Chapter 70

Mai thought about it for a moment, then nodded. "Yes."

Tanya's face morphed into a horrible scowl. "It's him! He's here!"

Azula was the first to catch on. "The Avatar? You think he's here in Omashu? But why?"

...

"Good question. Could his appearance be related to the outbreak of this plague?" Tanya seemed to lose herself in thought; pacing back and forth as her mind whirred to connect the dots. "King Bumi's surrender… airbender tactics… chemical warfare-… Oh! OH!"

Suddenly Tanya darted over to the wall, when a large map of the city hung proudly, and ripped it off. Before Ukano could protest, she draped it across the table and began to furiously scan the layout of the city as if the secrets of the world were hidden across it. Just as Ty Lee was about to ask what she was doing, Tanya stepped back and shouted out loud.

"Guerilla warfare!"

"What?" Azula questioned, looking over at Mai, who just shrugged.

Ty Lee gasped. "Like elephant gorillas?! You think the rebels are training animals to fight?!"

"No! Guerilla, not goril-… ah, forget it!" Tanya huffed, pushing the map aside and slamming her hands down on the table dramatically. "Tell me, what has made the Fire Nation so successful during our invasion of the Earth Kingdom?"

"Our national pride." Ukano declared proudly.

"No." Tanya replied sharply. "Serious answers only please."

"Our superior numbers, tactics and technological advances." Azula answered.

Tanya nodded approvingly. "Exactly right. We excel at offensive strategies just as much as the Earth Kingdom excels as defensive strategies. Our war machines allow us to counteract the fortifications and other defences of their cities.

With those things balancing each other out, our superior numbers allow us to prevail in most conflicts." Tanya began to pace again, this time circling around the table.

"The majority of our battles against the Earth Kingdom have followed a simple pattern: our armies arrive at a city and begin a siege, the Earth Kingdom holds its defences for as long as it can, and both sides whittle away at each other until there are no earthbenders left, and the Fire Nation breaks through."

"Why is that relevant to Omashu?" Mai asked blankly. "They surrendered without a fight."

Tanya shook her head. "No, Mai. I don't think they did."

The others looked at her with puzzled expressions, so Tanya ceased her pacing and returned to the table. "Most earthbenders would be too stubborn to abandon their defences, but King Bumi is no ordinary earthbender.

He's well known for being insane, and that makes him capable of thinking of strategies outside of conventional earthbender tactics. Tactics using Omashu's natural defences not as a wall, but as a coffin."

"A coffin?" Ukano echoed, concern lacing his tone.

"Picture this. You are the Mad King Bumi. You look out across your walls one day to see a Fire Nation army of such numbers that your city could never hope to repel it.

You could marshal your men, ready your city for a seige, but you already know that you're just stubbornly holding out against the inevitable. Then suddenly a thought crosses your mind.

That army is here to invade your city now, but once they succeed then the majority of them will then march away to the next city in need of conquering, leaving a smaller garrison behind in an unfamiliar location who are well trained at attacking cities, but not so experienced at defending one."

Azula was the first to catch on. "You think he's planning a counter attack?"

"Yes. If Omashu surrendered then what, I ask, happened to their army? Rather than let his men be worn away day after day at the walls, Bumi orders his generals to take their men and go to ground, probably quite literally.

A full army of well trained, healthy soldiers with a clear chain of command, all disappearing among the local populace or hiding beneath the ground, waiting for the invaders of their homes to raise their flags and march off on their next great conquest."

Tanya pointed to the map where the newly formed quarantine zone was located. "This pentapox outbreak is just the opening act. I suspect that King Bumi arranged for The Avatar to come to this city and release the pentapox virus into the local populace as a means of spreading chaos.

With an infection spreading around, pressure will be on us and the local garrison to maintain order and prevent its spread. Soldiers will be stretched thin maintaining checkpoints and patrolling the streets, and that will leave them vulnerable."

Tanya leaned further over the table, her tone growing slower and darker, as if she were telling a horror story around a campfire.

"It will begin with ambushes, like the one that targeted Mai. Patrols out at night will find themselves attacked by larger gangs of earthbender soldiers, crushed by overwhelming numbers and the element of surprise. The attackers flee back underground before reinforcements can arrive, leaving the corpses on the streets as a message of fear.

Once the patrols have been thinned out enough that guards have to be reassigned from important positions, next comes the sabotage of food stores, military equipment and all the other supplies that give us the advantage in combat. Then come the assassinations of those high up the chain of command or in important positions: captains, tacticians, even the local governor and his family…"

Ukano gulped heavily.

"Fear kept the population in line before, but now, with the Fire Nation garrison scared and disorganised, that fear starts to turn to resentment. They blame the Fire Nation for the spread of the pentapox, and rally behind the banner of the legendary Avatar.

Protests begin, easily turned violent by a few stray rocks from a rebel, and as the weakened garrison struggles to maintain order the Omashu army finally steps out of the shadows, crushing the garrison while they are at their weakest.

King Bumi is freed, the city returns to his control, and the army is celebrated as heroes even as all those who helped the Fire Nation occupation are hung from the palace walls."

"By the spirits..." Ukano breathed, sounded utterly terrified, and already defeated. "Wha-… What can we do?"

Tanya straightened back up and turned to the governor, standing as every inch the admiral she was.

"Do not fear governor. A rebellion is itself like an infection. Leave it too long and it will spread, consuming you from within, but if you act quickly and decisively it can be easily dealt with. Do not hesitate to cut off the infected limb, and the infection is beaten in an instant."

Ukano looked down nervously. "I'm not sure I can-…"

"No matter. It's not in your hands anymore." Tanya interrupted, her tone laced with the commanding tone of authority. "As admiral, I am exercising my right to place any city I believe to be at risk of rebellion under military lockdown. As of this moment, all military and administrative personnel are under my direct command.

All civilians working non-essential jobs are to be confined to their homes or the quarantine zones, and all commanding officers are to report to me immediately for reassignment. You, governor, and your family shall remain in protective custody here in the palace-…"

Mai coughed meaningfully.

"… with the exclusion of your daughter, until such a time as the rebellion has been dealt with. I expect it to be over within a few days."

Ukano gaped at her like a fish out of water. "What are you going to do?"

Tanya's lips peeled back into a wolfish, snarling grin. "First I will find whatever cave the rebels are hiding and excise them from this city, burning away the disease until Omashu is pure once more.

Then I will finish what I started at the North Pole." A flash of red hot anger gleamed in her eyes. "I will trap The Avatar within this city, and I will destroy him once and for all!"

...

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