At long last, the day had come. The invasion of the Fire Nation was about to begin. The timing had been carefully planned, the Fire Nation's defenses analyzed, and any unexpected alterations accounted for. The forces had been gathered, and the plan was set.
The invasion was divided into three parts. The first was the last portion of the Earth Kingdom Fleet, backed up by Water Benders from the Northern Water Tribe, led by Master Pakku. Their objective was to visibly approach the bay before breaking through the Gates of Azulan, and then break through before attacking the defenses of the bay itself, drawing the attention of the defensive force with the conventional assault.
The second group included a good portion of the special squad: Earth Benders, Swamp Benders, most of the Kyoshi Warriors, warriors from the Southern Water Tribe, and Fire Bending prisoners freed from the Boiling Rock who'd been willing to work for them. They would ride in specially designed submarines, created by Sokka and Teo's father, under the Gates of Azulan to attack the beach directly, taking out the defenses further in.
The third group included Aang, Katara, Sokka, Zuko, Cadence, Suki, Toph, Mai, Ty Lee, and Jin. When the problem of air supply came up for the submarines, one of the prisoners from the Boiling Rock had suggested using pumps to put the air under pressure. By combining that idea with Aang and Cadence's Air Bending, numerous air tanks were built, tested, and stowed on the submarines, allowing them to carry enough air to make it all the way to the beaches from the Gates without surfacing. A bit of cleverness with valves on Teo's father's part and some cleverness with fabric on Sokka's part had produced breathing masks for the group and even Appa, allowing the group to fly much higher than Appa normally could. They were to come down on the capital city itself while all attention was engaged with the attacks at the bay, doing a steep dive so they wouldn't be detected on approach until it was too late for any defenses left to counterattack.
As the invasion began, the first two stages went off without a hitch. When the fleet approached the gates, they were raised and ignited, at which point the Northern Water Benders moved forward to extinguish the flames and freeze the gates solid. The Earth Nation ships then extended drills - their designs the same as the one Teo's father unwittingly built for the attack on Ba Sing Se's walls, but on a smaller scale - to break through, while the Water Benders held off the smaller boarding boats sent out to counter attack. Meanwhile, the subs went under the Gates, making their way to the beaches.
When the subs breached at the shore, the Earth Tanks began the assault, even as Hue - the eldest Swamp Bender - gathered enough seaweed to shape his plant based battle body. With that force in place, the majority of the troops began a march through the worst of the defenses while the Kyoshi Warriors focused on taking down battlements, and the Swamp and Fire Benders remained to protect the subs, in case an emergency retreat proved necessary.
When it became plain that the defensive forces were fully engaged, Appa began his dive. With all attention on the attack from the sea, none saw the armored Sky Bison's silent descent, and the group was able to attack the Royal Palace unopposed. Unfortunately, that part of the plan did not go as smoothly.
"The palace is empty!" Aang called out as he finished his search. "There's no one in sight!"
"But that doesn't make any sense!" Sokka shouted angrily. "Where would they go? Why would they go?"
"The return of Sozen's Comet is well known in the Fire Nation," Mai spoke up. "The Royal Astronomers have been tracking the heavens since the start of the year to determine the exact day ahead of time. Maybe they knew the eclipse was coming."
"And when Father saw all his reserves being drawn away, he realized another attack was coming!" Zuko growled. "He'll have withdrawn to the emergency bunker until the eclipse passes! I know the way in, but there are several places within he could be holed up. It's a full maze of tunnels inside the volcano behind the city."
As the eclipse had already begun, the group had to split up to search the entire compound for the Fire Lord, though at one point Cadence was forced to leave the group she'd been sent with behind to cross a wide river of lava.
As a result, she was alone when she found the Fire Lord and his guards.
"Cadence?" he asked, shocked to see her. "What are you doing here?"
Cadence swallowed convulsively. "Hello, Uncle..."
When the eclipse ended, Zuko's forces had complete control of the Fire Nation capitol...but Ozai had not been found. As Zuko and the others began trying to come up with a plan to solve it, Cadence returned...with the Crown of the Fire Lord. Off in the distance, a small group of upgraded War Balloons - metal plated and crewed by a hundred Fire Benders each - was seen withdrawing from Fire Nation territory. "He...ran away?" Zuko gaped, stunned.
"All I found...was the crown," Cadence explained. "He left it behind."
"He...abandoned his country?" Zuko marveled, falling back. "I...can hardly believe it..."
"Does...this mean we won?" Sokka asked hopefully.
"...for now," Zuko allowed. "But my father still has a strong force under his command. There's no telling what he's up to. As long as he's still at large...the world can't truly be at peace. The Fire Nation is no longer an enemy of the world...but the war is not yet over..."
