CH 7
Iroh walked briskly through the halls, Jin Lian at his side matching pace. As higher-ranking officers, they were allowed the first dinner shift, while the rest of the soldiers in the United Forces rotated through the following shifts. Iroh did have the option of dining separately from the crew, but he saw it as a missed opportunity to communicate with them and observe the general mood of the day. Tonight, he was going to watch how the soldiers interacted with his new strategist, and how she would react to them. Lady…no, Strategist Yang seemed to pick up on this intent, and she slipped away from him the moment they stepped through the mess hall door. Or that was what he thought initially.
After gathering their meals, Iroh sat at his usual spot, his back to a wall and allowing him a full view of the room. Jin Lian was wandering with her tray, looking for an open spot. She found one with some non-bending engineers and gunnery, and struck up what looked to be a polite conversation. Iroh sighed in relief, she was making some progress.
"General, it's good to see you!" a voice called out. The young general turned to see a fellow firebender named Long. He nodded in greeting and motioned for the young man to sit. Long was the youngest son of a low-ranking governor on Hing Wa island, and had little to no interest in politics. Rather, he took more interest in women and manning the guns on the ship. Despite this very simple preference, Long did inherit his mother's love for gossip, and that's how he got most of his information regarding the happenings in the capital. He was also a good gauge on the opinions of the crew. The two men exchanged niceties, asking after the other's family members and how they were doing.
"Forgive me if I'm being a bit rude, General," Long started out. Iroh prepared himself, whatever Long said after would indeed, be rude. "How did Strategist Yang get her position?" Long turned his light brown eyes towards Jin Lian, who was eating daintily while showing rapt attention to the men she was sitting with. "I heard she is the daughter of the Ji Won Yang and the great granddaughter of Grandmaster Piandao," Long continued. "But she doesn't look like much. The crew is speculating how she even earned her way on board…by way of special treatment they're saying."
Iroh shifted his attention back to Long, golden eyes flashing angrily. "Watch your words, captain Zhang," he warned. "Colonel Yang was selected based on merit, nothing else." As much as he disliked pulling rank, Iroh wanted to make it clear to Long where he stood in comparison to the new strategist. The young fire bender coughed awkwardly, "Of course, sorry, General", and walked away sheepishly. Iroh looked over at Jin Lian, only to see her stand up stiffly and walk away.
~Jin Lian~
The young woman sat at the table of non-benders, she could tell based on their gray uniforms, and flashed a small smile. The soldiers rose and saluted immediately, to which Jin Lian quickly asked them to sit. She joined them and started eating, all the while getting to know them. Most were engineers who kept the ship running, while a few manned the artillery. They were all Fire Nation, which didn't surprise her, considering their country had always been a leader in technological advancement.
"Are you all here for your mandatory service?" she asked them, taking a small bite of fish with her rice. "You're all so young."
One engineer nodded. "Yes, ma'am, we are." He motioned with his head towards his artillery friend. "In fact, we're from the same village."
"Is that so, Gunny?" Jin Lian asked, using the slang term for someone of his station.
An exuberant nod came from the young man. "It's an honor to be serving the United Forces, ma'am, let alone the flagship! And under General Iroh and the daughter of the Ji Won Yang!"
Jin Lian narrowed her eyes. "Sorry to disappoint, but my abilities are far different from my father's, I'm afraid to say. I'm a non-bender, like you, if you haven't noticed."
"Of course, Strategist Yang! Apologies."
She waved them off dismissively, many people assumed she was a bender like her parents. "How well can you fight?" she asked. "I've learned about the capabilities of the ship, but what are the capabilities of the non-bending crew?"
Another engineer answered quickly. "We don't know how to fight, ma'am. We're non-bending and engineering after all. Leave all the fighting to the benders."
Jin Lian felt a flash of annoyance, but refused to let it show. "Right then, thank you for your input. Enjoy your dinner." She stood, allowing the men to stand and salute her as she left. Spinning on her heel, the young woman promptly marched out of the kitchen and back towards her room. She seethed, all the way through the corridors and halls. Non-bending servicemen were being relegated to non-combative positions, and they didn't complain. It was an insult Jin Lian took personally. She hated being underestimated, which was often. Her small, delicate stature did nothing to help her, while her inability to fire bend like her parents made it difficult for anyone to find any indication that she was capable of fighting. Being female nobility, even Fire Nation nobility, implied a sort of requirement to be a socialite as opposed to a warrior. She had heard stories of Fire Lady Mai having to jump through hoops (figuratively so to speak, it was Master Ty Lee that could literally jump through hoops) just to convince her parents to find an instructor on throwing knives. Jin Lian was lucky, at least her mother stressed the importance of carrying on Great-Grandfather Pian Dao's sword style. Nevertheless, in public, it was as if she would be treated like a porcelain doll, only to be admired on display.
