Helo couldn't make himself avert his gaze for the entire descent.
The ominous, mushroom-shaped cloud of black was at last being dispersed by passing winds, but it'd be far from the last lingering reminder of the sheer scale of destruction Zarek's warhead had wrought. Whatever threat he'd deemed serious enough to expend one of his two irreplaceable weapons, only whispers of it remained. Globs of melted and misshapen metal were thrown kilometers away, culminating in a battered carcass of steel so disfigured Helo couldn't hazard a guess as to what the supposed Fire Nation device had been.
The machine wasn't alone, an entire army must've been at its back. Barely recognizable remnants of Fire Nation tanks dotted the flat terrain, the corpses of fallen soldiers around them charred and maimed. One out of every few dozen still displayed some signs of life - twitching or dragging themselves across the ground with what little embers of life they hung onto.
This wasn't a rescue mission, and even if it was, anybody this close to the blast radius was beyond hope.
Helo knelt down and listened to the yellow-black device in his hands emit a steady series of distinct clicks. He transmitted the geiger counter's reading back to Galactica, before remounting the Raptor to reach the next waypoint.
These people were probably in awe of such destruction, Helo thought to himself, hastily running through his pre-flight checklist. The Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation just had a first-hand demonstration of the sheer destructive power of Colonial technology. Before today, Helo and most of his kind had usually been greeted by a combination of curiosity and admiration. Now, he worried they'd only be met with fear.
"At this rate, we're not going to have to worry about the Cylons showing up." Helo muttered to his ECO while the Raptor's engines slowly began roaring to life. "We're doing a pretty good job of killing these people ourselves."
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"Believe it or not, I think we got off lucky." Doctor Baltar explained to the odd mix around him. The Doctor couldn't stop shooting nervous side-eyes at Aang, Katara, and Sokka. Roslin knew having the adolescents actively helping them was going to take some getting used to, and she worried the scientist would have difficulty taking the trio seriously. "These warheads have dialable yields, and it looks like Zarek set the device to detonate roughly around the 15-kiloton range. Now as a rule, ground bursts tend to kick up a lot of fallout. This close to the city, it's inevitable there's going to be some level exposure, but winds seem to be blowing the majority of it away from the city walls."
"This is just the start." Adama warned, studying the recon images transmitted from survey teams dispatched to investigate the circumstances around Zarek's attack - And to look for the man himself. "The radiation levels in that chunk of land are going to be deadly for months, probably years."
Roslin shook her head, still reeling in disbelief. "I knew Zarek was insane, but this is on another level. Detonating a nuclear warhead this close to the largest city of the civilization he's trying to save?"
"While the city is avoiding the worst of it for the time being," Baltar set a series of maps detailing Ba Seng Se's metropolitan area on CIC's command console. In the weeks since they'd arrived, intelligence teams had been putting in overtime to map out as much of the local population as they could. "There are a number of smaller villages within the fallout zone, and these tracts of land here look like farms. Every crop growing there will need to be destroyed, along with the topsoil."
"Why would anybody build a weapon like this?" Aang asked in a mix of awe and terror. He kept returning to the same image of that eerily familiar mushroom cloud, taken by the first Raptor team to put boots on the ground. "I don't see why anybody would ever need something like this."
"Yeah, could you give the Cylons that memo?" Kara Thrace quipped.
Roslin squeezed the avatar's shoulder. "That's a complicated question, Aang. Right now, the best thing we can do is talk to those villages, try to mitigate the damage."
To Roslin's delight, Aang seemed almost eager to step up. "I can talk to those villages, make sure those people get away."
"It'll be hard," Katara shared. "I still don't totally understand what you mean by radiation, convincing those people to leave their homes isn't going to be a walk in the park."
Roslin nodded in agreement. The villagers down there probably thought they were already safe from the worst of the explosion. Oh, how horrifically wrong they were.
"You'll need anti-radiation meds." Adama remarked. He was probably more than happy to take Aang up on his offer to help. "I'll have you see Cottle before you go down there."
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Aang could nearly describe the sight he'd witnessed near Ba Seng Se as perverse. The destructive path wrought by the Colonial's weapon had been visible to the naked eye long before he touched down on the surface, marked by charred and blackened ground and the remnants of Fire Nation war machines strewn across the terrain. Before they'd left, Roslin told him it was weapons like these that brought an end to the Twelve Colonies. She said this was practically a firecracker compared to the city killers responsible for turning shining cities of glass and metal to ashes, while poisoning the air itself. He'd always found it hard to fathom annihilation on the scale of an entire world, but this in-person encounter finally brought Roslin's story home.
Try as he might, there were plenty of people who doubted Aang's warnings of radiation sickness. To the contrary, most of the people he'd meet in the last few villages were celebrating. The Fire Nation's offensive had been routed, why would they need to evacuate now? Luckily, he could count on Katara to make the point a little more clear. She compared it to any other disease, invisible but ever present. The waterbender told them disease was a side effect of the Colonial weapon, and if they wanted to live, they needed to get out now. After some time, most of them finally got the picture.
Not all of them, though. Some choose to stay behind, and Aang shuddered at the thought of what fate awaited them. Doctor Cottle made sure to instill the horrors of how a human body degraded from high doses of radiation. Aang wouldn't wish that horror on anybody.
When they'd finally returned to Galactica, the deckhands showered them down in warm water. Apparently, it did something to help minimize their risk of exposure.
According to Adama, there was still no sign of Tom Zarek yet.
Sokka had definitely found his voice among these people. "We have to move quickly if we want to stop him from using his weapon on the Fire Nation capital." He implored. "If Earth benders are helping him get there, he could be at the city in a few weeks."
Tigh drew his finger across their political map, stretching from Ba Seng Se to the Fire Nation's capital, a whole continent away. "That's a lot of ground to cover with a bomb in tow."
"Sokka's right, if we're going to end this war we need to move." Roslin granted. "I'm calling an emergency meeting of the quorum this afternoon. Hopefully they'll see the need to stop Zarek's insanity, especially if they ever want to be welcome on this world."
The next few hours were a nervous rush to prepare everything on Colonial One. Aang and Katara even helped move the tables into place, a ritual Roslin said really did get old after a while. She said she pined for the days a ship named Cloud 9 been used for these meetings, until security concerns forced them to use a smaller setting. Interestingly, Zarek had been at the center of those issues, too.
Two of the Quorum delegates were on ships that'd broken with the fleet during the mutiny. Zarek of course, and a woman from a colony named Gemenon. The long, formal table looked odd with two vacant chairs, but Laura insisted on keeping the formality.
