Unbending 7 - or 'I shall not be King, but Emperor of the Earth' (Pre-ATLA, SI)

Warning: This chapter was commissioned

Ozai was going to be in charge of this 'dashing counteroffensive'.

The news had been fortuitous despite the uneasy feelings some advisors had on the topic. Many suggested that since one of the Princes was going to plan the offensive, it was easy for them to have a most glorious idea on how to remove our foothold. But I disagreed on that view entirely, especially when I could tell from his current expected military disposition that he was bound to be defeated.

The map was still the same as a week ago, yet I had the opportunity to gain reports on what kind of forces were ammassing on the frontline, thus providing myself with a few pieces to settle on the paper. Ozai planned to attack from the flank connecting to their former base before having to relocate. A large portion of Fire Nation Troops would be put there, with just a modest amount having the ability to contain the advances- if there were many.

With an attack expected, scouts had just been sent forward to harass while engineers and other troops established advanced defenses through the major attack areas. The perimeter around the ruins of Taku was impervious to large offensives due to the presence of mighty mountains holding back ground forces from daring to cross them. The passages were big enough to allow sizable amount of soldiers to pass through, but they were filled with treacherous sections that could be used to set traps and ambushes.

Confrontations would be limited and handled by dividing the main forces and let them think through fake documentation that there were secret small spots that allowed troops to go around the defenses. From reports coming from Omashu, Ozai had been a brazen leader that favored direct assaults. This was convenient for the Fire Nations when it came to 'fair confrontations', but it was unpleasant when it came to handle a defense-in-depth situation.

They couldn't use shock-and-awe to break lines when there were too many of those to make it happen. Even a formidable blitzkrieg-like doctrine such as Frontal Infiltrations of Infantry required for the spearhead to never be weakened or dulled. Ozai was setting himself up for a brutal defeat, but all hints to that were kept to the chest of the high officers.

While this was indeed a pressing issue, I found my attention turned somewhere else as I had decided to finally go for what I would call 'Operation Avalanche'. At this point, it was just a mere thought: the idea of creating a fleet that would be able to smack the Fire Nation's navy in the seat between the Earth Kingdom and the North Pole.

If we were able to reopen trade with the North, our economy would regain some aspects that were lost at the beginning of the war. Trading fish and other sea-related products with the Northern Water Tribe would indeed be beneficial, which is why I found a good ally in the Shang City of Bin-Er.

Originally a prominent port-city before the war started due to its important role of being the primary connection to the Northern Water Tribes, Bin-Er had long fallen into disarray as many of the former noble gentry having vacated the city out of fear of raids from the Fire Nation's Navy.

When I first took over, my investments had seen a grand surge of youngsters rushing from minor villages into the port-city. The Arsenal was deemed a 'valuable element' for revitalization and soon the naval industry was given blood to restart its business.

It took two months to get it back to shape, but the presence of an active marine school allowed for officers to be trained even as the ships were being made. Innovations with the introductions of cannons had allowed for new models of what was commonly-defined as 'Gunboats' to be established. Experiments were drafted, resources and funds provided, and the Earth Kingdom Navy had a solid base within Bin-Er.

Albeit severely inferior by numbers to the Fire Nation's fleets, the '1st Royal Fleet' was an impeccably navy with six 'Light Cruisers', three 'Heavy Cruisers', and a 'Battleship'. The denominations became a necessity when the models adopted specific sizes and armaments for their conceptions.

The biggest ship available, the HMS Huosheng (Triumph), was blessed with the thickest and strongest hull without impacting the powerful engines that it relied upon. The armament was impressive too, the seven 12cm, the four 18cm, and the two 22cm cannons were precise and ruthless with their explosive capacity.

-1st Royal Fleet:

-Battleships:

HMS Huosheng (Triumph);

-Heavy Cruisers:

HMS Ba Sing Se;

HMS Omashu;

HMS Taku;

-Light Cruisers:

HMS Huibao (Retribution)

HMS Fennu (Outrage)

HMS Xiaojian (Decimation)

HMS Jishu Fa (Reckoning)

HMS Shemian (Absolution);

HMS Yanze (Principle);

With the construction finished and exercises concluded, a first sortie was allowed on the basis that it wouldn't go beyond the established date. A week passed and the expedition returned around the time the news of Taku's destruction years ago started to spread around the country.

