Aang had never seen so many ships before. Even from his vantage point in the sky, the fleet seemed to cover the entire ocean. And they were relentless too.
While Aang did what he could to stymie several ships’ progress, the Northern Water Tribe defenders took a page from their enemy and began launching huge boulders of ice into the enemy formation. The retaliation was far outnumbered by the invaders’ bombardment, and some ice boulders crashed into the flaming rocks catapulted over with spectacular effects. Those projectiles that did manage to hit the Fire Nation ships though punched through metal decks and crumpled the elevated ship bridges.
Unfortunately that did not slow the enemy progress one bit, or stop them from clumping up to add to the rain of fire on Agna Qel’a. After watching figures jumping out of a sinking ship, the young Avatar found himself horrified at realizing just how many lives were being carelessly wasted for this siege. There were even komodo rhinos bobbing along the sea’s surface, though unlike the human soldiers, these creatures did not last long and quickly sank under the surface.
Rope ladders were thrown down from nearby ships for the survivors to rescue themselves, but otherwise the full effort of the Fire Nation navy was directed at besieging the Northern Water Tribe city. Thankfully, a glance back told Aang that most of the fireballs were unable to damage the city, as the waterbenders of Agna Qel’a decided on focusing their bending on nullifying the bombardment instead of retaliating with ice boulders.
The Fire Nation’s advance and bombardment did not slow until the evening, where the Fire Nation decided to drop anchor and cease the rain of fireballs completely. Aang didn’t know why, but he was grateful enough for a break.
As he landed an exhausted Appa on the palace ground, the equally tired airbender let out a heavy sigh and slid off the air bison’s back to slump on the ground.
“I can’t do it. I can’t do it...”
“What happened?” Katara asked as she ran over with Princess Yue right behind her.
“I must have taken out a dozen Fire Navy ships but there’s just too many of them. I can’t fight them all.”
“You won’t have to,” came the concerned voice of Chief Arnook. “Our warriors will head out tonight, once the moon has shown itself.” Even as he announced the counterattack, the chief’s expression did not ease up from its grim frown. “With the moon strengthening us, hopefully…hopefully we can make a suitable dent on these invaders before the sun rises.”
Aang watched as most of the men of the Northern Water Tribe slipped off into the night in boats, with the waterbenders propelling the crafts to speeds that should be impossible. He didn’t stay long to see what they did, as Princess Yue led him and Katara to a potential answer in contacting the spirits.
*****
Zuko left just in time, it seemed. As he rowed his commandeered dinghy out to land, he noticed the water tribe’s own boats speeding towards the invasion fleet. For all of the prince’s silent complaints of Admiral Zhao not placing his ship in the front ranks and closer to land, Zuko felt grateful for the admiral’s (or probably uncle Iroh’s) wisdom.
Freed from their task of defending the city, the warriors of the Northern Water Tribe skimmed effortlessly across the water’s surface to charge the line of ships. With a wall of water raised up into a dome to conceal themselves, Zuko doubted that the sailors keeping watch on the much larger ships noticed the approach until it was too late.
Drawn in by the sight, the bruised prince witnessed in shocked silence as the waterbenders went to work. Under the moonlight, it only took two boats of them to heave the waters up and tip a warship over.
There were plenty of boats filled with waterbenders, so plenty of the navy’s steel ships were rolled over as if they were made of nothing more than reeds and bamboo.
Chaos quickly reigned as the alarm was sounded. Zuko saw as anchors were hastily being raised even as the ships in the front rank were being capsized one by one. Firebolts were hurled from the decks into the protective water domes of each boat, doing precisely nothing. Sheets of ice exploded outwards from the boats, covering the surface of the sea and dooming sailors and soldiers escaping from the sinking vessels to freeze or drown to death.
A few reckless warriors could be seen launching themselves off the warships to dive onto the Water Tribe boats. No matter how many took the dive, none of them made it down in one piece as the domes of water promptly froze and exploded outwards like quills from an enraged porcupython. Most were skewered and torn to pieces, a few almost melted their way through before being impaled by spears.
It was only when the trebuchets from ships positioned further away were recklessly brought down to bear that the waterbenders dispersed. For all its haste, the desperate danger close bombardment mostly landed in the waters between the ships, forcing the waterbenders to cease their capsizing efforts to strengthen their defenses.
By the time their boats skimmed back to the safety of their city walls, Zuko saw a massive, icy gap created in the navy’s formation, and guessed that no less than eighty vessels had been rolled over. It was not an insignificant fraction of the fleet, and if the waterbenders decided to make another attempt, who knows what other tricks they might have up their sleeve.
Realizing that his own dinghy was nothing compared to a warship, Zuko snapped out of his staring and began to row with a strength that was fueled by fear. He aimed for the wasteland further away from the water tribe city, and hopefully he could figure out a way to infiltrate into it and get to the Avatar.
