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"The Great War" is the 5th chapter of the Polybender Saga. It is about Philip Hellene's plan in the war rooms.
Overview[]
The Earth Empire has crossed the Katara River and Yu Dao has fallen. The Coalition forces have retreated to Yu Dao Straits and Beifong Pass, hopelessly dug in. Will their forces manage to hold off the greatly oversized Empire?
Plot[]
In the darkest corner of a dark and dusty prison cell, a rag clad woman slept on the cold, dark floor. The door creaked and a beam of light entered the room, illuminating her wild hair. "Su?" she said, almost hopefully.
Two people entered the room, their shoes clanging on the cold, metal floor. She could not see who they were and had no way of verifying their identities - the dark light hid their bodies and even so, they seemed to be camouflaged. Finally, a few quick sparks illuminated the torches hanging on the wall, providing a dim light. The two intruders removed their masks. "What is it, sweetie?" the older of the women asked.
"Su!" Kuvira sat up, legs crossed. "I'm so sorry for any anguish I caused your family and your people. I hope you can forgive me... I've been hoping that every day."
"Korra, you've visited her a lot, is it true?" Su asked.
The other intruder pulled down her mask. "Yes, it is true. She even refused a proper cell. It is bendable metal, yet she made no attempt to escape."
"Su, I am so sorry for everything. Please, take me to Zaofu and lock me up forever, I don't care. Korra, take away my bending."
"I don't think the President would allow that. By command of the President, you are now free. You can repay your debt through combat," Korra said.
Philip and his ministers lounged in the war room. "Very good work, Asami, I think I'll be promoting you to lieutenant [l-eff-tenant]. Actually, how about we make you 'Air Chief Marshall'? Your work on the planes has enabled us to score a great victory in the Yu Dao skies. Nikkolas, remind me again about Yu Dao."
Nikkolas spoke, "We let their transport ships cross half way up the straits, then we torpedoed them from our submarines. They tried to bring in naval support, but were stopped by our blockade. They tried to break through, but their shells couldn't penetrate our hulls. One ship exploded when a shell fell through our deck and set off our munitions. Their biplanes came, but Asami shot them down. Some of them got desperate and crashed into our ships on purpose. Four people did that and only sunk one ship. Then our biplanes bombed their ships and fought their warships. It was slaughter!"
General Iroh rushed into the room. He stopped and saluted, palm facing down. He said, "Mr President, sir."
"Yes, General Iroh, news from the front?" Philip acknowledged.
"Yes, sir. The Katara River garrison has been forced back. We managed to destroy one bridge. They are now fighting at Beifong Pass, but have been surrounded; the majority has retreated to Republic City. The rear guard has performed a final, all-out charge on the sleeping enemy. The rear guard was decimated."
Philip sat up. "Well, I believe that was a success."
"What are you talking about? They were decimated, hardly anyone survived!"
Philip stood to his feet. "No, my boy. For you see, 'decimate' comes from the Latin decimare, pardon my pronunciation, which means 'to remove 1 in 10'. Now tell me, what happened to the rear guard?"
"They were annihilated, sir."
"There, that's better," Philip says sitting down. "Wait, no, it's not! That's terrible!"
The door creaked open. Su and Korra walked into the door confidently. They turned and nodded, encouraging someone in. Kuvira entered the room, her hair in a bun, but this time wearing an emerald blazer and white trousers, similar to those of General Iroh. "Ah, Kuvira," Philip said, standing.
"Mr President," Kuvira said, standing to attention and saluting with her palm facing downward.
Philip returned the salute, with his palm facing outward. "Commander Kuvira. To what do I owe the pleasure?"
"Uh, you called for me, sir."
Philip turned, dropping the salute. He looked to Constantine. "Did I?" Constantine nodded in response, suppressing a laugh. "Oh yes, so I did. Well, I suppose I want to know of your loyalty."
"My loyalty is to you, sir. My empire was made to unite the Earth Kingdom, not subjugate it, although I suspect it became what I dreaded."
"Very well. They will reach our gates any day now. We have already fortified and Varrick and Asami have produced new weapons. Would you accompany me to the battle field?" Philip said.
"You sound like you're asking her on a date!" Constantine interrupted.
Philip mouthed something to Constantine then bowed, gently taking Kuvira's hand. "My dear lady, would you be so kind as to accompany me to the battle field?" he said, laughing his head off.
Philip, Kuvira and Korra inspected the troops. Rows of men in different coloured tunics stood behind piles of sandbags. Men in purple tunics carried rifles over their backs, carried a sword and a bag of the new electromagnetic pulse grenades. One in every dozen purple men manned a large mounted weapon. Behind them were rows of guns, large field guns; many were earthbending powered, capable of propelling large and explosive shells.
"I really shouldn't be doing this," Korra said.
"Why not?" Philip said.
"I'm the Avatar, I shouldn't be fighting like this - I'm not a killer!"
Philip swept his arm in a wide movement. "These men, standing right next to us, are they killers?"
Korra shook her head. "No."
Philip pointed outward. "What about the men of the Empire? Are they killers?"
Korra said, "No, of course not, they have to do it."
"Am I a killer?"
Korra deviated her gaze from his eyes. "That's not what I was saying, I..."
"No, I am asking you, am I a killer? Anyway, we don't have the time for that right now, the enemy is within our range. Korra, if we don't fight, Republic City will suffer, innocent people will die. If we fight, innocent people will still die. Still, the choice is not mine to make; I'm the President, I must defend my people. Morality is a luxury. Nothing for it. Time for the bombardment."
Men and mecha suits charged through the no-man's-land bog; shells exploded around them and beams of pure energy cut them down. As they charged closer, rocks, flames and icicles fell upon the attackers. The attackers charged with great speed, but to those on the field, it looked as though they were charging through molasses. The defenders lobbed grenades at the mecha suits and attacked the infantry with their bending and energy rifles. Korra looked around, trying to catch her wits in the chaotic battle. The fighting was desperate, some men in purple were down to their swords, in a desperate attempt to hold them off. Pro-benders and police also participated in the fray.
Korra fought off two attackers with large rocks. She was at a loss in the chaos of the frenzy. She and Kuvira backed away, trying to cope with the continuous attacks. Korra stared with shock as she saw Philip plunge into the chaos. He jumped like a mad man, firing many quick blasts of air, fire and water at his opponents, scattering them around him. He formed a large bubble of air around himself and forced it outward, blowing the enemies away. After a long and bloody fight, the Empire troops fled, being in hot pursuit by the defenders.
The field was barren, the mud crimson-stained. Many bodies laid somewhat buried in the ground. Only three people remained on the field, Korra, Kuvira and Philip. "We'd best get going," Korra said.
"I'll meet you there," Philip waved.
Kuvira placed her hand on Philip's shoulder. "Is everything all right?"
Philip looked away. "No."
See also[]
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