A Thousand Silver Scars
"...The only hope you have is to accept the fact that you're already dead. The sooner you accept that, the sooner you'll be able to function as a soldier is supposed to function: without mercy, without compassion, without remorse. All war depends upon it."
- Ronald Spiers, Band of Brothers
The Agrarian Zone, Ba Sing Se.
Day 593 of the Great Siege.
Sunset
"Have they started yet?"
The commander blinked. It was the only sign he gave of surprise.
He pushed back from the metal ridge of the defence barrier. The iron was slick under hand, greasy with rain and the constant mud. In front of him, darkness gathered over the land in silence. Through the slit of the defence shell, no-man's land waited. "No."
"Bastards."
A ghost of a smile flickered across the Commander's face. Always pale, the weeks of night-raids by the Earth Kingdom forces had turned his skin an exhausted grey. He dug his fingers into red-rimmed eyes, trying to rub away the burning need for sleep. "You'll know they don't start until well past sunset, Hirota."
"I know." The colonel took a chance and pulled off his helmet. Under the metal cap, his hair was caught back in a loose tail, not the regulation bun the Fire Nation army required. He raked his fingers through the black strands. "Just wanted to see some mud-rats fry."
He sighed and resettled his helmet. "Two days."
The commander didn't need to ask what was due to happen in two days. The whole battalion was counting down the hours and minutes before their relief arrived and they could retreat to the reserve lines. After three weeks in the busiest section of the front line assault, the prospect of a week spent sleeping through the night was like redemption for a sinner.
Commander Prince Lu Ten of the Imperial Fire Nation Army took a final glare at the silent fields before them. What had once been long, flat grasslands were now pitted and bumped with defensive towers, trenches and dug-out pits to house the benders and soldiers who threw themselves against the Fire Nation army nightly. Where fruit trees once stood, there were only craters and in between the craters, tiny lumps of Earth Kingdom graves.
The Earth King's soldiers buried their men in the hour's space between day and night. In return, the Fire Nation had an hour before sunrise to burn their own dead. War created these strange truces, even a war of destruction. It was renewed every time a relief force came on either side and up to now, no one had disregarded it. Even now, Lu Ten saw the last of the grave-diggers straggle back to their own lines. Once they were hidden behind the earth-defences, the attacks would start.
It was time to get ready.
He took in a sharp breath. The dual broadswords he favoured stood in the corner of the metal defence, leaning against the cold walls. He grabbed them, slung them over his shoulder. "Do you still have those pills your mother sent?"
"Some." Hirota gave a grudging nod. In the game of life and death, every advantage was closely guarded. "You want some?"
The black-haired man held out his hand. "It's going to be a big one tonight."
Hirota grunted. "You say that every night." But he dug under his breast plate. He pulled out a small hemp sack, black ink markings on the front. Undoing the leather tongs that held it closed, he shook two green circles onto his dirt-ingrained palm.
"Every night has been." Lu Ten took the two pills. Throwing back his head, he swallowed them dry.
"Shouldn't take two."
"Says who?"
"The woman who made them, o glorious leader."
"Two are the only thing that works right now." He caught the look on his colonel's face. "What? Agni's balls of fire, Rota, I haven't slept more than two hours at a time for three weeks." He pulled the sword strap straight, shifting forward the crushing weight of his breast-plate. Satisfied, he marched towards the edge of the defence and dropped from the height to the duck-boards below. "You tell me half the regiment isn't on something similar and I'll laugh in your face."
"I'm just saying." Hirota tramped after his superior. The metal tips of their boot rang on the wooden boards that lined each temporary trench. "You'll get hooked. I've seen it before. Just saying."
"Say it somewhere else." The first soldiers on the battalion was coming up. Their corporal straightened, closed fist to his temple.
"Commander."
"Corporal Fung." The Prince paused, checked the spear held out for inspection. "Ready for tonight?"
A white grin poked out from the face that was a mess of lines and soot. "Ready to fry, sir."
Lu Ten exchanged a grin of his own. Neither grin reached their eyes. "Good man. Stand to."
"Yes, sir. Platoon Five! Stand to for the commander!"
The battered soldiers of Platoon Five climbed to their feet. Mud covered their boots to the knee. Lines hung heavy under their eyes. More than one uniform was modified, stuffed with fox antelope fur to keep out the damp and cold of a Ba Sing Se winter. They were the cream of the Fire Nation army, the front line troops in the Great Siege of Ba Sing Se. Right then, they had only one hope and he walked between them, nodding to the murmur of greetings that rippled in his wake.
"Commander."
"Commander."
"Sire."
"Commander."
"Platoon Four! Stand to for the commander!"
