Avatar: The Last Airbender Created By: Michael Dante DiMartino, Bryan Konietzko
Avatar: The Last Airbender Owned By: Nickelodeon, a subsidiary of Viacom
All original content and characters © Acastus



Chapter XII – The Art of Lightning Warfare

The echoes of Gao's voice traveled up and down the banquet hall until silence reigned. Zuko looked first at his uncle, who appeared lost in thoughts of melancholy as he stroked his unkempt beard, then at Trimazu, who was looking past Iroh with a similar expression.

After a few more moments the Storyteller concluded, "That morning, after seeing that the young Fortuneteller had obeyed his command, he began to order his army's affairs for the long struggle ahead. Thus did General Nifong prepare for his final conflict with the Fire Nation."

At this the Storyteller broke, as if between the acts of a play. Many audience members used the pause as an opportunity to shift in their seats, motion to a servant for a refill or, as Gao himself did, take a long drink from a nearby glass.

The young Prince turned away from his neighbors to look stonily at the panorama before him. He felt sure the gibberish about Nifong's odyssey was a fool's tale, but this was not the time to question his uncle about it. He brooded silently over the many other questions raised by the Storyteller's tale, but they too would have to wait for a more appropriate time, so he suppressed them viciously.

With no other outlet for his swirling emotions, a question borne of selfish anger erupted in his mind, "Why did he hide all this from me?" The anger converted instantly to shame, however, as another, quieter part of him answered without hesitation, "Because you never thought to ask." Unnoticed by anyone the banished Prince blushed slowly and looked down.

The audience settled as Gao resumed his position and began anew…

"Let us return, noble lords, to the Princes of the Fire Nation. So far these men have been revealed to you as valiant opponents of the corrupt and ambitious Tien Shin, and I have not misrepresented them in this regard."

"But now you must see them in an altogether different light," said the Storyteller as he raised his hand and the power of his voice slowly increased, "See them now as enemies of the Earth Kingdom, enemies whose twin goals were nothing less than the destruction of our nation and the enslavement of our people! For it is a truth of life that good men are often the authors of the most terrible evils. So it was with Prince Xian and Prince Iroh during the Summer of Terror."

"Oh yes, my friends, now we are come to the dark times. The Fire Nation's mighty armored legions made possible an entirely new way of battle. Years of preparation, training and planning had resulted in the lethally precise art of "Go-Shen" or "lightning war", an art which Prince Xian did unleash upon the world in the course of this dreadful conflict. Without pity or mercy, the Fire Nation once again put forth its power to all crush those who stood against it."

"As the armies of the Fire Lord advanced and the great cities of the Nasu fell before them, tens of thousands of Earth Kingdom soldiers resisted magnificently, but to no avail. The Summer of Terror lasted barely four months, but during that time defeat after crushing defeat yielded at last a rout without order and without purpose. It was, to all outward appearances, the beginning of the end, a time when every heart looked into the future and saw only the gathering darkness…"


Nikon removed his helmet as he ducked into the tent housing Xian's headquarters. It was stifling hot inside. The sun beat down relentlessly outdoors, but there was at least a pleasant breeze. The stench from the still burning city of Edo behind them, however, was inescapable. Though damaged, that mighty city of over a hundred thousand had been captured largely intact and with few casualties. The Fire Lord had been pleased.

As usual, Iroh's friend was in an excellent mood. The uncharacteristically dark thoughts that had plagued him after Master Chen's arrest had departed almost as soon as he had set foot in the Earth Kingdom. Though under Tien Shin's nominal command, Nikon had seen little of him since the Battle of the Arno more than three weeks ago, a fact that improved his attitude tremendously.

Most importantly, his men had performed with skill and honor, and the Earth Kingdom defenders had been destroyed with startling ease. Though he himself had ridden in the point tank many a day and night, the unflinching terror which Chieng Shiung's metal monsters inspired among the enemy hardened considerably the young commoner's sense of security. Nikon had often chuckled to himself at this conceit. How much easier it was to be brave when the most you saw of your enemy was his backside!

He wiped the sweat and dirt off his brow with the edge of the black sash around his waist and surveyed the outer chamber of Xian's mobile abode. The two soldiers on guard inside the tent saluted smartly. Nikon returned the salute with a smile on his face and stepped lightly into the interior of the tent.

