Luke
I wasn't awakened in the kindest of fashions. I jolted awake to the feel of a boot kicking me in the knees, bringing me to my feet before I was even awake. And like that, I came out of a dream that's as real as life itself until the moment you open your eyes and it's all gone. I was standing, alert as ever, facing the wall as our squad leader moved past me, awakening those still asleep in a similar fashion. The sun was hardly up, but it was there. The wall, the sun reflecting off of its earth brown walls shining right into our trenches. It was a new day.
As I rubbed the sleep from my eyes, I tried to recount the events of my dream, unable to recover the smallest detail. They were so real, however that I felt it was myself experiencing it. I could've just been recounting memories from my past for all I knew. It was no strange thing for myself to wake up struggling to realize I wasn't in the Hive or some pile of garbage in a Citadel slum. That's the past, Luke. It's over.
I was awake now, standing in the middle of the trench, lost and unsure what to do. "What are our orders, sir?" I yelled to the commander who's name I had yet to memorize as he made his way through the trench awakening his men.
"Briefing! 5 minutes!"
5 minutes. I wanted to wash my face off. I wasn't awake as of yet. I had slept in full body armor, unwilling to take it off given the conditions I had slept in being mud, rain, and corpses, or remnants of corpses. We removed most of the bodies from the trenches, or at least the bodies visible to us when the infantry finally arrived an hour or so past midnight. They helped us remove the last of the bodies and relieved us as they dug mass graves for the bodies. The same mass graves I was walking past now on my way this minute.
I was afraid that the Lieutenant General didn't get the beautiful encampment he wanted. Instead of straight and reinforced trench lines, he got small segments of trenches scattered about that had yet to be connected. A defensive perimeter had barely even been set up. There were no spikes set up and I was still awake when the wind pushed over the watchtower while it was being made, sending the soldier atop it crashing down with the watchtower on top of 3 other men. They were all alive from hat I heard later that night. Beat up, but alive. Word spreads quickly in a camp like this.
The tents weren't as uniform as hoped for either. The crimson didn't stand out against the landscape as an artist might wish it to but had rather taken the brunt of the storm and was lined with mud and muck that had been carried by the wind from our construction efforts. It was rather hideous as a matter of fact.
I made my way to what was still being set up as the camp sanitary station. Latrines hadn't been dug yet and some went so far as to bury their excrement along with the bodies still lying in the open mass graves. If anything, it was the infantry's fault for not burying the bodies yet. Maybe they were still expecting more to be dug up today. No doubt the better part of today would be spent tidying up the camp and hoping to do some last-minute organization before the Earth Kingdom woke up and saw the nice little campsite we set up. I wondered if they would even understand if they were under siege. Looking at the sorry state of the camp I was in, I wouldn't have guessed it either.
I waited my turn in the line of soldiers who had the same idea as me, only spotting one other kid my age among them, probably in the armored division judging by the scrawny look of him. I didn't catch a good enough look at his face, but thought I saw Gozdan. He wasn't exactly one of the kids I talked to a lot. He was more so one of Zihe's type. I wondered how that little prick was doing, probably still talking shit about me after what happened to his face. I wondered if he took the bandage off yet and if he did, how badly he looked.
It was my turn and I turned the knob, releasing a steady stream of water coming from tanks of water that had been set up by the infantry after being hauled atop the backs of newly developed Fire Nation trucks. Bigger than tanks, but less well defended, they also rode on treads, but had room on a flat bed in the back to carry supplies atop it. Among these supplies had been water, weapons, and soldiers. Most of the trucks had been given to the armored to carry their limited assigned infantry who played a support role, among them the "non-armored" kids of Citadel and a few other soldiers. Of course, that organization was purely for the trip. Now, Danev and the rest of the infantry soldiers would be assigned to the 22nd, all under the authority of the 5th Corps, of course. Our trip to this city had been our last real assignment together. From now on, he would be moving on to his new unit. I wondered if I could find him before briefing was called.
Answering my question, I heard a whistle coming from further in the camp, grabbing the attention of myself, mid washing my face, and the other soldiers by me. "Briefing!" the voice that came after called. "15th armored."
I waited for him to also call for the 22nd, but it never came. I guess I wouldn't get the chance. Maybe after the day was done, I would have the chance to catch a few minutes with Danev. I was eager to hear his take on the wall in front of us that was still captivating my attention.
Zand
"No, Sergeant. The older plans don't apply anymore." I scolded Sergeant Azdun, my assigned second in command after he continued to ask stupid questions I had answered hundreds of times prior. It took me taking the initiative to shut him up before he made me do something stupid out of anger.
"Because, sergeant." I continued. "We are miles north of our intended target." I referred to the map, pointing lividly as I made my next statement. "We are here. Not there or there or there, but right fucking here."
