The Battle of the Western Air Temple (IC: Open to all!)

"All hands, prepare for battle!" Koda called across the deck of the Brinea. Kano stood at the head of several teams of Water Tribe warriors. Far across the water, he could see the Fire Nation flotilla. Great plumes of smoke rising from their stacks. The Water Tribe subs were nowhere to be seen. All were dressed for war.

"YAH!!!" Called the army aboard the armored flagship, the massive gold and blue flag of the chief flowing in the wind overhead. It was at once exhilarating and terrifying.

"Listen, all!" Kano called aloud, turning to face his warriors. There were many faces he knew and many more he didn't standing there. "The time has come to defend our brothers and sisters of the Air Nomads! Stand strong and fight for our friends! Let this be the beginning of the end of our great enemy!!!"

"YAH!!!" the army called once more, brandishing their weapons. Kano turned and climbed up to the bow-bridge, standing on the platform and watching the Fire Nation ships draw nearer. They were massive even at this distance. He could see them turning to face the surface fleet. There were many ships. A moment of utter unnerving silence fell and then...

"INCOMING!" called many voices across the armada. The Fire Nation fleet had launched its massive, fiery volley. The meteoric projectiles flew through the air, leaving pitch black trails of smoke in their arcs.

"WATERBENDERS!" Kano roared. A moment later, he sprung into action, his fluid moves guiding those of a dozen or so more benders on the deck behind him. A huge wave formed and wrapped itself up over the top of the ship, becoming a great watery shield against the flaming ballistics...

The two fleets closed on one another, projectiles being intercepted and rendered harmless by the shields of water. As the quarters closed and the ships began moving in amongst one another, Kano decided it was time to answer with an attack of their own...

"Disable and board!!!" he roared. With a team of two others, they froze the water solid around the propellers of a passing ship. It was instantly set adrift. A moment later, an explosion rocked the ship as the engine overloaded trying to fight the diamond-hard ice. With flames and smoke billowing from within the ship, Kano drew his weapon and was the first across the ramps the crew extended to the Fire Nation cruiser.

The moment he set foot on the deck of the cruiser was the moment he put that weapon to use...

Elsewhere in the fleet, the tactics of the Water Tribe navy were paying off. The Fire Nation ships didn't have much defense against their propellers being compromised by ice. It didn't take long to immobilize the entire Fire Nation flotilla engaged with them. But the fighting had just begun. They still had to subdue the crews of the Fire Nation ships... that wasn't so easy...

(Hope you guys don't mind me joining)

Tarek Raiden

The small ship Tarek was on rocked uncontrollably as the waves created by the Fire Nation’s fiery projectiles fell into the water around the Water Tribe Fleet. He was making his way to the flagship Fire Lord Shula was on, to offer his aid in the battle. Despite the boat being thrown about by the occasional wave Tarek sat perfectly still, head bowed and eyes closed. He had not been involved with the affairs of the Fire Nation for a long time, even though it was his country and birthplace. Tarek opened his eyes as the ship drew nearer to its destination. The waterbenders had created an impressive shield of water which swirled in colors of blue and orange as the Fire Nations projectiles made contact with it. Tarek let out a deep sigh, he usually would never think of heading into battle, but the Western Air Temple, its history, its philosophies and its people, had to be preserved from the greed of Novai. Memories of what he had learnt in school, about the Fire Lords Sozin, Azulon and Ozai, flooded his mind and strengthened his resolve. The small boat Tarek was aboard was now side by side with the ship the boatman revealed to be the one Fire Lord Shula was on, “They might not let you aboard,” the boatman called out to Tarek trying to shout louder than the roar of the battle that surrounded them. Tarek was aware of this; civilians are not just ‘let on’ to military vessels, especially vessels like the one Tarek was planning to board. “Fire Lord Shula will not turn away help when it is needed,” he shouted back, his voice then lowered into a whisper, “at least, I hope not.” Tarek climbed onto the deck of the magnificent ship and looked around. He saw a group of waterbenders boarding a nearby Fire Navy ship, and then he saw the Fire Lord, deflecting or destroying the worst of the incoming flaming projectiles with her fire bending. Tarek waited for a gap in the attack and shouted, “Fire Lord Shula!” He quickly bowed in respect before he continued, “you do not know me, but I am a humble servant of the true Fire Lord and offer my life to aid you, your allies and the airbenders in the battle.” Tarek was nervous, he had no idea what would happen, what the consequences would be, but he just stayed bowed and waited for the Fire Lord’s response.