Aang and his friends didn't even have time to introduce themselves to the delegates before Laura called them to order. Roslin took her podium, centered up front, both Adama's flanking her as she delved head-first into her address.
"A lot has happened since we last met in this chamber." She began. "This fleet has literally torn itself apart these last couple days. I hate to say, I must accept a good deal of responsibility for what's happened. Now we're faced with the reality that if we, as a civilization, are going to survive this new crisis, we need to find a way to mend this wound."
The President beckoned Aang and his friends to the podium. "Don't let this boy's age deceive you. His name is Aang - and he holds a vitally important role in this planet's culture." She asked him to do the explaining from there.
"Uh," Aang gave an awkward glance to the series of fabric-encased devices on the podium Laura told him to speak into. He poked one curiously before beginning to address his incredulous audience. "Hi everybody." He said with a wave. "I'm the avatar. It's my job to help maintain balance on my world. Balance between the elements, between the physical world and the spirits… You could say I keep myself busy." He joked.
A man towards the back raised his hands. The name Virgon was proudly encrusted on the metal plate in front of him. "The same spirits responsible for murdering two of Galactica's crewmen?"
Aang stuttered, trying to formulate a response, only for Laura to cut him off. "Aang did everything in his power to help us find a compromise with the forest spirit, before it turned us away. He isn't responsible for what happened."
"Madam President," A woman near the front said with a raise of her hand. "He is literally a child. I think all of us would appreciate it if you would get to the point of bringing these people up here."
Roslin gave a curt nod. "The point is, despite his age, Aang has a great deal of influence on this world. He's willing using that influence to help us settle this world, contingent on us helping defeat the Fire Nation."
A series of hushed murmurs ran through the room. The Caprican delegate gestured to speak. "Three days ago, you shut down a democratic process to draw up settlement plans, and stormed out of here declaring we were leaving."
"I made a mistake." Laura admitted. "I had a number of reservations about settlement, and I still do. I believe the possibility of Cylon detection is a concern that needs more discussion, but I shouldn't have made the decision for this fleet."
Aang pushed Laura out of the way, taking back control of the podium. "I'm the last of the Air Nomads. They believed all life is sacred, and if I really want to honor their memory, I can't let you go back to dying a slow death out there."
Aang stole a glance of Laura giving him a warm smile of approval before he resumed. "We have a common enemy now, Tom Zarek. Zarek wants to end the war in a way that would kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people."
"I'm sure you're all aware, Tom Zarek just detonated a nuclear warhead outside of the Earth Kingdom's capital city." Roslin elaborated. "We think Zarek used the weapon to blunt a Fire Nation offensive. We believe he's planning to use his last warhead to destroy the Fire Nation's Royal Palace - and most of the surrounding city along with it."
Admiral Adama leaned into the microphone. "I'd like all of you to remember the hatred you felt when your families burned in nuclear hellfire. If Zarek uses that weapon, every last Fire Nation citizen is going to swear revenge against us."
"We would never be welcome on this planet." Laura warned. "If that weapon goes off, all of us can kiss any hope of settlement goodbye."
Lee Adama bounced off Roslin's statement. "I don't need to tell you that the Earth Kingdom isn't exactly thrilled with us either. Aang could be the only person on the planet with the power to get us talking again."
"I want to be clear what Aang is offering all of us." Laura put a soft hand on Aang's shoulder. "He's offering us a future on this planet. A future Tom Zarek and the Fire Nation would both be happy to destroy for their own gain. So, I'm asking you again to authorize war time powers against the Fire Nation."
Quorum members held hushed discussions amongst each other, but to Aang, the tension seemed to be getting thinner.
"Stopping Zarek isn't going to bring those ships and people on the surface back." The quorum delegate from Leonis noted.
"I'm prepared to offer a blanket amnesty to the mutineers." Roslin declared. "There's been plenty of death in the fleet these last few weeks, we don't need more."
Aang ignored the device attached to the podium, instead choosing to throw his voice across the room. "That's the deal. Stop Fire Lord Ozai, stop Tom Zarek, then start a future on this planet together."
This time, there was no long-winded philosophical debate, or harsh words exchanged between quorum members. Thirty minutes later, they held their final vote. 9 - 1 in favor of war time powers.
"You did it!" Sokka cried out with delight at Aang and the president. "I can't wait to see the look on the Fire Nation's face when they realize just how badly their butt's about to be kicked."
Laura pulled Aang into a warm hug. "I couldn't have done this without you three." She confessed. "Thank you, so, so much."
"Captain Thrace finalized the plan of attack against the Fire Nation before the first vote." Adama said, barely taking the time to enjoy their first victory in what felt like an eternity. "I want to go over the details with the six of us first, but she believes we can launch the first wave of our attack within six hours of your order, Madam President."
Laura's smile vanished. Aang didn't realize Laura's capacity to switch to such a cold, commanding voice on demand. "Then I declare that the Fire Nation's war machine should be extinguished. Launch the attack, admiral."
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The Raptor descended on a shallow trajectory over the planet's largest continent. Despite the distance, it took the craft mere minutes to cross thousands of miles of terrain and bleed off enough speed to ensure the optimal flight path of its payload. For Kat, this would be the easiest combat sortie of her life.
When her spacecraft finished passing through the world's stratosphere, she gave a final report to Galactica before verifying her target, arming her ordinance, and firing a slew of air-to-surface missiles at the globe below.
The warheads arced down and flew apart, their guidance systems honing in on an enemy possessing no hope of evading them, or even knowing they were coming for that matter. Four of them screamed into the exquisitely intricate structure that was the Fire Nation Royal Palace,
hitting its pagodas with a precision that would make the finest markman envious. Each warhead possessed a timing device almost frightening in its precision, allowing the weapon to penetrate just the right number of floors to ensure maximum damage before detonating in a slurry of fire and shrapnel.
In a flash, the Palace's pagodas became smoking rubble, it's great spire - once the pride of an entire nation - reduced to so much indistinguishable wreckage.
Eleven other warheads found their marks in the metropolis with as little effort. The city's drydocks, and the dozens of warships they were dutifully refitting, were turned to molten slag. On the outskirts of the city, a factory responsible for assembling swords and spears perished in an explosion so intense, villagers ten miles away would hear the blast echo.
Kat's Raptor was one of thirteen deployed for the first wave of Adama's offensive. All together, they hit twenty-eight targets simultaneously. The famed training academies of Lun Yang, which had furnished the front lines with new recruits for generations, burned. The industrial titan that was Hokage - it's air so thick with smog, some of its citizens had never seen the sky - saw the most missile strikes of any city. The great forges and machinery that'd proudly churned out almost half the Fire Nation's tanks and armor, would whirr to life no more.
