A lot of people were very excited to have us finally get to the Ba Sing Se arc. Well, I certainly can't blame them! I'm just as happy to finally be here myself.
This is also the first chapter that has gotten some direct influence from the readers! Many of the characters (not all of them) introduced in this chapter were named by readers. This is something that is going to happen a few more times in the future as well, so if anyone is interested in learning how to do that, stick around for the end of the chapter!
"What if the debris from the wall blocks the advance of our troops when they try to get to the breach? It's not as if we're going to have a nice, unobstructed path left after this explosion we are planning."
Standing in the war room of the Fire Nation forward staging area, Xisheng listened to the concerns of a number of men that were crucial to the planning of his operation: currently codenamed 'Wallclimber'. A map of Ba Sing Se sat on the square steel table before them all, which allowed everyone to lean in and point when necessary. In the five days since Xisheng had first raised his plan of attack, the map had been marked several times: red x marks denoted the locations of the wall to be assaulted. Small flags on pedestals denoted the various troops that would be participating, and the formations they would take. Black arrows indicated which formations would move where when the time came to advance. All in all, a lot of details had been ironed out.
But there was still a great deal to discuss before the assault could be finalized. To Xisheng's right stood the man who had raised a concern about the debris leftover from the wall, Major Shairo. Black mustache and goatee, slightly graying near the tips as he approached his mid-40s. His hair was bound in an immaculate topknot, but all it did was reveal his constantly severe expression. This was one of the men who had been very vocal about his disagreement with Xisheng's command during the initial meeting, but the young commander had brought him into the ring of advisors for a reason. Shairo was one of the highest ranking officers on the base who still directly led troops into battle regularly. He had decades of combat experience, and the rank and file massively respected him. He was an antagonistic sort, but Xisheng knew his input was valuable.
To Xisheng's left was the chief engineer on the base, a man balding before his time, but making up for it with a full mustache and beard that took up half of his face. Chief Engineer Muzai, who had by now fully endorsed Xisheng's strategy, mostly just out of academic curiosity. Xisheng got the feeling that Muzai, professionally educated as he was, was still willing to try the absurd just for the sake of seeing what would happen. Well, it was the curious types who tended to enter such professions.
Stroking his long and slightly frazzled black beard, Muzai kept his golden gaze on the map before him. "It's also possible that the opposite could occur. If the explosion is too large, it could create a large crater that will be difficult for our troops to traverse at any decent pace. If the walls of that crater are too steep, it may be impossible to get past it at all, aside from our tanks."
Xisheng kept his green and blue gaze on the map as well, ignoring the hustle and bustle of lower-ranked officers in the war room handling other affairs around him. "This is an understandable concern. I'm hoping the Earthbenders we gather to our force will be able to mitigate these potential problems. I have every intention of having them integrated with our assault force, so they should be able to help clear debris out of the way or create an easier path in the case of a crater."
Major Shairo's dull amber eyes narrowed in Xisheng's direction. "You are placing a great deal of weight on the shoulders of Earthbenders for this battle, Commander. In fact, everything here is dependent on some Mudslingers, all of whom have questionable training and loyalty... you're putting the lives of loyal Fire Nation troops in their hands."
Xisheng refrained from immediately belittling Shairo's notion. It was biased and shortsighted, but also understandable. The Major had been fighting against Earthbenders for more than twenty years. He had probably seen many friends and comrades die at their hands. It was unlikely he had ever met an Earthbender that wasn't a foe. So it made sense that he distrusted them.
"I understand your concern, Major. But the reality is, we cannot get through this wall without Earthbenders. At least, not with the means available to our nation now. Any other option would cost far more lives. Besides, I don't plan on blindly trusting every Earthbender that comes our way to allegedly help. We will treat the incoming reinforcements with great scrutiny, and take measures to ensure they are properly prepared to fight alongside us. We're not accepting them as they are, we're accepting them into our ranks to mold them into the force we need."
Shairo did not seem satisfied with this answer, but he didn't say anything else. Maybe he knew there was no point. The entirety of this plan hinged on Earthbender support, and Xisheng did not seem likely to change the strategy now.
Ignoring the discourse about the Earthbenders entirely, Muzai muttered something to himself. "In the case of a crater, perhaps the Earthbenders could just make flat bridges over the gap? That would be quick and efficient..."
Xisheng was about to agree with this assessment, but he was cut off before he could by the approach of a young soldier with close shaved black hair and a small topknot. The approaching young man was Xisheng's adjutant: a fresh-faced recruit named Shinji, who had been assigned to assist Xisheng with any miscellaneous matters, such as the transfer of messages, the acquisition of requested materials, and the like.
When Shinji arrived next to Xisheng, he bowed deeply. "Commander, sir! Logistics Officer Aranai has requested me to inform you that the first wave of Yu Dao's Home Guard Regiment has arrived at camp, sir!"
Honestly, it was a bit awkward having someone bow so reverently to a young officer like Xisheng. He'd tried to tell the boy already that such devout reverence was unnecessary, but apparently, that had not stuck with Shinji. Xisheng could tell that his junior held immense admiration and respect for him, even though they had only recently met. Perhaps a recruit straight out of training camp was mesmerized by the fact that a soldier barely older than he was had been appointed the commander of such an important siege. It probably gave him all sorts of fantastical hopes for his own career. Xisheng didn't have the heart to tell him that nepotism from Azula had played a bigger role in his appointment than any actual merit. Not to say he had no merit, but a few good ideas from a Lieutenant would not have earned him a position commanding this battle without Azula's blessing.
"Thank you, Shinji. Gentlemen, I must go take stock of our new arrivals. I will return soon."
Neither Muzai nor Shairo bowed in a manner similar to Shinji, though they did salute his exit, simply because military decorum dictated that they should. As Xisheng moved out of the war room, Shinji followed slightly behind him. Being his adjutant and all, he was supposed to be at Xisheng's beck and call. Honestly, having someone like that at his disposal felt immensely odd for Xisheng. He was used to being the subordinate, not having one himself.
"Commander, Major Shairo glared at you as you left."
Xisheng cocked an eyebrow, curious as to why Shinji felt the need to point this out. The young man was very talkative, not at all as reserved as most grunts when in the presence of high-ranking officers. Maybe he believed there was some sort of kindred spirit between him and Xisheng. As far as Xisheng knew, the practically baby-faced boy at his side was only around two years younger than him.
Quietly, Xisheng acknowledged that Azula was around that age too, which really drove home how far beyond her age she was. Azula and Shinji felt nothing alike in terms of maturity. Xisheng could picture Azula on a battlefield easily, but Shinji seemed like someone who should have still been helping his parents with chores, not trying to kill someone else in a war.
"Major Shairo's distaste is known to me, Shinji. He's entitled to his own perceptions."
"Yes, well... I hope you know that a lot of us young guys are behind you, sir! It's a great change of pace to have someone who understands us better leading the charge for once."
Xisheng neglected to mention that age didn't really make them that similar to one another. Although, he supposed he may have been a lot like Shinji in the past. He'd joined the military at a similar age, and was eager to please his superiors too. Only time and battle had changed him into the person he was today.
"I appreciate the support, but don't think too badly of Major Shairo. He's seen far more battles than I, and no matter how disagreeable he may be, he's on our side."
Perhaps fearing that he had offended his new superior, Shinji changed his tune immediately. "Of course, sir, very wise, sir!"
Xisheng smiled ruefully. Maybe he hadn't been quite like this at Shinji's age. Still, enthusiasm was not a bad thing in the slightest. Every army needed passionate people ready to give everything they could for the cause. Without them, things would never get anywhere.
Exiting the command center, Xisheng took a glance around the base. It was the same as before, what with the rows of nearly identical square metal buildings, the walls, and the watchtowers, but it was a lot busier than it had been just a few days ago. Preparations for Wallclimber were in full swing: transports were constantly chugging in and out of the gates, bringing in tools, materials, troops, and munitions. The foundries were going full blast, pumping black smoke into the cloudless sky as a byproduct of the weapons they were pushing out by the dozens. Soldiers with no specific orders were constantly performing exercises at the behest of their immediate superiors. The din of an army at work was an assault on the ears, but oddly comforting as well.
Looking over to the main gate, Xisheng eyed the several Overlord transports, extra cars attached, that had pulled into the base. Irregulars that were clearly not standard Fire Nation military were spilling out of them, clad in greens, reds, and combinations of both. There were lots of people working out kinks and cramps: they probably had no experience in riding in military transports. There were still more transports coming in, so Xisheng couldn't get an accurate read on how many people there were, but they were already numbering in the hundreds. That was reassuring.
The young Lieutenant turned Commander gestured at Shinji. "Go and see if you can find the leader or spokesperson for the division. Bring them to me. If you can't locate them or they don't have one, just come back and tell me."
Shinji bowed without any hesitation. "Right away, Commander!"
The young recruit hustled off immediately, leaving Xisheng alone for a moment to appraise things. The reinforcements from Yu Dao were completely non-uniform. Some were old and graying. Many were as young as himself or younger. There were more than a few that were clearly not in great shape. There were just as many women as there were men. They were the epitome of a militia: people willing to fight, but likely not trained in the art of war. Xisheng had no doubt that very few of them had ever been in a real battle... and now he was about to thrust them directly into one of the biggest of the war. Their lives hung in the balance created by his strategy. He had acknowledged this already, but the more personnel came pouring into the camp every day, the heavier the weight of that knowledge became for Xisheng.
After a few minutes, Shinji began making his way back towards Xisheng with someone entirely unexpected in tow. Xisheng wasn't sure who he had expected to be the representative for the reinforcements from Yu Dao, but it certainly hadn't been an individual like this. When the two arrived before Xisheng, Shinji swiftly bowed before gesturing towards the person he was escorting.
"Commander, this is the representative for the Yu Dao Home Guard Regiment."
Before Xisheng was a young woman that appeared to be around his age. A brunette with short hair, bangs parted to each side and held in a bow at the back by a red ribbon. Warm brown eyes not all that dissimilar to Ty Lee, though far sharper and more serious. That said, there was some other uncanny resemblances to Xisheng's acrobatic friend, not the least of which was the baring of toned midriff, showing unashamedly below a green shirt covered by a red shawl. Her black pants had a hammer and chain type weapon wrapped around her waist.
This peculiar individual immediately struck a traditional Fire Nation salute with a crispness even many soldiers failed to match. "Commander, my name is Kori Morishita. I represent the men and women of Yu Dao who have come to fight for their country. It is our honor to serve!"
Well, Xisheng hadn't been expecting someone like this, but he wasn't disappointed so far. Everyone else directly involved in his plans was a man, so it was a nice change of pace to have an attractive woman as part of the inner circle. Assuming Kori made it that far, of course. All she'd done was introduce herself. Xisheng still had to appraise her before he could figure out what role she'd play in all of this.
The first order of business was making a good impression on her. Right now, she was the face of the Yu Dao Earthbenders, whom were absolutely vital to Wallclimber. Xisheng needed them on his side in more ways than one. That was why he returned the representative's salute, which did seem to catch her off guard: she likely hadn't expected her gesture to be reciprocated. That usually didn't happen from superior to subordinate.
"The honor is mine, Kori Morishita. You and all of your comrades have my sincere gratitude for answering this call to arms, and on such short notice."
Having clearly expected a more taciturn and stoic exchange with an older commander, Kori's serious expression grew mildly more confused. "It's no problem at all, sir. We're happy to be here."
"That said, I hope you don't take offense to this, but you're the representative for the Yu Dao Home Guard Regiment? You're quite young."
Kori cocked an eyebrow at him, donning an amused smirk before stopping to consider if she was breaching decorum. "No offense, but so are you, sir."
Beside Xisheng, Shinji opened his mouth to likely accost Kori for speaking disrespectfully to a superior officer, but Xisheng cut him off with a raised arm in front of the recruit. He got the feeling that Shinji was the type to jump to the defense of his heroes, even if said heroes didn't need it.
