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Overview[]
The Oma King army group is knocking on the doors of the Qiangda Kingdom, all by plans of Senlin. The coalition of daofei now attacking the harbor what will Qiang Zhen do?
Senlin knows Rong Yan is in the city, he sends a letter to the Avatar to meet him on Jinyin, will Rong Yan keep his word and meet Senlin on the island?
Chapter 19: The Avatar and the Great Betrayer Part 2: Siege of Ba Sing Se[]
Book 3: Earth
Chapter 19: The Avatar and the Great Betrayer Part 2: Siege of Ba Sing Se
Jinyin Island, Tuo, Qiangda Kingdom
The Oma naval ship reached the shores of Jinyin Island, the anchor dropped into the ocean while a land ramp was bent up to the deck by Senlin. The captain handed Senlin a sack of salted meats and other foods to survive off of until the Avatar showed up.
As soon as Senlin stepped down the ramp the ship was rocked by waves, one of the new sailors screamed and freaked out, "QUAKE! QUAKE!"
"Shut up over there, you'll get used to it," another crew member shouted.
The captain leaned against the railing of the warship, "You sure you'll be fine here?" he asked Senlin.
Senlin nodded, "Did you send the letter?"
"Aye it's going for Ba Sing Se," said the helmsman.
"My sources say he's in the city, that scroll is for his eyes only, one of my contacts will act as a courier and hand it to him," Senlin finished.
Upper Ring, Ba Sing Se, Qiangda Kingdom
Meanwhile, Jushi enjoyed a bowl of noodles while home alone Aloi and Unaraq spent the morning out. Unaraq planned to take Aloi for some breakfast while Jushi was still asleep, Jushi spun his chopsticks to coil some noodles to eat. The door opened and Rong Yan stepped inside the manor, Jushi glimpsed up and saw his friend, "Hey! You're back!"
"How'd it go?" Jushi opened his palms out in front of him joyous of the return of his friend.
"Everyone agreed to a ceasefire," cheered Rong Yan.
"That's great news!" agreed Jushi with over joyous tone.
"Does that mean the invasion is called off?" inquired Jushi, Rong Yan's smile turned into a slight frown, "No, the army group continues their part of the Gen Da deal."
"Mmm...that's a shame, can't go breaking that. Or else the Oma Kingdom would kill Gao and probably Hui," commented Jushi as he knew how traditions go.
"The Oma naval forces are to be called to Shouchun though, they're not a part of the Gen Da deal," added Rong Yan.
"Oh good that's one less problem to deal with," said Jushi.
There was a knock at the door Rong Yan answered it and there stood a royal guard with movers behind him. The royal guard notified Rong Yan of the move, "Earth King Jieshutinghuo orders that you move out of this manor, you're being relocated to the Fire Nation princess's siheyuan that she previously rented while visiting. The movers here will take belongings."
"Why?" Rong Yan wondered.
"The Chieftain of the Southern Water Tribe and the former Chieftain of the Northern Water Tribe will be staying with you until the end of the invasion. The King knew the manor was too small for such a large group," explained the royal guard.
"Oh...okay," nodded Rong Yan, Rong Yan opened the door and the movers ran in to grab any belongings and placed them inside a big cart outside.
Jushi was puzzled, "Movers?"
"Qiang Zhen is moving us to a bigger place," Rong Yan answered, Jushi slowly nodded as he understood. The royal guard escorted Rong Yan and Jushi to their new estate for the time being where they would remain until the end of the invasion. Qiangdian guards stood in front of the door, both of them bowed to Rong Yan and Jushi.
"Welcome Avatar Rong Yan and Master Jushi, your new roommates are waiting inside for your arrival," welcomed the man on the left. Both men grabbed the handle of one of the doors and pulled them open and permitted both men to enter.
Jushi chuckled, "Wow how fancy!"
Another guard inside directed Rong Yan and Jushi to the main house in the estate which relatively large even for them. Once guided to the door they opened it to find Unirak and Cupun inside, the men sat at the table as they discussed further on their aiding reinforcements and such. Cupun peered up to see that Rong Yan and Jushi entered.
"Where is Unaraq?" Unirak asked the Avatar.
"He and Aloi went out for breakfast, I'm sure they're being led here later," answered Rong Yan.
Unirak gave a nod, an hour after everyone was settled in. Unaraq and Aloi entered the main home as well they scanned the big house and were in disbelief of its beauty. Unaraq came face-to-face with his father who exited his chambers, he whispered, "...Dad...?"
"Dad!" he then shouted in excitement as he ran toward his father to embrace him. He was shocked and in excitement, he inquired further, "Lord Cupun's here too? What are you two doing here?"
"The ceasefire, my boy. We all agreed upon it, the boy king sought to aid and so we offered it, as we speak our men nearing the city to aid them," responded Unirak.
"Those pirates and those traitors will have what's coming to them," commented Unaraq.
"There are hidden camps all near the Outer Wall with our soldiers waiting for orders," grinned Cupun.
"The navy however is said to meet as Bo Sai Dong Bay, apparently that's where our enemies were also at. Except it had been reported empty and with no soul nearby," said Cupun.