Assuming he got that far, what happened after that… Well, the prince would have to hope he was a good student in Xing’s lessons of ‘making shit up as we go along’.
*****
Iroh found it hard to keep a stern face as he got to lecture Admiral Zhao and his cronies on their mistake, in front of other frowning admirals and generals. “I did say we should have used some smaller vessels, even just some boats, to act as a screen for the fleet.”
The war council had been hastily assembled after the deadly retaliation by the Northern Water Tribe. Even on paper, losing slightly above one-tenths of the fleet on the first night looked bad, especially considering that the enemy suffered practically nothing in return. Hundreds of men were claimed by the sea, to say nothing of the ships that were each a massive investment of the Fire Nation’s industry.
Initial damage reports were horrendous, compared to even the worst encounters with the Earth Kingdom. The waterbenders did not pull any punches; every ship lost was, for the purposes of this invasion and likely the near future, irretrievable. The percentage of survivors from each sunken vessel was struggling to break double digits, especially from ships carrying Army elements. Even with the ice cover broken, spirits know how many men could actually make it to the surface to be rescued.
All this grief, inflicted by a group of waterbender on boats.
“It’s too late to point fingers now,” Zhao said with a snarl. “With our numbers, we just have to endure the night, and then tomorrow we’ll break into Agna Qel’a.”
“Until night comes again,” Iroh countered. “And then we’ll be chased out of the city of ice and snow. Or buried in it.”
The gathered commanders were murmuring amongst themselves or frowning heavily with concern. All their initial enthusiasm had been snuffed out, just as Iroh had expected. Most of the backline and reserve commanders have at best not seen the frontlines for a long time, and either forgotten or never experienced how bad a campaign could turn out.
There were a number of exceptions, of course.
“With your permission, Admiral Zhao,” Admiral Daeyang voiced with careful neutrality, “I’ll deploy some boats to begin patrolling the waters, at least to give us an early warning.”
Zhao gave a hurried nod. “I’ll leave it up to you then.”
The other admiral returned the nod with a salute, and then backed away.
Seeing that it was the time to provide ideas, another commander, an Army general, spoke up. “Might I suggest that the ships transporting Army elements be moved to the back ranks? When morning comes, surely it’d only be a minor hassle to return them to the vanguard.”
“Hnnh.” Zhao was distracted in his answer, staring down at the bare table with an unconcealed grimace. Iroh recognized the telltale signs of a theater commander trying to keep as much of his authority as possible without blowing his top off. All it took was one failure like this for the shark squids to start circling. If enough officers sent a petition back to the palace, Zhao could find himself replaced in the middle of the invasion, losing any credit if it turned out successful while gaining all the blame if it didn’t.
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Considering this was a joint operation, the admiral might actually lose his spot to a general, even if the Army was in the minority. All the latter needed was the recommendation of his peers and enough prestige.
Such was the ruthless union of meritocracy and politics in the upper level of the Fire Nation’s military.
Iroh could try to placate the crowd before it turned into a mob… But he remembered Zhao’s dishonorable conduct against Zuko, and the off-handed insults the admiral had flung at Iroh regarding Ba Sing Se.
“We might have to go over tomorrow’s invasion plan, just to be safe,” the prince said, fighting to keep his tone plain as befitting a venerable military advisor. “Perhaps we should rethink how the defenders might react to our approach, now that we have a better idea of their capabilities.”
It was petty of him, but Prince Iroh did look forward to dismantling Zhao’s confidently laid plans. To have it be redone would be a small blemish on his merits during this campaign, but the implications of being a poor strategist could be a great stain for any Fire Nation commander’s reputation. They made for poor counsel to the Fire Lord, for example.
As he carefully guided the meeting into a methodical reassembly of tomorrow’s plans, as a helpless and seething Zhao was forced to let the other admirals and generals pick apart the great invasion he had boasted about, Iroh had to admit that it felt rather…satisfying to adopt a politician’s mantle again. Almost too satisfying.
He’d have to remember to abstain after this. Relapsing into court politics would not be good for himself or Zuko.
As the prince prodded an admiral into poking a hole into a landing formation, Iroh absently wondered if he should find a way to pay young Azula a visit after this, to warn her about the rather addictive dangers of being so immersed in Fire Nation intrigue. Or find a way to talk her out of it if she happened to be too far invested in it.
Hm. He’d been a neglectful uncle to the young princess, come to think of it… Hopefully he would have the time to rectify that blatant mistake.
But first… “Admiral Daeyang, Admiral Sung, now that I think about it, do you think it prudent for the left flank to be grouped so close together?” Iroh would do his job in advising the war council, while redirecting as much of the potential glory from Zhao as he could.
*****
When the Fire Nation resumed their invasion the next day, the ships broke through the first wall within two hours. Marines and Army soldiers made landfall across practically the entire seawall. The waterbenders, far less potent than they were during the previous night, were nonetheless still dangerous foes. Ice shards and water whips almost pushed back multiple beachheads, but the relentless bombardment of the Fire Navy broke through the defenses and allowed men to stream out of the ships almost unimpeded.
