara's Father was so proud and quite frankly beyond impressed. While the other submarines seemed to require two or three of the swampbenders working in tandem to move them, Katara was operating the lead submarine all by herself without looking the slightest bit exhausted by the effort.

Hakoda was amazed at how remarkable his Daughter had become; a master waterbender. She had truly grown into her own. Which... only sparked a prang of sadness as well. His children had to grow up without him. And not only that, but they had to grow up far too quickly. This war had demanded it of them, of all of them. Hakoda gripped the front of the railing he was holding tighter. If today went as planned, then perhaps other parents wouldn't have to watch their children grow up so fast and kids could be kids. And perhaps, the Water Chieftain could keep another parent from knowing what it felt like to lose a child while the other still wished to risk her life in war.

Walking over and placing a hand on Katara's shoulder, Hakoda forced a proud smile to his face as he told her, "Kya would have been so proud to see how strong you've become."

Katara maintained her focus on waterbending the ship forward. "Mom will be even prouder when we put an end to this conflict."

As the Water Chieftain and his Daughter dwelled on their own personal matters, Jin approached her mentor, who was sitting off to the side in the corner of the sub with her head in her hands. "You doing alright?" asked the concerned Earth Kingdom girl.

"Just peachy," grumbled Toph, her face a sickly looking green as her head swayed slightly. "These crazy people just managed to invent an even more worse way to travel beyond flying." Suddenly, the little earthbender held her mouth as her body threatened to throw up her breakfast.

The Duke took off his helmet as he approached and offered it to her. "Helmet?"

Toph grabbed the offered container out of the young boy's hands and proceeded to vomit heavily into the helmet. She looked absolutely miserable. The Duke winced as his favorite helmet was used as a receptacle for Toph's bile, but nevertheless, the Duke placed a comforting hand on Toph's back and attempted to console her.

Pipsqueak watched the exchange with an approving eye. He was content that the Duke was displaying compassion rather than the indifference that Jet would have shown. The little earthbender merely muttered, "Just hurry up and get me to shore. I need to lay the smackdown on something to get my head on straight again."

Shifting a couple of levers to increase the speed of the submarine, the Mechanist chuckled as he allowed Teo to takeover steering the vessel. "The idea to travel underwater is brilliant. I can't believe I never considered using waterbending to make an underwater craft that could sink and float at will. Sokka truly was a visionary."

The Mechanist rapidly felt the series of glares being directed his way from Katara, Jin, and Toph at his use of the word 'was'. "Ah..." stammered the engineer as he pulled some blueprints out from a compartment near the front of the ship. Holding up the crude designs, he attempted to shift the topic. "Though the original designs were a bit... difficult to decipher."

As everyone studied the rough looking sketches on the graph paper, it was the Fire Prince who spoke up to comment as he approached the Mechanist. "Those look familiar. I've seen Sokka's artwork several times before," noted Zuko as he examined the childish outlines. "You must really be a genius if you managed to make these submarines based off those designs."

"Teo and I had to work several nights into the late hours just to figure out what some of these parts were," sighed the Mechanist. "It took us ages to understand just how Sokka intended to adjust the steering mechanisms and hydraulics to allow for the pilot to work in tandem with the waterbender to move the craft."

"Oh, it looks like Sokka accounted for that right here," observed Jin as she walked closer to examine the blueprints. "See, these lines here must have represented the connections to the rudder and these swirls here display the currents the waterbender is bending, and over here is..." she paused as she realized everyone in the submarine was just staring at her as she talked. "What?" Jin asked, more than a little self-conscious.

"You can decipher those blueprints?" asked Zuko in amazement.

"Umm... yes?" replied Jin. "I don't see why you all are saying it's so difficult. They seem fairly simple to understand to me." She turned the blueprint in the Mechanist's hands around. "Also, umm... it seems like you were holding the design upside down."

The Mechanist blinked as he looked between the graph paper in his hands and back at the Earth Kingdom girl next to him and then back at the crude blueprint yet again. It didn't take the engineer long to break into a lamentation of not having Jin around to make heads or tails of the difficult-to-interpret designs back when he was building the submarine. Teo struggled to calm his Father, especially when the young lad was also feeling the same way.

Katara had a bittersweet smile on her face as she watched the exchange while continuing to waterbend the submarine. It was a somber reminder that Sokka wasn't here with them right now to be on the receiving end of all this attention for his amazing work.

Eventually settling down, the Mechanist muttered, "Still, unfortunately, there was one problem that arose that I couldn't fix. The submarines have a limited air supply and cannot travel extended distances. Before we land on the beaches, we'll need to resurface once."

"How long?" asked Hakoda forcefully. The Water Chieftain didn't exactly appreciate this critical flaw that the Mechanist had apparently forgotten to mention back when they were planning this raid. Not that it was entirely the engineer's fault. The original plan had been to launch the submarines after passing the Great Gates of Azulon. However, something this important should have been noted earlier.

"Not long, a couple of minutes at most," replied the Mechanist as he checked over his work.

Hakoda nodded solemnly. "Alright, let's make it quick."


A short time later, all the submarines were surfaced together above the water in a tight encirclement. Hakoda had posted several sentries on lookout duty around the vessels as this was a highly vulnerable portion of the invasion. If they were spotted, a couple of well placed catapult shots could wipe out their entire force if they couldn't dive back beneath the waves in time to avoid the barrage.

Bato signaled to the Water Chieftain that he had eyes on Admiral Jeong Jeong's battleships a short distance away. They didn't dare signal them as that could give away their position, but if the submarines maintained a similar speed on the second half of their journey, then the underwater forces would likely make it to shore just shortly before their above water reinforcements.