"I can't deny that. But generally speaking, there are special circumstances that allow people our age to enter such positions despite it. So, I'm going to need to know more about you, Kori. Why do the warriors of Yu Dao trust you to speak on their behalf? I doubt there's no particular reason for it."
To this, Kori's expression grew a little sheepish. "Well, I am the daughter of Yu Dao's mayor, sir. I'm sure that plays some role in everyone's trust in me. But I swear it's more than that, Commander! I've been training to fight since I was a little girl. I've bested many of the members of the regiment in sparring, even the older ones. I was also one of the first citizens to push for a larger militia, and a proponent for more equal representation of earth and firebenders in our defense forces... I'm sorry, I'm not trying to brag. I just..."
Xisheng spoke up as Kori petered off. "Don't want me to look down on you and your comrades?"
Kori didn't directly respond to this, but the way she glanced at the ground was answer enough, which prompted Xisheng to continue.
"Don't worry. I understand your trepidation: this is the first time in decades a colonial element has been summoned to fight on the front lines of a major battle. Maybe even the first time since the war began. And even though Yu Dao is a well-established colony that is Fire Nation in every way that matters, there are still those from the homeland that see colonials as second-class citizens. And that's to say nothing about the disdain many Fire Nation citizens hold for Earthbenders in general. There are many misconceptions stacked against you and your friends, and you want to prove them all wrong. Right, Kori?"
Surprised that the young commander before her would put all of that into words, not to mention actually acknowledge any of it, Kori answered quietly. It was a little embarrassing to have all of that spelled out. Now she felt overeager.
"Yes, sir. That's all true."
Xisheng smiled, donning a reassuring air. He still didn't really know that much about this young woman, but if her motivations were to carve a place of respect and acknowledgment for the Earthbenders of Yu Dao in Fire Nation society, that was a good sign. They were motivated to prove themselves, meaning they'd be willing to do whatever it took. At least, to an extent.
"Don't feel ashamed of your motivations, Kori. I'm glad to have a fellow colonial with such drive at my side during times as trying as these. It's clear to me that you are deeply passionate about your home, and earning it the respect it deserves. I'm sure that's one of the biggest reasons your comrades follow your lead."
The mention of being a colonial himself seemed to ease Kori's trepidation a little, though Xisheng's other reassurances probably helped a lot as well. "Y-yes, sir, maybe that is so. The people of Yu Dao will give everything we have to prove our worth as Fire Nation citizens!"
"Excellent. And while we are discussing your comrades, I feel inclined to ask: are they all Earthbenders?"
Kori glanced back at her people. "No, sir. A great many of them are, myself included. But there are also many Firebenders and non-benders in the ranks of the Home Guard Regiment. But we're all willing to fight! Everyone will do the best they can!"
"Very well. For now, return to your comrades and help them get organized. I need an accurate measure of their strength: how many benders of each element there are, as well the number of non-benders. I will send an officer to help get your people situated here at the base and take note of your head count soon."
The young leader from Yu Dao made another salute, though she also bowed as well compared to the first time. It seemed that her respect for Xisheng had grown to some extent during this conversation.
"Right away, Commander! And thank you for giving us this chance. We won't let you down!"
With that, Kori turned on her heel and hustled back towards the continuously growing group of Yu Dao citizens, courtesy of more transports. Personality notwithstanding, she really did bear a striking resemblance to Ty Lee. Even as she left, Xisheng recalled the time he had watched his acrobat friend walking away from him and towards some Overlords. Kori had a similar figure, down to... well, down to what Xisheng had appreciated about Ty Lee at that time in the past.
...it would probably be best if he didn't think that way of the troops under his command.
"You're from the colonies, Commander?"
Xisheng returned his focus to the world around him thanks to Shinji's question. The young recruit was leveling a curious expression at him.
"Yes. West Heiatu, to be precise. Not quite as long established as Yu Dao, but a very old colony besides. How about you, Shinji?"
"M-me? Commander, surely you don't care where I'm from..."
Xisheng raised an eyebrow at him. "I asked, didn't I?"
Nervous even to have this much attention paid to him, Shinji took a deep breath. Really, Xisheng wondered how the young recruit could have taken such a shine to him already. He supposed his circumstances were particularly exceptional, but they didn't even really know each other. Than again, Xisheng acknowledged that most people didn't actually know their heroes.
"It's nothing special, sir. I'm from the capital back in the homeland."
"Lots of soldiers are. It's nothing to be ashamed about. Why'd you enlist? You're young enough that conscription wasn't mandatory yet, meaning you volunteered."
Shinji's nervous expression grew moderately more serious as he glanced in the direction Kori had gone. "I've got a little sister. Her name's On Ji. She's twelve, and still in school. That Morishita woman kind of reminds me of her, actually. Well, On Ji is nowhere near that cool, but they kind of look a little similar. A-anyway, On Ji is always talking about how she's going to enlist when she'd old enough and become a hero. I... would like the war to be over before that ever has a chance of happening. I know I barely make a difference, but if I can help the war end even one day sooner, that would be enough for me. I don't want my little sister to ever set foot on a battlefield."
Taking in the motivations of his adjutant, Xisheng placed a reassuring hand on Shinji's soldier. "There's no cause more admirable than protecting your loved ones, Shinji. I too want this war to be over as soon as possible. That's why I need everyone's help to make it happen. We'll end all of this long before your sister ever has to worry about it: even if she will be a little disappointed. Come, there's still a lot to attend to today."
With a smile that proved how awestruck he was to be reassured by his superior officer in such a way, Shinji fell in behind Xisheng as the newly minted Commander began walking back towards the commander center.
"Yes, sir!"
Many hours later, Xisheng sat in a new room that had been provided for him after his sudden promotion to Acting Commander. The new quarters were far nicer than his previous one, with candlelit tapestries, a floor with actual rugs, a far comfier bed, and real windows to the outside. It was a room at the very top of the command center: one that probably belonged to Qin up until his recent eviction.
Gone were all of the War Minister's old belongings, but Xisheng hadn't possessed a whole lot to replace them with. Honestly, the whole concept of personal belongings had been a bit foreign to him since embarking on this quest with Azula all that time ago. Aside from his armor and a few clothes, he had nothing really to his name at this moment. But he had found some items to fill the space with: currently, a lot of maps and reports that covered the wooden table in the center of the room. As for the chairs, they were occupied by two of his friends, whom he'd invited. Azula was absent, supposedly because she had some matters to take care of. Like Xisheng, she was often busy, which was promptly pointed out by Mai, whom had an arm over the back of her chair and one leg over the other.
"So, this is the only time you really have to yourself these days, huh? I'm surprised that new flunky of yours doesn't keep you company even in here."
Though he had invited Mai and Ty Lee to the room to talk, Xisheng still had his gaze fixed on the maps and reports on the table before him, lit by some candles on said table. Besides, he was still listening to them.
"Shinji's a bit starry-eyed, but he's got a good spirit. He's been very helpful."
Mai scoffed. "A bit? The way that kid looks at you, it's like you've taken Ba Sing Se already. You'd think he was admiring a hero from a fairy tale."
On the other end of the table, head resting in her arms, Ty Lee smiled. "Maybe he's just the first of many to realize how amazing Gohan really is. I mean, you're younger than almost every other officer on the base, and you get to tell them all what to do. I bet Azula's very proud."
With a rueful smile of his own, Xisheng traded one scrap of paper before him for another. "I appreciate the support, Ty Lee. But everyone should probably wait to praise me until after Wallclimber works. If it works..."
Seeing a small amount of doubt creep into Xisheng's features, Ty Lee tried to reassure him. "It'll totally work. You've put a lot of thought into it. And you even said that all of the other people you talked to agreed that it was possible. By the way, why is it called 'Wallclimber' anyway? Isn't that like, the exact opposite of what you're trying to do?"
"Just in case the enemy gets wind of it. Short of any specific details, the name of the operation could hint at what we are planning to do. Better to give it a misleading name rather than an accurate one, just in case rumors reach the ears of the enemy."
Mai folded her arms as she contemplated this answer. "How would they even hear a rumor? It's not like we have people moving between this base and Ba Sing Se. Unless you're worried about spies?"
Xisheng raised his gaze from the table to look directly at the girl to his side. "We've brought in hundreds of new people from across the continent today, and there are still more to come. It's true that census records and paperwork have identified most of our reinforcements before they were brought here, but that doesn't mean too much. Someone who has lived a completely ordinary life in Yu Dao could be an Earth Kingdom sympathizer. Someone from a different colony could be an embedded agent. Or, for all we know, some Earth Kingdom agents infiltrated the convoy while it was on its way here. Hundreds to thousands of people are being moved. Even with records, the presence of one more could easily go unnoticed. All I'm saying is, the presence of spies is a distinct possibility that cannot be ruled out. That's why explicit details about the strategy are being kept to select individuals. If the enemy knows what we are up to before we begin, casualties will be enormous. In fact, I'm thinking of allowing some misleading rumors about the battle plan to circulate around the camp. Just to throw off any prying ears."
Ty Lee glanced down at the reports on the table in front of her, but most of it made no sense to her. "You're so smart, Gohan. You really think of everything."
"We'll see how true that is as things progress. But thank you."
The room grew quiet for a moment, as the trio of friends found themselves unsure of what to talk about next. The truth was, they hadn't gotten a lot of time together lately, thanks to Xisheng's new responsibilities. And the things that Xisheng had to deal with now were often out of Mai and Ty Lee's wheelhouse. It certainly wasn't anything that they could relate to. It was a real shame that he had grown so busy: they hadn't been able to do any of the things they normally did, like eat together or train, for the past few days. Both girls found themselves displeased with that notion.
That was why they were eager to try and find something to talk about, even if they weren't that well-versed in it. Mai took a shot with it first.
"I heard that most of the Earthbenders coming into camp are colonials. Any of them from your hometown, Gohan?"
"West Heiatu? I don't think so. It's a colony only a little smaller than Yu Dao, but it's also farther away from our position. We probably won't see any reinforcements from there for a few more days."
Mai sighed in response to this. "A few more days? Just how long is this all going to take? It sounds like we'll be spending months just getting ready to attack the wall."
Xisheng merely shrugged. "Sorry, Mai. But thorough preparations is the most important aspect of our success. Honestly, if this headcount from Kori is to be believed, Wallclimber could probably be pulled off with just the Earthbenders who came from Yu Dao, but I'd rather not take the risk."
As for Ty Lee, she focused on the least relevant detail of that entire assessment. "Who's Kori?"
"Oh, she's the leader of the Yu Dao Home Regiment that came in today. Or at least, their representative. A lot younger than I expected. Mayor's daughter. Reminds me a lot of you, actually."
The brunette at the table donned a curious expression. "How so?"
"A couple of ways. Her hair and eye color isn't too far off from yours. And she's got an athletic build too. Tall, slim... she looks like the type of person who might be pretty acrobatic herself. She also shares your penchant for baring the stomach."
Ty Lee frowned for a moment. "Sounds like you were paying a lot of attention to her body, Gohan."
The young Acting Commander looked at Ty Lee with a rueful gaze. "People tend to take in a person's full appearance when they first meet them, Ty Lee."
"Pssh, OK. I'm prettier than her though, right?"
"Of course you are."
"You said that so quickly that I'm not inclined to believe you."
Amused that she was so bothered by this, Xisheng put down the report he was reading. "Seriously, Ty Lee. You're-"
Xisheng was interrupted before he could finish by a knocking on the door to the room. In the past, the young officer would have been curious, but with his new position, he was becoming accustomed to people visiting him at odd hours. After all, there were plenty of reasons someone might have needed to speak to him.
"Enter."
With permission granted, a masked soldier stepped into the room and saluted. "Forgive my intrusion, sir. There's a matter that needs your attention."
Xisheng lowered the report he had been looking at. "Could I get a bit more detail on what this matter entails?"
