Bae-Sook's hands gripped the steel bar tightly and he breathed shallowly in and out. Heights had never really been a problem with him. But this was a completely other story!

Their tank was going straight up the mountain, suspended precariously from a single thick chain of steel. It dangled in the air like some great spider-goat with nothing below it but empty air. If they fell now there'd be nothing to stop them. Nothing but a far away ground of cold unyielding rocks.

The spiked wheels ground into the rocky cliff, propelling them up vertical face with blatant disregard to the laws of gravity. It moved steadily upwards, the tank growling and grumbling with the strain. Every time the engine spluttered and leap, Bae-Sook's heart would splutter right along with it. He was afraid that it would fail beneath their weight and they'd be thrown downwards to an untimely demise.

Fall away into that empty blue sky that surrounded them.

He could nearly touch it. If he turned, he could see what had previously been the top for their entirety of their voyage. And yet now it was the side and beyond its steel covering was the blue empty sky as far as the eye could see.

It covered him on all sides except where below rocky ground rumbled by. Except it wasn't ground, he had to remind himself. It was a cliff. He felt dizzy, like something deep inside his abdomen was falling away, even though he could feel the cold solid metal of the tank digging into his back. It felt wrong. The rocky surface below him should by all rights be the ground, but yet his body was screaming that this was false.

So Bae-Sook hung on tightly, as if the steel might disappear at any moment and he would tumble to his doom.

Jun was shouting something, but Bae-Sook was too focused on remembering to breath. His short choppy breaths filled his ears. He focused only on the thick steel chain, as if it was the power of his stare alone that kept its metal strands from breaking. That thin and tenuous chain that was all that was keeping them from falling to certain doom. He couldn't look away from it, afraid that it would break as soon as he turned his head. And afraid of the view from the other way. The high dizzying drop made his head spin.

His nervousness must have been visible, because he soon felt a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"It'll be fine." Jiang whispered. "The chains are strong. They won't break."

Bae-Sook gave him a grateful smile. But despite the reassurance, he continued to watch the chain. He wouldn't want it to break through some negligence of observation on his part.

The chain grew shorter and shorter and Bae-Sook's heart pumped faster and faster. They were nearly at the top.

With a great heave, their tank pulled itself out onto solid ground. Bae-Sook could finally breath again.

"We're...we're alive!" he said, clutching his heart. He began to feel silly for being afraid at something as simple as climbing a rock cliff. Jiang laughed at the boy's obvious relief.

"I told you that it'd be fine. Come on now, we just have one more cliff to go then we'll be at the Temple."

Bae-Sook groaned and tightened his grip on the iron handle in the tank. Another cliff? Sure enough, a new rocky wall was quickly approaching ahead. This one looked even higher than the last one. Clouds hung around its top as if they had been impaled by the pointed peaks.

Once again the grappling hook flew into the air and Bae-Sook felt the familiar lurch as they headed up the cliff face. But this time he was expecting it. He was no longer some kind of scrub who was frightened by something as simple as climbing a cliff wall. He was a grizzled veteran. An old hand at cliff climbing. As if to prove to himself he was no longer afraid, he tore his gaze away from the rapidly decreasing chain and looked around with confidence.

The other tanks were crawling up the tank wall steadily, vast black ants on the rocky cliff face. Far to the right, tiny soldiers marched up a thin narrow path. Their bright red uniforms stood out against the snowy backdrop like a long red ribbon. All the might of the Fire Nation on display. Up, up and up they climbed, like a flowing river of red-hot lava pouring down from the mountain-top in an unbroken chain.

Then suddenly it broke.

Tiny red figures tumbled through the air like leafs. Their bodies tossed and turned in the wind like no more than paper dolls.

Bae-Sook watched with indifference at first, not realizing what was happening.

Then Takashi leaped up, fire blazing in his hands. The sudden movement caused their tank to sway back and forth.

"We're under attack!" he yelled, pointing at the tumbling soldiers.

Bae-Sook's heart came to a stop. His body gave a mighty push to start it again, causing it to nearly leap out of his chest.

The tank wobbled as Takashi scanned the horizon and Jun screamed at him. "Don't move! We're losing traction!" But Takashi was completely focused on the small growing shapes in the sky that was swooping towards them. At first they looked like some kind of bird, but as they grew closer Bae-Sook could make out the shape of boys attached to them. His eyes widened in terror.

"They're coming for us next! Get ready!" Takashi cried. His entire body was tensed.

Bae-Sook awkwardly tried to move into battle formation, but it was impossible with the tank climbing straight up. The tank rocked back and forth and gasped under the strain.

"Stop moving!" Jun shouted angrily, but nobody paid him attention anymore.

Jiang was shouting orders that nobody heard. Bae-Sook held on desperately to the side of his tank, trying to remember out what he was supposed to be doing. Strange flying contraptions swooped by outside along. An enormous beast flew by. Bae-Sook could barely understand what was going on. He heard loud explosions as the enemy's ammunition made contact with the cliff. Rocks crumbled and fell in deafening roars.

Then before he even knew what had happened, they were falling.