Standing off the port bow of the lead submarine, Zuko had a grim expression permanently etched on his face as he brooded over the Fire Nation Capital in distance. The Fire Prince became acutely aware of his friends approaching from behind as Toph was the first to brashly ask, "You still with us Sparky? Don't be losing your nerve before the championship bout even starts."

The Fire Prince watched as the far-off city continued its day-to-day business normally. It appeared the news of their breaching of the Great Gates of Azulon had not yet made it to the Capital City. Admiral Jeong Jeong's covert forces probably had a hand in that. There were still small fishing ships littering the immediate waters outside the harbor proper. His voice almost at a whisper, Zuko acknowledged lightly on the winds, "The board is set, the pieces are moving. First blood has already been drawn. And now, we come to it at last, the great battle of our time."

"Hey now, did you hit your head climbing out of the sub?" joked Toph with a smirk. "Don't go getting all philosophical on us now."

Jin walked up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Zuko as she also stared out across the seas. "No more lost friends," the Earth Kingdom girl said with a firm tone as she stuck her hand out.

Katara lined up on Zuko's opposite side as she joined her hand on top of Jin's outstretched one. "No more broken lives."

With a nod, Zuko set his palm on top of both Katara's and Jin's hands. "No more hate."

As the three of them shared a slight smile, Toph popped up next to their unified gesture as she threw both her tiny hands on top of the pile. "I may have missed out on that big life changing adventure you all had in the Fire Nation, but don't think for a minute that you're leaving me out of this. I expect a exciting field trip too after this is all over. You all owe me."

Grinning, Zuko stated, "We wouldn't dare, Toph."

"Good," nodded Toph. Then, more seriously, the little earthbender declared, "For Sokka."

"For Sokka," affirmed everyone with conviction.

As everyone dropped their hands and stood overlooking the side of the submarine, Toph added smugly, "And if things get too intense out there for any of you, just stand behind me. I'll pave the way forward."

Ruffling the little earthbender's hair, Zuko gave a resolute, "Let's get this done."

A whistle echoed from the other side of the submarine as Hakoda popped up from an open hatch. "Everyone! Listen up. The next time we resurface, it will be on the beaches. So stay alert, and fight smart. This break is over, back into the subs!" As he ducked back down, the people on top of the submarines moved to follow into their own vessels. Jin and Toph quickly did the same as Katara and Zuko lingered for a moment.

"Katara, I..." started Zuko.

"Zuko, I..." started Katara.

They paused for a moment and smiled. It was just like at Camila's ranch house all over again. The Fire Prince yielded to the waterbender with a simple gesture.

"We've come a long way together, haven't we? I don't know if I've ever actually said it, but thank you. Thank you for rescuing me that day back on the docks. And for getting me through my survivor's guilt. And for helping me realize that Hama didn't have any control over me. I just wanted you to know that," stated Katara.

"It's funny, you know?" mused Zuko aloud. "For all those times back then that I was worrying about my destiny; now, I can't begin to imagine a destiny that doesn't have you in it." The Fire Prince turned to Katara. "Promise me one thing, don't take any crazy chances out there."

"I won't take any crazy chances that you wouldn't take yourself," returned the waterbender confidently.

The Fire Prince groaned slightly. "That's exactly what I'm afraid of."

"Then, you can probably guess how I feel when you do the same," conveyed the Water Tribe girl firmly. Then, her own worries returned. The worries that she had voiced to Hama back when she had thought that the old witch was a trustworthy confidant from her hometown. Shaking her head free of the sour thought, Katara instead countered, "I'll promise you, if you promise me to focus on defeating your Father and putting an end to this war. Regardless of whatever happens out there, to me, to any of us, that has to come first. Today is bigger than any one of us. It has to be. Otherwise... what Sokka did was for nothing."

Zuko appeared quite torn at her counter-proposal. "I don't think I can keep that promise," he muttered after a minute.

Katara set her face in determination as she put her hands on her hips. "So you're saying that you don't trust us to be able to take care of ourselves? We're stronger than you might realize."

"No, I know that you all are strong. Stronger than most. I don't doubt that," defended Zuko quickly. "You are the strongest waterbender I have ever met. None of the so-called masters up in the Northern Tribes could hope to match you. And I doubt anything will stand a chance against Toph and Jin working together." The firebender sighed. "It's me. I don't think I'm strong enough."

"Zuko, you're the strongest person I have ever met," reassured Katara assertively.

The Fire Prince shook his head in the negative. "I don't think I'm strong enough to lose you. We're about to march into battle, but I'm not even thinking about that right now. All I find myself thinking about, are the times when we shared a meal together, just the two of us. Sometimes," he paused for a moment. "Sometimes, the smallest things take up the most space in your heart."

Katara felt her own heart skip a beat. "Oh, Zuko..."

Shaking his head side-to-side, the Fire Prince seemed to come to a decision. "Seeing what happened when we escaped from the Pale Cliffs, there's something I need to say, before everything kicks off." Zuko took a step closer to the suddenly nervous Water Tribe girl. "We don't know what's going to happen today and everything can change in the blink of an eye."

The firebender drew close to the waterbender. "It might be the adrenaline giving me the courage right now, but I don't want to leave these words unspoken. I should have said them a long time ago." Zuko dipped Katara down a bit, with his arm on her back to hold her steady. "But I need you to know, I am completely, hopelessly, in love with you, Katara."

The waterbender fought off a blush as Zuko finally spoke the feelings they both shared into existence. Here they were, on the verge of a grand battle that would ultimately decide the fate of the world, but right here, right now, the only thing that mattered was their own little world.