"There's been a confrontation between some of the soldiers on the base and the colonial reinforcements in the mess hall. A sergeant in the immediate vicinity tried to get it sorted, but it seems like the colonials are unhappy with the resolution. They're demanding to speak to someone higher up."
With a sigh, Xisheng rose from the table. He had expected some friction between these two groups, but he hadn't expected it to escalate to this level on the first day. "Very well."
He glanced over at Mai and Ty Lee. "You two want to come with me?"
To this, Mai shrugged. "Well, it's more interesting than just sitting here, I suppose..."
Ty Lee decided to take Mai's lead, so the two girls followed Xisheng out of the room, who was likewise led to the mess hall by the soldier that had come to summon him. Really, mediating this dispute should have fallen to someone else, but Xisheng imagined that the conflict resolution going on wasn't exactly impartial. He had a good guess as to what he would stumble upon when he arrived.
The mess hall was one of many rectangular structures on the base, though a bit more elongated than the others. The inside was basically one big room, serving little purpose but to hold as many tables and chairs as possible, to feed as many troops in one place as it could. Only a kitchen area in the back broke up the uniformity. That said, there was plenty to pay attention to in regards to the people around.
A large group of people were gathered in the center of the hall, though roughly divided. On the left side, an obvious group of Fire Nation soldiers, all in uniform or at least in the clothes often worn under the armor. On the right, a significantly smaller group of people that were obviously from Yu Dao, made clear by their combination of green and red clothing. There was a lot of glaring going on between the two groups, along with a few nasty words getting thrown around. There were a few soldiers scattered around the hall, clearly attempting to mind their own business.
As Xisheng approached, a sergeant with a finely trimmed mustache stepped forward to meet him. "Am I right in assuming that you are an officer, sir?"
Xisheng was not surprised to go unidentified by the man: even though he had been appointed Acting Commander by Azula, only high-ranking officers had been present for that announcement. Most of the rank and file were unaware of their new leadership. Only direct subordinates of the higher-ranking officers had already picked up on the identity of their overarching commander at this point. There was probably going to be a big speech to the troops at some point to cement his authority, but Xisheng hadn't gotten around to it yet.
"I am the Acting Commander for all forces on this base. What's going on here?"
Xisheng earned a cocked eyebrow for his troubles. That too, was not surprising. He was at least a decade younger than the sergeant he was talking to. He was younger than even many of the grunts around here. It was likely difficult for people to accept his statement of authority at face value. That said, Xisheng did bear a golden right shoulder pauldron that identified him as a rank of at least Colonel or higher, courtesy of the young man's gradual wardrobe change over the past few days. He was mostly still wearing his old armor, but he was slowly getting new additions to help identify him in situations like these. Plus, a lot of his old armor had been damaged and in need of replacement anyway.
Point being, whether or not the sergeant was incredulous, the much younger man before him had the right identification to warrant answering to. Whether or not he was the acting commander of the whole base, he was at least a high enough rank to defer to in this situation. That was all he had to worry about.
"Just a small altercation between our men and the newcomers, sir. I tried to handle the situation, but the colonials aren't happy with my decision. Unfortunately, I'm unsure if I have authority over them, so I can't deal with their insubordination directly."
Someone with pretty good hearing stepped out from the Yu Dao group: a somewhat portly young man with black hair down to his shoulders and topped by a messy bun. He had round eyes, and large lips to go along with a pretty huge nose. His green clothes were topped off with some sort of red fur scarf. Whoever he was, he was shouting angrily before anyone could stop him. "That's because your solution was for us to just shut up and accept this! That ashmaker over there attacked my girlfriend! She's been hurt! We oughta-!"
Before he could continue, a hand appeared on his arm from behind, and Kori Morishita stepped up next to him, looking very worried. "Sneers, enough! Don't make a scene!"
Xisheng cocked an eyebrow, unsure if he had heard the name of this man correctly. Maybe it was just a nickname. At any rate, Xisheng wasn't able to get a word in edgewise before a soldier with a square jaw from the other side of the group spoke up.
"That's her fault for getting in the way. I was aiming for you, fatso!"
Sneers glared towards the man, clearly about to say something back, but Xisheng raised his voice to silence everyone. "Enough! Where is this injured girl?"
No one was forthcoming. Instead, Kori bowed deeply to him. "Please, Commander, don't trouble yourself with this. I'll accept responsibility for this altercation. The suffered injury is minor..."
Sneers didn't seem to agree with this at all. "You don't know if it's minor, Kori! You haven't had anyone who knows what they are talking about look at it!"
Xisheng got the feeling that Sneers was identifying Kori as the injured individual, but that didn't seem right...
"Kori, you're the one who was injured?"
The brunette girl clutched at her forearm, which Xisheng now noticed as having a cloth wrapped around it somewhat haphazardly. "Y-yes, but as I said, it's nothing. Pay no mind to Sneers, he's blowing it out of proportion."
Sneers started saying something to Kori about how she shouldn't have been trying to accept blame for anything, but Xisheng didn't hear it. He was too busy looking back and forth between the two of them. Sneers had said that his girlfriend had been the one injured, right? Kori was the one who was injured. So Kori was his girlfriend, right? That was kind of hard to believe, at first. Kori was very good-looking, tall, and fit. Sneers was... well, even being kind, he was a far cry from what one would consider conventionally attractive.
But, well, there was a lot more to relationships than looks, even though those were important. Maybe they had shared passions, or a similar sense of humor, or a common dream. Or maybe it was something less romantic. Sometimes people got together for money or just good sex. Really, it wasn't any of Xisheng's business, even if he did find himself curious.
At any rate, he had to get a handle on this situation. Relations between the people from Yu Dao and the regular army was absolutely vital to Xisheng's strategy.
"I'll be the judge of how serious this situation is. I want to hear what happened from you, Kori."
Naturally, Xisheng would take more than one perspective in, since it was better to get multiple sides presented to him before making a judgment call. But based on his perception of Kori so far, including her willingness to accept all blame for this incident to shield anyone else from consequence, Xisheng believed she would tell him the genuine truth.
"W-well, sir... we were directed here by the officer you sent earlier for meals. When we arrived, there weren't many other people here, so we got in line for the kitchen. Some soldiers filed into the hall shortly after us, and..."
Kori petered off, glancing at the strong-jawed soldier who had presumably hurt her. Xisheng quietly wondered why. She didn't seem scared of him. Rather, he imagined that Kori was concerned about portraying the fighters from Yu Dao in a bad light. This was their first day here. They were already disliked, as made evident by this entire situation. She probably didn't want to give a the commander of the entire base any reason to see them as a problem. Understanding this, Xisheng made to reassure her.
"Speak the truth. I will act fairly."
Perhaps due to her own experience with Xisheng thus far, Kori believed his assurance. "...the soldiers accosted us, claiming that we didn't deserve to be here and had no right to eat alongside them, let alone dig into their food before they got a chance to do so. There were some... other uncouth things said, but I won't repeat them. Sneers got angry and said some things in return. I tried to calm them down, but they started fighting. I couldn't Earthbend in here, so I stepped in front of Sneers to protect him. That's all that happened before the sergeant intervened."
Kori fell silent after this, rubbing her arm under the cloth as she did so. Frankly, Xisheng believed her story. He'd fully expected tensions to be high between some members of the two groups. The reasons varied, but they were there. Even so, Xisheng turned to the strong-jawed soldier that had allegedly lost his temper.
"Is this true?"
The soldier jabbed a finger in the direction of Sneers. "Hardly. This earthworm girl conveniently glossed over what was really said. This fatass said our troops deserved what they got at the wall during the last assault! My cousin was in one of those tanks!"
Admittedly, Xisheng could understand the anger stemming from a comment like that. To insult the death of a fellow soldier was already a high crime. Doubly so if that fellow soldier was also literal family. Still...
"And what did you say to Sneers here before he said that to you?"
The soldier in question fell silent at this. Sneers, on the other hand, had no issue repeating it. "That we were all going to be used as fodder, thrown at the walls so the real soldiers could use our bodies as stepping stones to climb it. And he called Kori-!"
Kori raised an arm in front of Sneers to cut him off before he could repeat the next part. Xisheng could only wonder why, as well as wonder what had been said. Soldiers often had quite uncouth vocabulary. At any rate, judging by the way Sneers tried to glare holes through the soldier's skull, Xisheng could imagine that the mystery word was pretty insulting.
At any rate, he had to find a way to resolve this. Moreover, he had to find a way to resolve it while trying to improve relations between the two groups that would be fighting side by side someday soon. To start, he turned to the soldier who had attacked Sneers and Kori.
"You have my condolences for your cousin. He never should have been put in that situation. And I can understand why you would be angry to hear his sacrifice besmirched. At the same time, you did the same thing to these people, demeaning their lives and their drive to be here. You really have no grounds to get angry at them for reciprocating your vitriol."
The soldier grit his teeth, narrowing dull yellowish-brown eyes at Sneers and Kori. He held his tongue, but he certainly didn't seem happy with Xisheng's assessment, which continued on.
"Moreover, attacking a comrade is unacceptable. You would not have lashed out to harm a fellow Fire Nation soldier, I hope?"
"O-of course not! But they're not-"
Xisheng raised a hand to cut off the protest. Then, he pointed at one of the soldiers a bit behind the aggressor. "You. Why didn't you stop him from attacking a comrade?"
The soldier in the back had clearly not expected to be called out. After all, he hadn't done anything. "M-me? Sir, I wasn't involved..."
"I see. And what about you?"
Xisheng pointed to another of the Fire Nation soldiers nearby, who was likewise caught off-guard. "It, uh... didn't seem to be any of my business..."
The young officer turned commander fell silent as his gaze swept over the assembled troops before him. Now that he had started asking this question of bystanders, they all seemed uncomfortable, perhaps wondering if there would be some punishment for their inaction.
This wouldn't do. This was not the type of army Xisheng needed. He needed more. More than a rank, more than someone who followed their orders and minded their business. So, now was the time to make a gamble. His face was stony, but in his mind, he was nervous: mostly because he was really, really hoping that he had a good read on Kori as a person. If he didn't, this little stunt was going to backfire horrifically, and he'd have to find some other way to play it off that was not at all what he was going for.
Xisheng turned his gaze back on the square chin of the soldier who had started the altercation. The man's expression was uncertain, wondering where Xisheng was going to ultimately go with this. He probably didn't expect what happened next.
Xisheng whipped his arm back, and conjured a powerful flame while glaring at the soldier who had sinned. The next moment in time was a tumultuous one: the soldier about to be incinerated recoiled out of reflex, too shocked to try and defend himself. Several of the soldiers and colonials around them all jumped or flinched. Mai and Ty Lee, whom Xisheng had almost forgotten about by now, gasped in utter surprise as Xisheng prepared to seemingly kill the man before him on the spot. And Kori...
"Commander, wait!"
Kori jumped in front of Xisheng before he could bring his arm back down, shielding the soldier that had harmed her behind her slender frame. Her injured arm was held up in front of her, trying to stop Xisheng from carrying out his strike.
"Please don't exact such a harsh punishment just for my sake! Our slight is not worth the life of a fellow Fire Nation citizen!"
Seeing this, Xisheng smiled slightly. His very risky gamble had paid off. Allowing his conjured flame to dissipate and his expression to grow serious again, Xisheng lowered his arm before motioning for Kori to move aside. She looked wary to do so, but ultimately followed his instruction. Behind her, the soldier Xisheng had allegedly been about to smite had fallen on his ass in fear, though he was staring gobsmacked at Kori. Well, until Xisheng took a step forward to be in front of him, that was. Then the soldier picked up his jaw and stared up at him fearfully.