"What about the colonies?" Jushi asked.
"We've sent orders to have all southern and northern colonies to return home, we've agreed to this upon the ceasefire requirements," Cupun replied.
"Oh I'm sorry..." apologized Jushi as he paused, "...I understand if you're frustrated," he finished, he wanted to make sure he said the right words so that he didn't offend the Tribesmen.
Bo Sai Dong Inlet, Ba Sing Se, Qiangda Kingdom
The naval fleets anchored in the giant inlet several ships are held on standby as they waited for the invasion to begin. They stayed hidden away from scouts that patrolled the waters near the mouth of the inlet where the harbor of the Agrarian Zone was built on. The harbor was only about an eight-mile distance from their location.
Sappak exited the cabin on the flagship of the Northern Rebellion, his outfit identified him as the fleet admiral of the Northern Rebellion. Their insignia was the moon of the Northern Water Tribe with a crack that split it down the middle. The thick walrus bear skin protected him although the heat that began to start over the change of the seasons bothered him.
But he ignored it, the skin was painted indigo colors. Underneath the parka was plate armor made by Oma Kingdom smiths, he also wore a fur kilt and leather belt that held it together, under the kilt he wore plate leggings and sabatons. His gloves had plates for the back on his hand and the back of his fingers. This was the first time he wore a plate and it was pretty heavy. He had war paint on his face in the design of a walrus bear, one of the most ferocious beasts of the North Pole. On his back, he carried a massive mace made from the wing bone of a mammoth bustard.
Inuksuk's uniform looked similar minus the plate armor, and it was lighter, he wore a helmet carved from whale shark bones. Inuksuk used his bending to form a bridge of ice over to the Fifth Nation flagship for himself and Sappak to cross. Once across the door is opened by Zei one of the pirates that Kimaru met. Kimaru awaited inside along with Sao Feng and Da Fu. Kimaru wore leather armor without any extra protections, it was important for him to remain swift and comfortable so that he could do his job.
Sao Feng wore an assortment of clothing over his lamellar armor, a large straw hat rested on his back and two hudie daos sheathed on his waist. Da Fu had similar armor as Sao Feng besides short dao he also carried a hand cannon just in case strapped to his left leg if he was ever in trouble. Each man rested his palms against the table as they stared at the map while Sappak and Inuksuk entered the cabin.
At the same time, Shangxiao camped eight miles from the wall himself along with the massive amount of men who surrounded him. They could barely see the Outer Wall on the horizon, the sun high in the sky this late morning. Noon crawled closer soon they'd head into battle, one of the younger recruits asked, "When do we break camp?"
"Upon receiving orders, boy," replied Colonel-General Shangxiao.
Back on the flagship, Sao Feng questioned Kimaru, "Where is Senlin?"
"He's on Jinyin Island as per request to the Oma navy flagship," replied Kimaru.
"Now that we're all here, shall we begin?" Da Fu wondered, everyone nodded.
"Today is the day we have come to do and accomplish Senlin's goals. We here have dedicated our lives to his cause, for the future of all daofei," began Kimaru.
"Today we make history an take over the harbor of the Agrarian Zone, tomorrow we take the entire Outer Ring," beamed Sappak.
"We have a total of two-hundred-and-twenty-three warships, let's make this count. There's no going back," Kimaru added.
"Since this is our war, it's only fair if we begin with the assault," Sappak said.
"The destroyer cluster will initiate the attack there are seventy-four warships in total, twenty battleships are carrying siege towers. The other fifty-four have two trebuchets," Kimaru mentioned.
"Then the Oma Kingdom flotilla from Shouchun will join," Sappak continued.
Da Fu brought up, "Their flagship isn't even here yet should they be ordered to move?"
Sappak faced Da Fu and answered, "Upon their commander's orders given by the captain." .
"They'll come up second and defend the carrier battle group who will come in third," Sappak explained.
"Which leaves everything up to you from here," he told Sao, Sao Feng examined the map and pointed to another position in the inlet, "I'll have some ships in the backline as they await the Oma flagship's return. But I'll make sure the front ships dock as quickly as an opening is available."
Sappak turned his attention to Kimaru, "What of Senlin's specialist team?"
"They're going on a small boat to the harbor, their mission is eliminating the Magistrate," disclosed Kimaru.
"If we take him down, we can take control of the port, but that leaves the fleet admiral of the Qiangdian navy as well. We need to find him too, that should sever them of their pyramid of command for the time being," added Kimaru.
Kimaru looked over at Sao Feng, "How many men does each ship carry?" "Each battleship is manned by twenty individuals and every warship carries eighty men..." he paused. His eyes rolled up as he thought about the number of the men in total Sao resumed, "...That's about six-thousand pirates."
"That's more than enough I should add," chuckled Da Fu.
"Six thousand pirates making landfall and invading the harbor's port, while Senlin's specialist team takes out the leader of the port. That should be a sizable distraction," said Sao Feng.
"Aye, I like that idea our goal is to destroy any Qiangdian ships before they can do anything," Kimaru reminded everyone.
