AN :
if we hit 400 power stones, there will be an extra chapter guys ;)
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We could also incorporate the metal projectiles we received into the outer wall, so that when the walls are inevitably breached, the wall can be unfrozen and sent to slam into the fleet.
If the double-layered hull is too time consuming to breach in multiple places, destroy the fuckers with their own creation.
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I raise my hand to make the suggestion. Pakku, to be annoying, ignores me in favour of Hahn. Even though he knows we're friends. Pakku's such a petty old man sometimes. He still hasn't gotten over his drunken confessions the other day.
Well, I'll speak with his blessing, or without. Arnook is my friend, after all.
"What about the infiltration plan? We could still take out the commander," Hahn suggests in the tone of someone who believes he can do no wrong.
Sokka is quick to shoot him down from his place beside Aang. "I thought we were over this already! The Fire Nation uniforms you have are too old-fashioned, everyone who sees you will know about your plan."
"Then we'll just have to steal some newer uniforms!" Hahn bites back. It seems tensions were running high while I was out playing Battleship.
Arnook strokes his beard. "Yes, you are right Hahn. That could work. It is better for us to have multiple options in any case. An additional objective for the strike teams, then. If it is possible, I would like for us to get our hands on some uniforms."
That sounds fine. And since Hahn isn't an idiot, I know he can manage to take out Zhao.
I raise my hand again. Pakku narrows his eyes at me, but nods for me to speak. Dear Spirits does this feel like school all over again. Not, that I really sat in a proper classroom this time around.
"About the additional wall of ice, how about we make that two? As far as I can tell, their ships are good for one breach, then they are stuck. So, if they plan on breaking through the wall, we could further delay them with a secondary one below the surface.
This would also give us the time to sink the ships or take out their trebuchets. We should be able to manage it. I would also suggest raising platforms from which our benders can defend the city in the bay. If we can prevent them from taking the battle to us, we have the advantage of the ocean."
There is a bit of silence after that, then Arnook smiles grimly. "Yes," he nods. "I entrust this task to both Master Pakku and you, Kaito."
Pakku looks at me like he's never seen me before and I shrug. It isn't like no one else could have thought of that.
He and I leave the others to it. There is no time to be wasted.
...
Close to sundown, the Fire Navy halts their assault. With the reprieve, the Avatar returns.
By the time I've rounded up and instructed the thirty men whom I've been training for the last few days on our task, the moon is firmly up in the sky and we've gathered all the metal projectiles. We get five other benders to bring us and our cargo to where the wall is supposed to be erected about one and a half miles in front of the city.
They are also our defenders, should the Fire Navy decide to resume their attack early. I doubt it, but you never know.
Meanwhile, Pakku has assembled and sent out the strike teams. That's almost half of the entire numbers of waterbenders in the city outside of it tonight. The others are preparing for battle, or resting.
We line up along the cordially provided shells of ice our escorts bended, and centre ourselves. No more second tries. No more 'better next time's.
"Alright, let's make this count!" Hiraku shouts and we begin the sequence.
We move with purpose. This is our first line of defence, and we love our city, our home. We make it count. Once the water has risen high enough, we transform it into ice. It's something we do well, since we've all been stationed at the city gates. The only tricky thing about it is forcing the foundation of our wall to withstand the tides of the ocean, and a few warships. It feels powerful, to know that this construct of ice is our work, and it will stand tall.
The incorporation of the metal projectiles the Fire Nation gifted us takes more cooperative precision-work. Hiraku and I manage well. He thaws the ice in the right place, and I insert the metal smoothly before we re-seal the wall together.
I daresay, that tea earlier wasn't wasted after all.
The finished wall of ice looks magnificent. It's thick enough that the metal is only visible if one looks very closely. The enemy will have telescopes, but it's nighttime.
"Good work!" I shout and receive tired smiles in return. "Now remember, if they do break through, we can always sneak out and unfreeze it to sweep up the ships waiting on the other side."