Of course, Xisheng had no intention of hurting him. He motioned towards the woman who had just risked her life to save the soldier on the ground. "Despite what insults you've spoken against this woman, she has just risked her life for you. Solely because you are her countryman. That is the ideal a soldier of this nation should strive towards. To be willing to sacrifice their own life to protect their fellows. Even if they don't know them personally. Even if they don't particularly like them. A soldier's honor should transcend all of that: a soldier lays down his life for his comrades, and his comrades do the same for him. That is the brotherhood of men at arms, who risk their lives together for their country's sake."
The room had fallen mostly silent as Xisheng spoke to the soldier beneath him. Everyone was watching him with bated breath. This was the perfect time to address the group as a whole, so Xisheng raised his voice and moved his gaze across the gathered crown.
"Listen well, all of you. There will come a day very soon, in which you will all fight side by side on the field of battle. You will face the same foes. You will face the same trials and dangers. You will all be afraid of dying. But most importantly, you will all hope that the people you fight alongside would risk their lives for you. That they would fight hard to protect you. That they would not leave you if you were injured. That they may even go so far as to give their lives for you. Because that's what it means to fight among comrades. That's what separates us, honorable soldiers and warriors, from a band of mercenaries or brigands. We fight for our country, but even more than that, we fight for each other, for our brothers and sisters in arms."
Xisheng gestured towards both groups with each arm.
"You all come from different backgrounds. Even among fellow natives or fellow colonials, each of you is more different from one another than you are similar. What does connect you is what you fight for. Whether you're a politician's son from the capital or a farmer from a small town, whether you've led a life of comfort or hardship, you've all come together to fight for a nation that you love. A nation of your countrymen, many of whom stand here right now, because they too are here to fight for you. I want each of you to remember that when you look at each other. Homeland native or colonial, Firebender or Earthbender, bender or non-bender, these are the people you are both fighting alongside and fighting for. Your comrades who will, if truly honorable, fight for you as hard as you fight for them. Because ultimately, we will all shed our blood and sweat together in pursuit of the same dream. We are the Fire Nation Army. We protect our own, no matter where they are born or what life they lead. Because no matter what else you achieve in this war, even if you fell a thousand enemies... if you betray your comrades, you will have only shame. Decades from now, when you lie in your beds as old men and women, you won't fondly recall what you destroyed. Only what you protected."
Falling silent, Xisheng found that he still had everyone's undivided attention. That was a little awkward, because that was the end of his speech. He didn't know what else to say.
"Er... be aware that aggression against your comrades will bear consequence in the future. Be sure to share that with your other comrades who weren't here today to hear it. As well as the other things I've said. So... as you all were."
Turning on his heel, Xisheng began to walk away from the large group of soldiers and colonials. As soon as his back was turned, he heard the muttering of all those behind. A quick glance over his shoulder revealed the pensive and questioning gazes being exchanged between soldiers and colonials, as well as Kori offering a hand to the fallen soldier who had harmed her. A hand that, albeit begrudgingly, was taken, much to Xisheng's pleasure.
As for Mai and Ty Lee, they exchanged stunned looks for a moment before scrambling to catch up to Xisheng. When she caught up, Ty Lee leaned in close to whisper excitedly to him.
"Holy hippo-cow, Gohan! Did you come up with all of that on the spot?!"
Though he had been the image of stoic commander while speaking to the assembled troops, Xisheng couldn't help but feel sheepish now. "Uh, yeah..."
On his other side, Mai was smirking at him, though it wasn't without appreciation. She seemed genuinely impressed. "I always knew you were born to be a poet, but damn, that was something else. Even I felt a bit of swelling pride. I never thought I'd see the day."
"You know me, I do talk a lot. Although, speaking of things that need to be said..."
Xisheng turned his attention back towards the group he had left behind. Glad to find that, though a little awkward, the hostile and tense air had seemed to clear. Not that everyone was dishing out hugs and laughing now, but there definitely wasn't a hostile standoff like before. Some of the soldiers and colonials had even started to talk to each other. One person who still seemed pretty upset, however, was Sneers. His arms were folded and he was still glaring at the soldiers. Well, Xisheng supposed that was understandable: someone he cared about had been hurt, and technically, no justice had been meted out. Still, Xisheng had a few words to say to him away from the entirety of the amassed group.
Thankfully, Xisheng caught Sneers' gaze while the latter was looking around, which allowed him to motion for the man to come over to him. It was definitely begrudging, but Sneers did come his way. He was definitely disgruntled upon arrival.
"What?"
Any other officer probably would have been enraged to be addressed so bluntly and disrespectfully, but Xisheng ignored it. He had more important things to worry about than petty issues like that.
"Sneers, was it?"
"Yeah. What do you want?"
Despite Xisheng's own acceptance of the situation, Sneers' attitude did put frowns and displeased looks on both Mai and Ty Lee's faces. It felt kind of nice to have people that would get upset over things like that.
"I understand that a soldier spoke ill of your neighbors and friends unprovoked. I understand that he even injured someone you care about. Your anger is justified and I understand why you would retaliate. However..."
Xisheng's expression grew deathly serious. He couldn't help it: this was something that bothered him greatly.
"...don't speak ill of our fallen again. In the future, I won't stand idly by while those who sacrificed their lives for this country and their comrades are slandered. Is that understood?"
Xisheng probably didn't realize that he was glaring, but Sneers glared back. "Yeah. Can I go now?"
"Yes."
With no reason to stay, Sneers left the mess hall entirely, which surprised Xisheng. He had expected him to return to Kori, but the young man seemed even more disgruntled than he realized. Hopefully it wouldn't become an issue later.
Once they were alone again, Ty Lee quietly squealed a bit at his side. "Wow, Gohan! You've become so noble and commanding! Oh, the things you could get a girl to do..."
To his other side, Mai folded her arms. "Ew. Don't say stuff like that so happily."
Though she said this, Xisheng didn't miss a slight blush on Mai's cheeks. Maybe she quietly agreed with Ty Lee's sentiment.
At any rate, Xisheng breathed a sigh of relief. So far, it seemed like he was at least able to fill the new role placed upon him admirably, as far as everyone looking in from the outside was concerned. In reality, he was a nervous wreck having to deal with things like this for the first time. But at least he had gotten slightly more used to these new responsibilities over the past few days. Now he just had to keep the trend on an upswing.
The following afternoon, Xisheng stood near one of the windows in the command center, overlooking the gate as transports came piling in. All sorts of things came out of these transports: more colonials from places besides Yu Dao, raw materials, a few explosives, other actual Fire Nation troops... standing next to Xisheng was Logistics Officer Aranai, a young officer in his mid-20s who had no facial hair to speak of. His hair was neat and trimmed, held in an almost perfect topknot that even the Royal Family would have been proud of. Surprisingly, his eyes were green: Xisheng had learned second-hand that Aranai was a colonial too, and a mixed one at that.
At any rate, Aranai was running off numbers from a list he currently held in his hands.
"By the middle of next week, we should officially be in possession of two hundred barrels of blasting jelly, four hundred and seventeen caskets of black powder, and eight hundred and four explosive projectiles ordinarily reserved for siege engines. Though speaking from experience, we can probably expect twenty percent of that to either be lost in transport, never sent at all by the people who were supposed to, or defective in some way upon arrival."
Xisheng watched as some soldiers in the area outside unloaded some wooden barrels from an Overlord that had just come in through the gate. "Hopefully, that will be enough for our purposes. I suppose we could request supplies from the homeland, but it would take quite some time for that to arrive here."
"A month and two weeks, assuming the supply chain worked flawlessly. Which never happens, of course."
"Of course. Frankly, I'm surprised we managed to requisition this much as it is. There was hardly any issue in having our requests approved."
Aranai continued to pore over the scroll in his hands. "Yes, having 'by the order of the Crown Princess' attached to the requisition orders tends to have that effect. I only wish that all requisitions could go so smoothly. Or as rapidly, for that matter."
Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at the man. "A predicted loss of material equaling twenty percent is smooth?"
"Ordinarily, that number would be closer to thirty percent."
The young acting commander did his best to keep his surprise under wraps, instead turning his gaze to the outside world again. "I see. Concerning the explosive projectiles for the siege engines, we'll have to commit a fair deal of those to the diversionary attacks on the walls. The enemy won't buy it as a legitimate assault if we aren't even attacking them with the usual."
Though coming up with strategy and tactics wasn't Aranai's job, the young officer posed a suggestion. "Now that you have Earthbenders at your disposal, they could be used to fashion stone projectiles to launch at the walls instead of our explosives."
Admittedly, Xisheng had considered this possibility, but he had already elected to forego it. "I don't want to take any risks with the enemy picking up on aspects of our plan. Earthen projectiles could tip them off to the fact that we have Earthbenders on our side, since the Fire Nation generally uses manufactured projectiles. It may be a small risk, but I'd rather not take it. This isn't the type of strategy that we'll be able to try more than once. It needs to go as flawlessly as possible on the first attempt."
Whether or not Aranai had something to say to that was left a mystery. The voice of a certain royal from behind cut into the conversation.
"How goes the proceedings, Commander?"
Xisheng glanced over his shoulder, easily identifying Azula. The few other people in the war room right now had stopped what they were doing to bow already. Aranai was swift to do the same. As for Xisheng, it admittedly felt a bit strange to bow to Azula at this stage of their familiarity with one another. But they were in public and under the watchful gaze of many other personnel, so Xisheng needed to mind his decorum.
Once the proper reverence had been committed, Aranai excused himself, allowing Azula to take the place the man had been standing. Both she and Xisheng focused on the world outside the window once they were relatively alone.
"Busy lately, Princess?"
"Not as busy as you, I'm sure. Mostly just sending letters to particular individuals. Apprising my father of the situation, informing the proper individuals about what to do with Qin, things like that."
Xisheng glanced down at her. "What exactly are you telling the Fire Lord about this situation?"
Azula returned his look knowingly. "Don't worry, I haven't implicated you yet. I'll wait until the plan is a success before doing that. No need to place you in professional danger if it fails. I only mentioned that I was working together with officers at this base to carry out a plan of attack. Technically, that's true."
"I appreciate that you'd offer me that protection, Princess. But won't that reflect poorly on you if the plan does fall through?"
The young Princess shrugged, seemingly unbothered. "You will likely note that I left my own involvement vague as well. I won't be entirely capable of shirking blame, but... well, it is what it is."
"You aren't worried about what will happen if Wallclimber doesn't work? I'd imagine that your father has high expectations of you..."
"That he does. But he also isn't a blind fool who thinks the entirety of a large-scale strategic assault can be pinned on my shoulders alone. If this operation fails, it will be for many reasons, not because I didn't do something right. Besides, my father always told me to seize the opportunities presented by the weakness of others. You've pointed out a very glaring weakness of Ba Sing Se that we have the chance to take advantage of right now. I think he would prefer for me to strike than to hold back for fear of failure. Of course, I could be wrong. I cannot speak my father's exact thoughts. But this is all moot anyway. I firmly believe that we'll at least get through the wall, and as long as that happens, you and I won't be on the hook for anything we're doing now. Which is why I'd like to know how things are coming along."
Xisheng eyed Azula appreciatively, wondering when she had grown so mature. Well, she'd always been mature for her age, but it seemed like her leadership qualities were growing all the time. Not that he was going to call her our on this. She would probably just get embarrassed.
"About as well as can be expected. People and materials keep coming in at a steady pace, but it'll be several more days still before we have everything we need. It's likely that our base here will need to erect several new buildings considering all of the influx. The person representing the Yu Dao Home Guard Regiment seems very reliable and trustworthy, and I can tell that many of her people are eager to prove themselves. Major Shairo keeps giving me attitude, but so far he's not letting his distaste get in the way of doing his job and working with everyone. Everything's moving along fine, but this isn't the stage of the plan that is prone to issues to start with."
Azula followed the movements of some of the troops outside with her eyes. "So you say, but Ty Lee mentioned that you had quite an interesting altercation on your hands last night. Apparently you even threatened someone. I'm honestly surprised to hear that intimidation was on the table for you. Though also somewhat proud, I must admit."
