Chapter Text
The Republic Venator Integrity emerged from hyperspace above the planet. Jedi General Plo Koon stood at parade rest on the bridge, serenely observing the system before them. Just a few days ago, the Jedi Council had sensed a great disturbance coming from this region of space. Generally, the Jedi and the Republic were too busy with the Clone Wars at the moment to regard the Wild Space region with too much thought (operation Outbound Flight had been a miserable embarrassment after all). But Grand Master Yoda along with Master Fisto had insisted there was something different about this disturbance and had sent Master Plo to investigate. Now with the brave troopers of the Wolfpack by his side, he would do just that.
As he reached out with the Force, he concentrated on the planet before them, searching for anomalies; the presence of the Dark Side, chaos, war, etc. He thought he would find nothing, but suddenly he gasped and stumbled backward. Instead of detecting insignificant, mediocre anomalies he had been hit with a wave of war, strife and death. A war was raging on this planet, between four different nations. Regaining his composure, he reached out again to find the source of the conflict. He found several different sources, but his Force senses led him to the North Pole of the planet, where he sensed a great battle unfolding as he stood there. He opened his eyes.
The doors to the Venator’s bridge hissed open, and Clone Commander Wolffe walked on deck. The troopers and crewman who saw him saluted, and Commander Wolffe quickly returned their salute to put them at ease. He came to attention behind General Plo.
“Good afternoon sir,” Commander Wolffe greeted. “The landing force is standing by for your order to head down to the planet.”
Plo Koon remained silent.
“General?” Wolffe inquired, confused. “Is something wrong?”
“No, Commander,” Plo Koon answered. “But I do not think it would be wise to deploy our entire force just yet. Have two of your best scouts take a shuttle and scout out the North Pole of this system. I’ve sensed great conflict among the natives, and we must gain intel on what we are going into before landing our troops.”
“A wise decision, General Plo,” Commander Wolffe approved. “I’ll notify my scouts immediately.”
Keying his comlink, he radioed Sergeant Sinker and Corporal Comet.
“Commander Wolffe to Sinker and Comet, come in,” he stated.
“We read you, Commander,” Sinker responded. “What’s going on?”
“The General needs both of you to take a shuttle planet side to the North Pole and investigate what’s going on down there,” Wolffe ordered. “Report back to us everything you find.”
“Roger that, Commander,” Sinker replied. “We will depart immediately.”
Wolffe switched off the comlink and turned back to the General.
“The scouts are a go, General,” Wolffe affirmed. “Is there anything else you had in mind?”
“No, that will be all for now,” Plo Koon answered. “We will not make our next move until we know what we are getting into.”
………………
“Incoming!” Master Pakku heard Captain Dekru scream, and Master Pakku quickly brought up a shield of ice to protect himself. The fireball from the fire nation warship impacted just ten meters away to his left, and he felt the still smoldering shrapnel fall onto him and singe his jacket. Getting back to his feet, he surveyed the casualties and made a grim mental note before helping the defensive line recover.
“Waterbenders, stay with me here in the center!” Master Pakku yelled over the chaos. “Captain, have the archers rally behind the second wall and be ready to fire at the incoming troops!”
“Yes Master Pakku!” Captain Dekru called back and barked the orders to his troops.
Dekru, who was the most distinguished Captain in the Northern Water Tribe Armed Guard, was a veteran of many engagements and had been a loyal fighter for the North for many years. Although Master Pakku’s composure normally betrayed no emotion, he prayed to the Spirits that this war that was now on their doorstep would not claim Dekru’s life. Moving his arms in a circle that closed inward and outward, Master Pakku joined four other Waterbenders in creating an iceberg that jutted out from the water and stopped the next incoming fireball. A few more repeats of the iceberg maneuver helped stop an entire volley of at least thirty fireballs before they caused any damage. A few stragglers got through though, and Pakku tried to push the thought from his mind as he heard the screams of his brothers in arms that perished from the impacts.
In his peripheral vision, Pakku glimpsed Avatar Aang’s sky bison fly back over the wall in retreat from the ships. Under normal circumstances, Master Pakku would’ve found and chastised his student for retreating from a fight. But Master Pakku understood as well; there was nothing that one person could do, even if he was the Avatar.
Suddenly, however, the firing stopped. A welcome yet eerie silence descended onto the battlefield, and Master Pakku glanced around warily expecting another fireball to fly into view. But the silence remained, and Master Pakku ran up the stairs of the Second Wall to survey the scene. Just a few miles out, he saw the massive fleet of Fire Nation Battleships stopped and heard them dropping their anchors.
“What’s going on, sir?” Captain Dekru inquired as he approached from behind.
“It appears they are stalling their attack until next morning,” Master Pakku asserted. “Have the troops stay in position, however, in case that changes.”
“Very well, Master Pakku,” Captain Dekru replied with a salute.
The Captain turned to relay the orders to his men and delegate the different guard positions. Master Pakku turned back to the dimming skies and breathed with much concealed yet burning fury at the invasion force. He had mastered waterbending for years, taught to many students, and fought too many battles to give in to these wretched scumbags that dared to threaten his home and country. He was the eldest waterbending master in the North Pole and would stop at nothing to win the coming battle.
Even if it meant laying down his own life.
………………
Sergeant Sinker punched the appropriate controls, and the shuttle’s wings began to fold up as the landing gear extended. Their cloaking shield had helped them slip in undetected, but this region’s icy winds was wrought with turbulence that hindered their descent. Luckily, with the shuttle’s sensors him and Corporal Comet had been able to find an appropriate LZ near some cliffs that overlooked what appeared to be a large civilization.
As the shuttle finished it’s landing cycle, Sinker and Comet unbuckled from their seats and checked their each other’s armor and gear before disembarking from the shuttle. Finding a good overlook on the cliffs, they mounted their long-range scopes on their sniper rifles and scanned the battlefield below.
