Iroh sat back in his chair around the table, listening as the Council of Five planned out their attack on the Fire Nation. He found he was having mixed feelings about this situation. On the one hand, his presence here boded well for making peace between the nations after the war was over. On the other, here he was helping plan an invasion of his own homeland. While he agreed with Zuko's plan to depose Ozai and place him on the throne, he couldn't escape the divided loyalties in his own heart. He was being forced to choose between his brother and his nephew, and while he knew his choice was the right one, it wasn't any less unpleasant.
Sitting directly across from him was the young Water Tribesman, Sokka. He was paying rather close attention to everything the Council was discussing, but he seemed to grow more and more put out with the direction of the discussion. At the same time, he seemed too intimidated by the Council to speak up. Iroh couldn't blame the boy: he was just barely on the verge of manhood, thrown into all of this before he was ready.
Remembering how Zuko was when he first started learning politics and tactics, Iroh decided to speak up on the boy's behalf. "Did you have something to add to the discussion, Sokka?" he asked. "Considering how well your plans have done in thwarting Azula in the past, who was certainly one of the Fire Nation's greatest modern tacticians, I am certain your input would be of great value."
Iroh did his best not to laugh aloud at the look of absolute terror on the boy's face as all eyes turned to him. To his credit, Sokka didn't back down. Swallowing convulsively, he stood up and began to speak, even if his voice was uncertain. "Well, it's just...all these plans of a full scale invasion...I mean, it just doesn't..."
Taking pity on the boy, Iroh leaned forward. "Explain your idea to me, Sokka," he instructed softly. "I'm sure Toph's told you I'm always happy to listen."
Nodding, Sokka focused his attention on Iroh, his voice becoming a bit more certain as Iroh's expression showed no sinecure or judgement, only support...and slowly growing admiration as Sokka went on. "Well, I don't think a full scale invasion of the Fire Nation is such a good idea," Sokka explained. "Our goal here isn't conquest, but a coup. Since our end goal is to use the Day of Black Sun to get Zuko inside Fire Nation borders so he can challenge Ozai to the Agni Kai once the Eclipse ends, our efforts should be focused on getting the Fire Nation's forces out of the way, rather than eradicating them. A full scale invasion would take too long, and we won't have enough time in the eclipse for the infiltration. All this current plan would accomplish is annihilation...and I'm pretty sure that's not our goal here.
"Our first task should be to mount major assaults on several points of tactical significance to the Fire Nation," Sokka continued, growing more confident as even the Generals began to listen with less judgement and more interest. "But we won't be trying to take those points. The goal is to make the Fire Nation think our attack is serious enough that they send out their fleets and reserve forces to counter us...at which point a specially selected force led by Zuko will slip past the weakened defenses to target the Royal Compound, and Ozai specifically."
"Specially selected force?" General Sung asked, locking his beady eyes on Sokka. "Why such a special force?"
"Because whatever defenses will be left will be built around conventional ideas of warfare and conventional assaults," Sokka countered. "So if we want to make it past them without too many casualties, the assault force needs to be unconventional." He grinned widely as he leaned back. "I've already got a plan of just who to send in, and the time the diversionary assaults will take to set up and initiate will be plenty of time to gather them."
"Not a bad plan," General How confirmed, stroking his strong chin as he looked Sokka over. "I assume you also have ideas of what particular places we should attack?"
Sokka swallowed nervously as he scratched the back of his head. "Well...I don't actually know much about the overall Fire Nation war strategy to guess what points would be good targets..." Seeing Iroh's supportive smile, he grinned widely. "But we do happen to have someone here who does!"
Iroh chuckled as all eyes turned to him. "Indeed I do know of several such locations that would bring immediate reinforcements should we attack," he stated firmly. "And, if what I see of current force placement for both sides is accurate, those locations are open to assault." He began marking the points on the map, placing flags at each location he was discussing. "Although we shouldn't actually try to take those locations. The cost in time, resources, and lives would be prohibitive. We should engage in a siege postion until reinforcements are sighted, then pull back. With one exception."