And on the war-torn mainland, deep in the Earth Kingdom's territory, entire formations were torn asunder by the Colonial onslaught. Cluster bombs - each carrying a hundred tiny bomblets no larger than a small fruit - exploded a kilometer above the unsuspecting armies, their payload ripping through tank and infantry armor like butter.
Less than two hours after departing from Galactica's flight pod, Kat and the rest of her squadron were already requesting permission to land and rearm. If Kat didn't know better, she'd say the entire operation felt like an entry-level training simulation. She almost lamented the lack of challenge, but she'd take it over tangoing with Cylon raiders any day.
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Fire Lord Ozai was still basking in the glow of a job well done. His predecessors' 100-year quest for global domination had entered its final phases, and if that weren't enough, fate had bestowed upon them powers his ancestors would've called magic. Colonial's technology was beyond impressive, and Ozai's engineers were only just beginning to feverishly study every scrap of knowledge the Colonials had foolishly parted with.
Even now, regiments equipped with the new wireless sets reported resounding victory after victory. Oddly, the offensive against Ba Seng Se - the very one Princess Azula was in the process of returning from - was out of contact. Ozai had his own brand of tried-and-true methods to secure progress from his engineers, who emphatically ensured the Fire Lord any communication issues would be resolved shortly.
That promise was the last thing Ozai would ever hear, before an impossibly loud crash thundered from the roof above him, and a carnage of flame and debris ended his world forever.
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"The first wave was a complete success." Kara Thrace, still in the process of removing a number of pins from the War Room's strategic map, reported. "We've significantly damaged the Fire Nation's capacity to reinforce their mainland armies, and two separate offensives into Earth Kingdom territory have been halted for the time being. That should give Ba Seng Se room to breath, let them regroup their forces for a counter attack."
Admiral Adama wasn't much for celebration, instead giving the slightest bob of his head to indicate approval. "Is there any indication of Fire Lord Ozai's status? Has he been eliminated?"
Starbuck's grin was all the affirmation the room needed. "One of the benefits of giving the Fire Nation wireless sets, they're using them to relay all sorts of sensitive information, and we're intercepting all of it. A communique from a city near the capital confirmed it, Ozai is dead."
Sokka let out a victory cheer at the news. Katara gave a soft, quiet smile, while Roslin's expression stayed stone cold. Aang felt a good deal more numb than he'd expected, but couldn't place why. This is what he'd always wanted, wasn't it? This is what he'd asked the Colonials to do, so why did he just feel an emptiness inside?
"Do we know who will assume command of the Fire Nation's general affairs, now that most of the Royal Family is dead or incapaciated?" Roslin inquired.
Starbuck gave a concerned expression. "Most of the Royal Family was in the palace at the time of the attack, but there were a handful off the home islands. The most likely heir would actually be a young woman I met on the surface, Princess Azula."
Aang shuttered, while Sokka's gloating ground to a halt. "Princess Azula?" Aang asked in horror.
"Someone you know?" Lee asked inquisitively.
"Yeah, you could say that." Katara offered cautiously. "We met her in Omashu, along with her gang of friends. Believe it or not, we might've been better off with Ozai."
Starbuck pulled out a log book, and sifted through its contents until landing her finger on a specific block of text. "Azula seems to have a knack for avoiding death. Not only was she away from the Royal Palace, she'd only just left the offensive at Ba Seng Se when Zarek's bomb went off."
"I take it this Azula isn't the diplomatic type?" Roslin pressed.
Aang shook his head. "No, she's pretty crazy."
"I'd guess she'll probably be passing through a few Fire Nation strongholds on her way back to the capital." Starbuck deduced. "Depending on what route she takes, there's a good chance she'll be caught in the second wave of our attack."
Aang thought back to Starbuck's initial briefing a few hours ago, before the first wave of the Colonial attack. Aang knew Galactica was built for war, but seeing how the Colonials did war up close and personal was eye opening. Her presentation lacked the proud boasting or camaraderie he'd been used to from Earth Kingdom generals. Only the cold, clinical details of exactly how and when the Fire Nation juggernaut would be brought to its knees.
Aang figured the Colonials would have the edge, but this operation proved these spacefarers were on a completely different level. Starbuck and the admiral dismissed entire Fire Nation armies like they were pawns on a chess board. Defenses that would've taken entire Water Tribe fleets hundreds of days to wear down were casually reduced to an exact number of missiles required to break the target, before moving on. The success of each strike seemed to be taken for granted, a testament to the absolute technological supremacy of his planet's latest inhabitants.
The first wave was mostly focused on destroying key infrastructure. Factories, shipyards, and of course, the Royal Palace. It also dulled some of the Fire Nation armies near Ba Seng Se, one of the last true strongholds of the Earth Kingdom. The second wave would focus on supply lines closer to home, destroying key reinforcements and equipment before they'd have a chance to reach the battlefield. Finally, the third wave was tasked with clearing a path to Omashu, giving the Earth Kingdom a chance to liberate their second largest city.
Aang was certainly glad these people had peaceful intentions. With the ease Adama dealt with the world's greatest superpower, it felt odd recalling just how much difficulty Roslin had getting the Colonials to actually fight.
"We've done the heavy lifting, now it'll be up to the Earth Kingdom to take initiative." Lee observed. "By tomorrow we'll have expended almost one third of all the guided munitions we have in the fleet, so they'd better to make the most of the chaos on the front lines."
"Oh, you can count on the Earth Kingdom." Sokka bragged. "I'm sure they're more than ready to bring the fight to the Fire Nation for a change."
Aang hoped Sokka was right, and the city of Omashu would finally be liberated soon. At the same time, his inner conflict only widened. Ozai had been a psychopath bent on world domination, but at the same time, Aang was supposed to hold all life as sacred. How was he supposed to reconcile his belief to never take a life, with the amount of death required to halt the Fire Nation?
The answer he kept coming back to, though he didn't want to admit it, was that he couldn't. Either the Colonials shouldn't have helped; or this much killing in the name of stopping Fire Nation was justified. These were mutual exclusive positions, and one of them needed to give.
One choice kept Katara and her family safe, the other didn't.
It seemed like ever since the Colonials arrived, the world had become so much murkier. The difference between right and wrong was starting to blur, to the point of something becoming both at the same time. He desperately missed the simple, clear cut beliefs his people had instilled in him more than a century ago, though he was becoming ever more certain the days of clear boundaries between right and wrong were coming to an end.