“You scan to the North; I’ll scan to the South,” Sinker ordered.
“Will do, Sergeant,” Comet replied.
Sinker began his detailed search through the city of ice and water canals laid out below. At first, he simply saw a large palace (most likely where the rulers lived) and typical urban terrain. However, as he continued South, he saw much devastation from the battle General Koon had sensed. Numerous, large craters still smoking dotted the landscape near the city’s enormous two front walls, and some houses had been reduced to smithereens. Sinker had to force himself to not look back at the distraught civilians suffering in the streets, one a wailing mother who clutched her injured child in her arms. Sinker saw the city’s military force gathered at the walls, but the sight was peculiar; some of them wielded primitive weapons while others held nothing at all. Confident that the technology of these native humans would not be able to trace his signal, Sinker keyed his long-range helmet comlink up to the Venator.
“Sergeant Sinker to Commander Wolffe,” Sinker began.
“I read you, trooper,” the Commander answered. “What’s the situation?”
“General Koon was right, sir,” Sinker began. “I’ve got eyes on a massive naval invasion force; a fleet of warships are besieging a city here in the North Pole. The military technology and weapons of the people here look highly primitive, but the catapults mounted on the battleships have caused much destruction to the city. There are two walls, followed by urban terrain, canals and a palace.”
“Very good scouting, Sergeant,” General Koon complimented over the comlink. “Comet, what do you see?”
“I’ve got eyes on three people entering a tunnel in the back courtyard of the palace, two females, one male and a smaller creature,” Comet reported. After a few minutes, he continued. “They’ve just emerged from the tunnel into an oasis with grass and a small pool. Wait...the boy in the group looks like he’s starting to meditate. Potential Jedi, sir?” Comet suggested.
“Perhaps, trooper,” the Jedi General replied thoughtfully. “What else do you see?”
“Nothing at the moment, sir,” Comet answered. Just two minutes after that, however, Comet got a contact on his motion tracker and moved the scope three inches to the right.
“Wait, hold on,” he warned. As he continued observing, he saw a young man with a black ponytail and a scar on his left eye emerge from an ice cave and assume a fighting stance. In just a few seconds, he and the girl with the brown braid were trading blows. These blows, however, were something like Comet had never witnessed; rather than hand to hand fighting, these fighters controlled the elements, one of fire and the other of water and ice.
“General Koon, Commander, I’ve got eyes on one hostile combatant opening fire on one of the females guarding the meditating boy!” Comet recounted. “But sir, they’re fighting with the elements…the hostile is using fire while his opponent is manipulating water and ice!”
“Confirm your statement, Corporal, you said they’re controlling the elements?” General Koon asked in a tone that betrayed his surprise.
“Yes sir, they are indeed controlling the elements,” Comet stated confidently. He let the fight play out before continuing. “Sir, the girl has frozen her opponent into a wall of ice. Do you want us to engage?”
No troopers, you are not to engage the enemy because we don’t know which one is the enemy yet,” General Koon ordered sternly. “However, maintain your positions and observe what happens. I for my part will meditate and attempt to connect with the one you said is meditating.”
“Understood General,” Sinker replied, and the comlink clicked off.
“How much are you willing to bet the giant fleet with the fire insignia flags are the bad guys here?” Comet offered sarcastically.
“What makes you think that? The fact that they have zero regard for civilian lives and the rules of engagement?” Sinker scoffed.
They began their watch of the battle below, with the two troopers switching between watching and sleeping. Recon missions like this in a new, hostile terrain during night were never pleasant, but the troopers had their orders and the sun would be up in only five hours.
………………
Leaving Commander Wolffe to watch the bridge, Plo Koon returned to his quarters and sat in position to meditate. He and the Commander had already contacted the Jedi Council of his plan; Plo Koon would meditate and attempt to reach out to this child trooper Comet had described. If Comet was right and this youngling was either Force-Sensitive or even had some other special kind of power, Plo Koon deduced he might be able to reach him and figure out what the situation was before they rushed in guns blazing.
Reaching out with the Force, Plo Koon let go of his physical attachments to his lightsaber, his troops, and even the food and water that nourished him. Entering into a deep state of concentration, Plo Koon breathed in and out rhythmically as he looked for disturbances in the Force. Plo Koon maintained this for four hours, although when he meditated he lost all sense of time. Then finally, there was a breakthrough and he found himself in a mysterious forest.
Bewildered, he looked around and observed this strange, foreign scenery. Unlike most forests he’d seen in his travels across the galaxy, a persistent but mild fog hung over this forest, and the sky had a peculiar orange tint to it. There was a wide, shallow river that ran for quite a few miles, and the wildlife he saw here had a strange aura emanating from them. Plo Koon sensed an increased amount of spiritual activity here. They couldn’t possibly be spirits of past Jedi and Sith, could they?
Just then, the Jedi Master heard voices talking nearby. Regaining his composure and remembering his mission, Plo Koon began walking through the forest towards the sound of the conversation until he saw two figures standing near a small pond. There, the child Comet had spoken of was talking with a taller, elderly man who Plo Koon guessed to be some kind of spiritual leader. Stepping forward, Plo Koon announced his presence.
“Greetings,” he began in his strong yet polite Kel Dor voice. “I am Jedi Master Plo Koon, member of the Jedi Council and General of the WolfPack Legion in the Grand Army of the Republic. And you are?”
The youngling and the elder turned to him; both gave looks that betrayed their surprise but the child with the purple arrows tattooed on his arms and head made it more obvious.
“Uh, Roku?” the child asked. “Why is this spirit talking to us?”
“Let him speak and we can find out, Aang,” Roku replied.
