The Chong Sheng Trilogy: War by rachelthedemon

The Ultimate Weapon

Disclaimer: I own not, you sue not.

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The Chong Sheng Trilogy

PART I: War

Chapter 13: The Ultimate Weapon

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The next moon found Katara perched at the prow, spyglass in hand, wind keeping her hair off her face as she gazed out across the flat ocean. It was a relatively cool evening; Zuko himself had donned an overtunic before going off to the helm, which left her snickering inside at the boy's lack of constitution and recalling their conversation about native weather patterns with a kind of derisive glee. A bad habit, she knew, but she needed something to keep her occupied on watch.

She turned at the sound of footsteps behind her, though she could easily recognize Iroh's shuffling gait by now. "It's a lovely view, isn't it?" he asked, bearing a tray of what smelled like ginseng peach tea. She nodded, setting down the spyglass and resting her elbows on the deck railing.

"Yeah. Boring, but lovely."

Iroh chuckled. "I thought you might like some company out here while the boys take care of things."

She smiled. "Company sounds great. So does tea."

He knelt on the deck, setting the tray down as she followed suit. "It's good to see you feeling better. The both of them were so worried for you."

She frowned as she watched him pour her a generous cup. "Really? I know Sokka was, but he's my brother. Of course he'll worry."

Iroh shook his head. "Prince Zuko was rather concerned himself. He's never had Bending Sickness, never witnessed anyone else go through it. It's unpleasant enough when you know what's wrong, and far more nerve-wracking when you don't."

She sighed. "He was probably more worried about what Sokka would do to him if anything happened to me."

"Or he could just be concerned at seeing you in such obvious distress."

She sipped her tea, looking up to the horizon through the railing bars. "That would be a first. He's on our side, but I know he's not all that fond of us."

"I won't deny that he's done many things to hurt you. But he was a different person than he is now. He's been through a far more trying last few months than even he could have imagined. It's...changed his perception on a lot of things."

She rested her head down on one of the railing bars, heaving a sigh. "He told us some of what happened, why he did what he did. But...there's still a lot he's holding back."

"I know. And he has his reasons. It's just...hard for him to talk about."

She frowned, staring back at her tea for a moment and unable to help outright asking what she'd been wondering since she first saw the boy. A Firebender with a huge burn scar over his eye didn't make any sense; what good would a soldier with no depth perception do anybody, even if he was the prince?

"That scar..." she ventured. "How...How did he get it? I mean, I can't think of too many reasons for the Fire Nation to try and disable a perfectly good soldier in the middle of a war campaign."

Iroh sighed, closing his eyes for a minute as he sipped at his own tea. "I know it's not my place to say it. I was there when it happened, but it's his story to tell. And yet, I think it's something that would help you all better understand him if you knew. As I said, the boy has been through much, before his exile as well as after."

She bit her lip, looking at him. "I'm listening."

He sat back a little, taking in a deep breath. And just from the look on his face, she knew it was not an easy topic for him, either. "It started when he was thirteen, on his way to enter the military. And despite my advice, he requested to sit as an audience to a war meeting. At the council, one of the generals detailed a plan to use a legion of newly trained soldiers as a decoy to ambush an Earth Kingdom troop. In his words, 'what better to use as bait than fresh meat.' Zuko was the only one seated at that meeting who dared oppose it. Speaking out of turn, defying every rule of decorum, because the very idea of a plan with that little respect for the people it employed infuriated him.

"Fire Lord Ozai, also in attendance, did not waste the chance. He gave Zuko the ultimate reprimand: a challenge to an Agni Kai, a formalized fire duel. Zuko was ready, thinking he would face off against the general whose plan he opposed. What he didn't know was that it was his father's war room. Therefore the insult was on Ozai himself rather than the general. When Zuko saw his opponent was his own father, he forfeited the match and refused to fight."

She felt a sick knot form in her gut, having a feeling of where this was going but not wanting to voice it. Instead, she looked down at her hands nervously as Iroh continued.

"As punishment for what he saw as unconscionable weakness, his father burned him with his own hand. Gave him a permanent mark of dishonor and banished him from the Fire Nation. He had only one chance at coming back: were he to bring home the Avatar, a feat which niether his father nor grandfather had accomplished, he would be reinstated to his title."

