Ozai
Ozai would never admit it to anyone, but the moment he fell into the giant chasm, he saw his life passing through his eyes and for a moment, he felt regret, but when that moment passed, all he could feel was an unyielding rage. Without hesitation, the Fire Lord used his fingers to cling to the earth and started to climb out of the darkness. In the darkness, all the doubts he had were laid bare but like a majestic Fenix Ozai was reborn in fire and cast every doubt aside, there was only one path to victory.
Ozai however didn't expect that his first look into the light would be of a world on fire, of his airships falling from the sky, and that his daughter was trying to organize what was left of their army. Clearly, it all went wrong after he fell to treachery so it wasn't his fault and while Azula had taken some infiltration and assassination missions she had never had the opportunity to command such large numbers of men so it really wasn't her fault, if anyone was at fault here it was Bumi (Ozai would never call that honorless scum 'king').
Another good thing to come out of this debacle was that Azula's loyalty had been proved as his daughter could have easily left him to die so she could attempt her own bid for the throne but she didn't and Ozai would have to reward her, normally he wouldn't do so because it was expected that as her father he would have her loyalty but in these uncertain times loyalty was far more valuable than any material reward he could give her.
"Look! It's the Fire Lord!" one of the soldiers exclaimed out in relief and Ozai allowed himself to smirk at his words, they should be relieved that he survived, only Ozai could put an end to this war and thanks to this battle he finally knew how to do it.
The rest of the soldiers soon started looking more animated than before, there were fewer than he thought possible but then again the majority of the men he had brought were more for the proper care of the airships, not proper soldiers so it was no surprise that they couldn't survive after the ships crashed or exploded as it looked like. All in all without counting the…he couldn't call the civilians since they were part of the army but they weren't really soldiers...hmm…without counting the maintenance crew Ozai lost at least two thirds of his fighting force, perhaps more as there were a lot wounded around.
On the bright side it looked like the majority of them were burnt and if there was something that the Fire Nation knew how to treat better than any other nation it was burns, so they could go back into the fight in short order. All in all, this wasn't a total loss even if the city was burnt, The road to Ba Sing Se was open and Ozai had won a major victory despite the treachery he suffered at the hands of Bumi.
It was also great for Ozai's ego as despite being angry at how the king sullied the challenge Ozai had proposed it spoke volumes of his own strength that the strongest earthbender in the world would rather set up a trap rather than fight him like a man. That would go over well with the court and unless Zuko did something just as impressive Ozai would be better positioned to take advantage of the political landscape.
"Azula" his daughter looked frightened as he approached, no doubt remembering the usual punishment for failure but he wasn't going to discipline his favorite child in front of the soldiers not only would that make them think less of her, but it would also make whatever loyalty Azula had disappear "you did well despite the circumstances"
Azula looked very confused but her face adopted a tentative smile despite it all "I only did my best for the Fire Nation"
Ozai nodded "We need to move, the city is in ruins and the path to our next conquest is open so there is nothing more to do here, send a runner to the nearest Fire Nation camp so that they have some accommodations waiting for us as we move with the wounded we're going to need as many men as we can for our next campaign"
"You heard the Fire Lord! Time to move! Burn what you can't carry so that no scavenger can desecrate the tombs of our comrades"
The soldiers went about their tasks and Ozai felt a pang of jealousy at how easily Azula seemed to be able to command the soldiers but quickly brushed it off, there were more important things to worry about and he would have to talk with minister Qin to make the next iteration of the airships more durable, he would also need to start recreating for the Fenix Guard he was envisioning if he could gather enough resources Ozai might be able to build a giant floating city something mobile that he could use to oversee the new world that would spring from the ashes. With a shake of his head Ozai dismissed that last idea, where would he even find enough materials to build a floating city, and what if it stopped floating? that seemed like a bad investment.
"We will have much to do once we return to the capital Azula, I was thinking of sending you with a group of saboteurs to Ba Sing Se, your goal would be to cause as much chaos as you could in the city in preparation for my arrival with the rest of the army" Ozai would do what Iroh couldn't and to make sure that there would be no insurrections Ozai would burn the city to the ground and when the comet finally arrived he would burn every major city that wasn't flying the flag of the Fire Nation.