“Spirit?” Plo Koon asked, equally confused. “I’m no spirit; I’m meditating on my ship and reached this place by doing so. Is this a realm of Spirits?”
“Uh, yeah…?” the one Plo Koon now knew as Aang replied. “How would you not know this? Didn’t you say you’re meditating on a ship?”
“Not a ship for the waters, young one,” Plo Koon explained. “My fleet arrived above your planet just a few hours ago. I sent a scout team down to investigate the situation at the North Pole of your world, and they spotted you meditating. I began meditating myself to try and contact you to find out more about what’s going on?”
“Allow me to explain, Master Plo Koon,” Roku offered before Aang could spin some story exaggerated by youthful excitement. “I am Avatar Roku; I passed away a century ago and have been here in the spirit world since then. This is Avatar Aang, the next Avatar and last surviving member of our world’s Air Nomads. Our world trusts the Avatar to keep peace and balance between the four nations. But right now as we speak—”
“There’s a huge fleet of Fire Nation ships invading the North Pole!” Aang interrupted. “They’re trying to conquer the Northern Water Tribe where I’m trying to master Waterbending, and they’re going to destroy everything!”
Avatar Roku sighed and looked down at Aang sternly, with a gaze that silently chastised the young Avatar for interrupting his counselor. Aang blushed and grinned sheepishly, with a grin that reminded Plo Koon of Jedi younglings when they did something reckless. Roku resumed speaking.
“Yes, just that. It appears my younger self here took the words out of my mouth. If you are indeed here to help, it would be welcome.”
“I see,” Plo Koon replied, musing over the information. “So, this Fire Nation provoked the war and seeks to put the Water Tribe under its flag?”
“Precisely,” Roku answered.
“Currently I’m here in the Spirit World trying to find out what exactly it is they’re after,” Aang elaborated. “Speaking of which, I better get going…and yes Roku, I’ll remember what you said about Koh.”
“Good luck, my friend,” Roku said, and Aang departed from their location. Roku turned back to the Jedi Master, with a dark, serious expression on his face.
“My own Nation betrayed the balance and has been at war with the other three nations for the last one hundred years,” Roku disclosed. “If you can indeed provide any help to the Avatar to restore balance, it would be greatly appreciated.”
“I will do what I can to aid the young Avatar’s cause,” Plo Koon swore. He bowed to Avatar Roku. “I must go now, but may the Force be with you.”
Roku raised an eyebrow but returned the bow before fading into the mist.
Plo Koon awoke from his meditation and checked the clock over his bed. It had been four hours, and he needed to mobilize the troops quickly if they were to provide reinforcements to the besieged Northern Water Tribe. He keyed his comlink.
“General Plo Koon to Commander Wolffe, do you copy?!” he stated urgently.
“Yes sir, what is our next move?” the Commander asked.
“Mobilize our forces immediately!” Plo Koon ordered. “We are going to provide reinforcements to the Northern Water Tribe! Meet me in the main hangar; you and I will lead our ground forces in boarding parties on their warships! Move quickly, we haven’t much time!”
“Sir, yes sir!” Commander Wolffe replied. Plo Koon switched off the comlink as he rose from his seated meditation position.
Whoever this kid was, him and his world certainly required the Republic’s help. And if helping the Avatar helped bring balance to the Force as well as the world, Plo Koon knew it had to be done.
………………
Pakku stood tensely as the sunrise approached; there was but one hour left. That hour might as well be a minute, since the Fire Nation would resume their attack in seconds once the sun rose. He’d only gotten two hours of sleep, but he knew that his comfort would have to wait until the battle was over. He counted the seconds, minutes, as sunrise approached.
Then the sun arose, and the battle resumed.
The Fire Nation warships could be heard retracting their anchors and steaming towards the wall. The small galleys of Waterbenders out in the water did what they could, but their tidal waves were easily broken by the metal behemoths and soon the warships breached the first wall. Ramps descended downward, crushing the ice and deploying hordes of Fire Nation troops on the Northern Water Tribe shores. Immediately, Pakku summoned all his strength and created two massive ice pillars on either side of him. Melting them into a flurry of icebergs, he rained down sub-zero death upon the vile invaders. Several of their battle lines dropped; scores more were forced to trample their fallen comrades.
Captain Dekru brought up his shield just in time as a volley of arrows rained down on the Water Tribe soldiers. Kneeling down to protect his calves, he caught three before standing up and hurling his javelin at the nearest Fire Nation swordsman. The spear impacted into the enemy soldier’s sternum and he hit the ground hard enough to break his bones. Captain Dekru hid a satisfied smile as he drew his sword and charged into the fray.
Sergeant Sinker and Corporal Comet, meanwhile, were still watching the Oasis when they saw the male with the ponytail break free from the ice in a surge of power and knock down the Water Tribe girl. The man then proceeded to fireman carry the boy who was meditating, and Comet exchanged a nervous glance with Sinker. Sinker keyed his comlink.
“General Plo Koon, the man who was fighting with fire has taken the meditating youngling hostage and is carrying him off. Permission to engage?”
“Negative!” the General barked. “Find his course and intercept him for interrogation, but do not open fire! Keep the one he’s carrying alive and safe; I will explain more later!”
“Sir, yes sir!” Sinker replied and switched off his comlink.
Standing up from their prone positions, Sinker and Comet targeted the man’s most likely course and took off for the shuttle. The coordinates would help them cut off the hostile and take them both alive easily.