Cadence glanced away as everyone turned to plan the next move, biting her lip.
"It's been a long time," Cadence said calmly. "Things have...changed."
Ozai frowned. "I take it it's not a coincidence you arrive as we're being invaded during a solar eclipse?" he asked softly, coldly.
"I'm afraid not," Cadence replied. "Zuko has seen what the war has done to the world, and seeks to end it. Today is the day the Fire Nation loses the war...but he seeks to keep the nation intact. That's why...he's leading this invasion. He intends to challenge you to an Agni Kai to claim the throne." She paused as she saw the look of shock on Ozai's face. "Will you face him?"
Ozai frowned thoughtfully. "...I cannot," he admitted at long last. "If I defeat him in the Agni Kai, those with him will bring me down after I have been weakened. If he doesn't kill me to win, there will always be the doubt that I let him win, and the people will not follow him wholeheartedly. And if he does...a rule begun in blood will not last long, whether because it destroys him or self destructs." He closed his eyes. "Like he once told me before I gave him his scar, this is a battle that cannot be won." He turned to Cadence. "What other option is there, Spirit Creature? You were sent to my brother. You obviously have some idea about what the future holds for my kingdom, what it must hold. What do you advise? How can this battle end without destruction?"
Cadence hesitated. With what had been said, there was one solution...and one she personally found favorable. But it would go so far against Ozai's nature, she didn't know if he could do it. "...run away," she offered finally.
"What?" Ozai demanded angrily, his eyes narrowed. "You expect me to flee from my own son? Abandon my country?"
"If you want the Fire Nation to survive beyond this day, it's the only option," Cadence replied. "And if you leave your crown behind, I can claim I only found it, and no one will pursue you further. The goal of this invasion is to place Zuko as the new Fire Lord. It doesn't have to be done through you."
Ozai frowned thoughtfully as the seconds ticked by towards the end of the eclipse.
Ozai stared back at his former kingdom as the war balloons withdrew from the invasion force. As Cadence told him, no one was in pursuit. Even so, now that his fire had returned, he had begun to question his decision. To flee? To abandon the throne? What had he been thinking?
As the balloons continued their flight, he knew it was too late to reverse the decision. But as the rage - against himself, against his son, against his brother, against Cadence, and against the Avatar - inside him built, he knew: the war was far from over.
With the comet's return, he would destroy his enemies...and take his kingdom back. ...all of it.
Logic is dead.
6926206
What is this logic you speak off, especially in a world of spirits and with the addition of Cadence magic.
No glorious revolution.
Chaos reigns.
So the war ends early, however I get the feeling that Cadance made a gigantic mistake here and it is going to cost her. So will the story cover what happened in the comics or will we be getting an original adventure?
6926252
No comics.
Looks like things aren't simply going to end early....
6926261
Ok, that works for me.
Bravely ran Sir Robin!
Wow! Now THIS is getting interesting! Suddenly the plot is taking a LARGE and dramatic shift away from the events of the main plot of the show!
6926261 Will the divergence become so great that ang's next incarnation will not be Korra if go that far or will she be like a fixed point in the future?
6926314
I'm not addressing anything that far in the future.
Aww, he won't be a good-ish guy in the future...
6926334
His power feeds on his rage and vice versa. He literally took the only option where the country wasn't torn apart while his mind was clear...but he hated himself for doing so, and that hate fed his flame when it came back, along with his rage.
I'll be honest, I'm a little disappointed... there was NO Footloose Chapter. Now you've ruined my entire perception of this story and I'm never coming back and- nah, I'm just kidding.
I'd like to apologize for the things I've said earlier. It's not really all that fair to judge one thing based on other things, so I'm just going to read, regardless of how things might look. Who knows, maybe Cadence WON'T find a Death Note and keep Zuko's head in a box (as unlikely as that sounds, amiright?). I'm just hoping for an Ember Island Players Chapter where it follows Zuko's Journey (or Cadance's, if you feel so inclined) and it's just as enjoyable and meta as the episode it's based on.
Sorry, it was either that, or Aang somehow being the one to play as her in this hypothetical EIPC.
6926217 Reason and sympathy.
6926297
Lord Ozai the Brave. He gallantly chickened out.
1. I am happy that you keep getting put on the home screen.
2. I need to check this story more often. All these new chapters just appeared out of NOWHERE!
6926206 What was your first clue; Cadence being able to use all four elements "because magic", or a civilian accurately guessing a planned out assassination with no shock at the revelation?
But specifically, what was the thing in this chapter that's illogical?
Well now, that changes things.
6926376
Your not tracking this story already?!