"Kimaru make sure Shangxiao receives the message, we'll be invading shortly. The field army should begin their invasion as well," Sappak ordered, Kimaru nodded and headed off to the Northern Rebellion's flagship.
"After the ships are destroyed we'll anchor and join the rest of you in battle, we must secure the harbor first. No naval reinforcements are coming in any way it'll take them a day before they reach us. And by then we'll force the civilians to fight," finished Sao.
"Da Fu let Zhifang know it's time to release the all-signal," Sao Feng commanded his first mate. First Mate Da Fu left the cabin to accomplish his order.
"The invasion will start in fifteen minutes," Sappak announced.
All of the leadership left the cabin on the flagship of the Fifth Nation. As Sappak crossed the ice bridge that remained between both ships he saw a messenger bird fly out of the window of the cabin. Other birds flew around to different ships and notified everyone the invasion would begin soon.
Admiral Ziyou sat in his office as he concentrated on the paperwork he needed to finish for the day. He dipped his quill into the inkpot when he heard the door slightly open. A scout minced briskly toward his desk the admiral raised his head and saw the scout, "Sir, they're here."
"Thank you, the men are prepared and there are mines already in the water those hundan are getting what's coming to them," he thanked the scout and then revealed that the defense was ready for the invasion. "Tribesmen reinforcements will come to our aid shortly, don't you worry. How big were they?" assured Ziyou then he inquired about the size of the fleet.
"Not big, admiral...possibly a hundred ships in total, maybe a bit more," guessed the scout.
Meanwhile, in the palace, Qiang Zhen sat upon his throne Jushi, Rong Yan, Unaraq, and Aloi attended the meeting. While Unirak and Cupun were with the Council of Five after they sent orders to the camps hidden near the inlet. .
"As you may know the city is nearly under attack by the invading forces who support Gen-" Qiang Zhen began before he stopped himself and then corrected himself, "Commander Senlin. Soon both the armies who sit outside my Outer Wall and near my harbor will advance," he continued he faced Unaraq, "Prince...your father and your family friend are with the Council of Five, they wish to see you. You should depart now to plan further with them."
Unaraq bowed to Qiang Zhen with respect before he turned around and left, the Earth King faced the Avatar, "Where do you choose to fight, Avatar?"
"The wall or the harbor?" inquired Qiang Zhen.
"I'll go with the Outer Wall, they could use me there," Rong Yan answered.
"I'm going too," Aloi declared.
"One of your friends wishes to join the fight, he said something about another one your loved ones was taken by Senlin," mentioned Qiang Zhen.
Rong Yan pondered on the thought on who could've been the person that desired to join the invasion. A familiar voice called him from behind, "It's good to see you, Avatar Rong Yan."
The young master's tattoos had healed over time and he even grew and maintained a thin stripped brown mustache for hair. He also looked a bit more fit since the last time Rong Yan and Aloi had seen him. Rong Yan rotated around to come face-to-face with the monk, they gazed upon each other except Rong Yan didn't immediately recognize him he whispered to himself, "Senge...?"
"SENGE!" Rong Yan shouted both men embraced each other had been nearly four years that the Avatar hadn't seen his Air Nomad friend Senge.
Both of them chuckle in joy his monk friend complimented him, "You've grown up quite nicely, Avatar Rong Yan."
"How did you know?" Rong Yan asked him.
"About you growing up nicely?" Senge wondered.
The Avatar shook his head, "No, how did you know about the invasion?"
"Aloi contacted me and told me you guys needed help out here, plus not like the Oma Kingdom could stop three airbenders," he revealed that Aloi contacted him from the Jongmu Air Temple.
"You're right, we could always use more," Rong Yan laughed, the Earth King rose from his throne at the same time the Avatar introduced Senge to Jushi, "This is my earthbending master, Jushi."
"Jushi this is Senge," Rong Yan introduced Jushi to Senge in return both men shook hands, "Its a pleasure having you on the team," smiled Jushi.
Qiang Zhen rose his voice, "Avatar, a scroll arrived for you just now."
"From whom?" he wondered.
"It doesn't say, it just says it's for your eyes only," answered the king, Laozhang approached the throne and grabbed the scroll from the Earth King's grasp. He then neared the Avatar and handed Rong Yan the scroll. There was no seal either only a string with a smaller note attached to it that said "For the Avatar's eyes only!"
Rong Yan slid the string off the scroll and opened it to read its contents it said, "I know you're in Ba Sing Se my sources have told me so. If you're expecting me to be a part of the invasion. I'm not, no our fight will not happen where your friends can help you. Meet me in Jinyin Island alone, your involvement in the destruction of Yumen has caused ripples that reached Jinyin island."
Jushi noticed that Rong Yan seemed a bit worried he neared him and inquired, "Who's it from?"
"What does it say?" Qiang Zhen questioned the silent Avatar.
Jushi took the scroll from Rong Yan who snapped out of it, "It has to be from him, he said he knows I'm here."
Jushi slowly read what the simple letter told the Avatar when he read it. Rong Yan continued, "He says that if I expected him to be a part of the invasion, that I'm wrong. He hopes that I meet him in Jinyin Island, he said that after I destroyed Yumen something happened there that caused another sort of unnatural event to occur on this island. I don't know what that means."