Thousands of miles out in space, Plo Koon gripped the ceiling rail in the gunship firmly with his left hand, clutching his lightsaber in the right. Commander Wolffe stood behind him with a squad of sixteen clone troopers. Equipped with jetpacks and DC-15a blaster rifles, they had all been briefed on the plan. Swooping in on their gunships, they would bombard the Fire Nation invasion fleet and drop down onto their Command Ship. While General Plo Koon’s group executed this part of the plan, other trooper teams on gunships would board other warships and seize control of them. Dropships would deploy armor support to bolster the battered Water Tribe troops, and the battle would be over before nightfall.
Plo Koon hoped, that is.
Within minutes they were entering the atmosphere, and the Jedi General calmly readied himself for battle as he pushed all thoughts of fear and doubt from his mind. He had been deployed to systems such as Zygerria and survived the onslaught of the Malevolence ; he was not afraid of the coming storm. The gunships continued on their downward descent, and soon Plo Koon saw the fateful red light come on inside the landing bay.
“Red light, standing by,” Commander Wolffe relayed.
Plo Koon heard the whoosh of fireballs and peered out the thin windows on the bay doors to see what was going on. The warships below may have only had primitive means of anti-air fire, but it was effective as Plo Koon soon saw when two gunships were blown up by impacting fireballs. Reaching out with the Force, he sensed the trajectory of the next three projectiles and diverted their path before they could harm any more of his troops. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that they were approaching the Command Ship of the fleet and noted it’s not so subtle bridge.
“Aim right for their Command Tower!” Plo Koon ordered the pilot.
“Yes General!” the pilot shouted back. Plo Koon felt the gunship rock slightly as the two massive missile launchers atop the roof fired a pair of rockets down at the metal monster below. He watched silently as the missiles impacted onto their mark, sending debris and shrapnel everywhere in a massive explosion. The lower levels of the bridge, however, were still intact.
The light in the landing bay turned from red to green, and Plo Koon felt the gunship slow as they reached the Command Ship’s landing deck.
“Green light! Go, go, go!” Commander Wolffe yelled as the troops poured out onto the deck. Plo Koon ignited his lightsaber and jumped out to face these new enemies. On most planets he’d been to, the natives usually had the same degree of technology and weaponry possessed by the Republic and Separatist. Others, like these enemy troops here, wielded primitive weapons such as swords and shields. Plo Koon saw to his right, however, a trio of enemy troopers who bore skull helmets ready fireballs in their hands and aim them at him. These must have been the abilities of the hostile Sinker and Comet were trying to capture.
Holding up his blue blade, Plo Koon expertly caught the blazing fireballs and Force sprinted towards his foes. Jumping back in surprise, the Firebenders attempted to dodge the Jedi Master’s attacks. But Plo Koon had not tirelessly trained in the Jedi Temple for no purpose; he brought up his blade in an uppercut that slashed through the Firebender’s steel chest armor. Another he Force pushed into the wall, while the last one he threw his lightsaber at in a left arc that cut him across the foe’s abdomen.
Focusing on the targets in front of him, Commander Wolffe pressed the buttstock of his rifle firmly into his shoulder and released a five round burst that cut down an enemy soldier getting ready to throw their spear. Taking aim at the next one, a Firebender, he cut them down quickly. The enemy troops fought back with arrows and others with fireballs easily hot enough to burn through their armor. But the Commander and his troops did not back down from the challenge and responded with new offensive tactics that these enemies clearly had never seen. In just minutes the landing deck was clear and another gunship arrived to bring more troopers to the scene.
“Forward, men!” Plo Koon cried. “We must secure what remains of the vessel’s bridge!”
Meanwhile, on the frozen shore behind the second wall, Master Pakku and Captain Dekru watched in awe as Republic dropships descended and deployed massive six-legged metal walkers behind their lines. At first, Pakku was fearful it may be a ruse and the Fire Nation had somehow found technologically advanced allies. But one of the six-legged walkers unleashed a green laser blast from its four forward cannons that decimated two Fire Nation tanks. Turning to his men who were now being reinforced by troopers armored in white, the Master and the Captain gave a rallying cry that encouraged the Water Tribe forces to keep up their resistance to the enemy.
On the right flank of the Fire Nation forces, their leader Admiral Zhao gasped in furious disbelief as he witnessed this completely unforeseen phenomenon. Where had the Northern Water Tribe gotten reinforcements? Who even were these new fighters and where had they come from? And why was their warfare so beyond that of this world?
“Sir, should we call off our infiltration plan?” a Firebender to his right asked nervously.
“No!” he replied furiously regaining his resolve. “Our team shall push on to the Oasis! That is the only way we can win this battle now!”
General Iroh silently disapproved of the Admiral’s reckless move as he observed how the tide of the battle was turning against them. And he certainly was wary of Admiral Zhao’s plan to trifle with the great Spirts by removing the moon. But now was not the time to bring up such matters, especially since the Admiral would most likely be headstrong and reject his counsel. He kept his stance ready, watched their surroundings as they pressed on, and prayed his nephew Zuko was alright.
………………
Prince Zuko was far from alright, as he soon discovered walking through the frozen tundra carrying someone else on his back was not an easy task. And not just anyone…this was the Avatar, the one person he needed to bring back to his father the Firelord in one piece if he wanted his honor back. Right now, however, he was starting to realize he should’ve planned his exit route better. The freezing snow stung his head and the cold bit through his jacket. He maintained his course however and pushed on.
Just then, he heard the sound of engines from the sky and turned to his left. Blinded by the approaching vehicle’s lights, he lifted up his left hand to shield his eyes as he tried to make out what it was. It was a large, metallic flying vehicle.
“Wait…flying?” Zuko thought, bewildered. “How is that even possible? Unless it’s the Avatar’s flying bison in armor?”
But it wasn’t, Zuko soon found out, as the vehicle descended to the ground and deployed enormous pegs that helped it to land. A ramp dropped to the ground, and Zuko saw two troopers in white and gray armor emerge pointing weapons he’d never seen before at him. He dropped the Avatar and assumed his fighting stance.