Colonel Lu Bu
"Move it soldier! We don't want to fall into an ambush just because you wanted to carry something that you couldn't" Being a colonel in the Fire Nation army was tough, you had shit superiors and shit subordinates, were it not for the benefits Lu Bu would have long deserted and joined up with some of the other dregs of the army that were building their own little kingdoms all over the Earth Kingdoms.
"But sir! There's so much money inside this chest!" just to make a point the idiot opened it and soon the eyes of the rest of the company fell on the poor man. The glimmering gold coins were made all the more alluring as they reflected the fire still raging around them.
"Then grab as much as you can and leave it or else we're leaving you behind" without hesitation Lu grabbed a fistful of coins and put them in his pocket before leaving behind a distraught man, the idiot probably thought that with so much money he could leave the army life behind.
Snorting in amusement at the naivety of the soldier the colonel went to see the injured men that were deemed salvageable, sometimes Lu hated the subterfuge that came with the position but it was better for the rest of the army to not know that when the princess said to 'burn all that you couldn't carry' she was saying to the officers that we should kill the ones that would be left behind.
Perhaps it was overly cruel and wasteful but there were plenty of men in their great nation and more were born each year thanks to the food coming from the colonies, this way they also made sure that no information was passed to the enemy, death before dishonor, what a good joke as if some of the fat generals weren't the scum of the earth.
Lu passed through the bandaged men sporting the mildest burns and into those whose burns were broader and far more debilitating, he grabbed a piece of paper and started reading about the injuries, some major burns in the arms, torso and legs but nothing that would make it difficult to march, those who lost an eye would at least get out of sentry duty and scouting jobs…
Lu paused as he read one of the names in there, his captain was more hurt than he had initially thought, but the fat bastard seemed intent on surviving despite the orders that were given and it would be Lu's enormous pleasure to put an end to his disobedient superior. There seemed to be something worth celebrating, after all, Lu Bu will soon be made captain.
With more enthusiasm, Lu started moving to the back where his captain was resting in a private tent as if the rest of the army needed more proof that the organization was full of nepotism. Without hesitating, Lu entered the tent and was glad to find the captain wide awake and moaning in pain. With a wide grin on his face Lu approached the man.
"I told the rest of the bastards to leave me alone until we started moving! What do you want colonel?!" the spittle flying out of the man's mouth was hitting Lu's face and it would make what came next all the sweeter.
"Well sir, I'm just following orders. The princess said that we should burn everything we can't carry and you're not exactly featherweight" Lu drank the hate in the eyes f his captain and slowly approached the prone man "I think you know what happens next"
Hate and anger gave way to fear and soon the man started to beg "W-wait Colonel, uh! I-I know that it seems like I can't go on but I'm only resting! Please just let me rest a bit more and soon I will start moving. Please!"
"Sure, but first answer me one question" the captain nodded and Lu went for the kill "What is my name?"
"Uhh- your name?"
"You don't even know my name truly you're just a waste of space" fire started covering Lu's hands and he watched as the captain flinched at the sight. Even if the man survived today he would no longer be able to firebend since he now feared fire, he was broken and his use as a soldier was at an end.
"I know! Your name is Lee!" the captain exclaimed as the burning hands came closer to his face and Lu let out a barking laugh, the man sure was cunning at saying the most common name in the Fire Nation but unlikely for him that was the wrong answer.
"Sorry captain but that's the wrong answer" Lu unleashed his attack and covered the head of his victim in fire, the eyes popped from the heat and his former captain let out a scream that would scar a normal person, thankfully Lu Bu was not a normal person as he had managed to survive five grueling years of war and screams like the captain's were as common as grass in the battlefield.
The screams did have an effect however as soon he was surrounded by a squad but Lu calmly walked out of the tent with his hands raised high.
"No need to worry, I'm just following orders. We leave nothing behind unless it's been burned to ashes" There was a tense moment of silence but in the end, they nodded and went back to their assigned tasks and Lu let out a breath of relief. Technically he was following orders but as they were still in the middle of moving it could be said that Lu had killed the man before it was time alas his poor old captain was not a well-liked man.
Lu looked at the horizon and took in a deep breath despite the absolute failure of the operation everything had turned out all right for him and in the end that was all that mattered.
Author note: are you against OC POV's? they don't really matter in my stories (narratively at least) and only serve to expand the perspective of how things are in my worlds but if you guys don't like them I can get rid of them. anyway sorry for the late update my job is killing me but i have to eat so yeah... anyway i hope you enjoy thiss chapter and if you want to see more check out my .