Eyes, ranging from yellow to dark brown, followed his progress. If the commander noticed, he took it with ease. Catching the eye of a private he remembered vaguely, he paused. "Keito." The name was said with a grin. Grabbing hold of the holding strap, he hauled himself up to the soldier's lookout ridge. He rapped his fist against the man's stomach-plate. "Nothing like Etarai, huh?"
The giant unbent from his stiff salute. "These City-soldiers don't know a good fight until they're in one, sire."
"Then we'll make sure to give them one." Lu Ten gave a final rap of the stomach-plate, nodded to the man next to Keito. He dropped down onto the marching boards again. The tension that thickened the trench air loosened. Grins flew easier.
"How did you know?" Hirota tramped at his commander's shoulder. He shot a suspicious glance to his superior. "That he fought in Etarai?"
"Look around you, Rota." Lu Ten kept the grim smile on his face as he marched past the salutes. His throat rasped from thirst. His head was starting to spin a little from the home-made pills but the dredging ache of tiredness had receded. "Every man here's fought at that southern cesspool." He inhaled the air, heavy with dust and the scent of rough-made latrines. A creeping pressure was started at the base of his skull. He shoved it down, kept his eyes front.
"They're my father's men."
"Your men now." The colonel muttered. His commander jerked an impatient shoulder in reply. He paused next to a hole in the ground. A jaunty sign, scratched on wood from spirits-knew-where, hung lopsided next to it: Officers' Mess.
Grabbing the support rope, the commander dropped down another level, into the metal dug-out. His feet thumped when they hit the carpeted floor; the first thing every unit did was make a rug for the metal defence shells. The metal rang so loud under regulation boots, it was like sending the enemy an invitation to rock-slide every ranking officer in the front-line when they gathered together to talk strategy.
The shell was packed with bodies and stank of dried blood and old sweat. Weary men, gold insignia on each arm shoulder, looked up at the new arrivals. A flurry of salutes went through the gathered officers like a wave.
"Commander Prince Lu Ten."
"Sire."
"Gentlemen." Lu Ten acknowledged them with a nod. "Ready for a little mud-slinging?"
A low chuckle warmed the formality and melted it. Shoulder plates clanked as men relaxed from the stiff military salute to their former ease. A grey-bearded Major stepped forward. His skull-faced helmet lay cradled in his arms. His own face looked scarcely better. He saluted one-handed, a closed fist to the temple. "We were discussing the eastern bastion, sire."
"Yes, what of it?" Tugging off his helmet, Lu Ten turned to the maps spread out on the rough table in front of him. Hirota pressed in on his right shoulder, shifting the markers out of the way. It seemed the officer had already been mid-way through their arguments. Scratches in black charcoal and tiny blocks littered the top map.
Lu Ten hunched his shoulders. The attention of the room burned into the back of his exposed neck. Forcing his mind away, he studied the topography their intelligence scouts recorded earlier that day.
"The Eastern Bastion is our weakest point. The Earth Benders mounted a counter-attack before we could finish the work."
"I remember. And we agreed that if the Earth Kingdom forces resume, we let it go."
"We did, sir." The Fire Bender glared at a shorter Colonel across the room. His voice hummed with temper, lava bubbling under the polite surface. "As I informed Colonel Daichi."
Lu Ten looked up. Colonel Daichi glowered like a squat coal at the elegant Fire Bender. "Colonel Daichi?"
"The Eastern Bastion commands the best view of the territory, sire. If we let it go, we risk losing the advantage we gained over the past week."
"It's a mud hut!" The Fire Bender's voice rose. "My men are weakened without the sun and you want us to mount a suicide mission-"
"Agni help the poor Fire Benders. What of my men, left behind to defend it? Are they worth less than your precious-"
"Silence!" Hirota slammed his fist against the metal wall. The thump shook the metal walls, rattling dust free to settle on the lamp flames with a dull hiss. "Do you dishonour yourself before your commander?"
The two officers turned, jerked from their spiralling quarrel.
Lu Ten turned. Slowly. He unhooked the dual-swords from his back, propped them up against the table leg. Then he leaned back against the table. Golden eyes, eerily reminiscent of his father, flickered between the two older men.
The blood in his head quickened and thumped. His throat rasped dry. He swallowed as best he could. They were waiting. For him.
Leaning back against the table, he folded his arms. "Major Liang, are you intending to press formal charges in protest at Colonel Daichi's orders?"
"S-sire…"
"Because if that is not the case, then I wonder why you question the orders of a superior officer. As you are aware, Major, that is insubordination."
The word dropped in the over-heated air like an ice-stone.
Every man was aware of the penalties for insubordination. In the battle-field, such a charge brought instant demotion at best, flogging or death at worst. In the tense atmosphere of the siege, where the slightest slip could lead to hundreds of men buried dead and alive under an Earth Bender rockslide, any disobedience was like courting Death itself. And it was punished accordingly.