Aloi volunteered, "I'll go with you."
Rong Yan shook his head, "No I have to do this alone, you and so many others have taught me all that I know. I can defeat him."
"Jinyin? I've never heard of that," Laozhang said.
"It's a medium-sized island once home to a one-eyed warlord back during Yao's reign. Earth King Yao knew the thorn on his side that Warlord Mori would be if he allowed him to continue his shenanigans unchecked," answered Qiang Zhen.
A thin, average height young man with pale skin, his one good eye was colored ocean-blue, a decent sized scar marked his left eye. The eye however was blinded in a duel the warlord had with a firebender, his hair was long and braided into a queue his hair was colored auburn. His tunic was a light blue color and his robes over the tunic were a teal color. The armor he had over his robes however was cheap and not as reliant as lamellar.
"What did he do? Did he gut him like a stuffed moo-sow?" Laozhang resumed on his guesses of how Mori was murdered.
Qiang Zhen imagined his great-grandfather Yao was short and slouched but he was reasonably muscular for his old age. He bore his gaze into the soul of Warlord Mori he used a rockicle and eviscerated the poor warlord. His insides exposed, Yao stabbed him in the throat and watched as the warlord bled to death. Yao cackled as Qiang Zhen assumed his laughter must've sounded like then Laozhang's continuation of guesses of the cause of death continued.
"...did he order the citizens to claw him to death?" guessed Laozhang, Yao was encircled by the citizens of Jinyin and he pointed at Mori.
The angry civilians with their sharp nails raised ran and tackled him like a swarm of bumble flies after they stung a wood frog and began to consume it. Mori was being clawed to death by the villagers.
"Ooo! He forced the children into eating him!" Laozhang pondered all the options, again Qiang Zhen dreamt of Yao as he barked orders and starving children who bit the warlord.
"No, Yao spared no one in his wake the warlord only had about a thousand men, and the island carried a population of no more than approximately three-thousand civilians," Qiang Zhen denied all the guesses and then explained what happened.
"I'm guessing he did the usual? Burned the women and children, pillage the settlement, and constuprated the men?" guessed Laozhang.
Qiang Zhen imagined Laozhang's most ridiculous guess he pictured Yao and the soldiers after they robbed the homes of the city on Jinyin, they tossed torches and used blasting jelly to burn the women and their children. After all, that was said and done the men turned to the surviving defenders and removed their belts. Qiang Zhen shook himself out of the vivid imagination, "What? No! What kind of pirate crew were you even apart of?!" Qiang Zhen declined.
"Well, Captain Mengshi was a bit in the wardrobe so to speak if you understand what I'm saying. I never partook in those activities though," Laozhang divulged on a part of his life that should've remained a secret. Qiang Zhen waved his hand at the royal captain, he had enough of entertaining Laozhang's nonsense.
He turned to his attention to the terrified Team Avatar who now saw Laozhang differently, "Ignore him, Yao deployed ten thousand soldiers and they completely wiped out Jinyin. Yao however, was also good at archery, let's just say after Mori fell the island became desolate of life," finished Qiang Zhen.
Yao initiated the battle when he aimed his short bow at the warlord far in the distance. The arrow soared across the skies of the city of Jinyin and struck Warlord Mori in the throat. The small warlord who never amounted to anything other than dying by an arrow to the throat and his citizens slaughtered was eliminated by the tyrannical ruler of the Qiangda Kingdom at the time.
Guwen patiently abided his time until his king finished the history lesson then he explained, "We've received news from the area after you destroyed Yumen, the seismologists in the area have determined the recent quakes that the island suffers from came from you. The cataclysmic unnatural disasters you conjured caused that area to become unstable."
"The earth sages are communing with Shanshen hoping to restore that wound to the area. Although I've spoken to him as well he said the area is hurt but should heal soon," Qiang Zhen claimed.
"Praise Shanshen!" praised Qiang Zhen.
Laozhang and Guwen cheered, "Here, here!"
"Where's Jinyin island at? I feel like you've given the lesson but forgot the location," inquired the Avatar.
"It's east off the coast of northern Tuo, it'll take you two days to get there. I wish you well Avatar," responded Guwen.
Qiang Zhen rose from his throne and went toward the Avatar he hovered his hand above the Avatar and began a prayer. Rong Yan lowered his head and shut his eyes, Senge prayed as well as did Aloi.
Jushi followed the blessing and Qiang Zhen prayed, "I call upon thee father to come forth and bless your beloved Avatar. May you protect him from harm caused by someone who's godless. May Lord Qin give him the power of retribution to seek justice to the man who has taken so many from us. To Shanshen who can empower his earthbending, and to Yama who will protect the Avatar from death. I call upon you four to bless the Avatar in the coming battle. With my power, I bless you as well, Avatar Rong Yan, may you do the right thing this time around."
Rong Yan opened his eyes after the prayer and thanked the Earth King, "Thank you."
At the same time, Unaraq showed up to the war room where the Council of Five conducted their war councils. He came at a time where the council was holding a conversation with the chieftains, Cupun turned his head to look at the person who walked in. He elbowed Unirak who also faced his son but waited until General Ren finished speaking.