“Surrender to us now and you won’t get hurt, kid!” one of the men barked.
“Surrender isn’t part of my vocabulary, good sir,” Zuko retorted and swung his leg in a roundhouse kick that sent an arc of fire at the two soldiers. Both of them jumped to either side and before Zuko could react, one of them shot what looked to be a ball of blue fire at him. The blue bolt impacted into his chest and the world went dark.
Comet lowered his weapon once he saw the stun bolt had hit its intended target and turned to Sinker.
“Well, thankfully that was easy,” Sinker remarked. “Now let’s get these two in the shuttle and contact the General for orders.”
“Yes Sergeant,” Comet replied, and the two troopers got to work. After untying the unconscious kid with the arrows on his head, they secured both him and the scarred enemy fighter in two different seats. The hostile combatant of course they secured with bonds on his wrists and ankles, whilst leaving the meditating one only buckled into one of the seats.
Sinker quickly contacted the Jedi General.
“Sergeant Sinker to General Plo Koon, we’ve secured both the hostile fighter and his hostage. Currently the latter is still in a meditative state. What are your orders?”
There was a pause as Sinker heard the sounds of a battle before the General’s voice broke through.
“Good work, troopers!” the General congratulated. “Stay where you are and when the Avatar stops meditating you must identify yourselves and tell him what is going on! Keep him and the other alive until you receive further instructions!”
“Copy that, sir!” Sinker acknowledged, and the comlink switched off.
“Why do we always get the boring assignments?” Comet groaned.
“Oh don’t worry, I’m sure nearly-blinded-in-a-fight here will be eager to break free of his bonds once he’s awake.” Sinker said indicating to the scarred prisoner.
………………
“Get down!” Master Pakku heard a soldier shout behind him, and he obeyed knowing his life depended on it. He felt someone jump on top of him as the fireball exploded on the ice well he’d made, shattering it and raining down bits of melting ice and ash on them. Soon, it stopped and they both stood up.
“Thanks for the save, soldier,” Master Pakku expressed as he turned to face the clone trooper who had helped rescue him.
“No problem, sir,” the trooper replied. “You and the other Water Tribe warriors are fighting well.” The trooper paused for a second. “Sir, respectfully, why are you not carrying a sword?”
Master Pakku smiled. “You’ll find that here where I am surrounded by my element, I need not physical weapons when water packs just as much a punch as your weaponry.” To follow up his point, Master Pakku waved his arms and created a circle of icebergs that he shot towards a group of Firebenders. Four of them fell as the icebergs impacted onto their bodies at high speed.
“Ha! I don’t know about that, but we’ll see!” the trooper laughed as he turned to face the enemy troops and let off three bursts from his blaster rifle that gunned down six Fire Nation soldiers. “The name is Lieutenant Charles, by the way. Remind me to introduce you to Commander Wolffe when this is over.”
“Very well, Lieutenant,” Master Pakku replied, and continued his counterattacks against the waves of Fire Nation troops that continued to spill onto the frozen Northern Shores.
Captain Dekru continued leading his charge of elite spearmen towards the Fire Nation line. Him and the seven warriors kept up their shields as they deflected arrows and fireballs. Eventually they reached the leading line of Firebenders and skillfully dispatched them with their spears. Captain Dekru brought up his shield just in time to block a punch from one of them, then shot it forward in a blow that impacted in the Firebender’s face and knocked him out cold. Another Firebender turned to face him, but the Captain swept out his foe’s legs from under him with his spear then followed up with a stab to the neck. The Firebender gasped for the last time and his arms dropped to the ground.
A convoy of Fire Nation tanks advanced towards the Captain and his line, but Captain Dekru heard a whoosh from behind as rockets from their newfound clone trooper allies were fired into the formation. Several enemy tanks exploded into bits, and three of the six legged AT-TE walkers stomped forward, flattening more enemy lines with powerful laser blasts. But the battle was far from over as Captain Dekru saw hundreds more Fire Nation troops continuously spilling onto the shores from the ramps of their warships. A barrage of fireballs from catapults roared in, decimating more of their fortified archer towers and tearing several AT-TE walkers apart. Despite the clone army landing their air vehicles on some of the enemy ships, the invasion force was simply too powerful to be defeated in a day. Captain Dekru gripped his spear firmly and remembered he must fight on no matter how many days this invasion lasted.
The battle continued for what seemed like eternity. The sun slowly crept across the sky, but neither side paid any attention as they fought to gain a significant advantage over the other. Master Pakku and his Waterbenders brought up ice walls and opened whirlpools to deter the Fire Nation advance. But the Fire Nation, spurred on by their orders from Zhao and indomitable will to fight, continued to press the attack and soon Master Pakku saw that even with the help of the clone troopers they had lost ground. If the Fire Nation troops reached the Main Palace by nightfall, they would easily force the King to surrender.
However, if they could hold them here until nightfall, the full moon would grant the Waterbenders enough extra power to gain victory.
A few miles away on the Command Ship, General Plo Koon along with Commander Wolffe and six troopers kicked in the door and quickly secured the lower level of the bridge. Three crew members stood up and assumed an attack stance, but the clones were quick to gun them down. The last five raised their hands in surrender, and the Jedi Master raised his arm to tell his men to stand down.
“Who is in charge here?!” Plo Koon demanded. “Step forward, come quietly, order your troops to stand down and we can end this madness!”
An older gentleman with the emblem of a golden Fire Hawk on his shoulder plates stepped forward somewhat fearfully.
“I’m Colonel Shao-Yun, 3 rd Armored Corps of the Fire Nation Army. I’m in charge of my division, but the Commander of our forces, Admiral Zhao, is not here!”
