Dirty Business
A soft rain fell on the grounds of the stronghold creating a thin fog. Rozen stood outside the doors of its outer wall, a group of soldiers next to him. At the distance he could see the approaching caravan they had been waiting for. When the group had reached the doors, Rozen stepped up to meet their leader. He took the reins of the komodo rhino and waited for them to demount.
"Captain Darya." He said bowing respectfully.
"Lieutenant." The Captain acknowledged him.
Rozen smiled at his longtime friend. "Welcome back."
Darya returned the smile but he could tell her mind was somewhere else. Dark circles pooled under her eyes. There were fresh scars on her arm and her shoulders sagged. She turned to the soldiers behind him. "Get the injured to infirmary." Then to her soldiers she said, "Get supper and a hot shower. There won't be any training tonight."
"The special ops team really gets the royal treatment don't they?" Rozen commented playfully.
Darya shot him an acid look. Rozen was taken back by this. She usually answered with a sassy remark and just told him that anyone not pertaining to the special ops wasn't deserving of anything.
"What happened?" He asked as they made their way to the inner walls of the fort.
"We captured the target. Request a meeting with all the officers and tell them its top priority. Come find me after that."
Rozen nodded then made his way to the main building.
The clothes underneath her armor were sticky against her skin and she had not showered in days. This only added to Darya's foul mood but she felt somewhat relieved now that she was alone, her mind by itself was loud enough. She was entering the training ground when she heard a commotion break out. "I'm not going to be reduced to fight a woman." A young man said pointing at his partner, a girl not much younger than fifteen. The girl flushed embarrassed and looked down at her feet. Darya stopped dead on her tracks then started pushing people aside until she had a front row view. "They can't seriously expect us to degrade ourselves to fight alongside women. They belong in the kitchen." There were some cheers from the crowd which fueled the frugal arrogance of the young man. "You know what they say. A maid in the kitchen, a whore in the bedroom." Many of the guys started whistling and the young man stood victorious in the middle of the crowd.
"Is that so?" Darya asked coming from out of the crowd.
The young man turned to look at her and scoffed. "Of course, don't be stupid."
Darya was amused. "Tell me, you really believe that you are better than us. Why is that?"
The male smirked. "Simple; I am a better fighter than any of you."
Now she was really amused. "Let's see it then." She said unsheathing her sword.
"I don't waste my time fighting women. It's too easy." He said with a laugh.
Darya smiled. "Sounds like you are afraid."
The young man's expression changed to that of hatred. He lounged at Darya, swinging his word at her midsection. In one sweeping motion she refuted his attack with her sword and closed the space between them. The closeness of his opponent threw the young man off. The fighting styles taught at this level were usually for far range. Darya pushed him back, knocking his sword out of his hand. The young man threw himself in the ground in an attempt to grab his sword but Darya kicked it away from his reach. At this the young man launched a fire ball at her. Darya quickly stepped back and deflected the attack. As the young man stood up she sent an attack of her own, kicking a fire arch in his direction. It missed him by inches and he looked at her wearily. The spectators had started to step back. With more force than before the young man conjured a series of fire jabs and kicks. Darya deflected each of them with ease and aimed for the young man's feet with another arc. He jumped back barely missing the fire that threatened to catch his feet. His breaths were coming out ragged and heavy, his movements had become uncoordinated and sluggish. Darya smiled at his condition and started pushing him back, closer to one of the walls. She kept getting closer, throwing off his rhythm and in one last fluid motion she wrapped her left leg on his and slammed him onto the floor. Darya swung her sword at him stopping only centimeters away from his throat. "You were saying women are weak correct? Stop cowering, you look pathetic."
"My apologies Captain Darya! I left them for a few minutes." Said their instructor coming from the main building. "He will be expelled immediately and sent to another battalion."
Darya came to stand next to him. "That won't be necessary Master Yuang. It's their first day, I'm sure we can take it easy on them. Have him do fire squats until the morning." She said brushing away the stray hairs on her face.
"As you wish Captain." He said bowing.