"Unaraq what brings you here?" his father questioned him.
"The Earth King sent me in this direction he told me he could use me here," responded Unaraq.
"Good, good we can use every able-bodied individual," commented Unirak.
He stood from his seat and then introduced his son to the generals of the Council of Five, "Unaraq these men are General Ren, General Rongyu, General Sudu, General Qingbao, and General Laobing."
Unirak suggested Ren, "What about air support to cover your naval reinforcements?"
The general seemed confused, "Air support?"
"Yes, air support its what we've used against your armies," disclosed Cupun. Lord Cupun and Chieftain Unirak exchanged looks and grinned.
They said in unison, "Eighty bombardiers."
General Sudu was intrigued he assumed they meant Air Nomads so then he commented, "I'm guessing you happen to have flying water buffalos like the Air Nomads?"
Unaraq spoke up, "Mammoth bustards."
"What are those?" Sudu inquired.
"The biggest flying predators in the South and North Poles, they can carry a ton of explosives," Cupun replied.
"He's right the reports from scouts and survivors have stated giant birds being flown by snow-er...uh..." agreed General Rongyu before he realized Tribesmen were present he cut himself off and then correct the word before he resumed, "...Tribesmen."
Meanwhile, near the Outer Wall, a messenger bird perched on the shoulder of a random soldier he ran over with the bird in his hands to Colonel-General Shangxiao and handed his superior the avian critter, "Colonel-General, the message finally came!"
Shangxiao grabbed his meteorite hammer and the shield of the soldier who was napping he started to bang the hammer onto the shield and signaled to others that it was time. The others that heard returned the same signal across the vast land taken by camped troops. In an hour they all broke camp and they marched toward the humongous Outer Wall of Ba Sing Se.
At the same time, the Northern Rebellion ships removed their anchors from the inlet's floor and moved forward. Two rows of twenty ships with trebuchets lined the Bo Sai Dong inlet while they left a sizable space for five smaller boats to move freely toward the docks of the harbor. The smaller cabin boats were manned by pirates, with about five waterbenders that helped with accelerating the boat to a farther distance.
Their jobs were to reach the harbor and begin attacking the soldiers there while the specialist team killed the magistrate. The ships reached closer and then anchored in their places there was a row of siege tower ships after the two rows of trebuchet ships. There had been another row of fourteen trebuchet ships after the siege tower row. Behind this last trebuchet, this row was another siege tower row with ten ships. The cannoneers inside the siege towers loaded the barrels of the cannons with cannonballs and waited for the signal.
Northern Rebellion's artillerymen and engineers heaved as they lifted boulders onto the pouches of the trebuchet. On another rebellion ship, the earthbenders assisted in lifting the boulder and placed it onto the pouch with ease. The coordinator waited and then he swung his arm down on the first ship this gave the signal for the engineer to slam his meteorite hammer onto the lever of the trebuchet. The first line of boulders were flung from the siege weapons and arched over the water. The town was evacuated of civilians because they knew the invasion was coming, the first boulder smashed into a merchant stand and a cart. The second made a hole in the boardwalk and then broke two supports that caused one portion of it to remain wobbly.
The third struck behind some buildings except the crash wasn't heard. The other seven hit in different areas and then the second row's wave of projectiles were launched. The men in the siege towers were up next, the men doused the boulders with oil and with a torch-lit up the projectiles. The trebuchets launched flaming boulders farther into the harbor town and destroyed homes. The cannoneers fired into the town no resistance had come yet.
Some of the boulders that went over a street of homes never crashed into the ground there was a large group of marines that caught the boulders. After the initial bombardment, another wave goes off after five minutes of a planned sequence that permitted everyone to reload. A marine however was struck by a cannonball because he didn't have the skill to stop it. One casualty so far was caused by the volley of projectiles that came from the invading force.
Messenger birds took flight in different directions Inuksuk peered through the spyglass and alerted the trebuchet operators, "There's someone in the northwestern edge of the town strike there!"
The men pushed the trebuchet so that piece would rotate and then after they loaded the boulder the engineer struck the lever. A boulder crashed through the front wall of the admiral's office which killed a scout that was about to exit from the front door. The admiral screamed he used his earthbending to sink part of the left wall so he could escape the building.
As he met with the marines outside a cannonball flew in his general direction the admiral halted the cannonball in its trajectory. With another marine, they both tossed the cannonball back at their enemies although they couldn't aim correctly the ball instead plummeted into the water. He barked at the marines, "Any cannonballs you find, I want you to encase in earth and then throw them back! Throw them back hard!"
The men understood and the balls that landed nearby were used exactly how their superior officer told them to. A Northern Rebellion ship took a hit the returned shot went through the deck and punctured the hull. The waterbenders below froze the exit hole and prevented the ship from sinking. The Qiangdian admiral continued with orders, "Turn their ammunition into discs use them to your advantage, men!"