The Water Tribe girl pulled the Fire Prince's face in close. Whispering lowly as her eyes instinctively shut slowly, she declared, "It's definitely the adrenaline." An intense kiss followed that left them both a little breathless. Then, Katara added quietly, "If you're a fool, then so am I. I love you too, Zuko."

As the two of them separated, Zuko seemed to have a more purposeful glint to his eye as he walked towards the open submarine hatch near the front of the vessel. No further words really needed to be shared, honestly. Entering the submarine, Zuko paused as he gripped the metal hatch. Looking back at Katara, he simply gave an adamant smile and a head nod before descending into the underwater craft.

Katara stood there, with her own content smile. She still couldn't figure out how Zuko always managed to make her worries seem so immaterial. She could only hope that she had the same effect on him.

Jin popped back up from the hatch behind the Water Tribe girl. "Katara? What are you doing? You're the last one still above deck. We need you to waterbend the submarine."

The Earth Kingdom girl's appearance snapped the waterbender out of the little fantasy world that she had been caught up in as the reality of the situation returned her. "Right," Katara stated with a determined head nod as she hurried down the nearby hatch as well. It was time to strike.


Azula stood in the empty throne room as she stared at the unoccupied majestic seat at the top of the raised platform of stairs. Here was the power base for all of the Fire Nation. The position respected and feared by all. A privilege only a select few were worthy of ever aspiring too. Something only the strongest could achieve. Something that she deserved.

'Father's already taken shelter in the underground catacombs,' reflected Azula to herself. 'He should be here. Ready to meet these pathetic invaders in the throne room with grace and strength like a true Fire Lord.'

The Fire Princess ran her hand along the smooth brass armrest of the grand chair. She wanted to sit down on the throne. She could sit down on the throne. All she had to do, was sit.

But, Azula held fast. When she took the chair, it would be to a room packed with subjects ready to swear their fealty and lives to her. Not here, not like this. Not like some wishful child in a dark room pretending with their imagination.

Azula glanced over at the shallow trench that ran parallel across the front of the stairs leading up to the throne. The trench still held a solid amount of oil, just waiting to be lit and maintain a curtain of glorious flames to project the power of the Fire Lord even more imposingly. All it would take, was a snap of her fingers.

She had warned her Father, of course. Warned him of the impeding attack and how this ragtag group of peasants had proven themselves more resourceful than anticipated. That was how Azula had been permitted to send the Central Fleet to stop their advance.

Not Admiral Chun had been particularly useful. The ancient fossil had managed to fail spectacularly. Honestly, even the Fire Princess was astounded at how ineffectual that fool had been. And now, the Fire Capital was very likely to be besieged.

The Capital had standing garrisons in place, naturally. It wasn't completely undefended. But Azula knew how pitiful the majority of the Fire garrison soldiers were. Spineless and weak garbage. Rich, pampered children of the meaningless nobility who pretended to play at being soldier. These were the soldiers that the Fire Nation would never send to the front. An unsightly rot that Father didn't seem to care about. But something that Azula would reform once she took charge. Weakness wouldn't be permitted in her Fire Nation.

But in the grand scheme of things, the Fire Nation Royal Capital itself didn't really amount to much. A symbolic location. That's all it was. The Fire Nation wasn't the Capital. The Fire Lord was the Fire Nation.

So let the enemy come. The irony of the situation was not lost on Azula. Zuko was going to fall victim to the very same ploy that had rewarded him with his scar in the first place. The Fire Garrison forces would be offered as tribute to the invaders. Let Zuko's forces tire themselves out on the sacrificial lambs. By the time her Brother noticed the noose forming around his neck, it would be too late.

The aerial invention was nearing completion just to the northwest of the Fire Capital. Guarded by several of the strongest divisions of Fire Nation soldiers. This was what Ozai was waiting on. A development that would change the world and cement the Fire Nation as a nation with truly no equal.

Azula could lead the hapless invaders on a wild goose chase. Time was on the Fire Nation's side after all.

The door to the throne room opened loudly in the vacant chamber as two guards entered in a hurry. Kneeling at the base of the steps to the standing Azula, the lead guard spoke, "There was an incident at the Great Gates of Azulon. We're not exactly sure what occurred, but there was mysterious fog, several unmanned Water Tribe ships, and the iron net itself has fallen into the sea."

"It appears my Brother has learned to be resourceful since I last saw him," laughed Azula. "Good. Perhaps he learned to be more entertaining as well."

"Princess?" asked the still kneeling guard in confusion.

"Make ready the coastal defenses. We're about to have guests," declared Azula as she walked past the two guards and towards the exit of the throne room. Then, loudly to the empty chamber, "If it's a war Zuzu wants, then it's a war he shall get."


A periscope broke through the ocean surface as Hakoda took stock of the fortifications of the Fire Nation Capital harbor. As they neared their target zone, the Water Chieftain ordered loudly, "Everyone in position! Earthbenders, into your tanks! This is gonna be a rough ride."

As Toph, Jin, and the other Earth Kingdom earthbenders rushed to board their siege engines, a series of alarms rang out from atop the ramparts of the armored harbor walls. The inbound submarines had been spotted as their shadows neared the surface, primed to begin the assault.

Massive metal harpoons, postured for stationary defense of approaching seaborne vessels, screeched as their operators frantically attempted to angle the large ballistae downward past their recommended angles. The hulking siege bolts shot out from both sides of the walls leading up the watery approach, but the swampbenders were quite nimble within their element as most of the projectiles missed the submarines by a wide margin.

"Fire! Fire!" shouted a Fire Nation commander from up on the battlements.

"Sir!" shouted back an artilleryman. "They're almost within our minimum range!"

The Fire Nation commander shoved the miserable artilleryman out of the way as he waved for the nearest ballista to shoot. "Fire you fools!"