Iroh carefully placed the last few flags. "These are prisons run by the Fire Nation. Here they keep prisoners of war, traitors, and other criminal elements. If we can take these locations, we can swell our forces by a great deal, and many we liberate there can be added to the special assault force. One place in particular, where we know from Mai and Ty Lee the Kyoshi Warriors were sent."
"Their particular skills would be most useful in infiltrating the Fire Nation capitol," General How agreed. "Where would they be?"
"Here," Iroh proclaimed, pointing to the location in question. "The Boiling Rock."
The Boiling Rock, the Fire Nation's equivalent of Alcatraz. That's definitely a high priority target, but as we saw in the show, it's heavily guarded.
Should be 'but'.
6894870
So was the original Death Star, and we all know what happened there.
Poor Iroh, forced to choose between Ozai andZuko.
Sokka! Yay! Always liked him, always had something clever to say and he went a long way since episode one, he went from comic relief to competent fighter with a wit as sharp as his Space Sword.
That is correct.
That could work.
See? Razor wit, razor sword, razor mind.
Well. That'll be tough.
(Sorry this was so short but, this was a short chapter and, I commented on what I wanted to comment.)
6894870
They have Cadance, she could pout and the guards would defect immediately, they are as incompetent as stormtroopers after all.
Hmm, I can't wait to see who'll be on the infiltration team.
6894944 That, my good sir, is insulting. At least the guards can aim straight.
The Boiling Rock, something that makes no scientific sense. It's a caldera filled with boiling water, so either the Fire Nation does something to boil all that water, or that caldera recently became active again. A caldera being a dormant or extinct volcano that was filled with water. Nice chapter, by the way. I'm going to assume that the Day of Black Sun will not be the end, and that Ozai will escape, leading to the Avatar being taught Fire-bending and the end of the war.
6894870 but this time they have Mai and Ty Lee.
6894968
What if cadence uses Fartbending on them.
Ahh yeah, gotta love Sokka.
Seems like the plans are finally reaching... A boiling point.
Talk about a... Rocky invasion plan.
I'd be lying of I said their plan didn't land them in hot water.
6894973 And they won't have to fight Azula there. And they won't have to rescue Sokka's dad. And they won't have to get Zuko imprisoned by disgui- actually wait. The last two is still fishy though so I can't say for sure.
That was fun, may I have another? Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
6894897 True though to be fair all it took to destroy it was some farmboy nobody who happens to be a magic space wizard called a Jedi, related to Darth Vader and using the force to blow it up with a missle or something via it's exhaust port, something that's pretty much impossible to do unless you used the force like he did. Otherwise yeah that thing's impenetrable basically.
the secret weapon... Cadence's face derpicdn.net/img/view/2014/3/15/575482__safe_solo_blushing_princess+cadance_love+heart_younger_chibi_artist-colon-ende26_cutedance.jpeg
6894972 Firebending and the special Energybending skill you mean. He couldn't defeat Ozai without it as it'd mean he'd have to kill him, going against all his morals.
You can just hear the sounds of the soon-to-be-amassed army completely wrecking the Fire Nation...
6894897 Shots fired
6895151
s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/236x/80/48/fc/8048fc4822bab4edd8a98e33c479445f.jpg
6895237 Watch Cadance pick up Energybending as easily as every other bending she's picked up. And I'm assuming Toph created Metalbending offscreen?
6895262
Yup.
6895151
You should use a Sans avatar.
It would be a curious thing if the Day of the Black Sun was the end of the story, and with Azula out of the picture their odds are looking pretty good. This really isn't Aang's story, so I wouldn't actually mind.
There are still plenty of things that could go wrong, of course, but I'm an optimist.
6895530
Because that part of the story happened exactly the same way.
Besides, one of the planned chapters for later in the story involves a long interaction between Toph and Cadence.
So Zuko not betraying Iroh seems to really be shaking up the order of Book 3. Boiling Rock before the Day of Black Sun. Still wondering if "The Firebending Masters" is going to even be necessary. Zuko is at peace, and so it would be surprising if his Firebending abilities were severely weakened. And even then, Zuko wouldn't have to be Aang's teacher, since Iroh and Cadance will be there.....if "there" is even still going to be the Western Air Temple. I do like this story, and honestly, I actually want the invasion to fail so we can see what Sozin's Comet would be like in this universe.