Katara swallowed hard, looking up at him finally, her uneasiness evaporating into the kind of anger she'd felt toward only one other person in her entire life. "His own father? How could...how could anyone do that to their own child?"

"To be honest, Ozai barely even considered Zuko his son. He was an investment to the Royal Family more than anything, and the Fire Lord was not seeing much of a payoff with him as he was with his sister."

"I...I can't even articulate how cruel that is."

"I know, child. But that's how it's always been for him. Everything he's accomplished, he's struggled for. Including the decision to help you now and leave everything he's ever known behind." He sighed. "As his father used to say, Azula was born lucky. Zuko was lucky to be born."

She looked back toward the water, feeling suddenly cold inside. And not the kind that a good cup of tea would take away, either. It was a hard, gut-twisting cold that left her shivering inwardly as bad as Zuko had been sans tunic. A kind of empathy she'd never felt toward anyone else.

Iroh set a hand on her shoulder, sighing. "It'll be all right, my dear. You'll see."

****

Sokka dragged his arm across his forehead as he closed the furnace, not so much for the heat as the stuffiness of the engine room. Despite the glow of the roasting coals, he still found the room dark and oppressive. More in a psychological sense than a physical one. While it was dark and closed in and generally made him feel like a vole-rat lost in its own burrow, it was actually quite large; the deep shadows were what made it feel so much smaller.

The sound of a hard boot knocking on the metal door made him turn, and he answered it to find Zuko bearing a tray of tea, two generous bowls of hot noodle soup, and a small plate of thin-sliced smoked meat. "It's not palm wine and satay, but I hope it'll do."

Sokka smirked. "As long as it's edible and not poisoned, it's fine by me. I'm starved."

Zuko nodded. "Wanna eat out here?"

"In the corridor?"

He shrugged. "Why not? It's not like we have a crew to worry about tripping over us. It's less stuffy and far more breathable."

Sokka barely paused a moment before following him. "Sold." He watched the boy set down the tray and start pouring the tea as they sat across from each other, with the hand of a server who would likely never forget that training for the rest of his life. "So...what is for dinner, if not the Great Holy Duo?"

"I'm not sure what it's called, just that it's really, really good. It's shrimp broth with ginger and spring onion if that's what you're wondering, though."

Sokka smiled a bit, taking a taste of it. It was a lot lighter than the seaweed soup Gran-Gran used to make back home, and the broth itself was clear rather than having a layer of whale or seal grease on top. Though he supposed that was due to the absence of meat in the soup itself. "Not bad, not bad... S'funny, we don't really use much seasoning back home. But then, you don't exactly get herbs growing in the South Pole."

Zuko smiled back. "We're pretty big on the spices. Especially the hot ones, like ginger and red pepper. Takes some adjusting, though. Acquired tastes and such."

"I've never been one for spice. Had a date with fire flakes once, didn't end well. Thought I was gonna burn my lips off."

Zuko laughed. "I grew up on that stuff. Used to put it in my breakfast, until I started getting dirty looks. Apparently, it's bad form to put anything but white pepper or soy sauce in your congee."

Sokka made a face. "I think we had that stuff on Kiyoshi. It's...kinda gross." He chuckled nervously. "No offense or anything but there's something a little off-putting about drinking rice. Now, seaweed soup and seal jerky? There's a breakfast to live off of."

Zuko arched a brow at him. "Seal jerky? As in...you eat seals?"

"Of course! Pretty tasty ones, too, depending on the wood you use. Maple works best. It's sweet, but still smoky enough."

Zuko grinned, handing Sokka a slice of the meat. "It's not seal, but cows can be pretty tasty, too. These are all hickory-smoked."

He snorted, tearing a piece off with his teeth. "As long as it's meat, I won't refuse it... Wow. You guys spice up your jerky, too?"

"Are you kidding? I told you, there's very little we don't use spices on." He smirked. "I used to gross my mother out by putting fire flakes in my suncake at dessert. She could never understand it..." Sokka watched as his mirth melted into something not quite a frown, but not a happy expression, either.

