The Pawn |Katara

FIVE

The underground passages seemed to have come to life. The desolation that had ruled before existed no more, the passing of the eclipse notifying the people of the next part of the plan; it was time to fight back.

The invasion the team Avatar had launched had been apprehended and it was now the turn of the Fire Nation to attack. And this phase of the plan had been thought out carefully, the way all others phases had. Akira knew he only had a few minutes to reach his next destination so he wouldn't be left behind and looked down upon for attempting to sabotage the operation.

Behind the caldera, airships had been left, Fire Nation soldiers in each of them waiting for the moment to rise and attack the invaders. The underground passages had an exit that led directly to the back of the caldera, and this was the way Akira took to reach the surface. He paid no attention to the nameless soldiers with their masks on walking around and instead moved on to the ship in the middle of the formation. There was nobody to stop him from getting on the ramp and inside the airship. He sent a brief nod at the soldier by the end of the ramp and got inside. From there, he got on a staircase and walked over the engine of the ship, barely casting a look at the engineers making their final preparations before the ship were to rise and headed to the captain's cabin in the front of the airship. No member of the crew questioned his presence on board and not long later, he was opening the door to the captain's cabin. There, by the Captain's side, stood Azula, Mai and Ty Lee a few ways away. The moment he opened the door, the Princess turned to face him.

"There you are. The final preparations are almost complete, the Captain was telling me the airship's set to fly in the next minute."

"Good," he nodded as he walked closer and stopped beside her. "We heard shouting while we were hiding."

"Nothing I couldn't handle," she dismissed, already looking away from him. "The Avatar is alive."

"What?" Ty Lee exclaimed, her eyes widening dramatically. "But you said Zuko got rid of him."

"He miraculously survived," Azula shrugged as she took a step forward. Akira slowly turned to Mai.

"Wasn't Zuko supposed to join us?"

"Well, he's running late," Azula replied before Mai could. He noticed no change in Mai's expression. "We'll start without him. Captain, are we set to go?"

"Right away, Princess."

The ship started to vibrate as the engine started. Not long later, they found themselves on air, the other airships in formation around them. They moved forward, over the caldera, to the harbour. Akira stepped forward closer to the window to inspect the damage.

The roofs of buildings had been blasted off, some walls had been hit as if by bombs, debris were scattered around the once clean streets of his home. He pursed his lips. He knew this was not even close to the destruction the Fire Nation had caused the other nations but the sight of the city damaged was hard to accept. Soon they were moving past the caldera, though. And that's when he saw the invaders.

"Fire."

Azula's command was instant. Akira knew what her decision meant and yet he couldn't look away as the Captain repeated the order to the rest of the ships and bombs started to fall. But there were earthbenders among the crowd and he saw them get covered right before they could get hit. The ship moved on, to the harbour. And this time, the bombs couldn't be deflected. The submarines the invaders had used, left undefended by the coast, were completely vulnerable to the attack and one by one, they were engulfed in flames. Their mission was a success. The invaders had nowhere to go.

"Turning back," the Captain spoke, and so the airship started moving back from where it had started. In the distance, Akira could see the Avatar's infamous sky bison rise. The sight didn't go unnoticed.