"Okay sir, but our orders are to arrive at coordinates S2, I7. Our orders don't apply if those coordinates are wrong."
"That's why we're having a fucking briefing, sergeant. To get organized before the Earth Kingdom fucks us in the ass."
"But shouldn't we relocate if the coordinates are incorrect?"
"Oh for the love of Raava. How old are you, sergeant?"
"21, sir."
"Then since you're a bit too young to understand, your commanding officers will rarely ever admit they were wrong, especially when it's too late to go back and fix it. The camp is set up, right location or wrong, who gives a shit. Those bodies we dug up last night were from the 106th division, our predecessors, and we're going to end up just another layer in this soil if we don't get our shit together. So go to your squad commanders and rally them now!"
He left. I had my orders from the Lieutenant-General. He was assigning infantry to finish the camp and armored to scout. I was now faced with deciding where the scout parties went. I had 30 tanks squadrons, 5 tanks a piece, so 150 in total, unit number beginning at 300. I would have started at 100, but some of the Dragon's tanks units had started at 0 so his numbers went far higher than 200 so it would have been confusing if we ended up meeting one another. A decision I was fine with making, but back to the tanks. Zahckrael wanted at least 1 squadron checking on the listening post between our host and the Dragon of the West who was besieging the Southeast of the city. Being on the complete opposite side of the city as him, it would be a longer journey to the listening post. We had sent out a raven last night for the Dragon, but had received no answer as of yet, pointing out potential problems with our checkpoints. It would be my job to check it out, or, more accurately, send the real soldiers to check it out.
I didn't want veterans on the job, but I didn't want newbies either. The newbies would be better for checking our flank and the veterans would be more suited to checking the North, but I needed a good squad or two to check up on that listening post. No. I had plenty to spare. I could send at least 10 squadrons to check up on that listening post. It might be overkill, but if the post was in jeopardy, then it would be worth it. 50 tanks would definitely be able to take it and hold it.
I looked at the coordinate grid for this area of Ba Sing Se. We had to use a less updated one as we had made the most recent maps for the square south of us rather than this one, but considering we were off target, we didn't have that much of a choice. I used the grid to create lines for our patrols. I didn't expect any combat this early on, but I was taking precautions. I sent the veteran units north as far as the Northern Earth Kingdom coast. They would be strictly assigned to report any Water Tribe movements. I needed to know if we would have to bolster our northern defense line that would otherwise have been covered by the wall, but here we were, no point dwelling on it now.
Soon enough, all 1000 of my men were present. 450 tanks crews and 550 engineers, mechanics, medical crew, and logistics. They would be staying behind to work on the camps defenses and really expand our reach while the drivers would work to make sure they didn't get killed by some surprise attack while doing so.
I wasn't used to giving briefings but didn't have much of a choice at the moments.
"All right, men. At ease. If you haven't noticed yet, we've made it to Ba Sing Se." That earned a few chuckles from the audience, taking them out of the stressful state that had plagued them through the night considering the task they had to complete the last night. It wasn't pretty work. "You may not have noticed, but the camp isn't looking to pretty right now. Naturally, we're going to be busy with housekeeping work. Now, drivers, I wouldn't dare bore you with the tedium of housework but will rather send you to make sure we don't get killed while doing so. You will be assigned per squadron, so squadron commanders will be asked to meet with me following the briefing and copy down their route patterns with pencils on our maps. I recommend pencils and not pens as we are short on maps at the moment. Drivers, break fast and be ready to head out. Medics, Engineers, and Logistics, you will stay behind and report to the Lieutenant General for re-assigning within the camp. Dismissed!"
The men saluted be as befit my ranks and headed out as the drivers made their way to eat, the support made their way to the head of our host, and my 30 squadron commanders made their way up to me. I remembered learning that Captain Zaedra was amongst the men I was leading. Higher ranking that me, but still under my command. Felt like it would be more embarrassing than simply being demoted. The man was a legend. I pitied him for the fall he had experienced from the days of glory of the "Iron Gauntlet."
Nonetheless, I had orders to distribute, and among my veterans, Zaedra's crew would undoubtedly be heading north. I needed veterans like him keeping the Water Tribe away from us.
Luke
I had never before seen all of the faces of my tank squadron in one place before. Previously, when we set up camp on our way to Ba Sing Se, we all went our separate ways, setting up our tents leagues away from one another. The again, we hadn't even set up our tents yet. The majority of the 15th armored just went to sleep in the trenches, too exhausted to set up tents given the day's work behind us. Shitty thing too. Best spots were taken now. Gi Gu had suggested skipping breakfast to set up our tent, but Gan ordered us against it as we wouldn't have time, and this would likely be our only meal until dinner and to savor it. So we ate instead. It was good enough food. Nothing fresh, just some preserved ration packs.