Again, I am stared at like I've grown a second head. Which I have not. I would notice that.
We move about half a battleship's length back and craft the secondary wall, so that it'll just about kiss the surface when the tide recedes, which won't be that much this far north, but we do want to give the Fire Navy a surprise. We waterbenders love those.
To my own private surprise, Hiraku decides to show his bloodthirsty side. "How about we make spikes to skewer the ships underwater?"
I grin at him. "Yes! Great idea! If anyone else wants to get creative, now's the time!"
The men do indeed get creative. Turns out, we're all quite violent, when afforded the opportunity.
An hour before sunrise, the bay has hidden traps all over, just beneath the surface. The water will be red by the time the fighting's done. We return to the city, and relay our success. Not, that it's not evident. In the moonlight, that wall looks imposing. Smooth and gleaming, a dare. Come, if you will. We'll be waiting.
The rested benders listen to our accounts of the positions of our traps, which one is where, how they work, and so on. Then they set out to familiarise themselves with them, and perhaps refine them a little.
By sunrise, the strike teams have also re-entered the city. No casualties, and five new Fire Nation uniforms are with them. Two for benders, three for normal soldiers. The distinction lies in the weight and quality of the materials.
I'm slightly disappointed to have missed the forty or so ships they sunk.
The benders sent out are set to rest and the others available ready themselves for the incoming attacks.
...
After a quick meal and some sleep Hiraku wakes me for some strategy discussions.
The wall is holding up well so far, no break-throughs yet and it's past midday. I have a feeling that won't last too long. We determine that the men should move back out now. Hiraku will have command, out in the bay, and I will join them if necessary, hopefully with the Avatar and some healers. The women have assembled themselves into squads of four, and will be ready to receive injured. Aang has gone to the Spirit Oasis to meditate. While I wish him success, I do hope he hurries up.
We meet Pakku en-route, and while Hiraku goes to assemble our unit, Pakku explains to me that Hahn and I have been given free reign over the infiltration mission.
"How come?" I ask, slightly confused as to my involvement in another operation.
"He says he needs someone whose skill he can trust. You've been sparring with each other for years now, I'm confident you can manage this," he says this, and looks a bit like he'd rather not. "And not many of us have the stature to fit into the uniform they brought back."
I nod slowly. Hiraku will be fine. He knows what's at stake and he's not a bad commander.
With a short farewell, I leave to find Hahn. We decide to grab some lunch from one of the many open food stalls that have been spread all over the city, to keep the fighters energised and some of the civilians busy. Hahn hasn't eaten in a few hours, and I won't have the time for the foreseeable future. He moves ahead to our meeting point with the others who have volunteered for this mission while I get some grub for all of us.
"Good luck," the man who hands me our bowls, Kassuq says, solemn.
I've known him since I was a child, and give him my best mischievous grin. "No worries. I'm good at saving my hide."
"I'll say," he agrees, thinking back on all the times I've raced past his stall on the marketplace to escape the warriors chasing me.
"Stay safe." They're meant as my last words for him today, but the sudden worry on his visage tells me he thought he'd be entirely safe in the city walls. I pause, and look him in the eye. "We don't plan on letting them through, believe me, but if they do, hide with your family. That's what the bunkers in the ice are for. Don't go to the palace. If they breach the city, that's where they'll be headed."
His face is visibly trying to contort into a mask of fear, but he's valiantly holding it back. "What you're doing here," I say, looking down at my food for a moment, "Is invaluable. You're a good man, Kassuq."
His lips thin and he nods. I do believe he'll stay and keep feeding the hungry fighters.
"I'm off, then," I give him a grin to lighten his mood. Perhaps, with me behaving a bit more like my usual self, he can believe that everything will be alright. It's the small things, after all, that keep us sane.
"Leave the city standing, will you?" He grumbles, and I've heard variations of that sentence many times over the years. Yes, he'll be fine.
"No promises!"
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Don't forget to throw some power stones :)
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