"What's wrong?"

"Mmm. Nothing," he muttered quieting and starting on his own soup, but in that way that Sokka knew meant he was trying to keep his mouth full so he wouldn't have to talk. He shuddered inside at the memory of doing the same thing himself after that fateful raid years ago, avoiding conversation with his sister whenever he could.

"If it was nothing, you'd have no problem talking about it."

Zuko put down his chopsticks, turning and leaning back against the wall of the passage with a sigh. "It's...It's complicated."

He knew he had no right to ask, but he couldn't stop himself. "Is it about your mother?"

Zuko closed his eyes, letting out a heavy breath in answer.

"What happened to her?"

"I don't know."

Sokka frowned, setting down his half-eaten jerky. "What do you mean you don't know?"

Zuko sighed, bending a knee up to rest an arm over it. "She...left when I was young. I don't know why. No idea what made her leave, where she went... It's like she just vanished. She came to see me the night before, told me that...that she was protecting me. But I never knew from what."

He opened his eyes again, looking up to the ceiling. "No one at court ever talked about her again. They never even acknowledged she existed. I tried to ask, and I was just...rudely cut off. Told not to meddle in such matters. Even now, it...it feels like a bad dream. A creepy campfire tale I've never heard the end of."

The crease in Sokka's brow deepened, and he looked back at the tray. "Katara and I...our mother was killed in a raid some years ago. That flare that first brought you to our village... That was a stranded Fire Navy ship left from it. Our dad was already out fighting, so we didn't have too many we could turn to. Our grandmother was pretty much it."

Zuko winced hard, swallowing thickly. "I'm...I'm sorry."

"But you weren't even there."

He shook his head. "It happened when my family was in charge. I'm sorry on principle."

Sokka was about to rebuke him when the sound of footsteps on the metal floor made him turn around to see Katara heading up the passage toward them. She beckoned for them, and while he somewhat resented not getting to finish his lunch, most of him was glad for the distraction for depressing meal topics.

"We've reached the beaching point," she said. "We need you guys to help us get aground."

Zuko nodded, turning to Sokka. "We're on it. Come on..."

****

It seemed so far away. Like looking at a map and realizing an inch on the paper is actually two hundred miles on the ground. That daunting feeling of "we'll never make it" settled in Zuko's knees as he looked up toward the mountain where the Northern Air Temple sat perched above the clouds.

"Last time, we had a flying bison," Sokka observed, as if reading his thoughts. "Not so lucky this round. We'll have to do it the hard way."

"Maybe not," Iroh mused. "Having to spend a week climbing up and down the mountain would never make the Temple such a desirable target. No doubt they've devised an easier means of reaching the summit."

"The trick will be using it without attracting attention," Zuko murmured, stroking his chin. "Last thing we want is the entire compound after us."

Sokka sighed, looking up toward the mountain. "I...wonder what they did with the Mechanist and all his guys. If they made it out out okay..."

Katara caught up neside him, resting a hand on his back. "I don't think they would've...gotten rid of him. They would need him to help them build the weapons, wouldn't they?"

He wrapped his arms around himself, looking almost chilled. "I would hope so."

Zuko swallowed hard, "They...don't make a habit of killing people they feel might still be useful, no. But they could easily have him imprisoned, which is a little better than dead. The only way we'll find out is by getting up to that mountain."

Sokka nodded. "I know." And he did. But that didn't make his nerves any less frayed as they marched onward. The cold, twisting fear that hot noodle soup and jerked beef and human connection had helped to assuage returned with all the vengeance of an Antarctic blizzard. Made his guts wrench and freeze painfully while his stomach did sickening lurches with every bad scenario he conjured.

There would be few times in his life that he would pray for his famed instincts to be wrong. This was one of them.

****

It didn't take nearly as long as they had anticipated to find the lift the soldiers were using to get from the main temple complex at the summit to the tanks waiting at the Base Checkpoint. Not that it was trying to be inconspicuous or anything. A gigantic, sturdy tower of steel leading to the first far outcropping, employing a pulley system manned by both men and beasts below to drag the steel pod along its sharply inclined track.