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Aang's self-doubt only grew in strength throughout the evening, and was still present when he tried to get some sleep. He'd given up hope on shut-eye ever coming after a few hours, turning to aimlessly walking the corridor outside his room until he wore himself out. After some time, that finally seemed to be working, but as the young boy reached out to let himself back into his room, he felt his body begin falling through the very deck below him.
His world turned to a void of black, then the stars began sprinkling his vision. Aang looked down to find his hands an ethereal shade of blue, a tell-tale sign that he wasn't on Pegasus anymore. Or at least, his spirit wasn't.
"Hello, Aang." The familiar voice caught Aang off guard as he turned to face Avatar Roku for the second time in as many days. "I'm sorry to surprise you, but things in the Spirit World are changing quickly. This couldn't wait."
Roku's warmth was nearly absent, something really must have been wrong. "What's happening? Fire Lord Ozai is gone, things should be getting better, not worse."
"When we spoke last, I told you the spirits were wary of the Colonial's arrival. When the visitors detonated that… that weapon in the Earth Kingdom, they experienced something their kind hasn't felt for a long time: Fear. Most of them now believe the Colonials are too dangerous to be allowed on this planet."
Aang blinked hard in disbelief. The very concept of nuclear weapons shook the young avatar to his core, but he would never have believed the weapon's impact would reach the Spirit World. The spirits were old and wise, it took a lot to freak them out. "You don't understand! It wasn't the Colonials who used it. They were trying to leave, then this guy broke away, and he's-"
"The spirits don't concern themselves with mortal affairs, they won't listen to any explanation from me. As we speak, they're plotting to remove the Colonials by any means necessary. I fear the coming conflict may be more destructive than the hundred-year war ever was."
The boy shot his arms to his sides. "How could they not listen? They're supposed to be these all-knowing, wisdom-filled beings. The Colonials are complicated, but they're not bad people. If I could just show them, they'd see that."
Roku's face remained calm and dignified as he laid out a spark of hope. "There is one way to avert disaster. There is a spirit - Marathi - one of the most ancient of the spirits. Marathi has been communicating with one of the visitors, one you know as Laura Roslin."
Aang's face lit up. "Laura! She's the perfect person for the spirits to talk to."
"Laura Roslin is to her world, what you are to this one. She is the leader of her people, and may hold the key to convincing the spirits they can live in harmony with the Colonials. Unfortunately, even the greatest of the spirits can't communicate from such great distances for more than a few minutes. You are unique Aang, you're the bridge between worlds, so I may be able to bring you into the Spirit World, but neither I nor the spirits can bring Roslin."
"So what, I just need to bring Roslin to the Spirit World and let her talk, right? Easy-Peasy."
Roku shook his head. "The spirits don't change their minds easily. Marathi may be able to convince the spirits to grant her an audience, but you and Roslin will have to do the rest. Marathi's home is a place you are also quite familiar with. A swamp known to give its visitors strange visions of lost loved ones, or visions of things to come."
"The Foggy Swamp!" Aang cried out. "I know exactly where that is!"
"Then move quickly, Aang." Roku warned. "The Colonial's involvement in this war may stop the Fire Nation, but the demonstration of their power has made the spirits more and more leery. Tread carefully, the spirits don't feel threatened often - certainly not by mortals - and I'm not sure how they will react."
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In the day since she'd commandeered a Tundra Tank and set off on the long journey to the Colonial settlement, Princess Azula hadn't had time to do anything but stew. Both Mai and Ty Lee were skilled warriors, more than capable of handling anything on their own. Qin was good at what he did, but at the end of the day, he was more of a bureaucrat than a warrior. She left her only two friends behind because the Fire Nation needed somebody Azula could implicitly trust to watch over their greatest military victory. Had she put too much responsibility on the shoulders of those two? No - they were more than ready for the task. If she was to take her father's place one day, she needed to learn to delegate.
"There's a Fire Nation encampment not far up the road from here." Azula told the vehicle's operator. "We'll stop to refuel, get an hour or two's rest and set off again."
When their tank screeched to a halt outside of the modest arrangement of tents and barracks, Azula was surprised to find the usual Fire Nation discipline absent. People were rushing from one building to another, frantically gathering supplies and giving the impression that they were planning to book it out of there as soon as they could possibly arrange it.
Borderline furious at their sloppiness, Azula ran over to the man whose gold-encrusted cap indicated he was in charge. "You! What are you people doing? Are you expecting to be attacked?"
The soldier removed his helmet and blinked hard before replying? "Princess Azula? I don't-"
"You're not answering the question."
The man shrunk down, trying to work out how to address his better. "You haven't heard the news, have you?"
"What news?" demanded an increasingly irate Azula.
"I don't know how to tell you this." The officer set his helmet on the ground below him, and began twiddling with his fingers. "Messengers have been spreading the word all day. Earlier today, the Colonials attacked the Royal Palace with great bolts of fire, destroying it completely. Fire Lord Ozai is dead."
Azula waited for a punchline that never came.
There had to be some sort of miscommunication. They were still getting used to the Wireless sets, something must have been lost in translation. The officer assured her that wasn't the case.
"Ozai… my father... is dead?" She gawked, feeling her knees grow weak. They never grew weak. She forced her posture straight again.
"They attacked several cities on the Home Islands. Factories, shipyards - A few of the wireless sets back home are still working, so we can get information back and forth. The Colonials eviscerated our supply lines, in a few weeks we'll be struggling to put up any kind of fight at all."
Azula thought back to that Colonial settlement, nestled on a coast line right here in the Earth Kingdom. "Those double crossing-" The princess steadied herself, she needed to remain in her element. "I'm going back to Ba Seng Se, our forces should have been able to overrun its defenders by now. When I get back I'm-"
"The Colonials-" The officer began again, ushering a series of frustrated fire-charges from Azula.
"What else?"
"The Colonials have been attacking our armies around Ba Seng Se. Our messengers have been reporting entire formations reduced to a handful of crippled survivors. Our front lines around the Earth Kingdom capital have totally collapsed."
Though she hadn't thought it possible, Azula's heart dropped even further. "What of the drill? Surely such a formidable weapon has been able to… to…"
The officer's grim face gave her an answer. She didn't need to ask; she knew what the Colonials were capable of.
Ty Lee and Mai. She'd left them behind. They wanted to come, but she made them stay behind and tend to her affairs. Her only two real friends on the entire planet were dead. Her father was dead.
In five minutes, Azula's entire world was shattered into a million pieces.