Xisheng smiled, acknowledging how odd that compliment was. From Azula though, it did come across as genuine praise. "Sorry to disappoint you, Princess, but it was just for show. I really just needed a dangerous situation to prove a point to everyone there."
"Oh, so it was manipulation then? Now I'm even more proud."
The man beside the Princess cocked an eyebrow at her. "You say that like I've never manipulated anyone before."
Azula reciprocated his expression. "Have you? Since I've known you, at any rate."
"I don't know, have I?"
The Crown Princess narrowed her eyes, now quietly looking back on everything she could involving Xisheng. Just how much of it had been a means to push a certain agenda? Not to say she thought it was bad. Everyone manipulated others sometimes, and it wasn't always for nefarious purposes. Sometimes you just wanted to them to realize something, or experience a certain thing, or something like that. Still, she'd be a little miffed if she'd fallen for some of Xisheng's subtle ploys in the past. At the same time, she was almost certain that she had. Once or twice, at least.
"Hmph. Anyway, I've been thinking about your appearance lately, Xisheng. It's not really befitting of your new stature, is it? Other than the pauldron, it's impossible for anyone to know that you're important. How do you feel about a cape?"
Honestly amused by the suggestion, Xisheng scoffed. "A cape? Doesn't that seem like a little much?"
"Nonsense. It's only a little much if you aren't important enough to warrant it."
"Neither Admiral Zhao nor General Iroh had a cape when I was around them."
Azula smirked. "Need I repeat what I just said?"
"Alright, alright, but still. A double shoulder cape seems a bit garish."
"Fine. What about a single shoulder cape? I think that would be fashionable."
Xisheng glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one was eavesdropping. Not that they were talking about anything terribly important, but they were being very casual with one another.
"Is the point of this wardrobe change to make me identifiable in a practical sense or just to make me fashionable?"
His companion shrugged her shoulders. "Why not both? You'll need a way to be identified by those around you anyway, so you may as well look good while doing it. I think a single shoulder cape would strike a nice balance between stylish and respectable."
"Then how come you don't wear one?"
"Xisheng, I don't think anyone would take me seriously if I wore that."
"But they will if I wear it?"
"You're not a girl of my stature."
Xisheng took a moment to try and picture Azula with a cape. Admittedly, it was kind of a funny image. "That's true. Would probably look a bit silly on you."
Even though she had already said as much, Azula looked offended. "Don't agree with me, you simpleton."
Chuckling, Xisheng turned his attention to the world outside once again. The transport that had come in a few minutes earlier had been unloaded, and was now moving into the vehicle bay for maintenance. It would probably be leaving the base again in the evening. There was still a lot of stuff that needed to be brought here. Every available transport was needed to get things to and fro.
"...I suppose we don't necessarily have to wait for all of our supplies to be in order before we begin the offensive. Really, the explosives won't even be needed until the tunnels under the walls have been completely excavated. It's only at the very end that we'll need them, and digging under the wall will probably take some time. So we could get all of that underway before the last explosive shipments even arrive."
Now that they were returning to serious matters, Azula folded her arms. "Is that so? Are you ready to proceed to that step so soon?"
"Not quite. The actual plan of attack still needs some work. But most importantly, the Earthbenders that have joined our forces need some training. For one, they are all irregulars: I'm sure they've had some semblance of training back at their homes, but nothing quite similar to the military tactics and command structure that they will need to know. We can't have them lost or confused during an operation as important as this one. Furthermore, I think it best if we make a few trial runs with the underground tunnel digging prior to the big day. We shouldn't just expect it to go off without a hitch the first time."
Azula seemed to agree with this assessment. "You won't see me disagreeing with that. It's only prudent to practice, especially with something that no one is familiar with. Though that means you'll have to actually share the plan with some of the Earthbenders. Have you settled on a few you can trust with that information?"
Admittedly, only one face came to mind for Xisheng at the moment. "Not a few, no. But there is one of them I trust so far, and I trust her to select individuals that we can rely on."
The young Princess beside him gave him a curious look. "That Kori girl, I presume? Ty Lee mentioned her the other night, though in a somewhat jealous manner. You've taken a shine to her quite quickly. Happy though I am to see a young woman in a position of authority and influence, do you trust her so much already?"
"I can hardly say that I truly know her that well. But I have determined that her motivations are trustworthy. Unless she is a phenomenal actor, I firmly believe they are genuine. There is no doubt in my mind that she loves her home, and she firmly believes that home to be as much a part of the Fire Nation as the capital itself. She sees this operation as a chance to prove to all of her countrymen across the nation that colonials, and Earthbenders especially, are just as patriotic and deserving of respect as anyone else. She won't jeopardize the chance to make that happen."
"That is, unless she's an incredibly good actor."
Xisheng chuckled ruefully. "Exactly. Unfortunately, there's no way to be certain about something like that in the small window of time I have to appraise my options. After all, unless you've known someone for a long time, and in a very personal way, can you ever really know if the person you think you know isn't acting?"
"I suppose that's true. That's one of the core tenets of politics, after all. Well, if you trust her, you have my blessing. If she manages to break that trust somehow, we can just kill her."
"If she breaks our trust in a severe enough fashion, yes."
Azula seemed a little surprised that Xisheng would agree with that sentiment even to a small extent. He usually wasn't one to say such things. Granted, he had been very forthcoming about his willingness to kill other people if need be, not too long in the past. But he seemed to have a pretty good opinion of Kori thus far, so it was odd to hear him entertain the thought of killing her.
Then again, they were theoretically discussing what would happen if she betrayed them. Azula supposed it made some sense: being betrayed by someone you trusted was far more infuriating than being betrayed by someone you didn't really know.
And speaking of how well you knew someone... Azula couldn't help but wonder if she was going to see some new aspects of Xisheng's character in the coming weeks. Things about him that would only come to light due to the burdens of leadership. He had always been a leader of sorts, especially when the need arose, but this would be the first time that he had an actual position of authority over other people. People who had to listen to him, lest they suffer harsh consequences.
Would the power go to his head? Would he crumble under the weight of other men's lives on his shoulders? Even if he excelled, how would he do it? Would those who served him love or fear his command? Would they ride with him because they had to, or because they wanted to?
Azula was keen to discover the answers to all of these questions, for a multitude of reasons. For one, she wanted to truly get to know this aspect of Xisheng's character. This was a man she was considering for... well, being at her side for far longer than she had initially planned, all that time ago. So she very much wanted to know what kind of man he would be in this regard. Two, this entire operation was Xisheng's chance to really prove that his perspective on leadership was legitimate: that one could lead through trust and camaraderie as opposed to an iron fist. His philosophy on that worked well in a small group of peers, like Azula and her friends, but how would it fare with an army of strangers? Azula would one day be Fire Lord, and her authority would be over a nation of strangers that did not know her personally. This was a good field test to see if Xisheng's ideals could really bear fruit.
But she didn't say any of this out loud. The last thing Xisheng needed at this time was even the smallest extra burden on his shoulders. So she stayed silent, and for a time, the master and apprentice enjoyed a bit of quiet together.
"Is that the best you can do?! Do you maggots think this is going to cut it on the battlefield?! If you're this winded after a few laps around the base, just imagine how worthless you'll be when you need to run to a new position after four hours of fighting! This is disgraceful!"
Xisheng, Shinji at his side, found himself having flashbacks to the days of his training as they walked towards a stretch of dirt outside the walls of the staging area that was currently a bit busy. He couldn't help it, what with the blaring voice of a sergeant shouting insults and commands to a bunch of recruits. Under the light of an orange morning sky, dozens of colonial reinforcements from the colonies were slogging through a typical endurance exercise: running laps around the walls of the staging area while under the judgmental eye of a Fire Nation sergeant. The motley crew of irregulars was being shown no mercy. No concessions were being made for anyone, be it man or woman, young or old, bender or not. That also meant that the proceedings were very non-uniform: a normal regiment of Fire Nation troops would be expected to keep pace with one another as a unit, but the Yu Dao volunteers were all over the place. Some of them were moving fine, others, barely managing a light jog as their chests heaved for air. A few of them had fallen to their knees as they tried to find some sort of respite, which was probably why they were being yelled at by a sergeant.
Xisheng felt sympathy for them, but he also understood why this was important. One of the most important traits of a foot soldier on the front lines of battle was endurance. How much weight could you carry, how many miles could you run, how long you could fight effectively before fatigue rendered you more detriment than boon. Many practicing benders were relatively fit by merit of their art being of the martial variety. But physical prowess was not universal. Excelling in one area didn't mean you excelled in all of it. A lot of these benders probably had poise and control down, but that didn't mean their stamina was at the levels a fierce front line battle would demand.
Of course, Xisheng acknowledged that bending allowed people to circumvent some of these problems, but it was still good to train your purely physical prowess as well. Bending was not always the solution that would save your neck. Sometimes, you just had to rely on your body to get things done. Besides, this was a good way to find out just who among these volunteers was fit for the more demanding roles in the battle to come. Those who lacked the stamina to fight on the front lines could do other things to help, but you had to know who was who.
The newly appointed commander of the Fire Nation forces stepped up beside the sergeant overseeing the drills, a man with sharp eyebrows and a sharper glare. Sharp goatee too.
"How are things coming along here, sergeant?"
Glancing to his side, the sergeant struck a salute after identifying a superior officer. "Commander, sir! Not the best, sir."
Xisheng's identity as the new commander of the base had become slightly more public over the past few days. No doubt word had begun to spread among the rank and file based on his numerous appearances to oversee different aspects of the preparations. So, it didn't surprise him to be recognized.
"Do tell."
"Just look at 'em, sir. Pathetic, the lot of 'em! Maybe a fifth of these volunteers have managed to keep the pace they started with on the first lap. Half of them are barely managing a brisk walk! They should be ashamed to call themselves a regiment! It's only the third lap!"
Three laps didn't sound like a lot, but they were running around the entirety of the base, which was quite large at this point. For a bunch of people who basically did volunteer militia work back at home, Xisheng could understand why they weren't faring well.
"Unfortunately, there won't be enough time to whip everybody into shape, sergeant. We summoned these people to fight on short notice, and they won't have the benefit of weeks of training like ordinary troops. Will there be tactical drills later? Their ability to act in concert with the regular army on command will ultimately be more important than anything else."
"Yes, Commander. Tactical drills are slated for the afternoon."
"Excellent. Rein them in for now, sergeant. I need to speak to a few of them."
With another salute, the sergeant began shouting orders for the nearby colonials to hear. Of course, not everyone was present in the immediate vicinity at the moment, but as more and more militia members neared this section of their lap, they too were reined in to take a break. Thankfully, there were several jugs of water near the sergeant for them to partake in: the Fire Nation had learned long ago that dehydration was a serious concern when drilling their troops.
Xisheng actually had to wait some extra minutes, but eventually he spotted the person he wanted to see rounding the corner of one of the base walls. Kori seemed to be in good shape compared to most of her comrades: winded, for sure, but managing to keep a respectable pace and running form. Xisheng got the feeling that she was on her fourth lap, compared to the third many of her companions were on.
The young commander didn't bother her immediately, instead allowing Kori to catch her breath and a few swigs of water before approaching her. Even covered in sweat, she managed to look rather composed and dignified: maybe that had something to do with being a mayor's daughter. Appearances were important.
"You seem to have better breathing technique than many of your peers, Kori."
Bowing and saluting Xisheng when he approached her, the young woman smiled. "Well, I may not be a Firebender, but my father is, and he taught me many things. Good breathing technique is valuable for everyone to have, not just Firebenders."
"Very true. How's your arm?"
The brunette raised her left arm in front of her, which now had an actual bandage upon it. "Nothing serious, sir. Just a light burn. The medic said it would heal with no issue."
Xisheng was grateful for that. He couldn't imagine what it would be like to be summoned to fight for your country, only to get your first scar from a comrade in arms. "Glad to hear it. I have something for you to do, once you've rested a bit."