The sortie had gotten a positive result. The Yanze and the Fennu had been slightly damaged, but the expedition had claimed sixteen ships from the Fire Nation's Navy. That was a third of the expected the ships our foes had in the naval region, which made the report even more relevant to proclaim about in this time where people wanted to hear about retaliation against the Fire Nation after what happened in Taku.

The vindictive air was slowly coerced into producing what I would define a 'pseudo-Stakhanovite' movement in the factories. Men and women were working even harder to exceed quotas and 'serve the country in other ways beyond the frontlines'.

Industrial managers were encouraged to provide some of the astonishing data to the newspapers and it allowed for such initiative to spread like wildfire through all sorts of industrial hubs. Good news left and right, but the shadow of failure persisted nonetheless in approaching the Northern Water Tribes once the sea was cleared from any worrisome disturbance.

Still, the last most relevant aspect of my current rule was still the reformation of the administration in regard of the general bureaucracy.

Introducing meritocracy was turning out to be tougher through what nobles continued to raise issues, and while it was tempting to just remove the nobility at once, the fact many still yielded the best expertise in their current fiefs rendered quick eliminations problematic. At the very least, the retaking of cities lacking noble guidance allowed me to establish loyal governors that lacked any aristocratic background and ambitions to ever consider that.

Taking a break from the paperwork, I realized that Yunlong had fallen asleep on my desk. The cute noodle spirit had gotten quite deep about Sudoku, showing off and bragging about her 'mental skills' about it. There was something adorable in her behaving like a child showing her parents how good she was as something, but she was also... a rather perplexing element.

Part of me really hope she was going to stay a friend- she was behaving nicely after all, but her duty as a spirit was nothing to scoff at. It could be easy for shit to hit the fan if I was to allow her to be hurt in a way that would warrant either personal retaliation or something well above just that.

For now, I just focused on the paperwork, aware that there was still much to do.

Since the connection with Omashu had been re-established, I have been able to exchange letters with King Bumi. I had forgotten how reformist the old king was, so I was relieved to find out that he was quite willing to accept my request to slowly implement the changes I had pushed through the rest of the kingdom, even going as far as allowing Arta to visit and join inventors that could 'broaden his horizons'.

He even offered to receive me in Omashu for a potential talk for diplomacy, which I accepted on the basis I would have reliable people to keep watch while I was out. Even though I removed anyone that had any chance to solidly take over the capital from me while I was out of it, the chances of some morons to cause issues was still there.

Weeding out the troublemakers from the 'Royal Military Officer Corps' was soon to be concluded, but the process still needed patience and attention from myself and those involved in keeping the officers' pool clean and lacking of dangerous threats to the peace and internal stability of the Earth Kingdom.

All in all, I thought I had everything wrapped up and dealt with accordingly. Nothing was expected to catch me off-guard as I took care of those threats that could cause me severe troubles in the near trouble so I was a bit caught off-guard when a servant came by bearing an important letter from...

Kyoshi Island.

Ozai had to win or his father was going to once again favor that foolish monk of his brother.

For many, the idea of hoping for a sibling's despair may sound horrible. But in the mind of someone that had been groomed to become the vilest rival to his brother, Ozai knew it was a necessity for him to show his worth in eventually claiming the role of Fire Lord.

This war was that opportunity, even more now that Iroh had been hurled into his foolish 'worldly trip'. It was absurd to think that anyone would want to truly know more beyond their birthright. They were royals, they were above mere commoners, and yet Iroh favored them and rejected most nobles.

Why? Why would their father appreciate that?

It was such a foolish endeavor, but Iroh kept on being an oaf. He was well-spoken and beloved, but he carried none of the true ruthless nature a Fire Lord should have. Yet Azulon favored him. Was it because he was the oldest? That was what Ozai tended to see it as.