"Sorry for interrupting your class Master Yuang. Please continue." She said then left.
As she walked away from the group she saw the young girl. "I expect you to defend yourself. You won't make it here if you don't. Understood?" Darya said towering over the soldier. The girl nodded and murmured a 'yes ma'am'.
"Back to your lesson." Darya said and everyone scoured.
She didn't get far when Rozen intersected her.
"You really love doing that don't you?" He pointed out and handed her an envelope.
"What are you implying?" She said snatching the paper from his hand.
Rozen's patience was wearing thin with her attitude but he tried to be patient. "By proving that you are a better soldier than everyone even as a woman."
"You mean teaching them respect. I will not allow any sexist person to join under my command, be it a woman or a man." She said opening the envelope. A familiar handwriting was scribbled elegantly on the paper. Every officer report immediately to the main hall-General Seong. "And yes both points are true. I am a woman and a Captain and I think that I have earned the right to showcase my skills and teach them a lesson. Please get the reports from the last expedition."
"Here." He said shoving a scroll into her chest with more force than necessary.
Darya looked up from the parchment ready to curse him out but he had already strode out of the grounds. She was left alone and enraged.
The large metal doors stood menacingly at the entrance of the main hall, and on the other side the men she didn't feel like arguing with but had to. Darya could hear their chatter and taking one deep breath she walked in. Every head in the room turned to her and watched her silently as she made her way to her seat in the Captains area.
"We are glad to have you back Captain Darya." Said Colonel Shenga rising to his feet. "Please brief us on the mission."
Darya sat uncomfortably with her armor still on, across from her Rozen sat deliberately ignoring her. "We captured the target." She started. "He was found, as reports had said, in a village in the northern part of the Fire Nation colonies. While we were returning we were ambushed by a group of two hundred Earth Kingdom soldiers. They were trying to get the prisoner. It seemed that he was important to them which makes me wonder how important he is for the Fire Nation. I was told he was a runaway prisoner not a national threat. Per protocol if a mission is this important you are required to send a backup team for the Elite Group something you did not do. Because I bet my right arm that the money meant to deploy the backup team is now in your pockets. If the mission had been executed as it should have half of my men would not be in the infirmary right now!" She said annoyed.
"But we were able to capture the suspect. What a successful mission!" Colonel Shenga clapped his hands together.
That comment was the last thing that made Darya snap. "You think this was successful!? What part of half my men are injured because of you did you not understand?" She said rising to her feet.
"Miss Darya injuries heal, the protection of our nation is precious." He said smiling at her.
"It's Captain Darya, Colonel Shenga." She said through gritted teeth.
The Lieutenant next to her rose to face her. "Watch your tone with the Colonel."
"Was I talking to you?" She sneered at him and the Lieutenant sat back without another word. Rozen cast her a disapproving look.
"Forgive me Captain, I've known you since you were a child. I always saw you as joining the Fire Nation society. It seems more fitting for you than the army."
At this Darya put a foot on the table and lunged herself at him, her hand on her sword already. Before she could reach him someone pulled her back. Shenga chuckled.
Darya pushed the two officers aside and turned to him. "How dare you mock me after you have undermined my rank and the honor of my men?"
"Settle down." General Seong said from his seat.
Darya's head snapped in his direction. "You hid vital information from me. My men could have died because you choose to keep secrets from your officers." She pointed her finger at him accusingly. "It turns out that the man we captured is the Fire Nations biggest threat second to the Avatar and you could not inform me to take the appropriate measures."
"I have complete trust in your team's skill, after all you were able to bring him in with zero casualties."
"We were attacked by a battalion of two hundred men. My team is composed of ten soldiers."
General Seong kept his composure. "Leave us." He said to the rest of the officers. Silently they all filed out of the room.
"You can't have this sort of outbursts during meetings Darya."
"And you can' keep information from me. As your Captain and as your daughter. My team's job is to go on small missions that need to be discrete. Not large scale attacks. You put all of our lives in danger! " She said hitting the marble table with her fist. "You have no regards toward your men. As long as you get what you want, as long as you get money. This is exactly how Seing died, for secrets like this."