Zuko lowered the spyglass, letting out a breath and muttering under it. "Getting in without being noticed. That's...going to be tricky. They're kind of everywhere."

Katara crouched beside him on the coverlet of snow, frowning in thought. "Do you think your trick in Ba Sing Se might work? You know, knock out some guards and take their uniforms?"

Zuko shook his head. "Uncle and I would be spotted immediately, and you and Sokka would never pass for Fire Nation."

"What about as prisoners?" Sokka asked. "With you as our escort? Just make a bandanna to hide the scar. Worked for the Dai Li."

Zuko blinked. "You think Fire Nation military is that stupid?"

"We tricked them into thinking the lemur could Earthbend. To be honest? I think I'm giving them too much credit."

"And if they aren't, we'll have every soldier in the temple after us. Possibly with an arsenal of stockpiled superweapons." Zuko shook his head. "I don't know if I want to take that chance."

"You know" Iroh mused, "if we can't use their shortcut, we'll just have to make our own."

"How? Our Earthbender's all the way back in Ba Sing Se."

Iroh smiled. "Why go through the mountain when you can go over it?"

Sokka looked at him as if he'd grown an extra head, while Katara grinned knowingly. "You may not have an Earthbender, but you've got the next best thing."

Zuko caught the sentiment, grinning as well. "All yours."

She got up, starting to lead them back into the forest. "We just need to find a more secluded area.."

It didn't take long, maybe an hour's walk, before the sounds of soldiers and great beasts heaving on cable lines faded into the sounds of birds and the rustle of trees and the snow itself crunching under their feet. They emerged from the treeline again at the mountain's base, and she motioned for them all to stand back as she took her stance.

One great sweep of her arms called up a sizeable snowdrift, and tiny upward pushes of her hands began to push and stretch it high into the sky, fisting her hands to solidify it into a thick, growing ramp of ice, aimed straight for a stable outcrop. She added the snow as needed, pushing it higher and higher until the edge of the ramp met the rock. She then gathered the snow at the landing over the ice to bond it, giving the base a testing kick. It held, not even cracking at the blow.

Sokka blinked, looking at the ramp, then at his sister. "Have I told you lately how hard you rule?"

****

The great pillars of the Northern Air Temple's western facade greeted them with an almost tangible reverence as twilight set in, glinting on the polished stone and casting everything behind them in lengthening shadows, its peaceful atmosphere belying the purpose it was now being used for. The thought made Sokka shiver as he stopped to look around and survey their surroundings, frowning.

"So...where to?" Zuko asked

"The main weapons facility," Sokka whispered. "It's the giant chamber on the East Side. Haven't been here in a while, but I think I remember the way." Katara traded glances with Zuko and Iroh, before frowning and following him.

He'd forgotten just how enormous the place was, but it came back to him slowly as she lead them into the complex proper. But it looked far different than when they visited last. The statues were gone, some alcoves containing only bases while others held nothing at all. The flora and fauna they had admired before as reminders of the temple's origin were also absent, replaced by what looked like industrial waste material. Scrap metal and broken wagons covered in coal dust, burned tools and torn fabric.

It looked like a warzone. Which shouldn't have been surprising since they were at war, but he still found himself rather disturbed as they picked their way along the wall, careful to stay in the shadows. Especially when the sounds of annoyed voices resonated from across the main courtyard. They all scurried around the corner of the wall, Sokka at the leading edge, listening intently.

"I can't believe this. They know we have a rogue vessel headed our way, but they act like it's not even happening. Do they want us all killed, or do they just not care what happens to this place?"

"I think they're just using a silent strongarm. They want to show these guys that they're not afraid of 'em and hope they're intimidated enough to back off. Considering how fast those Earth Kingdom types ran at the first sign of the drill? I gotta wonder why Ba Sing Se is still standing."

The other soldier snorted. "If the General's plan works out? That won't be the case for much longer."

Sokka felt his insides squirm as the men's footsteps and laughter faded into the distance. That sickly dreading sensation that made his gut burn and shudder as though he'd swallowed a handful of fire flakes whole. He turned back, trading glances with the others, able to feel the blood draining from his face. Zuko frowned, patting his arm.

"Let's find the chamber."