Another enjoyable chapter. Good job.
6894965
Team Cadance, of course. There was some discussion, and after digging themselves out of 6 feet of rock, they all agreed that it was a more appropriate name than Team Avatar.
6895290 Hmm... I'll think about it. Maybe change my name to fit just for that too. Seeing as there's alot of them saying the same thing but as a single yell than not.
6896101 Um, I'm pretty sure that there'll be more than just them, I want to see what outside specialists Sokka brings in.
6895257
6895217
Well, yes that's true. They were actually supposed to use targeting computers; Luke just had an extra ability that made that aspect redundant.
6895151
Ref? Is that you?
I have to say, your new name suits you well.
6897497 It is for the time being. Just changing it to being sans for the duration. Once the puns are gone, so does sans. I guess.
6897579
So you're saying that once you're sans Sans, you have no more puns planned?
6897594 Deliberate and fixed? No.
Whenever the feeling comes or something just popped in my head? Sure, why not.
I'm just being a dedicated sans for the time being since I did kinda start this near the beginning.
And it is here where I recapitulate an earlier point in a humorously (at least, I hope it is) terse format.
CONSEQUENCES!!! ... benefits.
Although, I have to wonder. Why are Mai and Ty Lee at the Boiling Rock? Weren't they already in jail in the palace in the previous chapter? Seems kind of weird that they'd end up in an entirely different location (with an entirely different allocation) in the span of one chapter. So basically what I'm asking is, why wouldn't they be in the same prison that they're already were in, and why would the people on their end send them to Alcatraz?... I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS!!???!
Speaking of, there's a thing that I've alluded to that I haven't gone into detail about. So yeah, you said that, in your interpretation of her, Azula is asexual... why is that? I mean, was there something you saw in the cartoon that lead you to believe that, or was it something you came up with because "THE PLOT DEMANDS IT!!!"? Because I watched something that proved the contrary... in fact, it kind of proves the contrary of quite a few things that people think about some characters. This is The Beach.
6898432
Mai and Ty Lee aren't at the Boiling Rock. The Kyoshi Warriors are. Mai and Ty Lee told Iroh that's where Azula sent them.
As for Azula being asexual, because nowhere in the show did I see Azula show attraction to anyone. She only flirted with that one boy during 'The Beach' in an attempt to be 'normal'...an attempt she failed miserably at.
6898450 Ah, is that so?... OH, RIGHT, that completely slipped my mind. Sorry about that.
6898450 As for the asexual thing, I can say one thing for certai-
{Tatsurou: Ah, but you forget one thing.
*sigh* what is it, imagination?
{Tatsurou: I HAVE COMPLETE AND TOTAL CONTROL OVER THIS FANFICTION! MWAHAHAHAHA!}
Bu- but I was going to talk about how some characters, although they SEEM like they have mental inclinations, are just really bad at some aspects of life. You know, like Audrey Belrose or Vriska Serket?
{Tatsurou: Most people don't even know who those characters are.}
Yeah, he probably wouldn't get my references, if I'm being honest. I guess the major point is, there's a difference between asocial and antisocial.
6898484
Your point about some people might just be really bad is valid.
However, since the show doesn't explicitly state one way or another, Azula's actual motivations there are open to interpretation. That's the whole point of fanfiction, to ask "What if?" about a different interpretation of events as presented.
6898492 I see your point. Even with that epic delivery, there's no guarantee that she's torn up about it... well, except for this scene that pretty much confirms it. I guess what I'm saying is, it's not so much about what's left unsaid, so much as it is subtly implied. Just look at Crusaders of the Lost Mark; a friend of mine disliked how DT and SS's relationship "self-destructed out of nowhere", despite the implications throughout the series that the relationship itself was wearing thin as time went on...
Oooh, right, this is about interpreting things if they went in certain directions. Even f you say you'll do things as canonically as possible, you'll still do things by virtue of change by the simple fact that people have... "opinions"... Wow, that felt really weird to say for some reason. So what I'm REALLY saying is, do the best you can.
