General Fong approached the earth bunker beneath the city wall. The winds were beginning to get quite violent and the earth was getting blown around so it was difficult to see. Covering his face from the dirt with his right arm, General Fong entered the bunker. General Sao approached him.
"Hello, General Fong!" General Sao yelled over the loud winds.
"Hello, General Sao! Have the scouts returned yet?" General Fong yelled as well.
"No! I have sent a unit to retrieve them, but I have not heard from them, either!"
A burst of wind and dirt came bursting through the door, getting dirt in the generals' eyes. They both groaned and rubbed their eyes.
"I am going back to the palace! I do not think anyone will be attempting an invasion in this!" Fong yelled.
General Sao nodded, his well-known smile on his face. "Very well, General Fong! I am going to seal the bunker behind you!"
General Fong nodded and turned to head out. As he left, Sao using earth-bending to seal the bunker behind him, he looked up at the wall. The soldiers were standing in position, not taking cover; they were loyal and General Fong was proud to have them under his command. He headed back to the palace, all the while covering his eyes with his right arm.
Meanwhile, the rescue unit was braving the winds.
"Commander Lu!" One of the men yelled.
Commander Lu stopped on his ostrich-horse and everyone else did as well. They had bandannas covering their mouths and their hats were shielding their eyes.
"What?" he yelled over the noisy wind, looking around him. He didn't know which one of his soldiers had spoken.
A soldier prodded his ostrich-horse to move forward, towards the commander, "I thought I saw something ahead!"
He and all of the others looked around after the soldier said this. Commander Lu hopped down from his ostrich-horse and waved his hands in the air. The dirt fell to the ground, for a second, showing a human form running along the rocks.
"Hello?" Lu yelled. There was no response. "Men! Spread out!" The men responded by moving around, some disappearing into the dirt-filled wind. Then there was a shriek. Lu looked along with his men towards the source of the sound. There was an ostrich-horse, but there was no rider on it.
"Hello?" Lu hollered again, a sign of concern in his voice. Then there was another holler. Lu looked again, only to see another empty ostrich-horse. Now he only had seven men left. He grunted and stomped on the ground. Spikes of earth shot up from the ground and Lu launched them into the wind. There was silence. The men all hopped off of their ostrich-horses and got into an earth bending form. They moved around in circles, not knowing where the next attack would be. They began waving their arms, creating small bubbles around them so that they weren't being assaulted by the dust storm.
"Lieutenant Yum! Go to the palace! Hurry!"
Lu turned and looked at Lieutenant Yum, who nodded and hopped on his ostrich-horse, hastily riding away into the wind. There was silence, then a loud bang. The sound came from where Lieutenant Yum had rode into the wind. Commander Lu frantically waved his arms in the air, back and forth and the dirt dissipated. There was nothing there but Yum's empty ostrich-horse.
"What is this?" One of the men yelled over the wind. They were getting tired from waving.
One of the men wore out and stopped waving his arms. The dirt-filled wind engulfed him and there was a shriek. The man who was standing next to the man turned and moved the dirt away, finding nothing. Then the soldier, himself, yelled in horror and frustration as he, too, got tired. He was trying to fight it, but his muscles gave out and the wind engulfed him.
Commander Lu frantically looked around, stomping spikes of earth into the wind. He wasn't getting results.
"Retreat!" He yelled. The men stopped bending and hopped on their ostrich-horses, riding into the abyss of dirt-filled air. Commander Lu, trying to cover their retreat, heard shrieks from his soldiers all around him. Panicking, he hopped on his own horse. He was now alone, the dirt enclosing on him. He earth-bended a large bolder out of the ground and suspended it in the air next to him. He waited. He saw movement and hurled the bolder into the dirt-filled air. There was no sound. The commander suspended another bolder in the air next to him. He waited again. Suddenly, a bright flash exploded in his face and, before he could do anything, everything went black.
Captain Zhao, with a soldier at each of his sides, approached the fallen commander. He looked down at the crumpled, unconscious man and smiled.
"Men!" he yelled, "I think we have found a way to get inside the walls!" Another evil smile rippled along his face.
In the bunker in front of Ba Sing Se, General Sao waited. It was quieter in the bunker, but it was uncomfortable. He had wondered why he had not heard or seen anything yet; he was getting worried.
"Lieutenant," he turned to the lieutenant behind him, "I would like you to go to the wall and scope out the area. See if you see anything."
Before the lieutenant could respond, another one of the soldiers in the bunker interrupted them. "Sir! I see them!"
General Sao, relieved, smiled. "You see who? The rescue team? Are there persons with them?"
"Yes sir. They are on stretchers." The man was looking through a man-made looking hole in the earth wall of the bunker.
General Sao shook his head, saddened. "In the name of the Earth King, I hope they are okay." General Sao turned and opened the door.
"Lieutenant, Soldiers," he pointed to two other men, "follow me." The general and the three men left the bunker and braved the wind as the soldiers approached.
"Hello!" General Sao yelled over the wind to the soldiers who were approaching. He waved his arms in the air to signal them to him.
The men approached with the stretchers.
"I am glad that you- hey! Wait a minute!" he looked at the faces of the soldiers, "You aren't the rescue team that I sent! Who are you?"
The general and the soldiers with him got into earth bending form, but it was too late. The Fire Nation soldiers, along with Zhao, quickly and effortlessly subdued them, knocking them out and tossing them on the ground. Zhao looked towards the wall and bunker, but did not see anything; they were perfectly covered by the dust storm.
"Throw the general and his soldiers on the stretchers." Zhao ordered curtly. Three men responded by stepping off of the stretchers and putting the general and the men on them, instead.
Once the Earth Nation soldiers were loaded, Zhao moved towards the bunker. The door of the bunker was still open, so Zhao and two of his men went inside. Four Earth Nation soldiers awaited them there.
One of the Earth Soldiers approached Zhao, "Where is the general?" he asked in a friendly and innocent voice. Zhao just smashed his fist into the man's face. As the soldier crumpled to the ground, the other soldiers, startled, stood to fight. Zhao's men, having the element of surprise, quickly dispatched them, though.
Captain Zhao surveyed everything and turned to his Lieutenant. "Order a few men to stay with the guards in the bunker and send a man to report to the rest of the unit. We are entering the city." He evilly and manically chuckled, tilting his head back.
AN: This is the second chapter! I hope you like it! And I forgot to mention in chapter one that Zhao is not yet a commander; this was before his promotion.