“Then where is he?!” Commander Wolffe barked, aiming his blaster at the Colonel’s chest. “Give us his location and contact him now!”
“I don’t know where he is!” the Colonel shouted back. “He left along with his advisor General Iroh at daybreak and I don’t know what their plan is! Only he has the authority to call off the attack!”
“You’re bluffing, Seppie,” a trooper behind Plo Koon snarled.
“Stand down, soldier,” Plo Koon ordered. “I do not sense any deception” he assured as he deactivated his lightsaber.
“Very well, Colonel,” the Jedi Master replied. “I will take you at your word. But you should know that at this moment your vessel has been seized along with many other of your warships as we speak. If you cooperate with us, you will be granted a fair chance to explain your side’s intentions in this war. But after what our scouts reported to us last night, I cannot guarantee a favorable trial for you when this battle is over.”
“I understand,” Colonel Shao-Yun answered respectfully, and held out his hands indicating for the other crew to do the same.
As Commander Wolffe and his troopers escorted the Fire Nation prisoners to the vessel’s prison, Plo Koon observed the maps on the table and the crude communication letters being written in pen and ink. By now, the sun was setting, and Plo Koon knew they had to end the battle as quickly as possible to find out what was going on. Pocketing certain documents he knew would make valuable intel, he reached out with the Force to find the location of Admiral Zhao. As he reached out, he had to quiet his mind as he mentally sifted through the chaos and destruction from the battle. He felt many confused and distraught voices screaming in terror and forced himself to ignore them. Suddenly, he felt a presence of amplified hate and evil, and concentrated his focus there. This man he sensed, was currently off on the sidelines, attempting to sneak past all the action. But where was he heading? Plo Koon mustered all his experience and thought to decipher the Admiral’s intentions.
Then suddenly, he understood, and his eyes opened in great fear as he understood how the Admiral sought to win this battle.
………………
“And that’s why I need to get back to the Oasis so I can save the Moon Spirit from the Fire Nation!” Aang screamed at the two clone troopers.
Sinker and Comet looked at each other still bewildered.
“Okay kid,” Sinker sighed as he struggled to make sense of all the new information. “So just let me get this straight here. You’re the Avatar, supposed to master these four elements, but you don’t get your abilities from the Force? And the Fire Nation has somehow waged war on the other three nations without anyone being able to defeat them in that time?”
“Yes, I’m being serious!” Aang replied. “I don’t know how no one has defeated the Fire Nation yet, I was frozen in an iceberg all that time! All I know is that if the Fire Nation succeeds in taking the North Pole I won’t be able to master Waterbending and the world will be under their rule!”
“Alright kid, we believe you,” Comet assured Aang as he put his hand on the kid’s shoulder.
“You’re arguing is almost as annoying as my sister’s childhood taunts,” another voice interjected.
“Aaaaahhhh!!! Zuko’s awake!” Aang cried with a startled jump as he turned to face his former captor.
“Aang, calm down!” Sinker said with annoyance. “You already saw him here when you came to! He’s chained down and he can’t hurt us!”
“I wouldn’t bet on that!” Zuko shouted as he suddenly blew wild fireballs from his mouth at Aang. Aang brought up an airball to extinguish the attack just in time. Comet, by this point more annoyed than angry quickly went over and delivered a kick to Zuko’s face that hit his scarred eye and Zuko screamed in pain.
“Serves you right, spoiled little prince!” Comet sneered in contempt.
“If you had just let me go with the Avatar I would’ve been back to my father by now with my honor back!” Zuko retorted angrily.
“Yeah, sure, I’d just love to meet your crazy father that wants to put the entire world under his banner!” Aang snapped back.
“Alright, both of you lock it down!” Sinker commanded. “I’ll get in touch with General Plo Koon and see what he wants us to do next!”
Sinker stomped back into the cockpit while Comet and Aang supervised Zuko. He keyed the comlink to the General.
“General Plo Koon, this is Sergeant Sinker,” the trooper began. “We have Avatar Aang, the one who was meditating, alive as well as his captor Prince Zuko of the Fire Nation in custody. The Avatar has told us the Fire Nation commander intends to wipe out the Moon by killing the physical manifestation of its Spirit in an Oasis…how do you want us to respond to this intel?”
“The Avatar’s news is correct, Sergeant!” the Jedi General delivered with great urgency and the Sergeant knew he had to take this seriously. “I have sensed the Fire Nation Admiral on his way to that Oasis as we speak! If he succeeds in destroying the moon, the Fire Nation will be one step closer to world domination! You must get the Avatar back to the Oasis at once; follow his instructions and I will meet you there in a gunship!”
“Sir, yes sir!” Sinker replied and the comlink clicked off.
“Sergeant, you need to come see this!” Sinker heard Comet cry, and he sprinted outside to see what was happening. Avatar Aang and Comet stood outside, looking up at a flying animal.
“My friends are on that flying bison! Before we go back let me call them down!” Aang requested.
Sinker nodded, and Aang searched in his clothing pockets. Producing what appeared to be a whistle in the shape of an animal, Sinker watched as Aang blew into it forcefully yet hardly a sound came out. However, Sinker was amazed that the animal in the sky heard the faint call and swooped down to meet them. Soon, Sinker was face to face with a six-legged, horned animal with a massive saddle that seated two young females and male around Aang’s age.
“Thanks for coming to get me, Sokka!” Aang remarked to the male with the stumped ponytail.
“No problem, Aang,” Sokka replied and turned to face Comet as he drew his boomerang. “Who are these guys?” Comet assumed a ready stance with his weapon in turn.
“No wait, don’t!” Aang quickly interrupted as he motioned for them to stand down. “Sokka, Katara, Princess Yue, these are clone troopers Sergeant Sinker and Corporal Comet. Troopers, these are my friends Sokka, Katara and Princess Yue.” Aang introduced as he indicated to each respective person.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Sinker answered respectfully.
