Avatar:Raid on the Northern Air Temple
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- This article is about the event. For other similar uses, see Northern Air Temple (disambiguation).
"[Thapa] eliminated the other firebenders to make himself the sole prize in this game. He was valuable before, but now he's priceless. [...] Not only is our enemy a step ahead of us, her underlings are, too."
Template:Battle infoboxAround year 17 of the era of Yangchen, Chaisee's network organized a raid on the Northern Air Temple and its surroundings. The operation was linked to the Unanimity project and had two main aims: First of all, Chaisee intended to kill her former collaborator Zongdu Henshe, as he had become a liability as a prisoner of Avatar Yangchen; secondly, the raid tried to rescue three combustionbenders, namely Thapa, Xiaoyun, and Yingsu, who had been imprisoned in hermitages around the air temple.
Despite taking place when Avatar Yangchen and her team were present, the raid largely succeeded: Henshe was assassinated and Thapa was rescued. However, before Chaisee's agents could save Xiaoyun and Yingsu, Thapa turned on his fellow combustionbenders to improve his own value and uniqueness as an assassin. In the following clashes, it was generally assumed that Xiaoyun and Yingsu were killed by Thapa who then escaped alongside Chaisee's followers. Though the raid resulted in few deaths, it caused many injuries and led the Northern Air Temple's leadership to exile Yangchen for the remainder of her life.
Background
The Unanimity project was a secret attempt by the shang cities to separate themselves from the authority of the four nations.[2][3][4] The project was headed and mainly organized by Chaisee, zongdu of the Shang island-city of Jonduri.[5] Under her leadership, the project developed human weapons on a remote island. This included several different approaches, though most failed or produced unsatisfactory results.[6][7] The main success of the Unanimity project was the training of three combustionbenders, namely Thapa, Xiaoyun, and Yingsu.[8] In order to keep full control over them, Chaisee subjected the combustionbenders to brainwashing. However, the mind control process was imperfect, and only ever fully worked in Thapa's case. As long as the combustionbenders were loyal, the brainwashing remained dormant.[5]
In year 17 of the era of Yangchen, Zongdu Henshe of Bin-Er prematurely triggered the Unanimity project's implementation, smuggling the combustionbenders out of Jonduri and thus removing them from Chaisee's control to the latter's fury.[8][9] Henshe's improvised and ill-advised attempt to use the combustionbenders failed when he and his assets were incapacitated by Avatar Yangchen and her team.[8][4] The Air Avatar wanted to keep the existence of the combustionbenders a secret to maintain international peace, fearing the effects if the Unanimity project was ever seized by any major nation. Thus, she covered up the Bin-Er incident as a spiritual disturbance and secretly imprisoned Henshe as well as the combustionbenders at the Northern Air Temple.[4][10] While the former zongdu was placed in a guarded room inside the air temple, Thapa, Yingsu, and Xiaoyun were put under arrest at three isolated hermitages in the area around the temple in the Taihua Mountains. Each hut was located at a place usually only reachable by airbenders. All prisoners were guarded by a team of airbenders led by Mingyur. Though tolerated out of respect for the Avatar, the prisoners' presence was regarded with great disfavor by the Northern Air Temple's Council of Elders, who feared for the spiritual as well as physical well-being of the local Air Nomads.[4][11][12]
Prelude
After her assets were captured at Bin-Er, greatly harming her plans, Chaisee hastily terminated any still-ongoing operations of the Unanimity project.[7] Even as she covered up her involvement, the zongdu of Jonduri continued her schemes. Using her spy network, she was well aware that Yangchen had captured the combustionbenders. Thus, she tried to locate them, but was initially unsuccessful at doing so.[9]
Half a year after the Bin-Er incident,[13] the situation changed. Thapa managed to convince his airbender guards that he wanted to send a letter to his elderly mother. The guards checked the letter and the address, but found nothing suspicious.[9][5] As Thapa was also the most cooperative and friendly prisoner,[4][12] they concluded that his request was sincere and sent the mail. In reality, Thapa's letter included secret codes; after entering the mail circulation, the letter was thus identified by Chaisee's network and sent to her. In the message, Thapa revealed the location as well as details of his imprisonment. Chaise promptly organized a raid, aiming at killing Henshe and recapturing all combustionbenders. Unbeknownst to her, however, Thapa was duplicitous enough to plan an alteration of the rescue mission.[1][5][9]
Raid
Initial attacks and Henshe's murder
Chaisee's raiding party was led by her most trusted agent, Kalyaan, and split into two sections. One group was ordered to save the combustionbenders, starting with Thapa. The second group consisted only of Kalyaan and some hired distractions. The waterbender agent paid some locals to secretly enter the air temple and just stand around at the right moment; meanwhile, he climbed the entire way up to the temple to quietly assassinate Henshe.[12][14] By chance, the attack began when Yangchen and her comrades were present at the air temple.[11][15]