The ballista bolt whistled through the air as it miraculously managed to embed itself within the tailfin of one of the submarines on the northwestern approach. The underwater vessel jerked sharply as it was suddenly speared by a enormous harpoon.

Inside the craft, a swampbender reacted swiftly, sealing the breach in the hull with ice to prevent water from flooding the craft. However, the occupants within were thrown off their feet as the entire vessel started to get hoisted out of the water like a hooked fish.

From the piloting portholes, the Mechanist took notice of the dilemma occurring off to the side of the formation and relayed this information through the internal intercom. Katara signaled to two swampbenders to take over for her in waterbending the submarine.

Wasting no time, the Water Tribe girl ran and jumped onto Appa as the sky bison waited in the back portion of the submarine. Toph quickly metalbent a thin makeshift barrier using side panels to create a temporary hull. Then, the little earthbender broke out the back part of the submarine, allowing Katara to create an air bubble around herself and Appa's head as the sky bison surged out into the water from beneath the harbor. As the two departed, Toph plugged back up the broken metal on the backend of the submarine.

Surfacing immediately, the mounted waterbender rushed to where the chain was hoisting the captured submarine up the side of the rampart wall. Severing the metal links abruptly with razor sharp cuts of water, Katara watched with satisfaction as the craft dropped back down into the harbor below. The seawaters erupted with foam and backwash as the submarine plunged past the surface. From within the vessel, the swampbenders resumed their bending to catch back up with the main force.

Katara urged Appa upward, towards the top of the ramparts as she summoned a massive tidal wave up from the harbor waters. Swing her arms wide, the waterbending master toppled a majority of artillerymen on the right side battlement fortification downward into the harbor sea below. Flying by for another pass, Appa growled fiercely as Katara hacked several harpoon loaded ballistae from their mounts with scythes of water as they flew by, rendering the right side rampart largely ineffective of maintaining further shoreline defense against approaching ships.

"Ready the torpedoes!" commanded Hakoda as an ice-covered torpedo was loaded into his lead submarine. "Launch!" Another swampbender launched the torpedo with their bending. The other submarines all followed suit as multiple projectiles cut through the depths to impact the underwater grate that served as a barrier to their approach. The resulting hole from their attack was large enough for all the submarines to make it through the hurdle without issue.

Toph and Jin waited alongside each other in an Earth Kingdom tank with several other earthbenders as they shared a serious expression amongst themselves. Together, they felt the submarines break through the surface of the water as they neared the shoreline. Then, came the scorching boulder-like missiles as Fire Nation catapult battlements launched projectile after projectile at the armored vessels invading their homeland.

"The vehicle plating's going to hold, right?!" demanded Zuko from where he stood, ready to surge onto the battlefield with the other resistance fighters.

"It'll hold, no problem!" shouted back Teo from up front in the pilot seat as he navigated the water with his crafting goggles squarely on his face. The young engineer had complete faith in his and his Father's workmanship. Another fiery boulder rocked the submarine heavily from side-to-side as the projectile exploded against the metal plating. "Come on girl, hold it together," Teo mumbled lowly to himself as he mentally willed the turbulent submarine to reach the shoreline faster.

Soon, the submarines beached themselves on the harbor shore as the front hatches shot open, sunlight spilling over the occupants inside. With a motivating battle cry to energize the troops, Hakoda waved his men forward as the Earth Kingdom tanks rumbled out first. Fire Nation volunteers and Water Tribe warriors charged into formation in between the armored vehicles as support wagons followed, each carrying ready-made boulders and water tanks for the assaulting benders.

The Earth Kingdom tanks drew the brunt of the projectiles raining down from the harbor battlements with their imposing frames and thick armor. The fact the vehicles were large, slow-moving targets probably had something to do with that too. However, the goliaths were designed for punishment and weathered the barrages sturdily enough. However, they couldn't keep it up forever though.

Several of the earthbenders launched up rocks and boulders from the supply trucks, which managed to crater and destroy a couple of the battlements on the walls firing down fiery catapult shots. However, the onslaught was still tormenting the main Earth Kingdom battle tanks up front. At least that was the case until Toph emerged from the lead tank with a mighty stomp as she drew up a large earthen wall to absorb the attacks.

Jin appeared behind her mentor and pulled up multiple columns of earth directly around the blind earthbender. "Enemy artillery in the direction of each one of those pillars! Maybe about eighty feet up!" shouted Jin as Toph's wall weathered another wave of catapult shots.

"That's all I needed to know," smirked Toph as she punched forward with her own earthbending.

From up on the Fire Nation Capital harbor ramparts, catapults and ballistae alike shattered into splinters and twisted metal as earthen columns flew crudely in their direction. Not every artillery piece was cleanly destroyed, some were merely rendered questionable to use as the earthen column missed the artillery piece, but had wedged itself so heavily into the rampart wall that the fortification started to crumble. Fire Nation soldiers were hesitant to remain near those catapults or ballistae due to the uncertain integrity of the wall about to collapse under their feet from the damage the once sturdy fortification took.

As the wall defenders fell silent from the brutal counterattack, several doors from nearby hangars at the base of the ramparts opened to reveal several detachments of metal tanks rolling to engage the invaders.

The fire jets from the Fire Nation tanks reflected harmlessly off the reinforced metal plating of the Earth Kingdom tanks. As the two forces clashed, one Earth Kingdom tank raised it front end to slam down on top of a Fire Nation tank that got too close.

Toph grinned mischievously. "Rookies. You can't beat metalbenders with metal. Pebbles, give me a hand here."

Together, the pair of metalbenders picked up two Fire Nation tanks effortlessly and smashed them together mid-air. They repeated this process with multiple other vehicles as the Fire Nation defenders stared in terror at what they could only consider to be a mutation of earthbending rendering their heavy weapons completely ineffective.