Well, I certainly didn't see that coming. And if Sozin's Comet is still en route, then we know that Zuko and Company have only a short while before Ozai goes batshit crazy, and Azula go even more batshit crazy, then Aang permanently blocks his Chii, thus ending the threat of fiery armageddon forever. I think…
6926385
Actually, it is in favorites. I have to many stories in tracking.
That, and the fact that this is a VERY good story.
doomed if u do, doomed if u don't
...I'm beginning to suspect there's an outside force influencing Ozai here. He's flipping personalities so fast he makes Two Face look normal.
6926367 ...Am I the only one who suddenly thought of Eeyore just now? Anyone?... Please?
6926450 Huh, I was thinking of that random mule who appeared during the first season, but yeah, I can sort of see it now... even though Eeyore's a donkey.
6926341 And thus The Phoneix King was born.
An interesting turn of events. Looking forward to more.
Keep up the good work. Deus tecum.
Awwww crap...
6926557
6926570
I did not say it causes anger. I said that the distorted style of fire bending - the type no longer based on the teachings of the Sun Warriors - feeds on anger, and anger feeds on itself. The more you give in to anger, the more it grows, the stronger it grows, and the more it controls your thoughts and actions. And Ozai was taught from birth that building that anger was the way to maintain his power and his fire...but when he didn't have access to his Fire Bending available, he put his anger aside because it couldn't help him.
Besides, I didn't say how far from the Fire Nation Ozai was when he came to the decision, just that it was too far away to turn around.
created by Sokka and
theTeo's father1. Extra The.
Seems like the subs weren't... Too pressured this time huh?
Guess the plan took a... Sharp dive for the better.
If they think victory is going to just float on in then they've got another thing coming.
Well folks, guess we better... Bunker down for another showdown.
Oh no. He still plans to use Sozin's comet.
This went better then I thought it would, yet not a great as I had hoped. Still I do understand what Tatsurou meant in the comments.
When you use emotions to power something, it reinforces those emotions. Emotion based Fire-bending is weaker in the long run then most people would think, as you need to be using that emotion to fire-bend, While Fire-bending without having to rely on a single emotion allows you to fire-bend effectively in any situation.
6926771
Very much so.
When he had to function during the eclipse, his anger was a liability to be suppressed. Once the eclipse ended, his anger was once again a tool to rely on. And the easiest anger to draw on was self loathing for abandoning his duty...which fed on itself and twisted...
Turning this into Ozai's "One Bad Day", as The Joker would say.
6926328 Ok. ^^ Was just a nagging thought in back of my head when I first starting reading your story.
I don't know why, but the way Cadence tells Ozai to run reminded me of that part in the Lion king where Simba told Scar to run away and never return.
The fateful day had arrived. Here we go.
Smart, very smart. And I think it's AzulOn.
That is a lotta benders.
All right, go Sokka, first he gets his Space Sword and now this, man the guy's gone a long way from getting his ass kicked effortlessly by Zuko in the first episode.
You expected it to be that easy?
Because they know they're a target and say what you will about Ozai, but he's not an idiot.
See? What did I tell you?
Shouldn't the heat of being that close to lava have killed them or set them on fire? I mean, look at Anakin, he didn't touch lava in Revenge of the Sith, and well, look how he ended up. Granted, Mustafar was a volcanic planet but, yeah.
Here we go.
Guess he did. Wonder why Cadence is lying though.
Aye.
Nope.
He's right. Let me put aside commentary to say I REALLY like how you write Ozai, he really does believe he's doing the right thing, and he's not a bad guy in his own mind and he's just doing what he feels is best for the Fire Nation. It's honestly quite refreshing from the usual Complete Monster trope he usually is.
Fair point.
If you say so.
When I 1st read this chapter I saw it as Cadence using the full extent of her ability to influence the heart and mind of a another. When Ozai left her influence he had second thoughts about what he had chosen to do. It explained why she was feeling guilty.
After reading the comments made by the author I was surprised this wasn't the case.
Still I greatly enjoy his story.
6927688
...as tempting as it is to go back and say, "No, wait, this is right!" it goes against the alternate characterization I was building for Ozai. He made the only right choice left for him, and it left him with nothing but the rage that fueled his fire bending.
6927439 What the hell does attacking any religion have to do with a story about a PONY in a world where the elements can be controlled at will? Just enjoy the story, geez...
6927724 There's always that one guy.
6926377 Ozai leaving and getting angry.
6928369 Huh. Well, if I had to guess, that's in part by two things.
First, he left because it seemed like there was no other choice because the *ahem* "voice of reason" advised him to do so.
Then, he got angry because he figured
That's how I see it, anyway.
6928399 Pride. Absolutely useless except when tricking the unwashed masses.
6928443 Heh, yeah, that's how Hercule helped save the world, anyways.