"N-no, sire!" The Fire Bender flinched under the younger man's gaze.
Lu Ten studied him in silence, the same way he had seen his father do so many times. Only the Dragon of the West could take a man's soul with his gaze, make an ordinary man tremble with the leashed power and fire within. Lu Ten could only make a pale imitation. A shadow.
It had always been like that.
Weak. Nothing. No true son of Fire.
Stop. Not now.
Memories didn't help. Not right now. Not in a cramped bunker, six hundred yards from the Earth King's elite. Leave that to next week. When he and his men were in the reserve lines and he could drown the shadows in wine and fire whiskey.
Maybe he should stop taking those pills. It always got worse after the pills.
Better to hear voices than fall asleep on watch.
"Sire?"
The room was watching him. Major Liang looked like he wanted to wet himself. The death penalty did that to a man.
Lu Ten glanced out the bunker hole. The sky had gone blue-black. Sunset would be over in ten minutes, if not less. They had to move to get to their positions before the enemy began their firing.
"Thank your stars, Major Liang, that we're facing a major Earth Bender attack in the next few minutes. Or I would not be so lenient."
"Thank you, sir. I-"
"Colonel Itsuki, you will take Lieutenant Liang into your company. Find him a platoon. You will be holding the western bastion tonight. Our plan is as discussed."
The Colonel touched his closed fist to his temple. A glimmer of respect shone under the metal ridge of his helmet. "Sire." His eyes slid sideways to Liang, pale and trembling under the shame of his punishment.
"Lieutenant, your case will come up for review once we return to the reserve lines. Until then, you serve under Colonel Itsuki. I trust you will not question his orders."
Lu Ten ignored the stammer of thanks. He dipped down and drew the sword-strap over his head once more. The weight settled across his shoulders, as familiar as his father's arm. "Colonel Daichi?"
"Sir!"
"The former Major was in some way correct, Colonel. Fire Benders are not defence troops. You would be well aware of that. On the other hand, you are correct that we need to revise our opinion of the Eastern Bastion."
Turning back to the map, Lu Ten traced a finger along the low ridge of land they hopefully called the 'Eastern Bastion'. Liang's description of a mud-hut was more accurate. A former overseer's cottage, it had one room and no roof. But in the flat plains of the Agrarian Zone, it was a height. That was valuable.
"Your men are camped on the height?" Without waiting for an answer, Lu Ten nodded. "Our intelligence scouts mentioned that the Earth King's men are below, and there are evidence of sappers."
"Yes, sire." Daichi stepped up to the table. A rough finger jabbed at the silk map. "Here. Here. And here. Small-scale mostly, probably scouting the lie of the land. But they've been active. You even see the dark-green rats in the day-light."
Dark-green. Lu Ten stroked his chin, deep in thought. He'd learnt the habit from his father. Dark green uniforms. He'd always heard that Earth Kingdom sappers dressed in brown. The better to carry out their secretive work on the muddy ground. Was this a new regiment? A new trick for the Council of Five to throw at them?
He needed to bring this to his father. The Dragon had tens of military experts at his fingertips, scholars and soldiers who made a study of the Earth Kingdom military in all its forms and all its tactics. They would be certain what this new regiment could mean.
But first, he needed evidence.
"You'll have your reinforcements, Daichi. But no Fire Benders."
"Sire?" Daichi was stoic, less volatile than Itsuki or Liang. He took changes to his orders without flinching. Maybe it was because he was a non-Bender. You should know, if that's the case.
"I'll join you in manning the defences. With luck, we'll push them back enough to give our builders some breathing space tomorrow." Lu Ten glanced over his shoulder. "Captain Naoki and Major Tadashi will hold in reserve to fill the gaps as needed. We hold the two bastions until our relief comes through. No matter what. Understood?"
There was a general murmur of agreement. With the orders agreed, a rush of relief set in amongst the commanders of the Eighth Battalion. Lu Ten felt it, like a bucket of cool water poured over his head. There was nothing a soldier hated more than uncertainty. Officer or private they were all the same, looking upwards to the senior officer for guidance.
Pity the senior officer, who hid his own doubts and sent men to their deaths.
Captain Naoki ruffled the short hairs at the base of his skull, letting air through the sweat-soaked strand. A sly grin crossed his face. He would have been handsome, but for the scar across his jaw that twisted his entire mouth sideways. A gift from an Earth Kingdom private six months ago.