The return fire was a widespread barrage of discs that flew into the harbor several landed in the water but not far enough to reach the ships. At the same time, outside of the Agrarian Ring, the one-hundred-and-eighty-four-thousand men who survived the battle of Shouchun were outside the walls of the city. There were a total of one-hundred-and-eighty-four regiments of a thousand men. Ten rows each had about a hundred men standing. Waiting.
Several volunteering earth sages held a mass of prayer as they passed through the regiments with thuribles that contained incense inside. The smoke emitted from the thuribles as the men passed by and whispered prayers to bless the Oma Kingdom soldiers who were about to go into battle. Some of the newest recruits that lived the last battle might not come back. One of them shook a bit lightly since he was nervous.
He trembled and freaked out a bit, "Hey! Can you get him to calm down!" one of the guys to the left corner yelled when he noticed the rookie was worried.
"Don't tell me to calm down!" shouted the recruit.
"Look, kid, the siege weapons will do most of the work just try not to die by that time and the rest is smooth sailing," advised the specialist.
The invasion's front line was mostly siege towers, trebuchets, and ballistae, fire lances and carts were in the regiments farther back. Shangxiao gave the signal for the siege towers to begin the assault the tall structures moved forward as the cannoneers loaded the cannons and shot off into the wall. While shots were ineffective to the thickness of the wall, the siege tower projectiles caused a portion of the wall to shake. At the top of the Outer Wall, a commanding officer peered down below as he stared at the invasion that just begun.
"What are your orders, sir?" one of the men on the wall questioned his commanding officer.
The commander ignored the soldier and continued to stare frozen and frightened, "Sir?" he was now worried.
"Sir!" he repeated, another soldier slapped the commander in the face, "This is happening! What are your orders?!" he barked in his face.
"Man the cannons! Trebuchets! Ballistae! Sound the drums of war!" he commanded the men on the wall.
The slap he received held him together and brought him back into reality. On the mile portion of the wall, he commanded several others gave hand signals to communicate the orders. A platoon of thirty men near the wall formed a massive boulder the size of a cabin ship and threw the projectile over the wall. The boulder missed Taishan by about an inch he pivoted his body around in confusion, the giant ape of a man examined the boulder by smelling it. The walls shook again a soldier fell off the wall the monster of a man noticed in time and caught the soldier with a fist of sand. The weight of the man collapsed the sand glove that caught him.
The soldier rubbed his head Taishan crouched over him and gazed upward before he looked back down. He was shocked that the man fell from the wall and survived he questioned the troop, "Taishan save soldier who fell from wall. Why you fall from wall, soldier?"
"They're att-attacking!" he shouted in response this startled some of the farmers nearby who were now even more frightened than the giant rock that came over the wall.
Taishan was curious to learn more, "Who?"
"The Oma K-kingdom, you oaf!" screamed the soldier, the farmers then broke out and lost their minds.
This resulted in the horn that alerted other watchtowers in the zone to beat a drum sequence to alert the masses the Oma Kingdom is attacking the wall. This caused a panic and mayhem in the Agrarian Zone the bravest of peasant ran home to grab their weapons and to get dressed in their armors.
One old veteran kicked his door off its hinges he's been waiting decades for this moment. His chest was puffed out and he stood straight for the first time in decades. His son much younger than him gestured for the insane old man to stay inside. The discouraged senior citizen frowned and slouched he then clopped back into his home.
Meanwhile, in the Yapo compound Sunhuai is outside with some of his men as they trained in drills in the distance Bojing heard the echo of the drums of war. He mentioned it to his fanzui, "Did you hear that?"
"That sounds like the signal for invasion, right?" Sunhuai guessed he's never heard it before because the drum sequence for when the triads are killing each other is much different than when someone invades. They're familiar with it because in school it's taught to know the sequence of beats in their younger years.
Taishan reached the compound by earth wave, Sunhuai asked his right muzhi, "Are the Tribesmen invading?"
"No...no! It's the Omas!" reported Taishan.
"The Oma Kingdom? Here? At our doorstep? That's impossible! Unless Taiyuan or Ta Ren failed to stop them!" Sunhuai was in disbelief after he commented.
"Wall shook from Omas," mentioned Taishan.
"Are you suggesting they're trying to break the wall?" implored Sunhuai.
His right muzhi nodded his head as he grumbled in anger. Taishan was not a fan of the guards but that doesn't mean he wouldn't protect what he loved.
"Bojing signal a call to arms from the men, the Earth King did something for us. Now it's time we do something for him. We must never forget the gift," ordered Sunhuai.
Upper Ring, Ba Sing Se, Qiangda Kingdom
Qiang Zhen sat quietly on his throne while he awaited his food to be taken away, the Earth King and the Grand Secretariat just finished their lunch. When two messenger birds flew in through a small aperture designed for them. Both Guwen and Qiang Zhen grab a dove, Aloi and Senge continued a discussion soon after Rong Yan left on Shen to Jinyin.
The Earth King rose from his throne and read the reports out loud, "The invasion has begun they're attacking the Outer Wall!"
"Same the harbor is under attack, Admiral Ziyou, says the Oma Kingdom has new machination of war," Guwen read aloud.