After all, with their father ushering Iroh out of command, it was clear Ozai would have a chance to prove his true value. None of which stemmed from cowardly retreats and foolish 'delays'. The Earth Kingdom had been lucky. A small case of foolishness exploited that allowed the human waves to go through and force them to relocate to a safer position to resume their attacks.

Ozai had planned to aid the river crossing and resume the offensive for Ba Sing Se, but he was baffled to hear that the fools garrisoning the Ruins of Taku had actually been forced out. Even worse, the survivors had been less than half the troops stanced in that region.

It was a chance to prove his point. It should have been simpler than crossing that blasted river. The issue was the bloody mountains and how difficult going through these dangerous roads proved to be. The mountains' passes proved to be treacherous.

Rocks were rolling down and causing some of the unaware troops to be crushed. Luckily enough, the use of enough fire allowed most of the rocks to be propelled out of harms' way. But the attacks kept on unfolding at a ruthless pace, grinding on his men and at his patience.

Eventually he had to split forces to try and rely on troops going through the 'secret passageways' suggested by some informants, leaving him with just less of a third of what he came with. He still had enough. Once his other troops would encircle the Earth Kingdom soldiers and be joined by the planned offensive from the other side, his victory would be confirmed.

Glory was before him. He could already taste it but-

It tasted like blood.

The grim reality tore apart the ambitions Ozai had for this battle. His ideas of a simple battle were soon dashed away as his army was done leaving the last mountain's passing. The clear field should have given her an advantage in range. But when he was about to order the attack, explosions coming from cannons set in Earth Kingdom's Fortifications started to destroy his ranks, panic spread around like wildfire.

A blast got close enough that Ozai fell off his horse, his back bruised but his body still fine from that close detonation. The same couldn't be said about his horse as shards had shredded the animal's head, blood splashing on the prince's face as he felt the unsavory taste stain his mouth.

He looked around, confused and trying to make sense of what he had to say or do, but more explosions came and so were the boulders hurled by some of the Earth benders. Ozai saw some of his personal retinue trying to save him get crushed by two boulders, the rest deciding to run away from that carnage.

Rage and humiliation soon vanished from the arrogant prince's face. His mind finally was cleared of the wrathful haze, and his own fear was roused rapidly by the increasing spraying of blood and limb. A leg literally landed on his lap, forcing Ozai to push it away out of genuine fright. With his eyes wide open and his body shaking, Ozai pushed his body up and ran from the way they came from. Fear tore through his mind as he tried to get away.

I am dead, he repeated in his mind as if it was an encouraging mantra despite the negative connotations, I am dead.

His father's tests, his brother's position, the role for Fire Lord. For a rare moment of true lucidity, Ozai cared not for any of those. In that moment, he cared about living. To survive. To not become a red stain like the troops he had so arrogantly commanded and thought his source of strength in that battle.

Surprisingly enough, he made it out of there alive. He was running, using his fire to push away faster at the expense of burning other soldiers with that idea. Fodders to his foes and his own woes of survival. The Prince was exhausted as he made it back to the entrance of the mountain.

He didn't even bother cleaning as he ran away from Taku, his mind forever imprinting that horrible defeat as far more than just humiliating. His honor was unimportant in that regard, with his mind temporarily gone as an insane urge to escape this war took over him.

Still, he made it back to his father's camp through a small group of scouts that found him. The perplexed look on Azulon's face was mixed with some disappointment. But while he expected a punishment, the Fire Lord merely had him sent to his room with healers checking his conditions.

Ozai would recover from the experience, but while his attitude would regain that vicious and arrogant touch that it was so familiar with, the mere mention of Taku would bring out the kind of fury that was unique compared to other events: after all, Ozai had finally experienced fear from battle.

And, in his own way, got humbled by it.

AN

Next time, an entourage of Kyoshi warriors pass by cue some amusing scenes, Iroh's POV about his journey around the Earth Kingdom and... I dunno. If anyone wish to continue this story via commission, you can do so through Questionable Questing when I am open for those.