"We can't stay here." The officer warned. "The Colonials have been striking targets around Ba Seng Se, so it's only a matter of time until-"
A high-pitched scream from the sky cut the officer off. Azula's keen eyesight caught the white trail of some weapon shooting from the sky, and used what fractions of a second she had to grab the officer's chest and throw them both down. She pulled him on top of her in an effort to use the man's armor as a shield, though given the strength of the Colonial weapons, she wasn't sure what kind of difference it would make.
The ground shook, and the shockwave threw her against the hull of her tank. Agonizing screams and the smell of burning fabric and flesh filled the air.
She threw the officer off her to find his blood deeply staining her outfit. Metal fragments had pierced his armor - the man was either dead, or would be very shortly.
Something was cutting into her abdomen, but the princess didn't have time to deal with it now. With sheer force of will, Azula slowly pulled herself back on her feet. Lightning crackled around her body as she finally lost the capability to keep her anger contained any longer. She screamed into the sky, a trail of fire shooting out of her mouth.
She wandered down that road for hours to reach the next encampment. Her tank was totaled, and its operator among the dead. Blood oozed down onto the dirt road below her, though she refused to take the time to tend to her wounds. Not until the great enemy responsible for stealing her world had been dealt with once and for all.
After some time, she came across the still-intact Fire Nation encampment. Ignoring gasping faces, she drug her damaged body into the largest tent, and demanded the attention of the stout officer strategizing an exit plan with her comrades.
"Princess Azula?" The woman asked, staring at the growing pool of blood seeping through the royal woman's uniform.
"That's Fire Lord Azula now." She corrected. "Who are you? What is your rank?"
"My name is Colonel-"
"Nevermind, I don't care what your name is." Azula snarled. "Colonel, I want you to send the messengers out. Gather up everybody who's still alive, and get them ready for combat. The Colonials have established a settlement no more than two days' travel from here - We're going to have our revenge on those traitors who seem so intent on destroying everything we've worked for."
"Fire Lord Azula, our forces are already stretched so thin, how many men can we commit to-"
"I said all of them!"
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Roslin was used to being woken up at the strangest hours. Whether it was some calamity, a Cylon threat, or just the odd creaks of a passenger liner that hadn't seen drydock in nearly a year, it was a wonder she managed to get any sleep at all.
Still, being woken up by a magical twelve-year old boy insisting he'd had spiritual visions he needed to share right that very second was a new one for the bingo board.
So, Laura had forced herself awake, then dragged Bill Adama onboard while a shuttle fetched Aang and his friends.
"Avatar Roku - me in a past life - came to me in a vision. He said the spirits are afraid of you, and that they're going to try kicking you off the planet." Aang started matter-of-factly.
Past lives, Roslin thought. Add reincarnation to the list of apparently real things.
"None of our encounters with the spirits have gone well," Laura noted. "But they've seemed mostly ambivalent towards humanity. Why the sudden change?"
"Roku said they were afraid." Aang elaborated. "He said they watched the weapon go off near Ba Seng Se. It was powerful enough to freak even them out, and they're worried about what else you can do."
Adama actually chuckled at that. "They're afraid of us? Appreciate the irony in that, we can't even hurt them."
"Maybe they're afraid of you for the same reasons we were at first." Katara offered. "We only saw glimpses of the kind of people you were, and it was easy to jump to conclusions."
"The spirits are wise, but they're not used to dealing with something new." Aang resumed. "I think they're letting their fear get the best of them, but we can still stop the fighting before it starts. Laura - Roku told me a spirit has been talking to you already. An ancient one named Marathi."
Roslin gulped, the visions of that elk-esque thing still reeling in her mind. "I have been having visions that involve a spirit. It's been coming to me ever since we jumped into orbit, and it almost always appears in some sort of swamp."
"That's the one!" Aang cried out happily. "Marathi lives in a swamp I've been to before, I even told you about it once. The Foggy Swamp, it's in the Earth Kingdom. If we take you down to the swamp, Marathi can take you into the Spirit World so you can give your side of the story."
Adama's tone left no illusions about his feelings. "The last time we attempted communicating with a spirit, it tried to kill Laura. Frankly, ever since we've arrived, they've been nothing but hostile towards us. I don't see why we should be humoring them again."
This time, Roslin was inclined to agree with him. "I don't know Aang. I don't want a conflict anymore than you do, but the last spirit we spoke with was happy to watch us die before lifting a finger to help us."
"It could very well be a trap." Adama suspected. "Lure our leader down there to kill her, or interrogate her."
The boy was losing his patience. "It's not a trap! Roku has always been on my side, and he has a lot more experience with the spirits than I do. If the spirits decide to actually fight you, you won't be able to stop them. This is the only way."
"Don't count on that." Adama warned coldly. "If these spirits are afraid, they must believe we pose a threat to them. I'm wondering if we're able to harm them a lot more than they want us to think we can."
Roslin put a hand on Adama's shoulder to quiet him. "Why don't we meet them halfway. The spirits haven't actually attacked us yet, we can use this time to learn all we can about that swamp. Aang, I want you to show us exactly where it is, maybe we can send a team down to figure out if this is a genuine offer."
"In the meantime," Adama started as he stood up and straightened his uniform, "I'm going to put the reserve pilots on alert, and we should seriously consider contacting the rogue settlement to relay this information. It's likely to be the primary target of the spirits."
Hopefully, all of this was sabre-rattling on the part of these otherworldly beings, or even just a bad dream Aang was putting too much stock in. Unfortunately, with the way things were going since they'd arrived, Laura didn't think they'd get off so easily. The very last thing they needed was a war with the Fire Nation and the Spirit World, especially when she wasn't sure how much of a fight they'd put up against the latter.
Aang was of course, less than pleased with her hesitation. However, after all the horrors that'd come from the spirits callousness, could anybody blame her? Sokka seemed a little more reluctant to trust the spirits, but Katara always seemed to have her friend's back.
Until the spirits actually did something, all she could do was wait and see.
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The offensive against the Fire Nation had surpassed all expectations. Their mainland forces had lost all cohesion, and were scattering in every direction. Most of the generals leading the charge were either dead or unaccounted for, and the Home Islands themselves would have a hell of a time trying to provide relief for months to come. Adama knew the Fire Nation - its leadership at least - were a corrupt, power hungry collection of psychopaths bent on the extermination of anybody standing in their way. Striking them down seemed like the morally just thing to do, but he worried over the precedent it would set. Would the three nations come to them if this ever happened again? Would the civilian government use this war an excuse to insert themselves into other conflicts down the line? The implications of making themselves judge and jury weren't lost on Adama, but at this moment, he could feel some bit of pride for having done the right thing.
