The Battle of Gaoling

Chang stands at the summit of the northern most mountain surrounding Gaoling. His brow furrows as he scans the horizon. Tundra tanks, low-riding all terrain metal cars with spiky wheels, appear one by one over the next summit; they will close in on the city in under an hour.

"This time, I won't let you," Chang declares. He draws his sword and dagger, gripping them with anger painted on his face.

"You mean we won't let them," Lee corrects him, revealing himself from behind a pillar of stone.

Flourishing his blades, Chang wheels around to face the voice. "Easy, we are on your side," Kodok adds.

Sheathing his blades, Chang responds, "I thought you were going to keep people away from here."

"They won't bother us," Lee assures him. "Besides, you didn't tell us to stay away."

"This is my fight."

"Hey, we get it, you blame yourself for letting the fire nation take Omashu. That wasn't your fault: it's not like you are the one that attacked the city. Also, we want to fight the fire nation as well."

"I agree," Kodok confirms. "Do you have any idea what those things are though?"

"They're metal war machines powered by fire bending," Chang explains. "Designed to be unstoppable by natural obstacles and regular bending. These things are dangerous; fortunately, I know how to stop them."

"Man, you learned everything at Omashu! Tell us how we can help," Lee offers. He assumes a wide and powerful stance next to Cheng.

"Get out of here and don't die."

"I meant how can we help you deal with those things!"

Kodok surveys the valley before them and adds, "There are only five of those things. The rest of the troops are in foot. We might be able to win this one, if you tell us the weaknesses you know of."

Cheng hesitates but answers, "Those things can operate in any condition, even flipping them over won't stop them. Projectiles will bounce off; however, they stay upright with a water buoyancy system. Water benders can freeze the water in the system to destroy them from the inside. Earth bending is effective if you remove the wheels or create terrain where the wheels can touch anything."

"So just take the wheels off?" Lee echos, scratching his head.

"Yeah, if you can... Of course, there will still be two or three fire benders inside each. The soldiers probably aren't benders."

"We can stop the war machines and benders; you focus on the foot soldiers," Kodok orders. "Fighting a bender with just a sword is foolish."

"Very well," Cheng grips the handles of both his weapons. "Just make sure they don't reach the summit."

Leaping from the cliff, the three refugees charge forward. Lee surges ahead of the others, riding on a ball of boulders tumbling like an avalanche. Changing his trajectory to approach from the flank, he is on a collision course with several soldiers who dive out of the way.

A Tundra tank hurls a fireball at him as he approaches from the side. He bends the earth into a shield and launches it at the Tank, but it has no effect. His rock-alanche continues forward into the hind wheel of the machine; he glides over the top of it and forms a raised platform to fight from as the wheel falls off.

"Earth bender!" a fire bender shouts, crawling from the wreckage of his steel car. "It's an ambush!"

Pulling his sword from the last fire nation solder Lee had bowled over, Cheng lunges at the bender who spoke with his dagger. Killing the man instantly, he turns about and stares down the next wave of foot soldiers. They break formation to let a second tank through.

A flaming barrage flies at Cheng, who readies his sword as if he intends to block the flames. Suddenly, water erupts from the ground like a geyser. Dousing the flames, the wave rolls over the tank with Kodok riding it. Freezing the water, Kodok pops all four wheels off and disables the drivers.

"They have a water bender!" several soldiers yell in unison.

A spear flies towards Kodok, only to get destroyed by a boulder from Lee as it sails into another tank. Cheng engages the remaining foot soldiers, keeping their attention off the two benders. Their fight continuing on these two fronts, Lee and Kodok manage to knock the wheels off a third tank before the enemy gets organized.

The three work in perfect unison. Water, rocks, and steel drive the fire nation soldiers back behind their tanks. Their war machines prove more difficult to combat without the element is surprise. Fire bending prevents the freezing of the internal mechanisms, and experienced driving protects the wheels from earth-based attacks.

A stalemate halts the advance from both sides; however, signs of fatigue rear their head as sweat pours down Kodok and Lee's backs. Cheng watches their tunics darken and steps forward.

"Cover me," Cheng grunts, charging at the closest tank.

"What? Cheng get back!" Lee screams, creating a tent of dirt to protect the reckless swordsman from a flurry of fireballs.

When Cheng is close to the tank, more fire is rained on him. Kodok creates another spout of water, but the strain on his body prevent him from keeping it up for long. One ball of embers makes it through their cover; Cheng rolls beneath it and springs forward onto the tank.

Moments later he pries the hatch on top open with his dagger and drops inside. Flames spurt out of the vehicle at random intervals, but it stops moving. The contraption goes silent for a few seconds, as if it were holding its breath.

Then it explodes. Cheng emerges from the hatch alone, clothes in tatters, covered in scorch marks, cuts on his arms and legs, clutching his sword and dagger, eyes fixed on the last tank with a murderous gleam. He stumbles toward the last of the fire nation attack as if in a trance.

"He is a monster!" a frightened soldier cries. "Kill him!"

As fire rains down on his location, Lee erects a stone dome to protect his comrade. Kodok slides across the battlefield on a disk of water, with Lee close behind on another pile of stones. The two benders join their friend who can barely stand.

"This is bad," Kodok sighs, peering out at the half-dozen soldiers and single war machine.

"If we can just take that last one out," Lee huffs.

"You two can go," Cheng spits, coughing before he is able to continue. "I can finish this alone."

"Umm... you can't even stand..." Lee points out.

Before the three can continue their argument, the last tank gets slammed from both sides by massive boulders. Hands reach out from the ground and pull two fire nation troops neck deep into earth. An earthquake swallows the rest, ending the battle.

"That was impressive, Lee," Kodok remarks.

"Wasn't me..." Lee admits with a shrug.

Three men appear on the battle field when the dust settles. One is muscular with dark hair and a goatee; the second is an extremely large man with a tuft if black hair; the third is an older bald man with goggles who is only visible from the waist up.

"The Boulder crushed that tank like a walnut!" the muscular man yells.

"The Boulder?" Kodok repeats.

"Oh! They are fighters from the arena I told you about!" Lee exclaims.

"What are three kids doing on the battlefield?" The Boulder asks, walking over to the trio.

"We uhh... we just happened to be here and got attacked by the fire nation." Lee lies.

The Boulder looks over the valley. "The Boulder does not believe you; however, he can help you get your friend to the doctor."

The three area fighters create a plateau of earth for the tired kids to rest on, and bend it towards Gaoling.