Fall of the Fifth Nation

"Tagaka is g-gone. You're all hungry, t-tired, and injured, b-but you're all s-still alive... D-don't... Don't throw that away."

— Hua to Fifth Nation member Taliriktug after the main battle.[1]

The Fall of the Fifth Nation^[3] was a battle near the South Pole between the pirates of the Fifth Nation on one side and the companions of Jianzhu and the supposed Avatar Yun on the other. Tagaka, the leader of the Fifth Nation, originally planned to ambush Yun and his allies, but her plans were foiled by the presence of Kyoshi, a member of Yun's entourage who, unbeknownst to anyone else, was the true Avatar. The battle resulted in the destruction of the Fifth Nation, as most of its members were killed in the battle or ended up in captivity, Tagaka included, and nearly all of its ships were sunk. Following the main battle, forces associated with Yun's party as well as the Fire Nation Navy mopped up the remaining corsairs and freed the pirates' slaves, leaving only some Fifth Nation splinter factions active.

History[]

Prelude[]

The Fifth Nation had grown increasingly bold following the death of Avatar Kuruk, raiding the southern Earth Kingdom in defiance of a treaty signed with Avatar Yangchen,^[4] taking slaves, and defeating the Earth Kingdom Navy, killing the last Admiral of Ba Sing Se. By 296 BG, they had become the most successful pirate fleet in the world under the leadership of Tagaka. In response to the Fifth Nation's aggression, Jianzhu spent several years trying to reach a diplomatic agreement with Tagaka, eventually succeeding after publicly identifying Yun as the Avatar.^[5] Tagaka agreed to meet with the Avatar and discuss matters, though in truth she planned to lure Yun into a trap and go on to raid the port of Yokoya.^[6]

The meeting was to take place on an iceberg in the south, a location selected to ensure Yun's predominately Earth Kingdom party would be deprived of earth. To maintain an even power balance between the two factions, Tagaka agreed to keep her warships away from the meeting place but secretly concealed them in the iceberg.^[6]

Tagaka came to the negotiation accompanied by a pair of guards and Hua, a captive scribe. Yun was accompanied by his bending masters Jianzhu, Hei-Ran, Kelsang, and Amak, his close friends Kyoshi and Rangi, and a small contingent of armed guards. When Tagaka agreed to release all of her captives, she dryly remarked that they were useless to her anyway, since none of them possessed any carpentry skills, explaining that the strength of pirates was measured in the number of ships at their command, which required the need for carpenters, timber, and a port of her own to increase the size of her forces. At this, Yun realized her intentions of taking Yokoya, and Tagaka sprung her trap.^[6]

Battle[]

Main engagement[]

At Tagaka's signal, Amak was impaled from behind by a waterbent icicle, killing him instantly. Tagaka's two escorts escaped with the captive scribe, distracting the rest of Yun's party, while Fifth Nation waterbenders hidden in the ice below trapped them in the ice, killing the majority of Yun's guardsmen. Tagaka drew her jian and attempted to kill Yun, while using her free hand to waterbend the iceberg and the smaller ones surrounding it, revealing the Fifth Nation warships hidden within. Distracted by the sight of the fleet, Yun was restrained in ice by Tagaka while the Fifth Nation fleet set sail toward Yokoya. As Kelsang took off on his glider to try and stop the fleet, Takaga threw a flurry of ice needles at him, puncturing his glider and causing him to plummet to the sea.^[6]

Tagaka moved to leave with Yun as a hostage but found her path blocked by Kyoshi, who had pulled herself free from the ice and demanded Yun to be released. The pirate leader offered her a chance to join the Fifth Nation, but Kyoshi refused, having nothing but hatred for outlaws after being left in Yokoya by her daofei parents to nearly die of neglect. She again repeated her demand, causing Tagaka to mockingly ask what the unarmed earthbender intended to fight her with.^[6]

In response, Kyoshi unconsciously channeled the power of the previous Avatars, bending massive columns of earth from the seafloor that destroyed Tagaka's flagship and most of her warships. The display of power left her exhausted, however, and Tagaka, once she had recovered from the shock, attacked her with her jian. Before she could strike Kyoshi down, Hei-Ran and Rangi, having escaped their icy prison, overwhelmed the waterbending pirate with their firebending.^[6] Tagaka's guards, including Taliriktug, charged to save their leader to no avail.^[1][6] Meanwhile, Jianzhu, now with plenty of earth to use, destroyed the remainder of Tagaka's fleet and effectively ended the battle.^[6]

With the fighting over, Kyoshi collapsed onto the ice, having utterly exhausted herself. Before she passed out, she heard Avatar Kuruk commending her for her role in the battle, saying that stories would be told about it for a long time.^[6]

Mopping-up operations[]

With Yun's party gaining the upper hand in the battle and Tagaka captured, the remaining Fifth Nation forces attempted to flee. Some waterbending pirates sped away on the broken remnants of their ships, nonbending corsairs trying to hold onto these makeshift rafts.^[7] Among those who escaped the carnage was Erchtei, a Fifth Nation sub-commander.^[2] However, most of the surviving Fifth Nation members were forced to surrender. Jianzhu captured and interrogated one of Takaga's lieutenants about the location of her captives, after which Hei-Ran used her connections to arrange for the Fire Navy to rescue them as an act of goodwill.^[7]

Some corsairs were able to hide in the debris of the battle, waiting for a chance to seize some ship to escape. A few of the corsairs' slaves also survived the clash by hiding in the iceberg's caves. While the Fire Navy's operations were ongoing elsewhere, the Avatar estate consequently sent their own rescue operation consisting of some of Jianzhu's guardsmen as well as a few adventurers to seek survivors on the battle site. They discovered at least two, including Hua, but also encountered desperate Fifth Nation holdouts led by Taliriktug. After a series of clashes, the rescue mission was able to safely disengage, leaving Taliriktug's isolated force to their fate on the iceberg.^[1]

Aftermath[]

Tagaka was taken to the Earth Kingdom prison at Lake Laogai. Her surviving men were unable to recover from the loss of their leader and the destruction of their fleet, effectively bringing an end to the Fifth Nation, although a handful of splinter fleets remained, roaming the oceans looking for bounty, while some pirates sought to free Tagaka from her prison and rebuild the nation. These splinter fleets were often disunited, and commanders who had fought together under the Fifth Nation began to turn against one another.^[3][8] Eventually, Tagaka broke out of prison and attempted to reunite the Fifth Nation splinter fleets,^[2][9] but her efforts to restore the pirate nation ultimately failed.^[3][10]

Kyoshi's display of bending prowess also made Jianzhu suspect that she, and not Yun, was the Avatar.^[7]

Deprived of a trading partner, the Southern Water Tribe suffered economically from the Fifth Nation's downfall for some time. With many living a life of poverty, some still continued to turn to a life of piracy so that they could support their families. With a power vacuum left behind, some thought that another pirate fleet could rise and possibly fill it. The Southern Water Tribe would eventually recover economically by the lifetime of Avatar Roku.^[3][8]

Appearances[]

Chronicles of the Avatar[]

• The Rise of Kyoshi

References[]