6895237 One of the few Things I never Liked about Aang, Everyone, Even a Previous airbender Avatar stated that Aang needed Kill Ozai......But No, he was willing to risk Literally, An Entire Nation being being turned to Ash, just to keep his hands clean. Its War, you do what is necessary to end it. Whether it means Nuking a City or two or Killing its Leader. Otherwise your just asking for Murphy to Fuck you up at some point in ongoing War.
Yes, I am all for Nukes, and Cake!
6898896 That's true though remember Aang's mindset. He might be 112 years old but mentally he's 12 cause he was frozen for 100 years. What would you expect someone with that mindset and teachings that all life is sacred to do? He was even torn on whether to kill Zuko or not during the season 4 arc that took place in the comics, answering all the unanswered questions the show left us unresolved. Both times he found a better way to end things. Plus if Ozai died Zuko would never know what happened to his mother. Heck even his successor Korra wasn't willing to kill if there was another way.
So... instead of Sun Tzu writing Art of War is it Sokka in the Avatar universe??? Or did he read the equivalent???
6894897
6894944 OOOHHHH, nice. I like this idea. If there are any female soldiers they'll defect immediately. The guys would be piles of mush from cuteness overload.
6895217 Got to argue about it being impossible. It was perfectly possible or they couldn't have planned to do it. The difficulty was making the shot, and Luke had lots of experience flying through a trench and shooting small targets, giving him another edge. Red Leader actually reached the exhaust port but his shot didn't go in, just hit the rim.
6898973 While I will Admit to that you are right about the Issue pertaining to Zuko's Mother, You also need to remember That 1. Zuko made Aang Promise to Kill him if he started acting like his old man. 2. The difference between Aang and Korra, is that Korra realized that if push came to Shove, she would HAVE to do what is Necessary to end the BIG Conflict, while again Aang refused to even consider it.
Like King I'll In Akatsuki No Yona, he was TOO MUCH of a Pacifist.
Like I pointed out earlier, every Avatar before him that he Consulted, said he should finish Ozai Off. Roku, who who let the war begin because he was too was too pacifistic, said he should Kill Ozai, a Previous Air Nomad Avatar, who was Raised the exact same way that Aang was, with the exact Same philosophy and respect for all life, told him him to what needed to be done. (that alone practically negates your point about his mindset and the way he was raised.) Do you think the Air benders, Gyatso Included just sat back and let the Fire Nation destroy them? No, you saw the bodies of the Fire Nation Soldiers, I saw them, The Air Benders fought back, they Killed to defend themselves and their way of life. Gyatso, the only Friend and Father Figure Aang had before he took off like a coward after being told about who he was, and what his destiny was, Fought and Kiiled Numerous Fire Benders before he was Eventually out Numbered and slain. (not even Roku fled and he was scared to stop Sozin.) (Granted, yes Aang woulda been Killed too, but then that would only have Paved the way for Korra to come a lot sooner)
War sometimes reqiures certain Sacrifices, whether that Sacrifice be a city, Planet (Mass Effect 3) or one's Innocence to bring about an End to war.
P.S: This is one of the reasons why Love the pony Fandom, we can have Civilized Discussions and debates without all the Swearing and Threats.
6900081 I mean with how exhaust ports work. If they did fire without using the force, their little attack would be blown back out long before it could reach it's target within the exhaust port.
6900899 That is true. Hmm..still it all worked in the end when Aang found that Lion Turtle and learned energy bending.
6901055 Yeah, It all worked out in the end, Aang got Katara, Mai got Zuko, and they all lived happily ever after, till Discord pops in!
6901107 Then he and Aang become friends and learn Chaosbending. XD
6901164 Nah, He Teaches Toph and Ty Lee Chaos Magic/Bending. Introduces Aang to Flutters, Hooks Sokka up with Rainbow, Introduces Ty Lee to Pinkie Pie
6902883 Good lord that's clever.
6902890 Its because, Im his Secret Apprentice in the ways of Chaos!
6903820 I see.