When Chaisee's agents had bloodlessly overpowered Thapa's guards, the combustionbenders promptly took the initiative and went off on his own. He sped ahead toward the nearest other hermitage, the holding cell of Xiaoyun. Instead of saving his comrade, he promptly opened fire, obliterating Xiaoyun's hut and killing him before he could react.[12] The explosion could be heard at the air temple, alarming the Avatar, her team, and Mingyur. Before they could respond, Thapa's attacks caused rockslides in the region, one of them crashing down toward the small town located at the Northern Air Temple's foot. Yangchen and her allies intervened, saving the townspeople. Afterward, Yangchen asked Mingyur to trigger the air temple's evacuation plans for emergencies and bring the civilians to safety.[11]
Yangchen then ordered Kavik and Jujinta to safeguard Henshe, while Tayagum and Akuudan were supposed to set up a defensive perimeter in case of a full-scale assault on the air temple. At the same time, she went off alone on her flying bison Nujian to face the combustionbenders.[11] As Kavik and Jujinta sped through the Northern Air Temple's corridors toward Henshe's room, they ran into the group of civilians who had been paid by Kalyaan to confuse and delay any pursuers. Kavik quickly saw through the ruse, and convinced the men to move aside. However, when the two reached the cell, they found the guards knocked out and Henshe murdered. Kalyaan was already gone long enough for any pursuit to be useless.[14]
Duel in the mountains
Meanwhile, Thapa had continued his self-serving mission by attacking Yingsu's location. Alarmed after hearing the initial explosions and always distrustful, Yingsu convinced her guards that an attack was ongoing. When Thapa exploded her hermitage, she and her guards had already moved behind a outcrop. However, they were still trapped; Thapa's location was well hidden, and Yingsu could not respond anyway as there was little protected space around her hermitage. Exposing herself would have meant immediate death. As Thapa bombarded them with attacks, one airbender guard fell into panic, forcing Yingsu to tackle him so that he would not die during an escape attempt. The other airbenders laid down to minimize the chance of being struck by splinters.[12]
At this point, Yangchen arrived at the scene. Initially believing that Yingsu had taken a hostage, the Avatar immediately went down, only for Thapa to again attack their position. After Yingsu quickly explained the situation, Yangchen split the nearby stone outcrop in two and sent them in opposite directions. One shielded the airbender guards and sent them toward Nujian so they could flee; meanwhile, she and Yingsu followed the other rock. As they ran behind it, the two dropped into a ditch and let the rock pass on to a more obvious set of natural trenches. Just as Yangchen expected, Thapa assumed that they hid in the trenches and thus began to strike them repeatedly. Regardless, Yangchen and Yingsu remained trapped in their small ditch, unable to move out without being seen. The Avatar used her airbending to locate Thapa's position, but when Yingsu proposed that they work together for her to get a clean shot and kill the enemy combustionbender, Yangchen was unwilling due to the Air Nomads' belief in the sanctity of life. At this moment, all involved in the clash saw an Air Nomad approaching with an airbender staff: Mingyur had disobeyed the Avatar's orders and come to help. Realizing that Thapa would shoot him out of the sky, Yangchen sped toward him to save him. This exposed her previous position, and, by extension, Yingsu.[12]
Thapa shot twice, his first attack nearly killing Mingyur. The young monk only survived because Yangchen created a vacuum at his position, blunting the explosion. However, he was badly injured, and Yangchen was barely able to catch him and bring him to the ground.[8][1] The second shot targeted Yingsu at her hiding place and seemingly succeeded in killing her, causing Thapa to finally retreat. In truth, Yangchen had ensured that her ally's position was well enough protected to survive a direct strike. After her opponent had left, Yangchen ordered Yingsu to play dead.[8] She then quickly brought Mingyur for treatment to the air temple.[1]
Aftermath
After the raid's conclusion, Yangchen and Kavik cared for the injured, including Mingyur. At the same time, other Air Nomads recovered Xiaoyun's remains and Yingsu's body. Both were transported in public view under blankets, with the female combusionbender convincingly playing dead. Aside of these two and Henshe, there were seemingly no other fatalities. After the worst damage had been cleaned up, the local Council of Elders sent Abbot Sonam to inform Yangchen that, for this moment onward, she was permanently exiled from the Northern Air Temple due to having endangered its people. This exile was largely kept a secret, with only the council members, the Avatar, and Kavik knowing about it.[1]
Upon meeting with Chaisee, Thapa attempted to blackmail her into paying him a fortune for his continued loyalty. He argued that he was now the only combustionbender, meaning that Chaisee no longer had any means to stop him, while he could offer any world leader his services for a fortune. Chaisee disagreed, triggering his brainwashing and turning him into an obedient slave for the rest of his life.[5] Afterward, the combustionbender was moved to Taku where he was supposed to aid Chaisee's attempt to implement the Unanimity project which was ultimately foiled by the Avatar and her allies.[16][17]
Meanwhile, Yangchen covertly relocated Yingsu to an isolated cave in the Taihua Mountains, not telling anyone of her survival. As her former comrade had attempted to murder her and Chaisee's network had proven not to be a trustful employer, Yingsu opted to fully align herself with Yangchen. She subsequently revealed all she knew to the Avatar as well as help her in training for combat with combustionbenders. In return, Yangchen agreed to provide Yingsu with the chance to start a new life.[8]