Attending his first war council meeting as Fire Lord felt bizarre. Zuko had only ever been to two war council meetings in his entire life, both of which had led to massive changes for him personally. Sitting in Ozai's place felt unreal, like he was stuck in that fever dream he'd had after rescuing Appa.
He focused on the people in the meeting. War Minister Qin, and Generals Mung, Mak, and Shinu were present, along with Admiral Chan. Admiral Kang and Generals Taiyo and Shoji were in the field, and High General Bujing had left a resignation letter addressed to Zuko and disappeared before Zuko had even gotten crowned.
He called the meeting to order, and they all looked at him. "Admiral Chan, can you give us all a rundown on the current state of the fleet?" His voice rose in question. Zuko kicked himself mentally. Fire Lords didn't make requests, they ordered things. He couldn't afford to sound like an insecure teenager... even if that was exactly what he was.
The withdrawals from the eastern side of the Earth Kingdom had started, including the evacuation of outposts along the coast of the Eastern Sea, and that ridiculously exposed colony at nearby Bao Inlet. Total warship tonnage was still down 40% from the high point before the Battle of the North. It would take at least two years to fully replace their losses, not that Zuko planned to.
The Northern Water Tribe was mostly keeping to themselves, but was making a point of sinking anything that sailed much north of the Western Air Temple.
"Then let's not send anything north of the Western Air Temple," said Zuko. "I am going to be negotiating peace with the Northern Water Tribe, and we don't need more deaths when we don't even have any assets up there. What about the South?"
"Very quiet, my lord, ever since the failed invasion on the Day of Black Sun. There was some sort of covert operation on Whaletail Island, but it didn't amount to much."
"I'm not surprised," said Zuko... though he was kind of surprised his and Katara's escapade had been noticed this far up the military food chain. "I am already negotiating an agreement-in-principle with Chief Hakoda. The Water Tribe prisoners should be heading home soon."
"Are you sure that's wise, Fire Lord?" asked General Shinu. "Surely it would be better to keep the prisoners as leverage until after a treaty is signed?"
"I know Chief Hakoda, as well as both his children. Hakoda is a man of his word, and I think we'll get a lot more goodwill and easier negotiations later if we let his people go now, with the agreement-in-principle, than if we hold onto them for months while negotiating a formal treaty."
Shinu shrugged, and War Minister Qin didn't look convinced. "Fire Lord, aren't you worried about all these foreigners staging some sort of coup?" said Qin. "Or do you have reason to believe they think it unnecessary?"
"Most of the ones currently in Caldera are leaving in the next three days," said Zuko. "I think they just want to go home at this point."
"Perhaps," said Qin. "I would like to see those Earth Kingdom generals gone as soon as possible, if you must release them. And Long Feng."
"The Council of Five should be being ushered onto a ship bound for the Earth Kingdom as we speak. And I left Long Feng, and those of Azula's Dai Li we found, in custody. Long Feng is guilty of crimes against the people of the Earth Kingdom and the Earth King, so I figured we should just leave them in prison until there are appropriate authorities for me to hand them to." And Zuko loathed Long Feng. The mindbending he'd caught glimpses of while sneaking around under Lake Laogai had been one of the creepiest things he'd ever seen, and he was not having Long Feng or his henchman running around loose in the Fire Nation if he could help it!
"Quite," said Qin.
Qin and Zuko eyed each other. "War Minister Qin, how are the withdrawals from the Earth Kingdom proceeding?"
"Well enough, for the most part. The Sihuang desert outposts have been pulled back to Gaoling. Are you sure you want to withdraw further? The Earth Kingdom is in shambles. We could hold the line there."
Zuko thought of Toph's likely reaction to having her hometown turned into a Fire Nation frontier garrison town, and suppressed a shudder. "No!" he said. "There's no point holding onto Gaoling." He paused. "I have no intention of trying to conquer the Earth Kingdom. My father tried that, my uncle tried that, my grandfather and great-grandfather tried that. They failed, and the price has been horrific. When I said I wanted an end to the War, I meant it, and we won't get peace if we hold on to every last rock of the Earth Kingdom until it is pried from our hands by force of arms."
Qin looked affronted. "Fire Lord, a lot of our people have died taking those lands. It isn't going to go over well with the citizenry if we just abandon everything they died for."
"Would you have me throw more lives away on a failed policy, then?" Zuko demanded.
General Mak shifted, and Zuko looked at him. "The Fire Lord is right. Conquering and holding the Earth Kingdom hasn't worked, and with the Earth Kingdom in alliance with a fully-functional Avatar and the Southern Water Tribe, it isn't going to work. I think we are in substantial danger of losing the Colonies, assuming the Earth Kingdom sorts itself out in a timely manner. Losing the Northwestern Zone would cut off our coal supply, about 30% of the Home Islands' food supply, and leave nearly a million Fire Nation civilians in enemy hands. That would put the Fire Nation in danger of economic collapse, or even a successful invasion. We are best off cutting our losses in the occupied but uncolonized territories."
Zuko almost smiled, relieved that at least one of his generals agreed with him. Though he might just be currying favor with the new Fire Lord. There was always that possibility.
"Fire Lord, you seem to have some sort of arrangement with the Avatar. What are we dealing with there?" asked Mak.
"Aang does not want to be our enemy."
Chan made a funny expression, but didn't say anything. Zuko raised his eyebrow. "Thoughts, Admiral?"
Chan went rather pale. "Nothing, Fire Lord."
Zuko frowned at him. "I am not my father, nor am I Princess Azula. If you have something to add, say it. I am not going to set you on fire for not instantly agreeing with my every thought."
"It is just that the Avatar has done a massive amount of harm to the Fire Nation for someone who doesn't want to be our enemy. Are you sure you trust him?"
"Yes, I trust him not to harm us – so long as we stop trying to conquer the world. We've given him a lot of reason to hate us, and I think we're very lucky that Aang is someone who hates war and wants to forgive us the wrong we've done his people and the rest of the world. Imagine if the Avatar was someone like... General Fong, for instance."
Everyone winced at that.
When the meeting ended, Zuko pretended to flip through his papers until the councillors had moved out. As he stood, his vision tunneled. He froze until it cleared. He didn't fall. Opening his eyes, he saw Qin looking back at him from the door. Catching Zuko's gaze, Qin bowed and left.
Zuko was glad he hadn't called the Civil Council meeting for that afternoon. He was already required to be at the reception tonight, and at least he'd have an hour or two to lie down now. Sometimes Katara was smarter than he was.