"What did those vile monsters create now?!" Qiang Zhen wondered he sounded a bit disturbed, the Oma Kingdom always fueled the war and resumed in their inventions of war.
"They call it, siege tower," answered Guwen.
"What is that?" Qiang Zhen bugged, "It says here it's a structure that carries a trebuchet on the top and four cannons, and it moves on wheels. They haven't thoroughly dissected the siege towers insides so other features are unknown at the time being," answered Guwen.
Qiang Zhen faced the Air Nomads, "Its time to join the wall, airbenders!"
Jushi pointed at himself when Aloi and Senge ran out of the throne room, "What about me?"
"The Council of Five could use you, perhaps you know something we don't," Qiang Zhen implied.
Jushi slightly nodded his head he sort of agreed with the imply given by the Earth King. He ran off toward the war room. As he entered the war room another bird arrived to give the news.
Ren opened the note and sighed, "They're here."
"Who are you?" Rongyu stood up and called out the stranger in anger. "He's a friend of ours," answered Unirak.
"And perhaps you're the greatest asset, don't let them take the walls down because plans of the city's downfall has gone back to the days of Avatar Giralal," chimed in Jushi.
"We're aware of that, boy," Sudu commented, his comment was intentionally condescending toward the earthbender.
"Not like the way you've known, it's been refined several times. People from my kingdom have infiltrated your city over the centuries. Don't think we don't know, Qiang Zhen tasked me to remain here with you," Jushi explained then he repeated his orders.
Unaraq, Unirak, and Cupun were leaving the war room Jushi's friend Unaraq passed by and shook his hand, "I'll see you when this is over."
Jushi nodded and the Tribesmen left, just outside the harbor somewhere near northern Yunan is a hidden camp of Tribesmen. Up to about eighty men loaded explosives and barrels full of water on some mammoth bustards. The promised eighty mammoth bustards were already out there as promised. This wasn't the only camp though, there were a few others hidden that would join the invasion when the time was right.
An arctic owl perched onto the newly officialized Air Captain who read the note, "Our time is now! Orders are to disable the front line of ships before they anchor and attack the city's harbor!"
An airman used giant leaves to signal the men and direct them into the correct path for flight after the others left he got onto his flying mount and took flight as well. The bombardiers were heavily armed this time they were ready to lay waste to naval forces that attacked the harbor.
More projectiles hit the harbor the first three streets of the small town were damaged and trashed. The resistance has shown up to fight back, Admiral Ziyou was impatient with the invading forces he was a bit bothered that they haven't triggered the mines yet.
Inuksuk heard a faint sound of drums he thought it was the alert that went all across the city but it hadn't reached their section because everyone in the nearby areas were ordered to leave. He also guessed some of the idiots on other ships were banging drums he barked at one of the men, "What are they doing? Tell them to stop the war drums I didn't order it!"
"Uh commander, that isn't us!" declined the soldier, the drums continued then Sappak tilted his head up before he darted his head back at Inuksuk.
Sappak took a step back startled, he lightly slapped Inuksuk's chest and pointed up. Inuksuk frustrated shouted, "What?!" he barely made out a strange shape in the distance that he grasped his spyglass and peered through it to see them while Sappak squinted his eyes, "Are those...mammoth bustards?" he surmised.
"A flock of mammoth bustards here in the Qiangda Kingdom that's a bit...wait-" Inuksuk commented then he stopped talking.
He yelled, "TAKE COVER!"
Eighty mammoth bustards flew overhead of the naval forces as they disabled several ships in the front rows. A ship to the left of the flagship had oil thrown on it before someone with an incendiary bomb flew by and tossed the bomb down. The blast dropped Inuksuk on his rear he didn't expect the bombs to be powerful. Pieces of debris flew in different directions most of the men likely were killed by the explosion. Sappak and Inuksuk's ears rung after the explosion to their left men were terrified now a ship behind them exploded then the mammoth bustard that flew on their right side was knocked out of the sky by a massive fireball that cooked the giant bird and its rider.
They blew up in front of the flagship, Sappak dashed over to the stern of the ship where he saw the twins from Sao's flagship angry and focused. Enough was enough, Fifth Nation boats deployed from the ships one by one and they went off toward the docks.
Several rode past the Northern Rebellion's flagship's left side which had a sinking ship. The waterbenders bent bigger waves to avoid getting stuck on the debris. On the right were another five as they all neared a certain part of the port when another line of explosions go off. Panzi screams, "What is that?!"
Two waterbenders dropped off the flagship and surfed to the land several others who weren't needed on the deck or below deck from the Fifth Nation and Northern Rebellion ships followed what the others did. One of the men shouted to Sappak, "They knew we were coming! Fleet Admiral, the pirates died to the mines!"
Sappak muttered to himself, "He broke the rules of the Gen Da..."
Kimaru ran out of the cabin after the set of detonations had gone off, "What's with all the explosions?"
"The marines booby-trapped the bay, they knew we were coming," Sappak reported to Kimaru.
"Press forward," Kimaru commanded.
"The pirates will continue to perish," argued Sappak.
"Send in some of ours then," Kimaru insinuated that these men joined to die.
"I'm the fleet admiral here, you listen to me! Not the other way around," maintained Sappak.