Sadly, even as the battered remains of the Fire Nation's chain of command seemed to be whispering thoughts of peace, this spiritual conflict gave him something new to mull over.
"It looks like any other swamp to me." Colonel Tigh stated, setting down the black-white survey images of the stretch of terrain Aang referred to as 'The Foggy Swamp.' "Not that I can say I've been to very many swamps in my days."
"That forest looked like any other forest, too." Adama countered. "I've had Gaeta point every sensor on this ship towards that area, and he's found nothing special. If we ever want to defend ourselves against these things, we need to figure out how they work."
Tigh gave a disgusted scowl. "We're going to have an awfully hard time making a living on this hunk of rock if those spirits keep knocking at our door, tooling for a fight."
"Our top priority is defending the settlement. If the spirits turn hostile, the president agrees it's likely to be their prime target."
"We'll see how they like picking a fight with us when we've-"
Tigh couldn't even mouth out the rest of his sentence. His dumbstruck face was transfixed on something behind Adama. The admiral turned to see, of all things, a mesmerizing, blue sphere floating in CIC. The… whatever it was kept about a foot above eye level, and pulsed with strange energy that sent miniature arcs of energy across its half-transparent surface.
One of those arcs shot out to a nearby console, shorting the device and eliciting a confused screech from the officer manning it.
"What in the name of the Gods is that?" Tigh cried out, though, everybody else in CIC was just as astonished.
Adama and Tigh took several cautious steps back as the sphere doubled in size. Before Adama was given the chance to contemplate a plan to deal with the otherworldly thing, something began to emerge from it.
Adama felt the urge to check if he was dreaming. The thing slowly emerging from the portal was quite literally, a single, glowing... eyeball.
The thing couldn't have been more than a foot long, and its body was attached to a giant web of green, lurid veins stretching back to the portal the entity had emerged from.
"You are Adama?" Echoed a malevolent voice that seemed to come from everywhere in the room all at once. "My name is Father Glowworm, and I am here to deliver a message from the Spirit World."
With those menacing words, Tigh wasted no time pulling his sidearm from its holster and taking aim at the newly arrived spirit. "Sergeant of the Guards, get your team in here!"
A half dozen marines charged into the room, rifles in hand, and took aim at the creature. Most of CIC's on-duty officers had ducked for cover, with the exception of one brave comms officer raising the other decks for help.
The eye's gaze shifted from Adama, to Tigh, to one of the marines. Its pupil contracted and its body bobbed ever so slightly as a deep, bellowing laugh rocked the room. "Your mortal weapons cannot harm me, though I'd be delighted if you wanted to try."
"We'll see how much you're laughing when we're done peeling you off the wall!" Tigh barked.
"You said you're here to deliver a message." Adama said, taking a number of steps towards Father Glowworm. "Get on with it."
The eye focused its attention on Admiral Adama. "We've been observing your kind since your arrival above this world. You are careless and destructive, even by human standards. The chaos you will bring threatens to throw the already hobbled balance of this planet further into disarray. Therefore, we have decided your stain is to be removed. You have one day to leave this land, and depart."
The eye cast a curious glance around CIC. "If you do not heed this warning, then your people will pay in blood."
Glowworm could use whatever so-called magic it wanted - Adama wouldn't be backing down.
"I think our people have been extremely patient with your kind." The admiral said with a harsh, steely resolve. "You talk a big game about harmony and balance, but you've been the ones to initiate every conflict. You murdered our people in the forest. You attacked us again when we tried negotiating with you. Now, you're making threats while calling us the destructive ones."
"Don't fool yourself into thinking you're in a position to lecture us." Father Glowworm boomed "You people are hardly worth this conversation."
Tigh gave a curt chuckle. "You seem awfully worried about what we've got up our sleeve, for a thing who thinks we're hardly worth it's time."
The eye inched forward, the webs behind it pulsating and elongating as its body twisted itself to examine Saul Tigh. "You are peculiar. Something's off about you, but I just can't place it…"
Adama brought himself barely an inch away from the spirit, staring it down with a fiery intensity that even Glowworm seemed to respect. "Listen to me: I'm delivering a warning now. Our patience with you is over. Make any attempt to harm our people on the surface, or in orbit, and I'll show you just how destructive us lowly humans can be."
Father Glowroom actually backed a few inches away from the admiral before delivering another roaring laugh. "We have nothing to fear from your kind in this physical world."
"Maybe you don't." Adama took hold of the recon image of the Foggy Swamp, still sitting on CIC's command console. "This swamp, it seems pretty important to your kind. Something about the place is filled with a sort of spiritual energy as I understand it."
"You would know even less of spiritual matters than the ignorant humans who already live here." Father Glowworm condescended. "I don't expect you to understand."
The admiral didn't bother acknowledging the spirit's latest quipp as he barked a new order to CIC: "Open nuclear launch tube three, and load a targeting package centered thirty kilometers east of the swamp."
Bill yelled for Tigh to get his launch key, while preparing his own. Feelix, still shooting nervous glances at the spirit watching him do his work, yelled out a confirmation that the warhead was armed and ready to fire on his command.
"What are you doing?" Father Glowroom asked with growing concern. "You can't-"
"Launch missile." Adama growled as he and the Colonel turned their key simultaneously, causing Galactica to rock ever so slightly as it unleashed the strategic weapon
This device wasn't the ship-to-ship tactical weapon stolen by Zarek and his people. Its yield was more than an order of magnitude greater, powerful enough to incinerate everything within a kilometer of the blast.
It took ninety seconds for the warhead to reach altitude and detonate near the sacred land. Ninety seconds filled with a spirit who's tone rapidly shifted from indifferent, to confused, to furious.
"You wonder why we've banished you!" It screamed out. "I should strike you down where you stand, turn your body inside out, twist your flesh into-"
"I don't think you can." Adama cut in. "I know how hard it is for you spirits to manifest yourselves in orbit. I think you're using most of your power just to get here."
Adama threw his picture of the Foggy Swamp on the ground in front of Glowworm. "If you come anywhere near our settlement, I'll vaporize that swamp."
"You insolent-"
"You things are used to getting your way; not with us. Not with me. Now get your pompous, hypocritical equivalent of an ass off my ship."
The eye began glowing an ominous red, and practically shook with a fury that sent most of CIC back under their stations for cover. However, without another word, Gloworm reversed his movement, and retreated back into his portal. The gateway closed behind him, sending a gust of wind across the command center.
"Well," It took Tigh a few tense moments before he slowly began lowering his sidearm. "That is going to be a new one for the log books."
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"You did what!?"