As the metalbenders held the front, additional Fire Nation tanks swept around from the outer edges to bypass the chaotic central road. The fire tank reinforcements were clearly looking to cut the invaders off from their submarines and catch them in a pincer attack. The swampbenders that had been taking up the rearguard pulled up a defensive barrier of water from one of the water trucks to defend against the waves of fire from the enemy tanks.

"We're a man down!" shouted Tho as they endured another attack. "Where in tarnation is Huu?!" Together with Due, the two swampbenders sent ice spikes into the treads of one of the approaching Fire Nation tanks and knocked it into another enemy tanks to take both of the vehicles out of commission.

From the harbor waters, a large seaweed monster arose as its slimy appendages swept across the harbor and batted multiple Fire Nation tanks out of the way without too much trouble. Picking up one of the tanks, the seaweed monster threw the metal vehicle far off towards a lone wall battlement which exploded as the tank impacted it.

Due gave a low impressed whistle as he waved at his friend. "Hey Huu! Where you been?

"Communin' with nature," chuckled Huu heartily from within the center of the mass of green algae. "Takes a while to collect this much seaweed."

"Orders from Hakoda!" shouted Katara as she flew by riding Appa. "Abandon the submarines! Everyone marches on the Fire Capital!" The waterbender then gathered more seawater on her arms from the harbor as she urged the sky bison back up to the wall battlements to continue her assault on the siege weapons raining down destruction.

Tho scratched his head as he watched the Water Tribe girl fly off. "I guess we won't be going back the same way we arrived."

Huu, in his seaweed creature form, started to march up the hill. "Well come on, I want to see what kind of plants they gots in the Fire Capital."

Realizing that fire tanks were useless against the two metalbenders leading the charge, the Fire Nation defenders adjusted their strategy and deployed a garrison of komodo rhino cavalry. Toph and Jin fell back as Hakoda, Zuko, and a platoon of Water Tribe warriors and Fire Nation volunteers advanced in a line formation.

Breaking ranks as the two lines neared, Zuko rushed in from the top right towards what appeared to be the commander of the rhino platoon. Jumping onto the horn of the komodo rhino, the Fire Prince swiped low with his Dao broadsword as he splintered the wooden spear of the cavalryman. With a kick, Zuko unseated the enemy commander and claimed the mount for his own.

Sheathing one of his blades as he grabbed the rhino reins with his now free hand, Zuko surveyed the clash of forces. The Fire Nation deserters were expertly disrupting the rhino cavalry with a line of spears and shields, breaking the charge and scattering the enemy formation. In turn, the Water Tribe warriors were breaking from the shield wall, striking down an enemy rider, and then disappearing back within the shield wall as the deserters opened and closed ranks in tandem. A simple tactic, but an exceedingly effective one.

Hakoda grunted as he absorbed the fire blast from an enemy firebender with his shield. Pivoting, he deflected the spear thrust of a pikeman. Unfortunately, the pikeman's spear managed to hook the Water Chieftain's shield and rip it from Hakoda's left hand. Without missing a beat, Hakoda spun around and grabbed his new opponent's spear, pressing the shaft of his own spear against the back of the man's hand and using the pressure of his grip to crush the pikeman's fingers. With a cry of pain, the pikeman released his spear as Hakoda twisted it out of the man's hands and kicked him in the back to create some distance.

Keeping his flow, Hakoda returned to the larger threat, the firebender who had attacked him earlier. With some rapid footwork, he closed the distance and used the second spear to knock the firebender's hand away as a fire blast was launched and harmlessly directed towards the sky. With a sweep of his original spear, Hakoda swept the firebender's feet out from underneath him and delivered the finishing coup de grĂ¢ce with the business of his second spear to the firebender's gut.

Jumping back, Hakoda avoided yet another fire blast. Shooting forward as he landed, the Water Chieftain lightly tossed the confiscated spear in his left hand up to switch his grip. Catching the javelin, Hakoda hurled the spear with all his might towards the second firebender that had just attacked him.

The firebender barely registered the explosively thrown weapon as it sailed through the air and impaled the man square in the stomach. The firebender crumpled to the ground, hands clawing uselessly at the projectile embedded thoroughly within in his stomach, the tip of the crimson tinted weaponhead glistening from his back. The firebender's precious red blood rapidly flooded the ground as the light left the soldier's eyes.

Zuko rode by the Water Chieftain as he extended a hand for Hakoda to join him a top the komodo rhino. Accepting the offer, Hakoda hopped aboard. Taking stock of the ongoing battle, the Water Chieftain winced as he watched a support vehicle full of boulders explode as a fiery catapult shot from a wall battlement impacted the engine of the vehicle.

Elsewhere, Huu, in his seaweed creature form, was struggling to maintain his defense as several battlements focused on the large lumbering algae target. Nearby, an Earth Kingdom tank took a hit from the side, where the armor was weakest, resulting in the armored vehicle groaning as it tilted over onto its side. Toph and Jin were there in an instant, defending the Earth Kingdom tank with an earthen wall and working to right the metal tank back onto its treads.

"Zuko! We have to take out those battlements! It's our only chance to keep moving forward," declared Hakoda loudly over the sounds of battle.

"I know!" shouted Zuko as he deflected a fire blast aimed at them. "I've got an idea. Follow-"

The Fire Prince didn't get a chance to share his plan before several of the fortified battlements up on the harbor wall exploded in fire and stone as a series of catapult shots careened into the fortifications. Both Zuko and Hakoda looked out to the harbor waters as a couple of Fire Nation battleships pulling into the port continued to rain destruction down on the stationary garrison battlements. "Never mind," stated Zuko in relief. "It looks like Jeong Jeong has it covered."