"Of course, sir. Anything you need."
"I need you to select ten Earthbenders to join you in a special training exercise that will be absolutely vital to the upcoming battle. Allow me to iterate this clearly: these ten Earthbenders need to have your absolute trust, Kori. These need to be people that you could entrust your life to. People that share your same drive to elevate Yu Dao to a place of prestige in the Fire Nation. The details that they will learn must absolutely not make it to the ears of our enemies, for any reason. I will trust your judgment, if you tell me that you have ten such people."
Kori's expression grew very serious as she took this in. To be trusted with something like this by the highest ranking officer on this base was a great honor. Her father would have been ecstatic to know that she had earned this degree of trust. Hell, she was over the moon and just barely managing to hide it. Still, Xisheng was making the gravitas of this situation very clear. He was placing a very important decision on her shoulders: and the way he worded it, one that was pivotal to the entirety of the battle he was planning.
With a flawless salute, Kori bowed deeply to him once again. "I understand, Commander. Thank you for entrusting this to me. I will pick the people I trust most to be loyal to both Yu Dao and our country."
With a nod of assent from Xisheng, Kori turned towards her fellows, many of whom were sitting in the dirt to rest, even while getting an earful from the sergeant overseeing their exercise. When she was out of earshot, Shinji leaned in towards Xisheng to speak.
"Sir, I didn't think about it until now, but... does this mean you trust me implicitly? I've learned a lot of details about the upcoming battle plan while serving as your adjutant..."
"Your assignment to me was chance, Shinji. I trusted you then as much as I would any other soldier. But at this point, I implicitly trust that you wouldn't do anything to jeopardize the war effort. After all, you've got a little sister to protect, right?"
"Yes, sir. Thank you, sir."
After a few minutes, Kori returned to Xisheng, with an array of ten Earthbenders behind her. There wasn't much similar about any of them: three were women similar to Kori's age or a little older. Four were young men of various heights and dress. One was an older man with gray hair. Another was a hulking giant of a man that reminded Xisheng of that Boulder guy from the Earth Rumble tournament. And one was a young girl that was probably around Toph's age. They all saluted in unison when they arrived before their commander. Not as crisply as Kori managed to do, but they tried their best.
Xisheng spoke to Kori directly. "Are you certain?"
The brunette before him stared him in the eyes, her serious expression unflinching. "Absolutely. Not a one of us would ever turn against our home or our nation. I can personally vouch for the trustworthiness of everyone here."
"Very well then. All of you, follow me."
With that, Xisheng turned on his heel and began walking away from the rest of the gathered colonial volunteers. Shinji, Kori, and her vouched for Earthbenders were hot on his heels, which he confirmed by glancing over his shoulder. In doing so, Xisheng briefly noticed Sneers among the gathered volunteers staying with the sergeant, watching them leave. He didn't look any happier than the other day, which Xisheng commented on quietly to Kori alongside him.
"Your boyfriend seems displeased."
Kori didn't look back at said boyfriend. "He's just worried about the workload I'm taking on, Commander. Please don't pay him any mind."
Xisheng kept his eyes forward as he led his assembled followers. "Worried about you, is he? He was rather quick to leave your side after you had been injured the other day. I don't think he was very happy with the fact that things ended peacefully between you and your offender."
The brunette beside him tried to hide an anxious look. "He's temperamental sometimes. I will keep him out of trouble, Commander, I swear."
"I certainly hope so."
Xisheng led the rest of the way in silence. Coincidentally, his destination was not back within the confines of the base. Instead, he was moving towards a different field of dirt (there was a lot of dirt outside Ba Sing Se) that had been agreed upon at an earlier time. When they got close to this destination, the group was able to see a number of people waiting for them, comprised of Chief Engineer Muzai and five Fire Nation soldiers. Muzai was quick to greet the incoming Commander and company, rearranging some scrolls in his arms as he did so.
"Good morning, Commander. I suppose these are our volunteers?"
The man stroked his frazzled beard as he looked over the assembled Earthbenders. If he had anything to say about them, he didn't say it. This left Xisheng with room to speak. "Indeed. Kori has assured me that they can all be trusted. I... didn't ask, but I assume they are all skilled Earthbenders."
"Let's hope so. A lot is riding on their shoulders."
Xisheng took a few steps forward so that he could have everyone present in front of him when he turned around. He had picked up on a few things about projecting his voice since he had taken a position of authority.
"Everyone, listen up, and listen well."
Understanding that they were about to get a speech or a briefing of some sort, the assembled group of both Fire and Earthbenders stood at attention, giving Xisheng their full focus. Even Shinji, which wasn't necessary since he wasn't actually a part of this. Xisheng elected to ignore that.
"You are some of the first people other than high-ranking officers to hear the details of our strategy for the upcoming assault against Ba Sing Se. Before I give those details, understand this: this is all absolutely confidential. You will not speak of this to anyone other than each other. You will not even hint as to what you learn to anyone else. This is not simply because of our desire to win. If the enemy knows of our plan when we enact it, the lives of your comrades, from across the Fire Nation and from Yu Dao, will be in jeopardy. The enemy would be able to directly counter our offensive and kill many of our comrades, and anyone who died to try and bring this plan to fruition would do so in vain if the enemy knows before we even begin. You will not speak of these details to anyone. Is that understood?"
The response was unanimous, even from the Yu Dao volunteers. Maybe the gravitas of Xisheng's words had gone so far as to instill a bit of military hierarchy even in them.
"Yes, sir!"
With a nod of satisfaction, Xisheng pointed out to the walls of Ba Sing Se, which were visible even from this distance, albeit faintly. "Our objective is to take down a large section of that wall. As you probably know, that wall is made out of stone. It is guarded by Earthbenders who can manipulate that stone quickly and efficiently, meaning our options to take it down are limited. We cannot simply walk up to the wall and Earthbend a hole in it, because that can be closed easily if the defenders drive us away. Not to mention that we would have to hold an area at the foot of the wall for an extended period of time while troops try to move through that hole. That course of action is not feasible for us."
Xisheng must have been getting pretty good at public speaking, because he had the rapt attention of everyone present. Well, maybe he had always been kind of good at it.
"So, here is what we must do: Earthbenders will tunnel under the walls, and create a large underground cavity beneath its foundations. We will fill that cavity with an unholy amount of explosives, and we will light the fuse. Ideally, this will take down a huge section of the wall in a split second, which will allow our forces to rush through a breach that cannot be sealed quickly or easily. We can then establish a defensive foothold and create a pathway for further reinforcements before continuing to press into the city. Naturally, this is the simplified version of the plan, but it is all you need to know at this time."
The Earthbenders glanced around at each other nervously, perhaps realizing that they would play the most important part of the battle. That was a lot of pressure, especially for a bunch of volunteers who had never served in a real army. One of the young men in the group spoke up amidst the concern.
"I'm sorry if this is out of line, sir, but... is this a suicide mission...?"
Understanding the concern, Xisheng sought to assuage it immediately. "Not at all. I have every intention of getting everyone who goes into the tunnels we dig back out alive. In fact, that is why you are all here today: to practice in a more controlled environment so we can determine the safest and most effective means to achieve our goal. We will be experimenting with different tunneling techniques now so we can negate as many risks as possible on the day of the assault. I know many of you have probably been looked down on for being Earthbenders. Rest assured, you are all as valuable to me as any Firebender in uniform. And with this operation, we'll make all of you heroes, getting the respect and recognition you deserve. I'm not interested in martyrs."
Xisheng's words seemed to calm the anxiety of his new subordinates somewhat. In fact, many of them looked eager now. With that out of the way, the young Commander gestured over to Muzai.
"Chief Muzai, if you will."
With permission granted, the balding engineer stepped forward to address his present company. "The tunnels we must dig have specific parameters. They must be deep enough to both avoid detection from our foes and get underneath the foundations of the walls. Yet, they must be wide enough that we can quickly and efficiently move materials through them. This means that the tunneling process will be difficult, and dangerous. The deeper beneath the surface our tunnels go, the more weight will rest upon their ceilings. These tunnels must be sturdy, on top of all of our other requirements. Even for Earthbenders, it will be a challenging prospect."
Muzai grabbed one of the scrolls he had in his arms and unfurled it to show to the assembled individuals. The parchment had a variety of drawings on it, each one depicting a different layout for a tunnel support system. These were the official different ways that Fire Nation engineers had braced tunnels in the past.
"We have experience with digging tunnels, and know effective ways of bracing them under many circumstances. However, rarely has our nation needed to dig a tunnel this deep, wide, and long. We cannot take our previous experiences for granted. That is why we will be experimenting today to find the best possible way to proceed with our goal."
Standing beside Muzai, Xisheng took the floor once again. "Today, only some of you will be digging. The rest of you will remain on the surface, ready to help extricate your comrades in case anything goes wrong. But be aware, you will not have such a safety net on the day of the assault. Earthbenders on the surface attempting to excavate their friends out of tunnels would promptly alert our foes as to our plans. On the day of the assault, you will have to start your tunnels from behind the cover of Fire Nation lines, and go all the way to the walls. If there is a tunnel collapse or some other problem, you will only have yourselves to rely on at that time. I know this is a lot to ask of you, but don't forget: if the enemy figures out our plan before it comes to fruition, you will be in even greater danger, as the enemy will actively seek to counter your efforts. This is another reason we are training now to figure out the best way to keep you all safe on the day of the assault."
There were a few gulps of trepidation among the assembled Earthbenders, but no one said anything. That was good: no one had lost their nerve yet. Xisheng took this opportunity to continue his briefing, gesturing at the Fire Nation soldiers present.
"We could send you in with lamps or torches, but I want the full focus of the digging team on their task, and I don't want to take any risks with the possibility of your light being extinguished. Firebenders will accompany you into your tunnels to ensure that you have enough light to work at all times."
The assembled Fire Nation soldiers said nothing to this information. They were too disciplined to do anything other than stand at attention and listen.
Xisheng turned his focus to the assembled Earthbenders again. "Which of you is the best at... er, 'hearing' things through the earth?"
He was worried that his request was too vague, but apparently, it was not. Before the group of Earthbenders could deliberate, the hand of the youngest girl shot up. "Me, sir! No one can hear the dirt better than me!"
A bit surprised to see the youngest girl be so vocal and forward about it, Xisheng appraised her short brown braids and freckled cheeks. She certainly seemed confident. Although, kids often were more confident than they had any right to be.
"Do the rest of you agree with that assessment?"
Kori shared a few looks with her peers before nodding. "Shishi has always had an impeccable ability to detect things through the earth. Shishi, can you hear what everyone back with the sergeant is doing?"
The young girl wasted no time in replying. "There's a steady tempo with a pause too big for marching. Might be side-straddle hops or something like that!"
Naturally, Xisheng was unable to hear or feel anything like that through the earth. But the Earthbenders present all knew one another, and they seemed to agree that this girl, Shishi, was best suited for the task. Honestly, Xisheng had some qualms about having someone so young participating in all of this, but he supposed they weren't actually fighting right now. The part that Shishi was playing today was not one that would exist on the day of the battle, so she wouldn't have to be there for that.
"Very well. Shishi, your job will be to stay on the surface and listen to the people who are digging. You will judge how noisy each method of digging is, as well as listen out for any problems. Once the briefing is over, I suggest that you and your friends work out some sort of simple code so they can communicate their situation to us here on the surface. Understand?"
Shishi saluted eagerly. That was kind of cute, coming from a girl her age. "Yes, sir!"
Xisheng then turned his attention back to the rest of the Earthbenders. "This is where you all will have to speak from experience, as I am no Earthbender. Five of you will dig. Five of you will stay on the surface so you can rapidly excavate your friends from the earth if such a situation arises. I don't know if it is better to have those with the most raw power up top to quickly dig everyone out, or to have them digging so they can use that raw strength to hold up the ceiling if they need to. I will leave the decision of who goes and who stays up to all of you."