He pursed his lips in a soft hum. "It's a long long way to Ba Sing Se. But the girls in the city…"
"…They look so pretty." The others finished the hum. A low chuckle passed among them. It was an old marching song the Fire Nation Propaganda Corp thought up at the start of the siege. Somehow, it stuck. The front-line troops had taken it up, singing it before they attacked to taunt the waiting Earth Kingdom men.
"They better be bloody gorgeous after all this." Colonel Itsuki grumbled aloud as he slid on the skull-faced helmet. Nodding to Liang, he saluted Lu Ten once more. "We'll be watching, sire."
Lu Ten nodded in silence. Itsuki grabbed the strap of the ladder. With a grunt, he hauled himself out of the bunker. Lu Ten could hear him bellow orders, even before his feet were fully out of the hole.
"Never stops." Captain Naoki threw a glance up the ladder. He shook his head. "Sire, I know you want my men in reserve but-"
"I want you in reserve because you'll be on the front lines tomorrow." Lu Ten interrupted the other man quickly. He had no desire to visit the same punishment on Naoki, a competent and skilled commander, as on Liang. "Grab as much sleep as you can. We're being relieved in two days. That's still two days away."
"But you're -"
Lu Ten levelled a hard look at the scarred captain. "I'm your commanding officer, Naoki. Right here, I'm only your commanding officer."
The captain folded his lips tight over whatever response he had been thinking. He raised a fist in salute. "Hope to see you in the reserve lines, sire."
"You still owe me a drink from last time."
The scar twisted up in a sickening grin. "I'll make it two, just to celebrate getting out of this dung-hole."
"I'll hold you to that."
"I'll join you." Hirota followed Naoki up the ladder, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. He never trusted the charming captain of Fire Benders, despite his superior's friendship with the man. He threw Lu Ten a quick salute. "Sire."
"Hirota."
Major Tadashi followed Hirota, the flimsy ladder sagging under his weight and his armour.
"Sire." Colonel Daichi stood to attention. They were the last two left in the bunker. Outside, the sky was full black. "Sire, if I may -"
Lu Ten held up his hand. In the distance, he could hear something. A stillness, the night-air too quiet. After a year of missiles and night attacks, a man grew used to sensing in the dark, feeling the ripples in the atmosphere.
A faint whine snaked through the silence. It sent shivers down the spine, made the head spin. It increased to a shriek, an air spirit howling through the sky. Feet hammered above their heads. Frantic whispers hissed, torches flared to light. A lieutenant's boyish voice cracked over the bustle. "Take cover, men! Take -"
"Get down!"
It was instinct. Not thought. Lu Ten flung himself at the older officer. Daichi tumbled from his feet. The breath crushed from his chest in hard rush. "What the-"
Whooomp!
The walls shook. The floor shook. The earth itself shook and spirits above, Lu Ten half expected the roof of the bunker to cave in on top of him. His head rang with the after-impact. He blinked. Blinked again. It took three blinks before the world stood still on its axis.
Daichi, shaken and dust-covered, lay on the floor. His helmet sat askew, above bewildered yellow eyes. "My Prince… I..?"
"Sire!" The same boyish voice, high with fear. Lu Ten spun back. The lieutenant, half his uniform smeared in mud, stared into the dark pit. "Sire, are you hurt?"
"No." I hope not. Lu Ten scrambled to his feet. "Colonel Daichi and I were just leaving. See the lamps are put out. We don't want to fire our own lines." Then, because the boy was probably only six weeks out of training college and still white as shaken milk, Lu Ten summoned a grim smile. "Good job, Lieutenant."
"Sire!" A quick salute. The boy jerked to the side, making way for a burly private to clear the lamps of the miss. He turned back. "Thank you, sire!"
The look in his eyes was still pure adoration and fealty. Lu Ten had seen that before. New recruits, buoyed on the idea of service to the Fire Lord, thrilled to serve with the Fire Lord's own grandson.
He'd learn. Fast. Or he would die.
"Daichi!" Now was no time for formalities. Lu Ten held out a hand. The colonel grasped it, pulling himself to his feet. "How far to your lines?"
The shock of the missile had worn off. Daichi was a soldier again, the hard-bitten veteran of ten campaigns. He shook his head. "Twenty minutes, at a jog."
Lu Ten stilled. Another faint shriek gathered pace in the distance. Soon, the Earth Kingdom would send in their troops.
Their time was running out.
He grabbed the ladder, hauled himself up the first step. Two days to go.
"Let's make it in ten."
Hello! I've been posting and reposting this story on and off for some time and I'm just making another stab at it.
It was inspired by a lot of things but also from the great Lu Ten/Siege of Ba Sing Se stories that are out on - especially zorroami's brilliant 600 days - check it out.
Hope you enjoy this! Please review and let me know what you think of my battlefield setting - I've never written one like that before, so feedback is appreciated!