"Are you feeling alright, Strategist Yang?" a male voice asked from behind.
Jin Lian nearly jumped out of her skin. She must have been so caught up in her thoughts that she didn't hear Iroh walk up from behind her. "General!" she exclaimed, placing a hand to her chest. The young woman paused to catch her breath. "Yes, sir, I'm alright. Just heading back to my room to study."
Iroh let out a low chuckle, amused by his strategist's reaction. "What exactly are you studying?" His eyes glimmered yellow in the incandescent lighting of the hallway.
"Formations, old water nation sailing techniques, anything else that might be useful," she answered. In reality, she just wanted to run into her room and stew in her anger, but she would never say that to Iroh. Jin Lian wasn't sure if he called her bluff, or that he was genuine when he looked at her and said, "Bring the books to my cabin, I'll fill you in on our schedule."
She was taken aback. "Y-yes, sir," she answered, and scuttled quickly into her room. In a flurry, she scooped up her references, and shot back to Iroh's cabin. Her cap flew off her head and onto the bed as she exited her room. "Agni keep me from making a fool of myself," she swore under her breath.
~Iroh~
Iroh was already seated at his map table when Jin Lian entered. He heard her soft footsteps tapping along the metal floor of the ship, echoing all around. A few knocks on his door confirmed her presence, as he called out, "enter!"
His door creaked open as Jin Lian stepped through. Iroh raised his eyebrows at the sight of his strategist, her arms filled to capacity with various maps and texts. "I didn't know which ones to bring, so I brought them all," Jin Lian explained, handing some off to Iroh as he walked over to meet her. The General marveled at how many resources she was carrying, considering how heavy they were.
"We can leave them here for now," he said, walking back to the table and placing them off to the side. "Sit, I'll get the tea." He couldn't help but make distinctions between now and when Jin Lian had first entered his chambers in the Royal Palace. Before, the young woman was timid like a deer, but now, she had taken the liberty to explore his cabin after placing her books down. He stood at a shelf, grabbing a ceramic tea pot and filling it with water, and set it to boil with his fire bending. Iroh's eyes trailed over to his strategist, who was now standing beside him and watching him intently.
"Have you not seen fire bending before?" he joked, stepping away from the shelf, pot in hand. He motioned with his head towards the rest of the tea set, to which Jin Lian nodded and collected the requisite cups.
"I haven't seen much fire bending that doesn't include visible fire," the woman replied bluntly. "Even my parents admit that emitting heat without releasing the flame requires immense control." Just like when they were at the palace, Jin Lian started her tea ceremony. Her hands danced in practiced movements, portioning the tea, pouring it over the ceramic, and pouring again to serve him first, and then herself. Iroh watched in a daze, but was quickly snapped out of it when Jin Lian pushed aside the tea set, and with it all decorum of the noble lady that had surfaced for a few minutes. The soldier had returned, and he could see it in her face and hear it in her tone.
"General, you recall I found your strategies quite old fashioned. This is because your naval formations are based on Fire Nation formations, where size and durability were key." Jin Lian leaned on the map table, toying with the models that represented their course. "In a strictly naval battle, we would clearly win. But the United Forces is the only major power that owns an armada, which is still held by the Fire Nation. Technological improvements allow vessels to be incredibly fast, which can easily outpace our ships. We need to evolve with the world."
Iroh nodded, taking a sip of his tea. Jin Lian took a breath, and then continued. "With respect to our piracy problem, our adversaries have the upper hand, despite having fewer resources. We are the unagi, and they are the silver fish that scatter at the smallest shadow."
"So how does the unagi catch the silver fish?" Iroh asked, raising an eyebrow. He leaned forward, elbows on the map table as he inspected his strategist. He saw the coy smile on her face, secretive and smug.
"If you ask any fisherman, they'd tell you that the unagi does not hunt the silver fish, for they are too small and quick," she answered. Iroh sighed in exasperation, he didn't have time for riddles. "Rather," she continued, "they wait for the lesser predators, like the elephant koi, sea lions, and gulls to pull them into tight groups." He watched as she gathered smaller models into a group. "Then, once the shoal is small enough…" She covered them in a cupped hand and stared at him square in the eye. "They simply swallow it whole."