With various nods, the group of Earthbenders deliberated among themselves for a few minutes. Once they settled on who would do what, they split into two groups. Kori was in the digging group, along with two other women and two men, one of which was the tall and muscular one. The logic behind their decision was a mystery to Xisheng, but he decided to trust their judgment. Surely they knew their capabilities better than he did.
"Excellent. As stated earlier, the tunnels you must dig on the day of the assault will be quite deep. But we won't start at that depth right away today. To minimize the risk when you are all just starting out, you will practice close to the surface. Engineer Muzai will now explain the various techniques we are going to attempt..."
With these words, a long and complicated training session began. Muzai explained in great detail various types of reinforcement and bracing techniques to use while tunneling. When it was all over, Kori led her team in creating a hole that would be the entrance to their tunnel, and they soon began to burrow their way into the Earth. A few things came to light rather quickly: first and foremost being the fact that all of that excavated earth had to go somewhere.
They couldn't just eject it up to the surface, as that would tip off the enemy during the assault. There was nowhere else to put it underground. It had to be taken out of the tunnel and moved through the entrance to pile up outside of it. For Xisheng, this aspect of the tunneling made it very clear that the undertaking would require a very large number of Earthbenders. As the tunnels grew longer and longer, the distance that newly excavated dirt would need to move extended significantly. There would probably need to be dozens of Earthbenders per team, operating like a bucket-carrying fire brigade to get things done with any amount of decent efficiency. Of course, Xisheng had reasonably expected this, but this training exercise just drove the point home. It would take a lot of coordination and teamwork among a lot of people to pull all of this off.
Once the tunnel was long enough that light actually became a concern, the assembled Firebending soldiers were directed into them as well to provide enough visibility to work. Ultimately, the first practice tunnel ended up being a solid hundred meters long or so. At no point did it collapse, but it was also only a few meters below the surface, so the weight wasn't that great. Furthermore, it took more than an hour to complete this practice tunnel, which was far too much time for something so short. The sapping tunnels on the day of the assault would probably be dozens of times longer than this practice tunnel.
Still, it was their very first attempt at doing this, so it made sense that it would take more time. That was the whole reason they were doing this: to get a better feel for what it would entail, to develop techniques that would make the process more efficient, all before they actually had to do it for real.
When the first practice tunnel was done and the digging team returned from the surface, Xisheng had them relay their experience and any insights about it to Muzai, as well as Shinji, who was taking notes on blank parchment. What method of digging seemed easier, how they organized themselves while working, what issues they may have encountered: eventually, hundreds of Earthbenders would need to be taught how to do this according to the needs of the assault, so it was better to master the technique with a few people now. That way they would already have the best version of the process to teach to everyone else.
After this discussion and a brief water break, a second training tunnel was started, twice as deep as the first, and testing a different bracing technique. With greater depth on the table, Shishi found herself actually required to fulfill her role, and soon the young girl was pressing her ear to the ground to listen to the work of her friends. She didn't seem to mind getting dust in her braids.
Shinji got to take notes during that process too, marking down Shishi's comments about how noisy or conspicuous the digging sounded at certain times. Whether or not she could hear the digging team talking or moving around, or how astutely she had to really pay attention to hear anything.
This process continued for a few more hours: the digging team would complete a tunnel, relay their experience to Muzai and Shinji, take a break or sometimes switch with members of the rescue team, then start a new, even deeper practice tunnel while applying various tunneling and reinforcement techniques. Shishi would carefully listen to their endeavors each time, judging how easy it would be for someone to detect them under ideal circumstances. Shinji filled scroll after scroll with details so they could be pored over later.
Admittedly, Xisheng didn't have to stick around for all of this. The whole reason this was all being written down was so it could be read later. He didn't have to personally witness this. But at the same time, this was the most important aspect of the entire operation. Being here allowed him to judge firsthand the obstacles that would need to be surmounted to pull everything off. Besides, there wasn't much else for Xisheng to do right now: most other preparations for Wallclimber were already underway and being supervised by someone else.
His thoughts may have continued, but Shishi's alarmed voice broke the relative quiet of the exercise. "The ground, I think it's about to-!"
She didn't even get to finish before the sound of the earth moving was loud enough for everyone to hear. A pocket of earth where the current tunnel was being excavated started to collapse, presumably into the tunnel below it. The rescue team Earthbenders were quick to try and stop it, though it wasn't like they could grab a hold of all the collapsing earth at the same time. Still, they managed to hold up a lot of it.
In moments, Shishi was speaking up again. "Hold on, I hear tapping... it's the code for cave-in, alright. They're asking to be dug out!"
Xisheng nodded towards the rescue team, all of whom started to dig away at the site of the collapse. The several minutes it took them to do this were riddled with anxiety, though somewhat lessened by Shishi's appraisal. There was a specific code for someone being seriously hurt, so as far as anyone on the surface knew, the digging team was alright, if under duress.
Eventually, the rescue team had a big pile of rubble placed off to the side, and the digging team was using Earthbending to lift themselves out of the hole that had been created. Everyone came out relatively unscathed. Short of being covered in dust and dirt, and one of the Earthbending men having some blood coming from his scalp, no one seemed seriously injured. That didn't stop Xisheng from inquiring.
"Is everyone alright?"
After a few coughs to clear the lungs, Kori answered his question. "I think so. Other than Hiro taking a rock to the head."
Xisheng took note of Hiro, the largest of the Earthbenders who currently had a hand pressed to his scalp to try and staunch some bleeding. "Even so, it's better to get that checked out. Return to the base and head for the infirmary, Hiro. The rest of you, report the details of your experience to Shinji so we can learn from this. Then return to the base yourselves. I imagine many of you haven't eaten lunch yet. We'll resume these exercises tomorrow at noon. Good work. And remember what I said about sharing any details with anyone."
The present company offered Xisheng salutes or bows before moving to do as they had been instructed. As for him, he didn't leave immediately, instead looking towards the hole that been created from the Earthbenders excavating their friends. No one had gotten seriously injured this time, but it was still concerning. It raised many questions that he would need to ponder: how many tunnels would be needed to pull off the mission? In ideal circumstances, just one per section of the wall that was going to be attacked, but that was assuming an absolutely perfectly situation.
They would not have enough time to gather truly meaningful data on the likelihood of each individual tunnel failing before the assault. At the very least, Xisheng would have to organize multiple tunnels to approach the wall, just in case one of them collapsed for any reason. They couldn't have their entire plan hinge on just one avenue of attack going off without a hitch: that was just the Drill all over again. But considering how many Earthbenders would already be needed for just one of the tunnels to the wall, how many was feasible? Two per section? Three?
After all, there was the other hand to consider. More Earthbenders digging more tunnels meant higher odds of a team actually reaching the wall foundations, but there were drawbacks too. The more people they had working on this method of attack, the more conspicuous it became. Even if the enemy's forces weren't intentionally listening out for diggers beneath the surface, they could still detect it, even during the din of battle. There were probably people like Shishi on the enemy side too.
And that raised the question of whether or not it was better to have the tunneling assault and surface diversionary attacks occur in the same area. If it seemed like the Fire Nation was going all out to attack the wall, would Ba Sing Se pool their defenders in that one area? And if they did, was it better or worse to try and tunnel to that part of the wall? More defending Earthbenders meant more 'ears' to possibly detect the sappers, though the din of battle could possibly offset that problem. But it also meant that a greater number of enemy forces would be killed or incapacitated if the wall went down in that location, making an easier time for the assault force to establish a foothold.
Or they could go with the opposite: the tunneling could take place farther away from the battle, but that had its own ups and downs. If there were still soldiers guarding the section of the walls that weren't under attack, their area would be a lot quieter, which could conceivably make it easier for them to detect the sappers. Though if the wall was unoccupied, there would be almost no chance of them being detected. But if the walls came down further away from the assault force, the enemy would have more time to try and fortify the breach before the Fire Nation could storm in...
Clearly, Xisheng needed to think about this, and probably run it by his other advisors to get their input. It seemed that every time he thought about his plan, it grew more complicated.
"Sir, I've finished taking notes from the digging team!"
Xisheng returned his attention to the people around him as Shinji presented several rolled up scrolls in his arms. "Excellent. Return them to the war room immediately. I'll look at them later."
Shinji couldn't salute with his arms full, but he got his deference across all the same. "Yes, sir!"
With the young adjutant making his way for the base, Xisheng watched everyone present as they started to do the same. Some were working out kinks in their arms. Others, eagerly inquiring as to what the exercise had been like. He was pleased to note that the Firebenders who had aided the digging team seemed to be getting along with them as well.
Still, he couldn't help but feel nervous. More and more elements were coming into play, and the battle wasn't even upon them yet. He had a lot of thinking to do.
Some hours later, after cleaning herself as best she could with the public amenities available on base, Kori was sitting in a pale white tent that had been erected among dozens of others in a cleared corner of the staging area. At this present time, the Fire Nation forces here had overestimated the influx of colonial volunteers eager to fight, and actual lodgings for those volunteers was in short supply. The base was being expanded even now, and new barracks were to be erected within two days or so, but until that time, the volunteers from the colonies, which now included several places besides Yu Dao, slept in a city of tents with varying degrees of comfort, generally determined by who had been smart enough to bring bedding with them from home.
The Fire Nation tried its best to provide such amenities upon request, but they just didn't have enough to go around. It would probably be another day or two before more of such goods were transported here. Kori wished she could say she didn't mind, but the truth was, she wasn't used to this kind of living. She was the daughter of Yu Dao's mayor, after all. She had mostly slept in pretty nice places. Even with some bedding to help, the ground felt exceptionally stiff and uncomfortable for her. She did her best to ignore it when she could, which was aided by a cursory check on her arm as she unwrapped the bandage on it.
Under the light of a small lamp, it was difficult to tell, but the injury didn't look all that bad. She'd really only been grazed, so even though the burn was scarlet red and stung quite a bit, it probably wasn't going to cause any lasting damage. That was probably good: she was trying to give as good of an impression as possible to everyone on base, but even though she had received a fairly genuine apology from Kazuma, the soldier who had injured her, it would have been difficult to be gracious if she was going to have a scar for the rest of her life.
"You shoulda let me sock that bastard, Kori."
The brunette glanced over her shoulder at Sneers, who was in the tent with her. He had his own, but he was often in hers when they had the chance. He was glaring at the burn on her arm, which Kori quickly began wrapping with a clean bandage.
"That bastard is still one of our comrades, just like the Commander said. A bit of name-calling and a minor wound aren't reason enough to cause a problem, especially so close to a big battle. Besides, he did apologize."
Sneers grunted as he turned his gaze down to an axe he was polishing. "You're always so forgiving of Ashmakers..."
Though she didn't turn to look at him, Kori glared in annoyance. "My dad is an 'Ashmaker', Sneers. I told you before that I don't like you calling Firebenders that."
"Maybe they should learn to make something else then."
This time, Kori did turn her full gaze on him, displeased with her boyfriend's attitude. "You are aware that, if we had kids, they could potentially be Firebenders, right? Would you treat them like that, too?"
Sneers' expression grew a bit sheepish at that, probably at the mention of having kids. But it was quickly followed up with a pronounced frown, probably from the idea of them being Firebenders.
"...the odds of that are low, right? I mean, you're an Earthbender, I'm a nonbender, so it would be super unlikely. Don't say such scary things out of the blue."
Kori grit her teeth as a flare of anger welled up within her. It wasn't like this aspect of Sneers was new to her. It had been very clear from the day they met that he had a great distaste for Firebenders. But Kori had hoped that living among such people in Yu Dao, seeing them as good and just people, would gradually change her boyfriend's outlook. He really was a kind and caring person most of the time. He was usually funny and considerate, and constantly worried about Kori's wellbeing... but despite all the time they had spent together, all the time Sneers had spent in Yu Dao, his overall opinion of Firebenders hadn't really changed.