A terrified scream ripped out of Bae-Sook's throat. His body was dropping so fast, so fast that his heart couldn't keep up. His body had already tumbled several inches when he felt his heart drop out from beneath him. He felt disconnected. Around him he saw the steel cage of their tank, and strangely, he saw that his body wasn't touching any of it. He was floating.

Falling.

"NO!" screamed Jun. He desperately scrambled to do something, anything that could prevent them from falling through the air. Somehow his hand made contact with a button. With a woosh, another grappling hook went flying through the air and somehow attached to the cliff top.

The tank arced back on to the wall. Everyone's bodies slammed violently downwards onto the steel tank wall. It hurt, but Bae-Sook was just relieved to be touching something solid again. He lay there for what seemed like hours, breathing in and out on the back of the tank.

Yet it was only a few seconds later that they were slowly climbing up the cliff again as if nothing had happened.

The air temple defenders had swooped away to their fortress base and for now their ascent was left unchallenged. But Bae-Sook's heart still felt like it was running a marathon and he scanned the air anxiously for their inevitable return.

Uncertainly, he looked at Jiang. "What… just happened?"

Yet even the more experienced crew leader was at a loss and had to admit he didn't exactly know.

Nobody knew, so instead of wasting time in useless speculation, they focused on what had to be done. But they could not shake their sense of nerves, and each man glanced uneasily at the surrounding sky, ready to fight at the slightest provocation.

Despite their frayed nerves, the rest of the climb met little resistance and Bae-Sook began to think that perhaps it had only been some kind of bizarre hallucination and he had imagined the whole thing.

But as their tank pulled itself over the brink with a jolt and Bae-Sook looked at the enormous swarm in the sky, he couldn't fool himself any longer. It was real. He felt sick. The sky above was teeming with flyers, buzzing around the sky like a swarm of buzzard wasps. Their massive stone hive rose behind them. The Northern Air Temple loomed above their tiny tank as great and mighty as the mountains in which it made its home. It was so real.

Bae-Sook stared at the enormous pack of enemies and could barely move. It was only until Takashi's grim voice cut into his sodden brain that he took action.

"Open the hatch," Takashi growled, and Bae-Sook complied. He shook himself. He had to remember his job. He turned his gaze to the periscope, his hands on the lever that opened the hatch so that the others could fire. He pulled.

Bursts of fire erupted from the summit of their tank like an exploding volcano. The raging balls arced into the sky, but the flyers swooped to avoid them in lazy circles. They were too far up.

Takashi swore under his breath and angrily fired even harder. From the back of the tank Jiang joined in.

Bae-Sook kept watch carefully, telling them when a flyer grew close or an enemy was spotted up ahead. It was hard to make out what was happening through the mass of tanks and bodies that covered the snowy plain. But it seemed like they were winning.

Their enemy was nothing but a group of children, Bae-Sook realized after some closer inspection. Hardly the terrible monsters he had imagined. They were faltering now, being driven back by their superior numbers.

Bae-Sook spotted an enormous red air balloon floating in the air and felt a small burst of confidence. The Fire Nation insignia at the side marked it as their own. They could win this. And even though all the balloon did was release an enormous pile of gunk onto the ground, missing the flyers and instead hitting their own tanks, he could tell that the battle was theirs. Their number was just too small, and the Fire Nation just too great. They could not withstand the greatness and bravery of Bae-Sook's battalion!

The flyers had mostly retreated now and Bae-Sook looked around proudly at the massive army that surrounded him. The vast array of tanks surged forward like a tsunami, a giant unstoppable wave of steel and fire. They could win this! The temple grew closer and closer. Soon it would be washed away under the brunt of their assault. They were going to win this! His taste of terror in his mouth was quickly turning into the sweet taste of victory.

Bae-Sook grinned as the enemies scattered and they drew closer to the temple. The path was finally clear. He laughed triumphantly and shouted. Matching smiles grew on the other's faces and for a moment everything seemed to pause in a moment of happiness. Victory at last!

Then everything exploded.

For a moment there was pure silence as everything seemed to freeze in place. Bae-Sook could see his friends smiling faces as they looked outside in relief. The tanks beside him moved ahead at a turtle-ducks pace.

In the utter silence, he could make out the faint scent of rotten eggs.

Then in an instant the quiet was obliterated. The loudest sound Bae-Sook had heard in his life boomed through the air, the sound ringing and echoing in his ears so he couldn't hear anything else. Everything shook.

Then came the blast and Bae-Sook was flying, falling, and turning at the same time. His throat was raw and sore from screaming, but he couldn't even hear himself. The heat tore into his face. Everything was torn apart.

Red-hot flames engulfed their tank and it crumpled like paper. Dancing flames consumed Bae-Sook's vision and he felt weak. He fell to the ground. He couldn't see anything but flames. Flames, leaping and burning, tearing everything apart.

The flames grew and grew, until finally everything turned black.

And then they all died the end.

Well, I suppose a giant explosion from a sulfur bomb won't NECESSARILY kill you (I mean, what do I know?! I'm not a scientist!), but for some reason I feel like a lot of people died that day. (Episode 17 The Northern Air Temple) Oh well. So it goes. Rest in Peace Fire Nation Soldiers! I will never forget you.