The Fire Admiral's battleships made landfall as their front hatches opened and scores of firebenders and armored warriors flooded the harbor. At first, the Fire Nation defenders cheered as they thought the Fire Navy had arrived from the Great Gates of Azulon to reinforce them and close the net on the invaders. However, those jubilations were quickly silenced as the new reinforcements fell into formation with the foreign invaders and advanced to the front to relieve the Water Tribe warriors and Earth Kingdom fighters, allowing the invasion forces a quick breather.

Jeong Jeong's forces were wearing a white sash across their uniforms to differentiate themselves from the Fire Nation garrison defenders. Confusion spread quickly amongst the Fire Nation homeland defenders as they grew hesitant when it appeared that their own brethren were aiding the foreign invaders.

"What are you idiots doing?! Attack!" shouted a curt Fire Nation garrison captain as his men wavered before him.

"But sir! Those are our people out there!" protested one of the Fire Nation soldiers in confusion.

Launching a fire blast that crashed into the shield wall held by Jeong Jeong's forces, the Fire Nation garrison captain ordered angrily, "Those aren't our people out there! Those are deserters and traitors who abandoned their homeland, their honor, and their pride! They are working with the enemy! Now attack before I eliminate you for the same crime!"

As the deserters advanced, Jeong Jeong approached Zuko and Hakoda. "Your timing was impeccable Admiral Jeong Jeong," complemented the Fire Prince. "I think it's our turn to advance." Hakoda took the opportunity to dismount the rhino and rejoin the bulk of the Water Tribe forces.

Jee and Zuri appeared at Jeong Jeong's side as the Admiral nodded firmly. "We will follow your lead, my Prince."

Jee threw off the regular Fire Nation banner from the back of the komodo rhino that Zuko rode and unfurled a new banner that had a white strip running down next to the standard Fire Nation emblem. "Admiral Jeong Jeong wouldn't tell us what the white strip was for, but he says it's important," commented Jee.

Figuring now wasn't a good time to ask either, Zuko nodded and urged his mount forward to the front columns of his gathered troops. Drawing one of his Dao broadswords, he held the reins in his other hand as he shouted, "Charge!" A fierce, cascading battle cry rang out from the gathered leagues of Fire Nation deserters as they rallied to their Prince.

The defending Fire Nation troops balked at the surge of aggression from the new wave of invaders. A gathering of garrison firebenders grouped together to combine a large wave of flames that they unleashed on the advancing troops in an attempt to slow the momentum of Zuko's forces.

Zuko rose to his feet in the saddle of his komodo rhino as he used the mount to spring himself high into the air. Reaching the zenith of his leap, the Fire Prince drew upon his own inner fire and dropped down with a countering wall of fire that canceled out the oncoming unison attack.

The deserters were emboldened to see their Prince shrug off the combined attack of multiple opponents and dashed forward in synchronized formation with spears out and friendly firebenders launching flames from overhead. As the two lines of Fire Nation met, the ferocity and aggression of the deserters was rapidly overwhelming the confused and disjointed garrison forces.

Zuko continued his firebending as he punched out a series of fireballs at the line of enemy firebenders that had attacked in the first place. Two of the veteran benders deflected the attacks, but three of the younger members stumbled as the projectiles shattered their flimsy defenses.

The Fire Prince did not waste any time and charged forward to engage the veteran benders as he drew his second Dao broadsword on the way and cut through their attempts to keep him at bay with fireballs. There was panic in the two veteran's eyes as they realized ranged attacks were not going to stop the scarred firebender and one of the veterans turned to withdraw. Zuko's blade cut across the man's back as the second veteran jumped backwards to avoid the second slash meant for him.

Igniting flames in his hand, the second veteran attempted to counter again only for Zuko bat away the attack and kick the man in the stomach to knock him away. With a firebending column of his own, Zuko ended the duel.

"Go! Go! Follow your Prince!" urged Jeong Jeong as he propelled the deserters forward. The toppling of the garrison soldiers' defenses was readily apparent as the spears and fireblasts from the deserters broke the garrison lines and began to surge forward with brutal efficiency.

A reinforcement defensive force of komodo rhino cavalry rumbled towards the main battleline in a desperate effort to prevent the total collapse of the garrison central defensive line. In response, Captain Jee and Lieutenant Zuri broke formation with a detachment of Southern Raiders to engage the inbound cavalry.

Together in unison, Jee and Zuri summoned a wall of fire, disrupting the cavalry charge as the rhinos reared back at the sudden flames. As the rhino captain attempted to regain control of the situation by lashing out at Jee with his spear, Jee narrowly evaded with a duck and roll to the side. With the rhino captain's attention focused on Jee, the mounted soldier failed to see Zuri tackling the man out of his saddle and shoving a fire dagger up through the underside of his chin.

Some of the Southern Raiders who had engaged the Komodo rhino cavalry to prevent the flanking charge ended up trampled under hoof or impaled on the wrong end of the enemy spears. But the former marauders were not the types to go down alone. One of the impaled Southern Raiders planted his feet as he gripped the spear in his chest, preventing the mounted soldier from retrieving his weapon. Left with no way to defend himself, the mounted garrison soldier was overwhelmed by another former Southern Raider.

More Fire Nation tanks rolled across the wall of flames that Jee and Zuri had set up, but Jeong Jeong stood in the armored vehicles' way as he removed the hood of his brown cloak and allowed the material to fall to the ground. The old firebending master was a force of nature as he summoned what appeared to be a mountain of flames that lifted him upward into the sky and tore into the grouping of tanks like a fiery tornado.