And admittedly, Kori knew he had a very good reason for his ill feelings. But to outright state that he hoped their theoretical children wouldn't be born a certain way? That made her angry. That said, Kori was nothing if not diplomatic. She had learned how to be from her father over the years.
"Why did you come here, Sneers? To this base, I mean. We were told very clearly that we would be going to a Fire Nation military base, to help them with a major offensive. I know you don't like it here, and you don't agree with what they're doing. So why did you come?"
Put on the spot, Sneers kept his gaze fixed to his axe as he tried to come up with an answer. "I just wanted to make sure you didn't get hurt."
"And you're OK with everything else going on here? What it is we're preparing to do?"
Sneers was silent for a moment as he contemplated what he was going to say. Or rather, whether or not he should say it at all. Ultimately, he came to a conclusion and slowly looked Kori in the eye.
"It doesn't have to get to that point, you know."
A little worried as to where this was going, Kori's gaze grew a little suspicious. "What do you mean?"
Sneers' expression bore quite a bit of trepidation, but he was already at this point. He couldn't rescind what he had just said. "I mean we don't have to fight for them. We could just leave. You're an Earthbender, we could easily get out of here without anyone really noticing."
Kori's expression grew incredulous. "We talked about this before we even left Yu Dao, Sneers. I want to fight."
"Well why does it have to be for the Fire Nation?"
"Why wouldn't it be, Sneers? The Fire Nation is my heritage."
Growing a little irritable himself, Sneers finally put down the axe he had been using as a distraction. "It's half of your heritage, Kori. What about the Earthbending half? The Earth Kingdom half? You've got just as much reason to fight for it if heritage is all you're basing it on!"
Likewise growing annoyed, Kori acknowledged that this was probably going to end up in a fight. That didn't stop her from answering though. "My identity isn't based solely on what element I can bend! Yeah, somewhere, sometime, I had an ancestor who probably lived in a territory officially under the rule of the Earth Kingdom. But even ignoring how barely integrated Earth Kingdom territories have been with one another throughout history, the last five generations of my family have come from Yu Dao. And all five of those generations lived in that city while it was considered a Fire Nation territory. What possible reason would I have to fight for a country that the past five generations of my family haven't belonged to?"
Unsure of how to counter that argument, Sneers angrily got to his feet. "I don't know, maybe it just bothers me that you're so dedicated to siding with the country that killed my family! That heritage you care so much about fighting for is a legacy of evil and destruction! Or does none of that matter as long as it's not happening to you?"
Kori got to her feet as well. It seemed that her prediction had been very accurate. "The actions of a few dishonorable rogues doesn't condemn an entire people! Or should I hate all non-benders like you because non-benders have committed atrocities at some point? I seem to recall a certain story of yours about that 'freedom fighter' gang you used to belong to. The plan was to wipe out a whole town, innocent people of both the Fire Nation and the Earth Kingdom be damned, right? You're talking quite high and mightily for someone who was a part of that!"
"I-I told you that in confidence! Not so you could use it as some sort of tool to condemn me!"
"You're the one constantly acting like every Firebender in the world is some homicidal maniac that just loves killing people! I know that Firebenders did something horrible to you, but that doesn't justify you treating the entire nation, my entire nation, like literal trash! Especially not when you and your bandit buddies were planning on committing the exact same atrocity to other people who did nothing wrong!"
Unable to really muster any sort of believable defense for that, Sneers simply turned the topic towards something besides his past with the Freedom Fighters. After all, there wasn't much he could say to justify it: the plan to flood Gaipan had been Jet's idea, but Sneers and everyone else had been perfectly willing to go along with it. Even though the Avatar had foiled the attempt, the intent had remained. It would be easier to just try and deflect back into something that didn't focus on him.
"What's any of that got to do with invading Ba Sing Se? Why are you so eager to help Firebenders do the same thing to those people that they did to me?"
This time it was Kori who fell silent. It was a loaded question, and one that she did quietly ask herself. Did the Fire Nation really need to conquer Ba Sing Se? Did it somehow help the nation and its people to do it? They had already taken huge swaths of the Earth Kingdom, and it wasn't like Ba Sing Se was in any position to counterattack and take it all back. They weren't really a threat that had to be dealt with, as far as Kori knew. Was there any justifiable reason for them to go in there and feasibly destroy homes and lives, other than national pride?
She didn't know the answer. But right now, she wasn't going to completely fall apart.
"I told you, it won't be like that. This is a dignified army waging honorable war, not a group of barely supervised ruffians marauding around for sick pleasure. The Commander won't allow anything that dishonorable to happen."
Sneers clearly didn't agree with that assessment. "And you know that how? You don't know that guy at all."
"I have faith based on what I've learned of him so far."
"I'm sure the people of Ba Sing Se will be real grateful for that when they're dead or dying."
Not wanting to picture that in her head right now, Kori simply turned her agitation into a demand. "If you're just going to fight with me, go away."
Frankly, Sneers seemed totally fine with that. "Fine, I will."
He didn't offer anything else as he grabbed his things and roughly shoved the flaps to Kori's tent wide open. The daughter of Mayor Morishita was left alone quite quickly, but it didn't do much to help her quell her doubts.
Was this really the right thing to do? Why was it even happening? She did get the feeling that the Commander was an honorable man, but that was just her gut instinct. And even if that was true, it wasn't like he could control the actions of every single soldier on the battlefield. Who was to say what someone might do while invading another's home?
Dammit, this was all a lot simpler a few days ago, when she'd just accepted the notion of fighting for her country and securing honor for her people and home. It all seemed a lot less clear-cut now.
With a sigh, Kori finished reapplying the bandage to her burnt arm. Would the Commander entertain these questions if she asked them? Or would he write her off as a disloyal and doubtful incompetent for even thinking them? He didn't strike her as the type, but...
At any rate, Kori liked to imagine that the Commander was the type of person who thought about these things too. Maybe he was up at night, pondering the justice of his choices. Hell, maybe he was doing that right now...
"Ow, hey! Be gentle, would you?
Xisheng glanced over his shoulder as he sat in one of the chairs in his room. Behind him stood Ty Lee, whom he had crossed paths with on his way to retire for the night. One thing had led to another, and she'd been invited to speak with him for awhile. Right now though, she wasn't doing so much talking as she was poking, prodding, and massaging his back and shoulders. She'd offered to do it after Xisheng had mindlessly commented on the tightness of his back for the past few days.
The brunette didn't seem inclined to lessen the strength of her movements, despite Xisheng's request. "Gentle massages only offer temporary relief, you know. If you want to actually feel better, you have to put a bit of muscle into it. Just trust me."
Xisheng felt that there was some truth to her words, but it was hard to accept it as he felt his shoulder pop when the brunette pulled on his arm. Because it was mildly uncomfortable, he tried to distract himself.
"A-anyway, as I was saying before, I'm unsure if we should try and use multiple tunnels to get to the walls. Like, statistically, more tunnels means higher odds of success, but it also means there are more opportunities for things to go wrong. And should it happen closer to the diversion or farther away? What do you think?"
Ty Lee gave him a bemused look as she tried to rub a knot out of his shoudler. "I think you should stop thinking about the stuff that's stressing you out while we're trying to help you relax. You already spend all day worrying about this type of stuff now. At least try to think about something else when you're getting ready for bed."
"The problems don't go away just because I stop thinking about them, Ty Lee."
"No, but stressing yourself out at all times of the day doesn't help. It's just like Mai said before; it's usually easier to come up with a solution to your problems when you aren't so caught up in that problem to start with. At the very least, you won't have to deal with all this stress at every hour of the day. Your aura's taken a big hit in brightness lately, you know."
Xisheng sighed as he considered this, though it probably also had to do with that muscular knot getting massaged. "You might have a point, but... what am I supposed to think about to realx, then?"
"Come on, there's plenty of things. Usually stuff that you like is relaxing to think about. Beaches, nice food, your hometown, girls..."
Xisheng snorted as he raised an eyebrow. "Girls?"
From behind him, Ty Lee smiled deviously. "Of course. You like girls, don't you, Gohan? Maybe even brunette girls, who are charming and talented and take very good care of you when you're sore and stressed out."
Smiling to himself, Xisheng shook his head. "That does sound like the type of girl I'd like. Still, I've got lots of big things on my mind, you know? I don't know if thinking about girls is really going to cut it as far as distracting myself from them is concerned."
For a moment, Ty Lee considered not saying what she was about to, because she knew it was one of those 'giving mixed signals' type of things. But Xisheng did seem pretty tense, and he had to deal with a lot of very serious things during the day. And Ty Lee was certain she could actually take his mind off of things if she tried hard enough. What was the worst that could happen?
"Fine. Naked girls then."
This actually did cause Xisheng to do a double-take. "Wha-!?"
The man tried to glance behind him at her, but Ty Lee moved to the other side to stay behind his gaze. She was more confident teasing him like this if she didn't have to look him in the eye.
"What, you aren't going to tell me that even that can't distract you, right?"
Xisheng fell silent for a moment as he legitimatley questioned that. Of course, it only took a few moments to reach a conclusion. Even with the many serious things he had to contend with these days, this was a pretty good way to distract himself.
"Am I supposed to be thinking of that same brunette with the charm and the talent in this situation?"
Since she had very obviously been talking about herself, Ty Lee couldn't help but blush as she hid behind Xisheng's back. The idea of him thinking of her in such a way was flustering, but she had often wondered about it before anyway. Really, ever since that time at the river... she couldn't help but wonder how often Xisheng imagined her naked. Did he daydream about her? Do other unmentionable things with her in mind?
"Ah, w-well... m-maybe..."
From in front of her, Xisheng smiled to himself. He probably shouldn't have said what was on his mind, but it was just a joke. Besides, a bit of friendly banter was actually doing the most to take his thoughts away from the rigors of war.
"I don't think Sneers would be very happy to know I was thinking of his girlfriend this way."
Ty Lee's jaw dropped in aghast horror before she pressed her thumbs extra hard into Xisheng's shoulders. "Hey! Not that brunette, jerk!"
Xisheng flinched in mild pain even a he chuckled to himself. "Ow, come on, it was funny! You have to admit it was funny."
Having crossed her arms with a huff of annoyance, Ty Lee clearly did not agree. "Hmph. I think it was tasteless. What kind of guy says something like that right in front of a girl anyway?"
"The kind of guy you like, I think?"
With a mildly annoyed look, Ty Lee began walking towards the exit, which promped Xisheng to call out to her. "Hey, come on. I'm sorry. You know it was funny, it just happened to be at your expense. Be a good sport."
Opening the door to the room and sticking her tongue out at him, Ty Lee seemed determined to do the exact opposite of that. "The best sport I'll be is one who forgives you... tomorrow. Hmph!"
With that, she shut the door on him, leaving Xisheng alone, chuckling to himself. Ah, it was worth it. At the very least, it had made him laugh, and he hadn't been able to do much of that over the past few days. There was still a lot of serious things to deal with tomorrow, but for now, he had succeeded in pushing them to the rear, in no small part thanks to Ty Lee.
Leaning back in his chair, Xisheng considered Ty Lee's advice. Admittedly, thinking of naked girls probably would help him relax for the night. Especially if a certain brunette was a major point of focus during that time.
Admittedly, I was thinking about taking the chapter futher than this, as I'm sure we're all eager to get to the actual battle that is coming up. But at this point, the chapter is already pretty long, and it would be a whole hell of a lot longer if I took it that far. So, we'll have to leave it for next time.
Anyway, like I said in the intro, there were many characters in this chapter that were actually named by readers, including Muzai, Aranai, Shairo and Shinji. It's a neat little thing that readers can do if they want by participating in special rituals provided only on specific platforms. You can find links to such things on my profile if you care to get involved for the next chapter. After all, there are always more characters to name!
On top of that, readers who do participate in those unspoken rituals were able to get access to roughly half of this chapter almost a week in advance. So that too is a thing you might be interested in if you really enjoy this story!