"Do not bring your brother into this. I do what is best for the Nation and you are no one to question my decisions as General." Her father said watching her with cold eyes.
Darya straightened herself and matched his icy look.
"This behavior is not going to pass when you become Colonel. It's childish and unprofessional." He said.
"Oh I'm being childish because I value my soldier's well-being more than your dirty money. Tell me what is wrong with this picture. I'm tired of all the lies that everyone keeps around here and how dirty your politics have become. I've told you before, I decline to take the position as Colonel because I refuse to take part in business like that."
"I am not asking you if you want to take the position Darya. I am telling you. The position is vacant and you are the only one qualified to do so."
"Why because I am 'the generals daughter'?" She retorted back.
"The decision was not taken by me, it was decided by the committee. If I had it my way you wouldn't even be in the army." He said looking her straight in the eye. "You and your team are relieved from your duties tomorrow. Write to your mother, she says you haven't written back in weeks, she's eager to hear about your promotion." He said in the same commanding tone. "You may leave."
"As you wish General." She murmured through gritted teeth.
The cool breeze hit her hard. Droplets of sweat had formed on her forehead and her pulse was erratic. She took deep breaths to try to calm herself. When she reached the infirmary her breathing had fallen into a steady rhythm. The building was not as busy now that most of the soldiers injuries had been tended to but the beds were still full. She calculated that it would take her team at least a week to recover. For the past months they had seen the Earth Kingdom resistance amp up their attacks but nothing like they had experienced on this mission. Their attack was savage and more lethal, so much that it left more than half of her soldiers injured. They were the top soldiers in the army and yet they had had a hard time with the attack. Darya stopped one of the nurses to ask for the youngest member of her team. She was directed to the intensive care section. There the doctor informed her that the youngster had lost a lot of blood through the wound on his hip but that he was now stable. He was sleeping at the moment. Not long after Darya had settled into a chair next to the young soldier's bed the head nurse found her.
"I have the full report of the patient's, Captain." She said handing her a piece of paper.
Darya scanned the paper for any names written in red ink. When she found none she let out a relieved sigh.
"No letters of condolences will be sent out today Captain." She said reassuring her with a warm smile.
"Thank you for your hard work." Darya said sincerely.
The nurse smiled once more then bowed and left.
While Darya waited for the youngster to wake up she made sure to check on every one of her soldiers. A few had fractures while the others sustained the usual bruises and cuts. Everyone was alive but the morale of her team was low even though they had captured the target. Darya couldn't blame them, although her team was composed of the best soldiers in the Fire Nation Army fighting two hundred men was no easy feat. It was well past sundown that the young soldier woke up. Darya had started to nod off when he spoke.
"Did they take the prisoner?" He asked concerned.
Darya smiled. Such a dedicated young man. "Not a chance. Everyone's effort didn't allow it, you guys did well out there."
The youngster smiled proudly.
"You should probably get some rest. I want you up and fighting as fast as possible. Understood soldier?"
"Yes ma'am!" He said making an attempt to bow.
Darya chuckled at his enthusiasm. "See you later kiddo." She said then made her way out into the grounds.
"That's why you were upset earlier, wasn't it?" Rozen said startling her. He was leaning on the wall next to the entrance of the infirmary.
"Yes." She said cautiously testing the water in case he was still mad at her.
"I'm sorry I lashed out earlier."
Darya smiled. "I should be apologizing, you were only trying to help."
"Apologies accepted." He chuckled lightheartedly.
"Did you have any idea of who he was? The man we captured." Darya started.
Rozen became serious, his eyebrows knitted together. "I did not." He looked at her sternly. "You know that if I had I would have told you."
Darya looked away. "Sorry."
At her antics Rozen chuckled. "Stop sulking and let's go get a drink into town."
"I have to talk to Milana. If you guys are still there when I'm done then I'll stop by."
"Sure thing boss." He said before lightly punching her in the arm and leaving.