Fire streams from the tanks roared out, but were effortlessly absorbed by Jeong Jeong's mountain of fire. The Fire Admiral returned the attacks back at each of the tanks, weaving the fire into the thin slitted openings with pinpoint accuracy as tank after tank exploded around him.

The homeland garrison defenses started to crumble one after the other as the remaining defensive forces began to draw backwards in desperation. For supposedly elite units, most of these defenders had never seen actual combat. Training and drills were poor models for how to react when your comrade dies next to you and the training dummies actually attack back.

The deserters, on the other hand, had experienced the grittiness of war and had developed the mentality to do whatever it took to survive in battle. Members of the former 41st Fire Army Division could only laugh at the irony that they were the veterans now, overwhelming the green Fire Nation Capital defenders, most of whom were the members of the pampered upper class who used their privilege to remain in the Fire Nation Capital instead of gaining real battle experience on the frontlines in the Earth Kingdom.

Just as it appeared the Fire Nation garrison forces were going to be completely routed, additional Fire Nation reinforcements flooded into the harbor area from a side gate in the wall under the southernmost rampart. "Ugh! Why does there have to be so many of them?" grumbled Toph as she sent a series of boulders at the fresh opponents.

With all the rumblings and vibrations from the intense fighting, it was difficult for the little earthbender to see too far across the chaotic battlefield. Hence, why Toph wasn't able to shout a warning out earlier to her allies. It was another weakness in her earth sense that Toph found annoying to discover in the midst of a large scale battle.

Katara came swooping down on Appa as she broke two large water barrels on either side of the sky bison's back and flung ice needles across the incoming reinforcements to rip into the gears of several approaching Fire Nation tanks. As Appa brushed past the enemy and turned to return skyward, Katara, pivoted to the back of the saddle and generated a wall of water to deflect the retaliatory fireballs that attempted to shoot the flying sky bison down.

Hakoda rushed forward with his Water Tribe warriors to hold the line and prevent the Fire Nation garrison forces from blindsiding their Earth Kingdom tanks. The Water Chieftain was a cyclone of spear thrusts as he spun and weaved his way through the enemy, cutting down several of the rank and file.

Suddenly, one of the Fire Nation pikemen lunged wildly to tackle the Water Chieftain to the ground, despite being impaled on the valiant Water Warrior's polearm. With no time to receive his weapon from the slain pikeman, Hakoda was forced to abandon his primary weapon as he rolled to avoid additional weapon strikes from a series of opportunistic Fire Nation soldiers.

A line of firebenders moved to bar the rest of the Water Tribe warriors from supporting their Chieftain. "Dad!" shouted Katara with panicked concern as she took notice of her Father's plight and directed Appa into a divebomb towards the battle below.

Some of the Fire Nation garrison firebenders took notice of the aerial sky bison and launched a barrage of fireblasts skyward; only for Zuko, Zuri, and Jee to intercept the fire columns with their own roars of fire.

Appa bellowed loudly from up above before slamming his mighty frame squarely on the battlefield and stomping a pair of unfortunate Fire Nation garrison soldiers under hoof. With a swing of her waterbending, Katara froze an array of enemy soldiers to the ground as she secured the landing zone.

Hakoda, bleeding from sword slash he had been forced to deflect with his arm guards, stepped forward to twist under another sword slash, grab the swordsman's arm, and strike the soldier under the chin with an upward palm strike. Yanking the sword free from the man's stunned hands, Hakoda pivoted and impaled the swordsman with his own weapon.

His path free, Hakoda raced to jump onto Appa's back as Katara gave a loud, "Yip, yip!" Appa flung a Fire Nation soldier in his mouth across the battlefield as he roared in challenge and rose rapidly into the air and back over to the relative safety of the allied invasion force.

Toph and Jin wasted no time bending up a sturdy earth tent as Katara supported her Father inside and eased the Water Chieftain onto the ground as she started to examine his wounds. Hakoda was wincing in pain and breathing heavily.

Waterbending healing was already running across her hands as Katara knelt down next to her Dad. "How does that feel, Dad?" asked the Water Tribe girl as she saw to his injuries.

Hakoda grimaced through the discomfort. "Ah, a little better." He attempted to stand. "I need... I need to get back to the troops. Ahh!" he cried out in agony as he held his right side.

The Water Tribe girl gently pushed her Dad back to the ground. Given his injuries, it actually didn't take too much force for him to yield. "You're hurt, badly. You can't fight right now. Give me some time to heal you."

"Listen to your Daughter," declared Bato as he poked his head inside the earthen tent. "You're no good to anyone if you can't even move without flinching."

Hakoda attempted to rise to his feet once more, only for Bato to help hold the Water Chieftain down with little effort. Hakoda was indeed heavily wounded from the ambushing attack. "Everyone's counting on me to lead this mission," urged Hakoda in protest. "I need to get back out there. The eclipse is about to start and we need to be up that hill by the time it does. Ahh!" he cried out again as he gave a swift intake of air to cope with the pain.

"Did you forget your own plan?" retorted Bato. "Prince Zuko's forces are punching a hole forward as we speak. And Admiral Jeong Jeong's assumed temporary command of the main body of forces while you recuperate." As he exited the earthen tent, Bato reassured, "We'll be sure to save plenty of the fight for you, but get patched up first. I'll make sure the Water Tribe warriors don't get in over their heads in the meantime. Let us support you, Chief."

Outside, Bato took a quick survey of the state of the battle. The Water Tribe warriors and the Earth Kingdom soldiers had managed to rout the ambushing Fire Nation garrison defenders, while Zuko's and Jeong Jeong's forces were still pushing the front line forward. The handful of deserters remaining onboard the Fire Nation battleships continued to launch catapult shots across the harbor to a few of the remaining wall battlements on the far side. Once the last of the stationary defenses were dealt with, Bato was fairly certain those sailors still onboard would join the main force too.