“Of course, troopers,” Princess Yue replied with a bow. “Our tribe is grateful for your unexpected yet timely help.”
Just then, the white snow began to get a shade of red, and the girl Katara grunted in pain as the red shade washed over the landscape. The temperature readings on Sinker’s HUD suddenly spiked, and he and Comet looked to the moon. A dark shade of red had engulfed it, and Aang’s expression turned into one of terror.
“We need to get back to the Oasis now!” he yelled as he jumped up to take Sokka’s place at the flying bison’s reigns. “Sinker, Comet, I’ll lead you there on Appa!”
“Wait! Where’s Zuko?!” Katara shouted.
“We have him captive!” Comet informed her. “We’ll follow your lead, Avatar!” he said as he and Sinker ran back into the shuttle’s cockpit and fired up the engines.
“Appa, yip yip!” Aang commanded and Appa lifted off into the sky along with the shuttle.
“Pretty amazing; never seen a creature like that.” Comet remarked with some admiration.
“Win the battle now, sightsee later.” Sinker ordered and they continued to follow the Avatar’s path back towards the Oasis.
As they flew on their approach vector, Sinker glanced at the shuttle’s scanners warily. As of now, the red moon was giving the Fire Nation a considerable advantage and their forces were being pushed back further into the city. Sinker prayed his fellow troopers were alright as he piloted the shuttle through the icy winds. In just a few minutes, they were back at the Oasis and Sinker recognized the cliff lookout he and Comet had been just a few hours ago. He and Comet watched as the Avatar’s flying bison dropped down towards the clearing and Sinker spotted six figures in Fire Nation uniforms, one of them clutching a bag. Sinker and Comet lowered the shuttle to hover behind the enemy troops, and at the rush of wind from the aircraft’s engines they turned around and looked up in surprise. Sinker also saw with a gunship arrive in the clearing, dropping the Jedi General along with Commander Wolffe and five clone troopers. Good; they had the enemy severely outnumbered and surrounded.
Outside, General Plo Koon ignited his lightsaber and assumed his fighting stance.
“In the name of the Galactic Republic and the Jedi Order, I command all of you to stand down!” he shouted. “The battle is over Admiral Zhao! You are surrounded and soon your forces will at the mercy of an orbital bombardment if you don’t surrender!”
“I answer to no Republic, alien filth!” Admiral Zhao sneered. “And this battle will be over as soon as I remove the moon.” He raised his hand to snuff out the fish that struggled inside the bag.
Aang’s expression turned from one of anger to one of terror as he realized what Koh had told him in the Spirit World was true.
“Zhao, you can’t!” he cried. “The Fire Nation needs the moon just as much as the Water Tribe!”
“You fool!” he cackled at the boy’s ridiculous pleas. “You only say that because you know my doing this will put the world at the Fire Nation’s control.”
“No Admiral, the Avatar is correct!” a voice chimed in. Master Plo, Aang and the clones turned to see General Iroh step away from the Firebenders and assume a fighting stance. “All of the world depends on the moon for balance, and trifling with the Spirits is something one must never do!”
Admiral Zhao paused as he considered his former consultant’s words, while also fuming at Iroh’s betrayal.
“Whatever you dare to do to that Spirit, I shall bring on your head tenfold! Release it at once, NOW!” Iroh directed fiercely.
Admiral Zhao closed his eyes and his frustration boiled at this unfavorable turn of events. Perhaps the Avatar was right…would it hinder the Fire Nations war effort to destroy the moon?
No. He would make his name known and his mark on history. Admiral Zhao had come to far to fail, and he roared in wicked fury as he destroyed the bag with the moon spirit in his hand with a huge fire blast.
In that moment as the lifeless fish dropped to the ground, the moon vanished.
General Iroh was enraged and unleashed a massive barrage of fire blasts that knocked the four Firebenders guarding Zhao to the ground. Admiral Zhao turned to run, but Commander Wolffe saw him with his night vision and quickly fired a stun bolt into the Admiral’s back.
But by then it was too late.
Sinker and Comet landed the shuttle, disembarked and secured the unconscious Admiral in binding cuffs. They ran over to General Plo, Commander Wolffe, the Avatar and his friends as they frantically gathered around the tide pool. General Iroh stood off to the side and raised his hands peacefully to show himself not a threat to the troopers that quickly put his hands in binds.
Jedi Master Plo watched with grim fascination as Katara mustered all her strengths to power her water healing abilities on the deceased fish. A faint blue glow washed over the fish’s body, but it was in vain and the fish that was once the moon spirit was dead.
“It’s no use,” Katara said. “There’s nothing we can do.”
“Maybe there’s one thing we can do,” Princess Yue answered and stepped forward. “The moon saved my life when I was only an infant. It’s time I repay that debt.”
“No!” Sokka objected and grabbed her hand. “Your father ordered me to protect you and that’s what I intend to do!”
“I don’t have a choice, Sokka.” Princess Yue cried as she pulled away from him.
Laying her hands on the dead fish, Yue breathed deeply and let her life energy flow freely. The body of the moon spirit glowed brightly, then faded as the Princess breathed her last and fell into Sokka’s arms.
“No…no!” Sokka yelled. “This can’t be happening!”
The others observed grimly as the moon spirit still did not come back to life.
“It’s over…there’s nothing left.” Katara sobbed.
A great fury arose within Aang, the same fury he’d felt when he saw Monk Gyatso’s corpse at the Southern Air Temple. He was only a child yes, but that did not mean he was not about to make the Fire Nation pay for what they had done. His eyes glowed as his rage peaked out and his wrath awakened.
