CHAPTER FOURTEEN: JEONG JEONG
General How had proved to be canny and unpredictable. General Iroh's plan for the conquest of the wall would go forth unabated, but not even he had predicted that the Earth Kingdom's forces would sally forth from the walls they so jealously guarded. Jeong Jeong had been rather pleased by that turn of events. He had been tied up in this siege for so long that he missed the elegance of maneuver that lent itself to open-ground combat. This was refreshing for him, and it pleased him even more to see that General How seemed to share his thirst for combat.
He clenched his hands into fists and tongues of flame, fashioned into the likeness of knife blades, extended downward. In like fashion, How pounded his fists into the ground, and when he withdrew them they were covered in huge gauntlets of stone. He dropped into his fighting stance, and Jeong Jeong his. They had proven to each other that they could shoot fire and rocks at each other all day and the other would find a way around it. No, this would have to be settled close in.
Jeong Jeong leapt at his opponent, his arms crossed. When he got close, they opened up in a vicious scissoring movement, and the twin fire knives raked across the surface of the gauntlet How used to block them, leaving an ugly black scorch mark. How twisted his elbow, bringing the parry motion into a downward blow which Jeong Jeong had to twist to avoid. He was starting to figure out the dynamics of this duel now. The sheer power of How's weapon meant that Jeong Jeong couldn't hope to parry it effectively, but he was also infinitely slower than Jeong Jeong. That put the advantage squarely in the Fire Nation's side. So much like the war they were fighting, he would be able to choose the place of attack and the best How could possibly hope for was to defend against it as best as he could.
How took the initiative, punching brutally at him. But just as he had predicted, How's movements were sluggish, and he could basically only attack from three directions: up, the sides, and the occasional thrust. Remembering how similar last night's Agni Kai was, Jeong Jeong twisted out of its way, but How was a bit more canny than Qin had been, and swept the fist along the same lines, catching his opponent and throwing him off-balance. Staggering back a few steps, Jeong Jeong felt the pain in his side; he'd been hit in the ribs. They weren't broken (so far as he could tell), but it had hurt. First blood to him, he thought.
Coming back for the counter-attack, he threw himself bodily at How. With scornful ease, he avoided How's attempts to hit him, and he brought his hands together. His two fire knives merged into one intensely burning blade, an almost blueish hue. He swept it towards How's neck, but How raised one of his gauntlets, blocking the flaming sword. Jeong Jeong hit with enough force, though, that it actually knocked the gauntlet into the side of How's head, and he staggered back for a moment. There was a long angry gash on the side of the gauntlet where his slash had landed, and he felt some satisfaction. The left gauntlet was weaker now.
While they were dueling, the battle was raging around them. The Earth Kingdom forces had put up a successful (but small) perimeter around their segment of the wall. However, they were slowly being pushed back more and more. Jeong Jeong noticed in particular that a group of warriors with particularly ornate armor were causing trouble. They weren't panicking as easily as the enlisted men and they seemed to have a stronger team dynamic. He made a mental note to have them disabled as soon as possible. But even their valiant efforts weren't enough to hold back the Fire Nation forever. Though initially surprised and even stymied by the sudden counteroffensive, the Fire Nation troops had regained their advantage and were now pressing in from every side. The perimeter would break soon; all ready some of them literally had their backs against the wall.
Turning his attention back to their duel, Jeong Jeong swung his blade again, a trail of flame following its path. How ducked to avoid it, and brought his right gauntlet up to hammer it back down on Jeong Jeong. The Fire Nation commander brought up his fire blade to parry…and then let the flames dissipate into nothing. Anticipating the resistance of the flame, How was instead met with no resistance at all, and overextended himself. Seizing this chance, Jeong Jeong ducked under his guard, elbowing him harshly in the chest and sending him to the ground. As How hit, Jeong Jeong planted his foot firmly on his adversary's chest and pointed his two fingers at How's head.
He was blindsided suddenly as a rock hit him in the side. All balance lost, his arms and legs flailed for something solid, but he was flying through the air and there would be none of that. He came to a skidding halt over twenty feet away, and quickly scrambled to his feet, but it was too late. He could all ready see troops helping General How to his feet and half-carrying him to the wall. The Earthbenders stomped the ground, and the very earth they were standing upon started climbing up the wall as escalating platforms. They showered any pursuers they had with debris, and within seconds they were at the top of the wall again. Jeong Jeong stomped his foot angrily. He had been so close…He would have been the only one in Fire Nation history to take down two members of the Council of Five. He could have destroyed the wall's command structure, then and there, and yet he was foiled by a mere lackey.
He calmed himself. It was not wise to get greedy and stoke his kindling before it had ignited. They had successfully driven back the Earth Kingdom's riposte, and all of the wall's defenders had witnessed General How's personal defeat at the hands of he. That much was a victory to the Fire Nation morale, in the least. He strode into the midst of his troops who were in the midst of regrouping, and bellowed, "We have driven them back to their wall like the cowards they are! Let us drive them from there as well! For the Fire Lord!" A rousing chorus of yells greeted his exhortations. In truth, he did not believe the Earth Kingdom fighters to be cowardly, least of all General How. But this was about what the men needed to hear, and so, Jeong Jeong rationalized somewhat bitterly, the less human they seemed, the more willing his men would be to kill them.
He looked at the sun. It was nearly noon now, and Iroh would be implementing his plan soon. In the distance, he saw Lu Ten's banner creeping closer, moving so insignificantly that one could not notice it unless one was looking for it. They had guarded his approach carefully; no one from the walls would be able to notice anything significantly out of the ordinary if all went according to plan. And minus the sudden and unexpected attack, everything had been.
At the center of the line, General Iroh himself was in the fray. It had been a while yet since Jeong Jeong had seen him in combat, and he had forgotten how gifted of a Firebender he was. While his younger brother Ozai was content to spend his time at the palace, learning from a host of different Firebending masters, Iroh was out here, fighting the war, gaining wisdom instead of knowledge. Jeong Jeong preferred Iroh's approach to Ozai's; there was only so much a sifu could teach you before their teachings became rigid and regimented.
Suddenly, from Iroh's ranks, a white and red flag went up. Jeong Jeong nodded to it, though he knew that it obviously could not acknowledge him. He turned to the nearest subordinate he could find.
"Bring up the charges!" he called over the din. The aide nodded and started running back towards the rear of the column, waving Jeong Jeong's seal to show his clearance. While he waited for those to arrive, Jeong Jeong turned his attention to the wall. To his surprise, he could see that the three generals from the Council of Five were retiring from the wall, though their men kept fighting on. That intrigued him. Clearly, they were changing plans, and it was to be in a radical way. And the more he thought about it, the more Jeong Jeong began to think that he knew exactly what those three men were deliberating, and his mind was all ready working out a way to undermine it completely…