Tanya
"Can someone please explain to me what is happening?" I mutter as I sit in my train car, speeding southward towards the palace. We had just gotten through a political meeting in the north with some of the other kingdoms that had fallen under my empire—allies that supported me in overthrowing the rulership of the Earth Kingdom and stood by me when I defeated the Fire Nation's invasion.
Allies that relied on me being in power and control to maintain their own stability. But even though I didn't have as much control over their nations as I did the territories I directly governed, my influence seemed limited some days. Sometimes it felt like all it would take for someone to form a new nation within the Earth Kingdom was to find some uninhabited land and settle there. The first person to claim the area could take the title—that's what it felt like, which was interesting in some ways.
Royalty in this world didn't have long-lasting lines like on Earth. There were no families with generational control over land for a thousand years, no claims to divine right to own a piece of dirt. If anything, it was closer to the ancient barbarian days of Rome and Greece, with their efforts to civilize the European continent, than to anything like the dynasties of China.
Shaking my head, I looked across the table at one of my advisors as they examined paperwork before signing it. "We don't know what's going on," they said. "There have been sightings of an Airbender along the coastal region of the south. We know they're currently moving north, but where they're headed is unclear. They could be heading towards our land, towards the Northern Water Tribe, or even the Fire Nation. We don't know. We have ships out looking for them, and we've put out missives, but we don't really have any solid intel at this moment."
I sighed, wanting to throw something at this individual for having so little information, but I kept that to myself. If they didn't have the info, no one else would. I had trained them well. I had trained most of the institutions that were part of the military well. If there was one thing I was really good at, it was that. I had mostly retired from running the civilian government at this point, keeping the title of Empress of the Earth Nation simply to keep the civilian government on a leash, but otherwise leaving it to run itself. So far, it had done quite fine with little interference from me. As for the military, up until this point, I thought they were some of the best I had ever worked with. Sure, in the early days of the creation of the state, they had just been rebels and brigands, but after years of warfare and constant training, as well as making sure that they passed on their skills to the next generation, this military, I theorized, could keep the confidence of the Earth Kingdom safe from any further invasions, be it from the Fire Nation or the Water Tribe. Oh, I doubted the Water Tribe. They did tend to have issues with us because of how quickly we had expanded our tech and capabilities.
It was understandable in a way. The Water Tribe controlled the seas; they were like England in this world. Then, suddenly, a nation that didn't control the seas had a fleet—a much larger and more advanced fleet—that had been the Fire Nation. They had been able to live with that simply because they were island people, and it was expected they would have some naval capabilities.
The Earth Kingdom gaining the ability to build ships and fight on the seas, now that was an actual insult, which was why things were not great between us, even though we had some communication in the early days of the Great War. Years on, I sometimes wondered if they were now more likely to side with the Fire Nation over us instead of remaining an independent party. I would prefer them to remain independent, though I had no interest in expanding beyond the shores of the land we controlled. Sure, some of my lower commanders had moved to claim territory the Fire Nation had taken from the Air Nomads, but I justified it as holding the land until a suitable number of Air Nomads returned to existence. Mainly, I doubted you could wipe out a nomadic people so thoroughly. A lot of the world was unexplored, and it wouldn't surprise me to learn that surviving Air Nomads had taken what animals they could and fled eastward across the Earth Kingdom through the most inhospitable terrain of the northern continent, and then off across the sea into unknown regions. As far as I knew, they were unknown—the Fire Nation, of course, had only invaded from the west, and I'd never seen a Fire Nation ship come from the east, which I think was proof enough that there was unexplored territory somewhere eastward. No, no, they didn't travel that way because it was all ocean. I doubted that, though. Islands tended to form out in the middle of nowhere, even when you thought there couldn't be one, so there was always the possibility of some sort of Hawaii or other rogue piece of land out there that the Air Nomads may have retreated to, a place they would only know about because they had the capability of flight, while everyone else was reduced to using sail and foot.
Shaking my head, I said, "Well, it's not good that we don't know anything about the situation. Our allies in the north know more about what's going on than we do. That's concerning to me." I tried to sound as relaxed as I could. "This Avatar—if it is the Avatar—could be a threat to the empire, could be a boon to the empire, could be the key to world peace. But we have no idea who, what, or where this person is, what they want, or where they're going. And you're telling me that we just don't have assets on the ground that have run into them yet?"
The officer shrugged his shoulders before saying, "I'm afraid that's all I can tell you, ma'am. We have people on the lookout, we have people looking for information, but at the moment, all we know is they're likely on the western coastline and making their way north. We believe they may have stopped off at some of the Southern Air Temple Islands. We've also noted there seems to be a decrease in bandit attacks from some of the southern islands as well, so there's speculation that the Fire Nation may have finally brought them to heel, or this Avatar may have been involved in bringing them to heel. Either way, our knowledge of the situation is limited to zero at this point."
Shaking my head, I shooed him away as I said, "Then go to the intelligence car and get to work. Send a message to find out more and put more resources along the western coast. We need to have the Avatar brought to me as quickly as possible so that we can establish exactly what they want and if they are in line with the goals of the empire."
The intelligence officer nodded before saying, "It will be done," turning and walking from my private car back towards the intelligence car—my car that was designed to handle incoming mail and information while I was on the road and away from the palace.
Sighing, I leaned back as another officer, who had been waiting for their chance to speak, stood up from a nearby chair. Approaching and giving a salute, I recognized them as the overall admiral of the western navy. I gave them a return salute before saying, "What's your report? Anything that the intelligence network has failed to gather?"