Two figures in Fire Nation uniforms were hunched over the high, rectangular table that dominated the room. As he approached he could see a large map spread upon it. The two hovered over the map and worked furiously with colored pencils to mark the position of the front lines, the motion of various units and the identity and strength of various enemy formations. The men at the table paid no attention to the newcomer. A messenger squeezed past Nikon on his right and approached the elder of the two figures. A piece of paper changed hands, the messenger saluted and left.

As the messenger raced by him once again, Nikon smiled broadly and proceeded to rush up between the two figures at the table. Laughing loudly, Nikon looped an arm around the neck of both men and squeezed them together.

"Haha! My map buddies!" the young commoner exclaimed merrily. The sentries began sputtering with laughter behind them as both "map buddies" grimaced and tried in vain to extricate themselves from Nikon's iron grip. He gave them both another hearty squeeze as he concluded with both humor and genuine affection, "I love you guys!" The young tank commander, beside himself with suppressed laughter, released them as they began to curse loudly and struggle against him in earnest.

Straightening his uniform after finally freeing himself, the taller of the two rolled his eyes and replied with a sour expression on his face, "Yes, Commander… you know we feel the same way."

The other, far older "map buddy" then entreated in a surly, but strangely tolerant tone, 'Great Spirits, Commander, must you do that every time you come here?"

"You know it, my old friend," Nikon replied with his trademark toothy grin and an impudent wink. Then, adopting a more serious countenance he approached the map board and enquired, "Okay, so, what's going on with the Fire Lord's march to victory on this glorious day? Any word on Nifong?"

Brushing himself off and approaching the table the elder man replied, "We've received a few unconfirmed reports, but nothing conclusive."

Nikon nodded once and asked, "Okay, has Ryu reached Inchon yet?"

"Yes, but he requested and was granted permission to bypass it and make directly for Shimonoseki. Apparently they were able to reinforce the city via monorail before Ryu could destroy it."

"All right. Do we know how many they've got penned up in there?"

"They estimated between six and eight thousand."

Nikon pointed at a thin line connecting several cities on the map that headed east to end near the headwaters of the mighty Arno, "So, he's headed east using the Jade Highway?"

"Yes, Commander."

"So they should be in position to penetrate the eastern escarpment and reach Lake Myojin within…" Nikon's forehead creased as he tried to calculate the distance. Ryu was the vanguard of the army at this point as he had encountered the least resistance. Still, half the Nasu plain lay between him and the passes of the Ping Tou Mountains.

"Four weeks," supplied the old soldier, "if they continue to get a free ride."

"That's unlikely, though," injected the younger man as he handed several dispatches to Nikon, "We've gotten half a dozen of these in the past few days, Commander. An Earth Kingdom relief army is on its way from the lake region up north."

Nikon glanced through the papers and handed them back, "Excellent, haha! It's about time Ryu and Tien Shin earned their keep!"

"And what about you, Commander?" inquired the elderly man, "You've pushed much farther to the south than called for by the plan, and now there's a lot of action developing behind you near Nomura."

Laughing he replied, "Yeh, but the plan was to make a pocket around that area anyway, right? Besides," he concluded with another wink, "I still made it to Cam'ron before our beloved daimyo, didn't I?"

Allowing himself a slight, uneasy smile the old man replied, "Yes, Commander, that you did."

"Well, I'm glad to see someone around here is still in a good mood," remarked a familiar, patient voice from in front of them.

The three looked up to see General Xian enter the chamber from a flap on the opposite side of the tent. In his armor he looked much taller and more imposing than he had when Nikon had first met him so many months ago. In his right hand he carried the red baton of command, the symbol of his authority over the Army of the Great Divide. General Ho had been relieved to surrender this artifact as soon as Xian had arrived. A broken man, General Ho had thanked Xian profusely for assuming command and departed on the same tide on which the new army had arrived.

Xian returned the proffered salutes by raising his baton to his forehead with a weak smile. Though the gesture was confident, it looked to Nikon as if his best friend's cousin hadn't slept in weeks. His eyes seemed sunken amidst the blue black pits of his eye sockets. A second sweep over his superior revealed that Xian had also clearly lost weight, though the armor did well to conceal it.

"Good to see you, General. Are you well?" he asked, unable to prevent his tone from betraying his genuine concern.

A shadow passed over Xian's face, but it passed quickly as he replied, "I'm fine, Commander. We're all short of sleep these days."