“It’s not over…not yet,” he growled. Wading into the pool, he concentrated his energy on the fish of the Ocean Spirt that now swam alone. Soon, the lines on the Ocean Spirit’s body began to glow, and Avatar Aang merged with it to create a massive Ocean Humanoid.
Master Plo stared in awe at the tremendous power of this child. If this was the child destined indeed to save this world, he had great hope that he would do that indeed.
Turning towards the battle, Aang moved his right foot forward to take a step. The Ocean Spirit responded in kind, and soon the Avatar was marching into battle against what remained of the Fire Nation invasion force with the Ocean Spirit as his ally. Looking down, Aang saw the carnage that had been wrought on the North Pole by the battle and watched as Firebenders began to flee in terror towards their ships. The Avatar and the Ocean Spirit, however, were not about to let them off the hook that easily. Swinging his right arm in a sideways arc, Aang brought up a massive tidal wave that swept the Fire Nation ships docked on the frozen shoreline far out of the reach of the now trapped soldiers. In the distance, Aang saw some ships among that Fire Nation fleet with clone troopers on them, and he quickly created waves that bended those ships away from the main force. Once that was done, Aang continued to march forward, blocking fireballs that were shot at him and his massive Spirit ally in vain with his elbows. Raising both his arms, Aang created another massive tidal wave that crashed down on the Fire Nation ships with unmatched ferocity. Just three tidal waves and one whirlpool later, the majority of the Fire Nation fleet was gone and only four ships fled in the distance.
“We’re not finished yet,” Aang heard the Ocean Spirit say in his mind. “The one who sought to destroy the moon must be punished,”
Before Aang could reply, he felt the Ocean Spirit gain more control as they plowed through the battlefield back to the Oasis. Aang thought of trying to ebb the Spirit’s fury, but he knew that Admiral Zhao was getting what he had asked for. As they reached the Oasis, Aang saw his friends, the clone troopers and their Jedi General scatter as the Ocean Spirit reached for the now conscious Admiral Zhao. As Aang’s body and mind disconnected from the Ocean Spirit, Aang saw the Ocean Spirit’s now many arms trap the Admiral and drag him flailing and yelling for his life into the pool. A massive flash of light blinded them momentarily, but soon the total darkness in the sky was broken by a light blue hue. Looking up, they all saw that the moon was back in it’s proper place…they had won! The Moon Spirit had been revived!
Just then, a ghostly form of Princess Yue emerged and Sokka stared into her eyes, struggling to accept the truth.
“Farewell, my darling Sokka,” the now Moon Spirit Yue said. “I wish you well in this war.”
And giving him one last kiss, Yue faded as she became the Moon Spirit.
The battle was over, and they had won.
………………
The next day, Aang walked around the city with Jedi Master Plo Koon and Commander Wolffe as they looked upon the aftermath. AT-TE and two-legged AT-RT walkers still smoldered from the battle, and the city’s landscape was almost unrecognizable due to the countless craters from fireballs and crumbled buildings. Many parents wailed in the streets as they knelt over their child’s either limp or badly damaged body, and several former wives now widows cried together in anguish as they as the struggled to accept the unacceptable truth that their husbands were dead.
Aang fought back tears that came to his eyes; how could the Fire Nation possibly think any good could come from this destruction?
The Jedi Master sensed the young Avatar’s distress and laid a consoling hand on his shoulder.
“I know you must feel like you have failed,” Plo Koon said. “But you must not be harsh with yourself. You did everything in your power and were it not for your intervention these people would now be slaves of the Fire Nation.”
“Thank you Master Plo,” Aang replied with appreciation. “I just don’t understand…why would the Fire Nation keep doing this? And how can they have kept this up for a century?”
“When a determined group wants power, they’re willing to do whatever it takes and wait as long as they need to in order to get it,” Commander Wolffe told Aang. “Our job is to make sure they never get what they want.”
Aang nodded in agreement as he pondered those words.
On the west side of the city, clone troopers and Northern Water Tribe soldiers commanded by Captain Dekru led Fire Nation prisoners in chains onto Republic gunships that were to take them away for interrogation. Sokka and Katara were aiding Sinker and Comet with the distribution of medical supplies and food, while Master Pakku and his Waterbenders cleansed their canals of the wreckage—and corpses—from the battle.
After their walk through the city, Master Plo and Aang went to the holoprojector Plo’s men had set up. Aang looked at the Jedi Master and raised an eyebrow.
“Uh, how does this thing work?”
The Kel Dor smiled at the young Avatar’s curiosity and punched the appropriate buttons. In a second, several holograms of the Jedi Council emerged. Aang saw humans, a small green creature with pointy ears, and other alien species—some of whom resembled the spirits he’d seen in the Spirit world.
Introducing Aang to the Jedi Masters and him to them, Jedi Master Plo Koon recounted the story of the siege to the Jedi Council, with Aang explaining who he was and what his world was like. The eleven Jedi Masters mulled this over before reaching a decision.
“Contact the Chancellor we will, about these matters,” the short green one Plo Koon had called Yoda said. “Send reinforcements to this war-torn world we shall, to help this Avatar bring balance.”
“Very well, Master Yoda,” Plo Koon said with a bow. “May the Force be with you,”
“May the Force be with you,” Yoda answered with a bow of his head, and the holograms faded.
“Uh, didn’t Master Yoda mess up his sentences there?” Aang blurted out as soon as the meeting was over. Commander Wolffe burst out laughing.
“Just how he talks, kid,” he laughed, clapping Aang on the back. “You’ll get used to it.”
Plo Koon smiled under his mask, but he was wary on the inside. He sensed a growing disturbance in the Force, and something told him this battle was far from over. Count Dooku’s droid army would no doubt soon follow them here.
And when they did, the true war would begin.