Aang's exclamation echoed around CIC, but the boy's frustration only seemed to irritate Admiral Adama. "You attacked a place sacred to the spirits? Didn't you say you wanted to avoid fighting them?"
Katara put a hand on Aang's back. "What I think Aang's trying to say is-"
"That you're crazy! Don't you see I'm trying to walk a fine line between-"
"They threatened us." Adama intjerfected, his booming voice catching Aang off guard. "They promised to kill every man, woman, and child in that settlement if we don't give in to their demands. You can talk about balance all you want Aang, the reality is that these things are bullies, and bullies respond to force."
Aang tried glaring the grizzled man down, to no effect.
"Aang, we want to live in peace with the spirits, and everybody else on this planet for that matter." Roslin said kindly. "But the reality is, the spirits just proved they're willing to escalate this conflict."
"The warhead didn't strike the swamp." Adama pointed out in a vaguely conciliatory tone. "It was close enough to get their attention, but that's it. A warning shot."
Aang huffed as he leaned against the command console. The poor boy seemed genuinely distraught and conflicted.
The admiral called Lieutenant Gaeta over, folder in hand. "If that isn't enough, we've got another potential problem for the pile."
Gaeta pulled a photograph from his folder, setting it down in front of Aang and his friends.
"Do you have any idea what this thing is?" Adama asked the avatar.
Laura examined the picture along with everybody else in the dimly lit room. Centered on the shot of the deep blue ocean, was a small, green island. It was unnaturally round, with a series of waves riding out behind its back.
"Uh.." Aang started, clearly confused. "I don't get it, that's just an island."
"Islands usually don't move." Gaeta jabbed. "Whatever that is, it's changed positions every time we've sent a survey mission out. It actually looks like it's making a beeline for the settlement."
Aanged pressed himself closer to the photo, looking it over several more times before finally coming to some sort of realization. "Oh!" He cried out. "I think I know what that is! It's a Lion Turtle, it has to be."
"The Lion Turtles were hunted to extinction a long time ago." Sokka chimed. "Try again, Aang."
"The Air Nomads told legends about the Lion Turtles, they were once sacred to us. The monks said the turtles disguised themselves as islands or giant rocks to avoid humans. It's the only explanation that makes sense."
Colonel Tigh shook his head. "You're telling us, a giant, island-sized turtle is double timing it to our people? Why?"
"The Lion Turtles are ancient, they protected humanity before the four nations even existed." Aang explained. "They gave our ancestors the ability to bend, they're one of the most powerful things in the world."
"So a magic island-sized turtle." Laura noted. "Lovely."
"Even the spirits respected the Lion Turtles." Aang continued, just before his face sombered. "I wonder if the turtle is afraid of you too, if it's working with the spirits."
"That would be bad." Katara forewarned.
"How long do we have before the turtle reaches the rogue settlers?" Laura asked.
Gaeta had been prepared to answer this well in advance. Roslin guessed Adama already knew himself. "Two, maybe three days."
"Oh Lords," Laura let out, pacing a few feet back and forth as she considered her options. "This conflict is going to spiral out of control before the Fire Nation is even dealt with. We can't just sit back and wait to see what happens when that oversized reptile gets to the settlement. So frak it, If this Marathi really thinks he, or she, or it, can get me an audience in the Spirit World and put an end to this battle before it starts, then I'm going down there."
"Yes!" Aang cried out. "We can leave right now!"
"I'm not taking any chances this time." Adama counseled. Laura wouldn't try stopping him. Her patience with this fairy-tale magic was growing shorter by the second. "I'm sending Mathias down with you, along with a strike team."
Sokka was surprisingly approving of the admiral's stance. "Glad to see somebody around here knows how to take precautions, honestly Aang, you could learn from Adama here."
"Prep the team, we're leaving in an hour." Roslin ordered. She tapped on the railing behind her, thinking of something Shinrin said to her down in that forest. "I do have one more request. Sharon, the Cylon prisoner, I'd like her to come with us as well. Something about human-form Cylons seems to throw the spirits off guard, she might be an asset."
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The very minute after Zarek's warhead went off, he was lauded as a hero by Feng and his men. He'd succeeded in eradicating the Fire Nation's weapon, saving the great city of Ba Seng Se.
Of course, there had been collateral damage. Hundreds of city dwellers unfortunate enough to be looking in the general direction of the blast were blinded, and many more suffered from severe burns. Fallout would inevitably claim a number of lives over the next few days, and more still would suffer side effects even decades down the line. It was unfortunate, but the alternative would've been the complete subjugation of the Earth Kingdom. Stopping the Fire Nation at the cost of a few hundred lives was a bargain Zarek was happy to take.
They'd set off for the Fire Nation capital not even an hour after the weapon was destroyed. Zarek traded in his jeans and leather jacket for a set of loose-fitting Fire Nation garbs. As they approached the coast line, they'd look like any other Fire Nation citizens to the numerous patrols and roving armies. The creatures they rode pulled carts full of fine pottery, giving credibility to their cover story of merchants looking to sell their goods. Once they made it to shore, they'd take a trawler to the Home Islands, talk their way into the capitol, and set off the second warhead.
"Your people wield such power." Observed Du Jiang, one of the Dai Li agent tasked by Feng to escort Zarek and his people into Fire Nation territory. Jiang and the two other Earth Kingdom agents with him tended to be the silent types, hardly exchanging more than the necessary pleasantries since they'd departed from Ba Seng Se, so the sudden conversation took Zarek off guard. "Why would you ever leave them? Why betray them to help us?"
"The Fire Nation has a lot in common with my people." Zarek told Jiang. "The Colonials are ruled by a caste of imperialists who spent centuries exploiting my homeland. The Fire Nation were well on the way to doing the same to you. When I had a chance to stop the Earth Kingdom from going the way of Sagittaron, abandoning my people was a small price."
Jiang steadied his creature as he digested Zarek's words. "There are those who would ask how they could possibly trust you, Zarek. You betrayed your own people, who's to say you won't betray us, too?"
"They may have been my people, but I had nothing in common with them." Zarek maintained. "If they do stay on this planet, you'll need to keep your guard up around the Colonials."
Silence resumed amongst the small gang of travellers as they winded down road after road for hours. When they came across a platoon of Fire Nation soldiers marching down the same path, it was time to find out if their cover story would actually be sufficient.
Zarek tipped his cap at the armored men taking point. To Tom's horror, just before they passed, the soldiers cut in front of their caravan and yelled for them to stop.
"What can we do for you fine men?" Jiang asked amicably.