Nikon frowned. This was obviously a lie, but what could be the matter? The war was going much better than planned – or even hoped. The young commoner looked quickly over at the map keepers, saw the concern in their eyes, and turned back to where Xian rubbed his temples in a giveaway gesture of exhaustion.

After a few moments Nikon cleared his throat and said, "You sent for me, General?"

Xian snapped his head up, and as if waking from a dream replied, "Yes, yes I did."

The general walked over to the map table and gestured for the brigade commander to follow him. Xian then turned and indicated the position of the 5th Armored Brigade on the map, some hundred leagues away to the southeast.

"Commander, your drive to Cam'ron has been brilliant. You have proven resourceful, determined, and brave as I knew you would be," he turned to face Nikon, but despite his words he did not smile, "but now I must ask, why have you swung so far south? Your orders were to head due east after Third Corps captured Argento and completed its pivot eastward."

Nikon's smile faltered and then dropped entirely. He suddenly became aware that everyone in the room was watching him.

Abashed, he pointed at a thin line on the map and replied, "Well, sir, uh, the daimyo took the Cam'ron road away from me, so that left my outfit without a job. Then one of our recon units found a mining village on the edge of the Dune Sea southeast of us. More importantly they reported it was actually sitting on an east – west road that wasn't on any of our maps," growing more excited he continued, "There weren't any enemy units around, so I jumped at the opportunity. I mean, we took the town without a fight, captured the other half of General Jin's baggage train that we didn't already have, and still got to Cam'ron two days before Tien Shin!"

The young commoner's hope that this explanation would please his commanding officer was dashed as the General continued to regard Nikon gravely in silence.

"I see," Xian replied softly after a few moments.

Nikon flushed bright red and looked down in shame. Xian's disappointment was painfully obvious. Though he loved Iroh as a brother, somehow the thought of disappointing this man who had more confidence in him than he had in himself was more dreadful than any other possibility.

"So humbling Tien Shin was worth doubling the number of earthbenders Prince Iroh must now destroy in the pocket around Nomura that you and the daimyo have created behind you?"

"What?" the young commoner asked in shock.

Xian shook his head and continued in a tired voice, "To execute "Go-Shen" properly we must control the size of the pockets we create, Commander. You know this. Encircle too few and we fail to maximize the damage done to our opponents. Encircle too many and the hunters become the hunted."

"If you had obeyed orders you'd have split off at least another three divisions of Earth Kingdom infantry – you did not need the Cam'ron road to do that. And now with half your tanks broken down due to the exertion of your ill-advised race to Cam'ron, you are no longer in a position to help Iroh, are you?"

The question hung in the air, leaden and terrifying in its implication. After a moment Xian concluded in a soft and devastating voice, for Nikon knew that no satisfactory reply could be made, "I asked you to help me whip these people, Commander. You have disappointed me."

The words came as crushing blows, more devastating than any stones that rained down from the heavens during the Battle of the Arno. Struck dumb by Xian's rebuke, Nikon sank to his knees and bowed his head. The sentries and map keepers looked upon the young commander with a mixture of pity and embarrassment, for as much as they genuinely liked him; they knew the censure was warranted.

Seeing the young man's pain, Xian's expression softened. He placed a hand on Nikon's shoulder and said, "It'll be all right, Nikon. Learn from your mistake. Vanity is a disease that works tirelessly to destroy even the best of men, and there is no cure for it. Control it as best you are able, and remember that we are all dependent on each other to achieve the goal set for us by the Fire Lord."

Finding his voice, Nikon replied thickly, "Forgive me, General. I want you and Prince Iroh to be proud of me."

"We are proud of you. You will have a long and glorious life, if only you have the good sense to live it."

Xian looked away and seemed to drift once again as he had earlier. Finally Nikon looked up to see his commanding officer staring past them again at nothing in particular. Xian broke the silence and looked back to Nikon, saying, "Nifong's out there somewhere… waiting for me. Will you be there when the time comes?"

Without hesitation the reply came, "Yes, General, I will."

"Then you will have done all that you can. As for Prince Iroh, he will be tested at Nomura. If he falls, we will be in real trouble. If he crushes the pocket, nothing will stand in our way except Nifong himself. We will see what kind of man he is."

Whether Xian was referring in his last statement to Nifong or Iroh, Nikon never knew.