It wasn't long until our squad commander came up to and ordered us up saying "Meal's over. Grab your gear and get in your tanks. We leave in 5 minutes."
None of us were in that much of a rush that morning. 5 minutes was long enough anyway. Zaedra's lack of fire in his voice that morning also didn't help to emphasize any sense of urgency. It was more of a neutral and informative way of speaking. Wonder if he's comparing this to his glory days. That would depress the hell out of me too if I were him.
I made my way over to my spot in the trench where I had spent the night, hoping never to spend another one there, past the mass graves that were finally starting to be buried, and grabbed my helmet. I didn't get a weapon like the rest of my squad given my "abilities", but I did get a kick ass helmet with a white visor that made a habit of looking directly at me and scaring the hell out of me whenever I woke up. It was an alarm for me of sorts and every time, my morning-self cursed my night-self for arranging my helmet to face me that way.
I got to my tank before Gi Gu and Gan, sitting atop the tank, waiting for the others to arrive. I didn't bother sitting inside as it would be pretty humid and stuffy in there following the night's weather and I could raise the seat without the power of the tank being on and I wouldn't dare turning on that tank without the rest of my crew. One of Zaedra's strict rules was to never start the tank without the full crew being inside. Gi Gu had been a smartass and asked what to do if someone in the crew was dead and Zaedra's response was to stare him in the eyes and say, "Then you carry them on your back into the tank, set them down in their seat, buckle them in, and get going."
It shut Gi Gu up and he hasn't made a joke around Zaedra since, for which I was rather grateful.
It made me wonder about the bodies we were burying, however. I asked myself before why we didn't send the bodies back to the Fire Nation, but then it occurred to me where we were. We were in the heart of Earth Kingdom territory. It had taken us two weeks to drive here with the number of vehicles we had and there were more bodies than the tanks could hold all together. It would be a waste of resources and time, but still, the families of those soldiers would never see home again.
Maybe it was for the best anyways. I saw those bodies. Half of them could hardly even be considered bodies anymore. They were just parts. Calling them bodies would be overstating what was left of them, but I still couldn't help but pity their families. Their mothers, fathers, wives, children. That's why we had to end this war. To end that killing as soon as possible and the way it seemed, a Fire Nation victory was the quickest and most humane way to end this war.
That was why we were here, at the heart of the Earth Nation. To end this war.
My crew arrived soon enough. I made way for Gi Gu and Gan to enter the tank through the hatch and took my seat soon after, immediately discomforted by the expected humidity and stuffiness of the tank. As soon as power in the tank was on, however, I raised my seat to a level where I was halfway sticking out of the tank and settled in.
It was a nice morning and it was looking to be a nice day. We were heading North by the looks of it. I may even get a chance to see the sea. Wouldn't that be something? I had never seen the ocean before. I had read about them, sure, but seeing it would be something different entirely. Bodies of water full of salt and exotic life. I wanted to know one thing ever since I read about the oceans and about the spirits that formed them: Why did they make the oceans undrinkable? Were they angry at mankind, or were they just assholes?
I shrugged it off. It didn't matter. I had my job and my only job here was to keep and eye out and report anything interesting I saw. I really should tart writing this down. Before I forgot, I took out my knife on my belt and made the day's tally on the interior of the hatch. Day 15.
I set my helmet under my seat and felt the tank, following its procedurally checks from Gan and Gi Gu jolt into life as we moved forward, taking our place in the left flank of the formation. I heard Gan knock against the base of my seat and I lowered it slightly and bent over to hear what he had to say.
"Just so you don't ask me later what we're doing, when we get far enough, the squadron's splitting up to cover more ground and we regroup later at the same spot. I'll tell you when. Just wanted to let you know."
"Thanks for the heads up. What's the spot?"
"Zaedra's gunner will signal when and we'll split off. We have our vectors set so we'll just continue in that direction until midday or an incident, whichever comes first."
"Define and incident."
"Zaedra said to look out for Water Tribe or Earth Kingdom scouts so don't drift off. I need you to stay awake, got it?"
I slumped back into my seat. "It's going to be a long day." I murmured to myself as I raised the seat back to its previous level.
I looked at the day on the underside of the hatch once again. Day 15.
I looked at it again when the day was over. Day 15 and no incidents.
Day 16 and no incidents.
Day 17 and no incidents.
Day 18 and no incidents.
The camp became more of a camp than ever before. We set up our tents and I began to come under the impression that the Earth Kingdom forgot there was an Eastern part of Ba Sing Se.
The days continued without incidents for a while. Everything seemed to be going along smoothly as though there was never anything to fear. Everything went smoothly…
…Until it didn't.