Inuksuk saw the quarrel between both men and came in between them and pushed both of them back, "Hey! Enough! This isn't the time or place!"
The coordinator in the ship their right and crushed by a flaming boulder the resistance now defended the harbor with trebuchets. The mammoth bustards came around with another round of bombs and explosions behind Sao's ship happened the Fifth Nation returned fire with fire blasts from the firebending pirates on each ship. The right ship began to sink as well the flagship was exposed with only a few warships in front.
"PRESS FORWARD!" screamed Sappak, he glared back at Kimaru who hopped off the ship and surfed toward land as he froze the water so that more mines didn't go off. The front line moved forward the hulls of other ships cut through the ice with ease. Another explosion went off this time it was the third ship to the right on the second row. The mine's blast punctured a gaping hole in the ship, the water moved in so fast not even the waterbenders could stop the ship from its demise.
So far no sea mines were discovered underwater the ships moved forward the Fifth Nation fleet positioned itself and blocked off the inlet. No one could get in or out from the port's waters, the mammoth bustards passed again more ships sank the siege tower on one of them collapsed onto a battleship that rocked it. Some of the men had fallen over the railing.
Meanwhile, Senge's bison circled over the top of the Outer Wall he and Aloi were now present. A few Oma earthbenders tried to climb the wall but the idiots instead fell their deaths when boulders from the Qiangda Kingdom were tossed over the wall. The drummers in the watchtowers had finally expanded to the Upper Ring.
The Upper Ring's Provincial Guard were deployed an hour before by the Council of Five, the men traveled through empty streets on large platforms made of earth toward the Outer Wall. The Agrarian Ring's alarms blared in prolongation the commander on the wall faced the inside and stared at the Provincial Guard.
He waited on the militiamen to fully assemble, more of them showed up to put their lives on the line to protect what they love. Most of them were miners, farmers, other peasants, and commoners that came down from the Lower and Middle Rings. All of them were armed with pickaxes, hatchets, maces, bows, swords, axes, spears, etc.
After the Provincial Guard reached the Yapo compound, the Yapo themselves arrived at the front of the Outer Wall. A total of two-hundred to three-hundred men lined one section of the wall, at least one-hundred-and-thirty of them were earthbenders. Sunhuai and his men stood in front of the other members who held weapons as well a few with fire lances and hand cannons. From rags to chain mail, from fur to lamellar and even plate some men were protected head to toe others couldn't afford it. Sunhuai commanded the men, "Now!"
All of the Yapo earthbenders rushed toward the wall and launched themselves onto the wall at varying heights. They clung to the walls like a bed of rabbit sloths, their limbs magnetized to the wall, their hands, and feet enveloped by earth like shoes and gloves that swiftly climbed to the top. When the Provincial Guard showed up they pointed at the men who scaled the gargantuan wall. The left side of the wall had a big dent in it but the Oma Kingdom hadn't caused enough damage to make a hole. .
"Who in gunkai are you?!" shouted the commander, Sunhuai said nothing and Bohai gagged the commander then sunk him into the earth neck-deep.
Sunhuai scolded his bing, "You didn't have to do that, we were supposed to be friendly."
"He was going to kill us if I didn't," Bohai remarked, Sunhuai grumbled in annoyance but he shook it off. Most of the soldiers were too distracted with defense to care all of the Yapo took stances they waved their arms in counter-clockwise motions rapidly then pushed down hard, portions of the wall sank at different speeds.
Senge shouted to Aloi, "Those earthbenders sunk part of the wall is this an inside job what should we do?!"
A soldier freed his commander from his neck-deep trap, Aloi ran up to them as the men roared in fury and the Yapo went head first, followed by the militiamen. Aloi questioned him, "They sank the wall what do we do now?"
"Stop them! I never gave orders!" the commander pointed and screamed.
The Provincial Guard exchanged looks as some scanned the wall that was now exposed the commander peered down from the wall and then he left. One of the women earthbenders shrugged and a burly provincial guard yelled, "Listen up brothers and sisters! Today we fight and show those Oma bastards not to invade our beloved city. If you die, make sure you die with Qiangdian pride and take a few of those savages with you!"
"CHARGE!" another shouted, they joined together on the platforms of earth again and earth waved into battle. Another one-hundred-and-twenty-five-thousand soldiers joined the battlefield. Sunhuai panted he wasn't cut out for mass-scale combat. He dodged rocks that flew in his direction then he returned fire with pieces of earth that he kicked off his legs.
A volley of arrows shot into the sky Taishan rose a great wall around several different soldiers the arrows struck the wall but caused no harm to it whatsoever. Aloi and Senge were close to the edge of the exposed wall.
"What's the plan?" Senge asked her.
"Stand clear of the friendlies and conjure a tornado it'd be able to help us reposition some of the Omas," planned Aloi.
"Wow that's better than my idea," commented Senge.
"Which is?" Aloi wondered.
"Knock them out unconscious in a god-sized cloud of farts," Senge joked, he chuckled but Aloi didn't share the humor. Senge cleared his throat he thought the humor would help ease the tension of battle.
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