Colonel Hwa of the 51st Grand Company was among those who fought to push inwards after her troops landed. Thank the spirits that she and her grand company had been spared the horrible demise of drowning in the very ships that were supposed to safely ferry them to the frontlines. Now on solid ground again (even if it was ice and snow), the colonel ordered her troops to form up alongside a komodo rhino regiment.
She took a good look at the second wall far ahead of her, and the urban battlefield that awaited her and her soldiers beyond it. Already she could see other regiments desperately speeding across the flat, open terrain that led towards the second wall. The defenders were not stingy in hurling ice and water at the exposed Fire Nation besiegers. Whole squads were impaled, crushed, or even shredded as they tried to close the distance.
At certain points, the ice below them gave way, swallowing the unsuspecting soldiers. Or it exploded in a forest of impaling, frozen spikes. Neither Hwa or the scouts could see the waterbenders responsible for such traps, but she was sure that there were plenty more of them hidden under the ice and snow. The colonel gulped silently and steeled her resolve, reminding herself that this was only a little different from attacking prepared Earth Kingdom defenses.
These waterbenders had decades of preparation, that was all.
Only the arrival of the new tank companies kept the assault from faltering. The metal machines were impervious to ice spikes and water blades, and their grappling hooks dragged them out of ice pits or pulled them down from raised ice columns. Only the larger ice boulders hurled from behind the water tribe’s walls dealt significant enough damage to them, but those were easily evaded for the most part.
“Have you seen Admiral Zhao?” a young voice asked from behind Hwa, and she turned to one of her ‘bodyguards’ dressed in standard firebender’s uniform, complete with obscuring faceplate.
“He’s due to make landfall soon,” Hwa replied, glancing at the admiral’s ship that was still a good distance out at sea. “The admiral’s ship has a cavalry regiment to unload, after all.”
The bodyguard nodded. “Try to stick close to him.”
Hwa let out a sigh. “I’ll do what I can.”
“Maybe have your grand company secure the beachhead. It could buy the time needed.”
The colonel frowned at the suggestion. That was a task with little prestige in it, and considering the progress of the invasion, it frankly felt like a moot assignment. But Hwa reminded herself that she had hedged her trust in the speaker, and sighed again as she nodded and yelled the orders to her nearby major and captains.
As they rushed to carry out her will, Hwa muttered softly, “Either this is a siege purely for glory’s sake, or a…lunatic’s delusion. Xing, I honestly don’t know whether I wish you to be right about this or not. ”
The disguised colonel’s voice was far cheerier. “I’d say I felt the same, but I’d be lying, Colonel Hwa. Between the two of us, I can honestly say I sincerely hope for the stupider option, only so I can make this journey worthwhile. My old uniform’s not as damned itchy and stiff as this one, let me tell you.”
They continued to trade soft banters while Hwa noted the progress of the siege. The second wall was being slowly broken down, but the water tribe was fighting tooth and nail against it. It seemed that despite the amended briefing, they might still have to worry about fighting into the night after all. Hopefully by then there’d be enough troops on the ground to overwhelm the waterbender defenders.
Admiral Zhao appeared in the late afternoon, riding atop a komodo rhino he no doubt loaned from the cavalry regiment his ship hosted. Xing’s voice seemed to be more animated when he spotted the admiral. “He’s ready to move out. He’s also holding something in his hands…”
Hwa saw it, and squinted a bit to make out the details. “It’s… A scroll?”
“A scroll… Hm…”
With the invasion advancing significantly and the admiral in sight, Hwa ordered her grand company forward to make up for lost glory. She left the details to her major, and kept herself at the fringes of the field base set up for generals and colonels like her. With Xing and his bodyguards playing the role of her bodyguards, she exchanged courtesies with the other commanders while keeping an eye out for Admiral Zhao’s movements.
The man remained on his mount, and referred to his scroll every now and then as he and his squad of riders paced the beachhead, as if looking - no, not looking for something, his gaze fell frequently on a particular spot, he already knew where he wanted to go. He was merely waiting for the right time.
Considering that the spot was in the far end of the second wall, the admiral was waiting for the walls to be properly breached and the defenders pressed back before making a move.
Hwa was forced to mingle with her peers until late in the afternoon, when messengers brought the news - the second wall of Agna Qel’a had been breached. Considering they were behind schedule, it wasn’t exactly good news, but most of the commanders stopped fidgeting or frowning nervously.
As the colonel expected, Admiral Zhao rode off towards the spot he had been eyeing up until now.
“Send a messenger to Admiral Daeyang,” he practically ordered. “More backup or witnesses wouldn’t hurt.”
With the messenger hawk sent, Hwa slipped away from the elated base and let Xing and his men take the lead. She still didn’t know if she truly wanted to see what the boy meant by killing the moon and/or ocean.