Sokka nodded, swallowing hard and leading them on, past the even more ruined ruins of living quarters and meditation halls, which had been crudely converted into barracks and forges and storage for the more mundane weapons. He couldn't help but think how fortunate that Aang wasn't seeing this. Because he was willing to bet his boomerang that the kid would be kicking some serious tail via Avatar State if he ever did.

They slunk around a corner to familiar-looking hall. High-vaulted and lined with pillars, and though the cobbles were broken and missing in spots and the original decorations were torn or absent, he recognized it immediately. But then, the huge doors at the end of it were a pretty outstanding marker. Silent and majestic, despite the scorch marks on them. He looked up, taking in an overwhelmed breath at seeing them again, though he guessed it had more to do with the fear of what lay behind them.

"Here we are."

Katara stepped up beside him, resting a hand on his shoulder. "Except that...we can't open it. We'd need an Airbender for that."

"But the Fire Nation got in there somehow. So did the Mechanist. There's got to be a way."

Iroh stepped up ahead of them, studying the door. "You are half correct, my dear. You do need Airbending, but not necessarily from an Airbender."

Zuko turned to him, frowning. "Another technique you adopted?"

He nodded. "As I told you before, Prince Zuko. Everything is connected. You only need to find out how."

They all watched as the old man took his stance, but not the kind Sokka had ever seen a Firebender use. One knee bent low to the ground, the other leg stretched long behind him. He stretched his arms to either side, palms up, taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly as his fingers spread wide.

The barest hint of a flame sparked in either hand, growing steadily into a healthy but controlled blaze. His wrists began to flick as he took in deeper breaths, as though he were twisting the handle of a sword. The fire obeyed, wrapping in a steady circle around his hands, faster and faster as he increased the pace of those movements. Until they blurred into a motion none of their eyes could follow, and Sokka himself felt a prominent, hot breeze whip past his ear.

They all stood back from him, sharing the same expression of complete disbelief as he brought his hands out in front of him, aiming them for the two openings in the door ahead. The heat from the blaze around his hands made the air itself waver, in two distinct paths. The wooden shields on the door's outer trigger spun readily, giving way for the scorching breeze to make its way through the tubes to the inner triggers. They too caved, and with a great whine of protest, the dors began to swing outward on their ancient hinges.

Zuko swallowed thickly, turning to his uncle. "How did you...?"

Iroh smirked as they headed into the chamber. "Fire creates the very wind that drives it."

Sokka was about to try and figure out what he meant when the chamber itself caiught his attention. Greeted by the sound of equipment moving. Gears turning and hammers falling, the rush of air to cool the machines as they worked. Yet he couldn't see anything happening, where the noise was coming from. The sensation unnerved him, being able to hear the sounds of hard mechanical labpor, but not see the fruits of it.

He looked up into the heights of the great room, murmuring under his breath. "Something isn't right. You'd expect to see this chamber to be working like a broke street vendor with all that racket."

Zuko followed his gaze, then looked back at the yawning space ahead before the ground dropped off into a deep ravine. "Unless we're all hearing things, I don't think we're looking hard enough. He ventured forward, the others falling behind him. Until it became apparent that the noise itself came from beneath their feet. Sokka's heart pounded in time with the machinery as he neared the edge of the drop, swallowing the brick in his throat before chancing the fateful look down.

His stomach knotted up like a piece of bad knitting.

A fully working factory sprawled below, thousands of machines manned by even more people, some obviously soldiers while most obviously not. Working away at a dragging, trudging pace. Each with his own small task to add to the whole, but the sight of so many at once was simply dizzying. Especially from so high up. But nothing prepared him for the sight as he looked further on. Behind the workers and their machines, to the far end of the chamber.

Balloons. Hundreds of them.

Moored to the floor, the wire frames that supported the stretched red fabric creaking in the breeze. The very sound of them made Sokka's heart clench painfully in his chest with a kind of fear he'd never known in his life. Not the heated, active kind he felt on the battlefield, but a cold, crushing kind. The one that knows something terrible is about to happen, and there's very little to be done about it.

"God..." he murmured, feeling his eyes sting. "God, what have I done...?"


TO BE CONTINUED...

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