"You haven't heard the news, have you?" The soldier asked, his face obscured by a red-black helmet with the image of a skull imprinted on its front. "The Colonials - those visitors from another world - They've sided with the Earth Kingdom. Ozai is dead, and it's no longer safe for us to be this close to Ba Seng Se." The man eyed their carts. Even if he inspected them, Zarek could tell these soldiers the warhead was just another fancy piece of pottery. They wouldn't know any better. "If you're headed back to the Home Islands, I'd be careful. There's a lot of chaos there right now, you might want to find somewhere safe to wait it out."
"Ozai is dead?" Jiang asked, clearly trying his hardest to feign a tone of horror. "How tragic!"
The soldier gripped his beast's reigns tightly. "We need to leave, but I couldn't let fellow Fire Nation citizens get themselves caught in the carnage. You have a safe trip."
When their caravan was well out of earshot, Jiang dismounted and virtually threw himself into Zarek. "Whatever you did, it worked! Ozai is dead, and from the sound of those soldiers, we're finally starting to drive the Fire Nation back."
"Our leaders must have finally gotten in through their heads that the Fire Nation would've come for them next." Zarek guessed. Adama's intervention came as a genuine surprise, but a welcome one.
"We should turn back for Ba Seng Se." Jiang advised. "If the Fire Nation is growing desperate, they'll sue for peace. There's no need to cause more destruction that could strengthen their resolve."
Zarek raised a hand. "No, our mission needs to stay the same. I know the Fire Nation, I know how people like them operate. Thirst for conquest runs in their people's veins by now. Even if Ozai is dead, and they end the war, they'll just try again a few decades down the line."
"Our mission was to kill the Fire Lord." Jiang pointed out. "If he's already dead, what's the point of going to the capital?
"Killing the Fire Lord was an objective, one of many." Zarek said. "But I'm telling you, if you want to guarantee the Earth Kingdom's survival in the long term, we need to inflict a wound on their country so great, they'll never pose a threat to you again."
"You're not…" Jiang started, his eyes narrowing at Zarek. "You actually want to destroy the entire city, don't you? Do you have any idea how many people live there? I was willing to accept casualties if it meant killing Ozai, but I'm not going to let you kill just to kill."
Zarek gave a dejected sigh. "I really thought the Dai Li of all people would understand what is necessary."
"I'm not arguing about this with you." Jiang stabbed. "We're turning back."
When Jiang began climbing back onto his steed, Zarek reached into his garments and grabbed the butt of his pistol. In one swift motion, he raised the weapon and fired a pair of rounds into Jiang's chest, sending him toppling to the ground.
Zarek's men didn't hesitate. They produced their weapons and began taking aim at the remaining Dai Li agents, but the Dai Li had a lifetime of combat training to work with. Zarek people, for the most part, consisted of convicted criminals. The Earth Kingdom agents dodged the initial volley of fire. One produced an assassin's knife, jamming it into the abdomen of one of the Colonials before they had a chance to steady their aim.
Zarek's two remaining allies took cover behind the metal crate housing his precious cargo. One of the Dai Li agents - the only Earth bender with them - kicked the ground in front of him, sending a spire of rock shooting up out of the ground and into the metal box, throwing it down and crushing the two Colonials underneath it.
The few seconds of firefighting was all the time Zarek needed to reload his weapon, and take aim at the two Dai Li agents. With military precision, Zarek dispatched the two in a hail of bullets before either of them had a chance to mount a counterattack
The brief tussle subsided, leaving Zarek as the only man left standing. He checked the pulse of his stabbed comrade to find nothing, surmising the blade must have been coated in a type of poison. It took him a good deal of time to get the deceptively heavy crate back on one of the carts. Zarek found the mangled corpses of his two remaining accomplices crushed under the weight of metal and rock.
Tom took a moment to inspect the warhead, finding it dented and scratched, though it appeared mostly intact. The Earth Kingdom had given them money, forged papers, everything he needed to get the job done - even on his own.
Just as he began trying to work out how Jiang rode the beast that would take him the rest of the way across the mainland, the crippled Dai Li agent weakly croaked something out.
"This vendetta Zarek, it's going to destroy all of us."
Zarek stared down at the agent's mortally wounded body. "No, Jiang. The only thing that would destroy you, is your inability to do what needs to be done."
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"What we're about to discuss doesn't make its way out of this room." William Adama emphasised, shutting the Situation Room's heavy door behind Roslin. "Certainly not to Aang and his friends under any circumstances."
They'd last conferenced in CIC less than an hour ago. She was supposed to be meeting Aang and the others on the hanger deck any minute now. What else could the admiral possibly want to tell her? And just as important, why the veil of secrecy?
Captain Thrace was there, too. Standing in front of the table, its bright glow producing most of the light glowing off the lower half of her face in the dimly illuminated space. "We needed a plan B." She said simply.
"The Lion Turtle could very well destroy this fleet's long-term prospects for survival." Adama expounded. "We needed a plan to deal with it, in the event your excursion to the swamp fails."
"Deal with it?" Roslin repeated.
"Aang said these things were hunted to near extinction." Adama established, moving to stand behind Captain Thrace. "That would suggest the turtles can die, just like we can."
Kara Thrace took over from there. "If these people can kill it with their weapons and a few fancy magic tricks, we should be more than capable of doing the same thing."
"You're planning to kill the Lion Turtle?" Roslin spat out.
Kara nodded. "A Raptor carrying a set of bunker busters should be able to penetrate the turtle's shell and destroy it from the inside."
"Aang said the Lion Turtles were sacred to his people." Laura recalled. "If we destroy it, there would be no hope of reconciliation with the planet's factions."
Adama's softened his tone. "None of us want to do this, we didn't ask for this conflict. Unfortunately, the turtle and the Spirit World have put us in a position where it's either them, or us."
"And we're not going down without a fight." Kara threatened. "Aang's a good kid, but I don't think he appreciates just how dangerous the spirits are."
Roslin chewed on Adama's words. The admiral was right, it was smart to have a backup plan in case her second spiritual encounter went as well as her first. They had thousands of innocent people on the surface - if Aang wasn't able to save them, the fleet would have to do it themselves.
Still, the thought of attacking such an ancient creature made her feel uncomfortable. Not uncomfortable enough to disagree with Adama's assessment, but that nagging feeling gnawing on her when she shut down plans for settlement began to return. Would the planet have been better off if their fleet had simply never found it?
"Okay." She admitted. "Keep this plan in reserve, we've still got a couple days until the Lion Turtle reaches that settlement. In the meantime, pray to the Gods Aang's plan works out."
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I think we're actually going to finish a story for a change! The next chapter will bring the story to a conclusion, and if all goes according to plan, an epilogue will be posted at the same time.