Zuko dissipated a barrage of flames as he protected his forces from the garrison firebenders up atop the central tower at the far end of the harbor area. His troops were tiring and they needed a momentary reprieve, but first, this tower had to fall. It was the final stronghold in the harbor and the first checkpoint on the path up the main road to the Fire Nation Capital. Punching out with a heavy burst of fire, the Fire Prince caused a grouping of enemy firebenders up on the tower ramparts to dive for cover. "Just a little further!" urged the Fire Prince as he fought from the frontlines of his troops, closest to the harbor tower gates.

There came a perilous war cry as a grouping of Fire Nation garrison soldiers broke ranks from the harbor tower main gate and ran at Zuko with their swords and spears out. A small assembly of dumb, highborn lads, each thinking they could end the rogue Prince's rebellion with a single swing of their blades. One of them must have had the bright idea and muttered it to his fellow soldiers.

Taking heed of the incoming danger, Zuko braced to intercept the enemy rush. He refused to order his own troops out of position on their assault of the tower, not that there was any time to do so. However, before the charging garrison soldiers could reach him, a series of earthen stalagmites shot up from the ground, breaking up the enemy blitz. This was followed by a metal whip that wrapped around the legs of one of the garrison soldiers who had managed to avoid the earthbending attack, and threw the enemy swordsman off to the side.

Toph and Jin appeared at their friend's side, each settled into a solid horse-stance as they earthbent and metalbent the remaining garrison soldiers away. "What would you do without us?" joked Toph as she raised an earthen wall to deflect some projectiles raining down from the harbor tower.

"Probably waste too much time fighting small battles," returned Zuko with his own smirk.

"Then, let's take down this tower," offered Jin.

"That's why I keep you around, Pebbles! You've got the best ideas!" declared Toph as the little earthbender shoved her hands out and appeared to grab something from the air. Pulling her hands back sharply, Toph literally ripped down a large section of the earthen southern facing harbor tower wall as defenders cried out in surprise as they all fell.

Both Zuko and Jin stared in amazement at the feat of earthbending as Toph beamed with pride, clearly expecting praise. "That's not exactly what I meant..." rambled Jin in astonishment.

"But, it works," asserted Zuko as he cheered the little earthbender on. "Think you can do that again on the other support pillar?"

"Who do you think you're talking too?" boasted Toph. "Come on, Pebbles, make yourself useful!"

Both earthbending girls joined forces as they reached out with their earthbending to grab the foundations of the harbor tower and pulled out a cornerstone piece at the base of the remaining support column. The harbor tower began to sway as its foundations snapped and crumbled.

"Brace!" shouted Zuko to the invasion forces as several of the earthbenders whipped up hasty earthen barriers around the friendly forces. Debris and dust washed over the battlefield at the harbor tower fell, crushing much of the Fire Nation garrison forces under the rubble.

Several Earth Kingdom tanks advanced as remaining, scattered firebenders attempted to throw flames at the advancing Earth Kingdom metal vehicles in a futile effort to stop them. The fire harmlessly bounced off the metal plating without any lasting effect. The Earth Kingdom tanks continued to roar forward, trampling anyone who wasn't smart enough to get out of the way.

Toph and Jin, along with the other earthbenders, began to punch a path through the debris and chucks of rock for their forces to advance. Jeong Jeong marched forward with the bulk of the invasion forces as he signaled for the allied troops to keep advancing. "The first stage is complete! We've taken the harbor! Onward to the Capital Road! We have to take the hill before the enemy can reorganize their defenses!"

Zuko walked up to join the Fire Admiral, flanked by Toph and Jin, as the four of them looked up towards the dormant volcano and the Fire Nation Capital waiting above. "Almost there," stated the Fire Prince resolutely.

"Yes, your highness. We're almost there," agreed Jeong Jeong with a head nod. Then, "However, we may need to alter the plan slightly." When the Fire Prince and two earthbending girls looked at the Fire Admiral, Jeong Jeong elaborated, "The fighting was more intense in the harbor than Chief Hakoda and I predicted. We have to assume the Fire Lord has received word of our approach or was tipped off otherwise. There is the possibility that Lord Ozai will not be in the throne room like we originally predicted." The Fire Admiral turned to the Fire Prince. "But the Fire Lord would not abandon the Capital in face of an invasion force. Ozai would not suffer being made to appear weak and cowardly like that. You know where he would go, don't you my Prince?"

Zuko nodded solemnly. "The Fire Catacombs."

As Jeong Jeong nodded in agreement, Jin asked, "The Fire Catacombs?"

"It's a tunnel network that runs underneath the Imperial Fire Palace," answered Zuko. "The graves of the royal line are put to rest there. However, it also serves as a fallout shelter of sorts. An escape route if necessary, in times of war. It would make sense Father plans to wait out the eclipse there and probably plans to emerge victorious afterwards."

"A series of underground caverns?" asked Toph with anticipation. "Sounds interesting."

"We still need to take the Capital regardless," confirmed Admiral Jeong Jeong as the allied invasion forces continued to march past the assembled group of leaders. "And we can't just flood the Fire Catacombs with our forces. The tunnel system is too complex and it will be far too simple for the enemy forces to trap us in the unfamiliar area. We have to secure a foothold above ground first and then flush the Fire Lord out."

Zuko nodded in concurrence with the Fire Admiral's reasoning. Still, the Fire Prince couldn't shake the gut feeling that the harbor battle had been the easy part of the invasion. Without a doubt, there would be several more insurmountable hurdles that they would have to overcome today.