"About the potential Avatar? Nothing. We haven't heard anything about them. However, we have been paying attention to other things that may be of interest in this time of confusion," the man said.
I raised an eyebrow before waving at him, saying, "Go ahead."
"One of the princes of the Fire Nation has been spotted aboard an old fighting vessel that dates back to the Great War—not exactly the most modern piece of technology—and has crossed the border into Air Nomad territory. Specifically, the southern Air Nomad territory."
I raised an eyebrow, nodding in understanding. "Putting a prince on board a vessel so old it's not really a threat to modern warships and sending him to cross the border to locate the Avatar isn't the worst idea. Trying to get access to the Avatar first is a classic Fire Nation move, but what can we do?" I shrugged. "We can complain to their diplomats about them entering our territory, but they could easily claim the vessel is not a military ship, just a pleasure craft that hasn't been modified yet. And technically, there's nothing wrong with a prince taking a pleasure cruise along the coast as long as he abides by the rules and lets us follow him."
The naval officer nodded before saying, "We are following him. We have two vessels at a good distance to keep an eye on him and make sure he doesn't go rogue. We also have several ships patrolling the borders, just in case, and in international waters, we have vessels searching as well in case the Avatar is out there. We've also run into a lot more Fire Nation vessels than usual, so I think it's safe to say they are aware of the situation and are taking action."
"Not good," I said out loud, shaking my head. "Fire Nation ships and Earth Nation ships both patrolling international waters in close proximity, looking for the same target—it's the kind of situation that could accidentally start a war in this cold war scenario we've been stuck in for the last couple of decades."
"Make sure to send orders that we must not engage the Fire Nation in any combat. We cannot risk ending the period of peace we've had."
The naval officer nodded before saying, "I will, ma'am. But some commanders are a bit concerned. No matter the situation, Fire Nation fishermen have been sneaking across our border for the last decade or so to fish in our waters, and now there's a lot more traffic. It's very likely something unfortunate could happen. What is our response if they decide to push for more than just fishing?"
"Fine," I said. "They're an island nation. We have a navy powerful enough to defeat theirs. Once we do that, all we need to do is lock them on their island, keep them from getting new ships, and they will come to terms. If they require more proof that we're willing to fight on their land, we'll deploy the Marines you've been working on. I know you're quite interested in seeing them in action."
"Thank you, ma'am," he said before turning to leave. "I will keep you updated on all the information we gather."
I nodded and looked out the window, taking a moment to enjoy the passing plains before turning to the third individual who'd been waiting. This was one of the main commanders of the western-north theater, overseeing the coastal region that had once been occupied by the Fire Nation's population and was still somewhat politically unstable due to lingering colonization efforts.
"Please tell me you don't have more bad news for me."
He shook his head. "Not bad news, not good either. Just news in general. It's my opinion that if the Avatar continues on their current course, they will reach my region. We have stable control over it, so I think it might be best to hold new negotiations with the other two parties in that region. It could be a way to draw the Avatar out, at least to find out what their intentions are. We need to ensure they're not trying to overthrow the system we've built to replace it with older systems, as some Avatars have done in the past."
I scratched my chin, thinking. "Not a bad plan. It would depend on the other leaders at least agreeing to such a meeting, especially in a zone as unstable as the colonized one." I sighed, then nodded. "But it's worth a shot."
Facing the commander directly, I said, "Send a message to the leaders of the Northern Water Tribe and the Fire Nation. Tell them that the Earth Nation wishes to have a political meeting in the colonized zone to discuss the ongoing situation there, as well as other political subjects of the day. We'll call for a meeting between leaders for the continued peace of the world. If we can get that working, it might do us all good in the long run. If not, make sure it's publicly known that we tried to do that and that we believe they will come. I will be in the region, and at the very least, we might draw out the Avatar and learn what they're planning."
"Aye, aye, ma'am," the officer said, giving a salute before leaving the train car, finally leaving me alone as I looked out again at the rolling plains.
So much death and war for a country that wasn't really a nation, but a collection of independent kingdoms swearing loyalty to whoever controlled the biggest city on the continent. And here I was, years after reforming it into something a little more modern, still having to deal with the fact that everyone else was trapped in an ancient mindset when it came to nation-states. Oh well, at least things were trending better every year. Trains were one good source of production quality, after all.
Now, I may have to order a rail line created into the colonization zone, which could cause political unrest. I don't think we currently have one developed enough for modern vehicles. There were a few older rail lines developed during the war, using older designs of rail vehicles before standardization had been put into effect.
I'll have to be careful because building a train system into the colonization zone could upset the other nations. It could be seen as me pushing for complete ownership of the territory. I don't want that. I don't want to push them towards war, but I also don't want to go into the colonization zone without the ability to call in reinforcements if the Avatar turns out to be an idiot who wants to unseat me and put the foolish royal family back in place.
Sighing, I reached into a cupboard hidden under my booth chair, pulled out a drawer with iced drinks inside, grabbed one, and opened it, enjoying the taste of alcohol.
I'm going to need to prepare for the worst, I thought, sipping deeply as I looked out across the plains."One of the princes of the Fire Nation has been spotted aboard an old fighting vessel that dates back to the Great War—not exactly the most modern piece of technology—and has crossed the border into Air Nomad territory. Specifically, the southern Air Nomad territory."