Mood: Cautious Condition: Healthy

Link: Tarek Raiden

The presence of her companion and friend, Bukk, was greatly missed. With Bukk he would press his cold, wet nose into her hand for comfort and was always a warm presence of loyalty and love. His soft whine would alert her of something coming, right now Solei felt very blind, deaf, and mute all at the same time with that loss.

It wasn't that she didn't trust these men and women, she did. But Solei didn't know them at all. And even though Kanoei spoke to her with encouragement, she didn't know him either, he was a foreign object to her that she simply had to listen to. But Solei decided that none of that truly mattered, she had to forget about her own selfish desires for that moment to help win this war.

Solei had always been strange, she didn't know how to swim at all as a waterbender. And so Solei felt quite claustrophobic in the submarine and was happy when they finally breached to take on the Fire Nation fleet, Solei breathed a sigh of relief. She threw up water to stop any attacks from Fire Nation, she was no expert with waterbending, preferring to use ice and snow more, which was needed for more close quarters fighting. But Solei wasn't about to be the first to engage on a Fire Nation ship, so she waited.

Her patience seemed to pay off as Kanoei launched himself onto a ship, Solei quickly boarded as well so that she could hopefully help in anyway possible. She landed on the ship and was immediately almost engulfed in flames.

A smile appeared on her face as she quickly swirled water around her before freezing her hands into fists and then launching herself at the closest fire bender. She dodged an attack before throwing a frozen fist to his jaw.

Let the games begin.

Kano was overtaken by skill and purpose he'd rarely known before with a blade. His head obviously had a high priority with the Fire Nation soldiers who were attacking him because for every one he cut down or incapacitated, another would instantly take his place. Nevertheless, he was able to keep them at bay as he fought with strategically placed ice walls that would hold off one group while he dealt with the other. Of course, he wasn't fighting alone. There were Water Tribe warriors and Fire Nation rebels all around fighting. He was saved more than once by a watchful warrior's sword or a blast of fire from an ally.

But this battle wasn't about cutting down enemies. He worked his way toward the hatch leading indoors. They needed to take the bridge. Before long, he was inside the ship with a team of elite warriors at his back, charging down a corridor toward the stairwell leading up the tower to the ship's command center. They needed to secure it as fast as possible. And despite the speed with which they were able to move, they met heavy resistance the entire way.

"You two, down there!" he ordered, pointing his saber down a hall which led to what looked like a hatch leading to the engine room's upper floors. He knew these ships fairly well from the designs Shula had furnished. The engine room went from the bottom decks clear up through the stacks chamber where the exhaust towers were housed. It served as a hub for swift movement throughout the ship. They needed to seal off the hatch before more soldiers from the lower decks could make their way up to that level.

He didn't wait for them to complete the task he gave them before moving onward. Another few flights of stairs and they found their way to the antechamber to the bridge itself. It was heavily guarded. However, it was also sitting right on top of a steam pipe used to heat the floor of the bridge. Kano couldn't help but grin.

Down on the deck, a massive explosion sounded above, making everyone look up as a huge cloud of steam billowed out of the bridge windows. There was a few moments of silence while people watched to see what was happening. A moment later, the captain of the ship flew out of one of the windows and landed on the deck, an icy spike in his chest.

Back up on the bridge, the rest of the officers were busy surrendering to Kano's warriors.

"Damn." Kano muttered, looking down at the deck below and seeing the body of the man he'd just killed laying there. "I really didn't want to have to kill him..."

"Not to worry, Chief Kanoei!" said Captain Klargith, standing there with his spear directed at the first officer's face. "You were defending yourself."

"I think I went a little overboard, though."

"Ah, he would have killed all of us if he'd pulled off that explosion right." said another of the warriors. "Don't let it bother you."

"He's right." Klargith said. "The bridge is ours."

"True enough." Kano nodded. "Order the warriors to take the lower decks and secure the ship. Then prepare the deck weapons to fire."

"Aye." Klargith nodded.