A decent number of people were unhappy with the fact that the last chapter still didn't get to the siege. Well, I'm not deaf, and I do know that it's been a long time coming. This is it. It begins. And because I know people were looking forward to it for so long, and got blueballed so much, it's even a nice, long chapter too.

All of that said, there's still a decent amount of buildup to wrap up. But I promise, the battle is here: we're doing this thing, and there will be no more delays. I even felt compelled to expedite this chapter since I know I was dragging things out just a little too much. I hope that the battle will live up to everyone's expectations, though of course, it's not like the entirety of the city can fall in one chapter! There's plenty of fighting in the future of this story, make no mistake about that!


"Tunneling efficiency is at approximately 86%. Frankly, I don't think we are going to get it any higher at this point, Commander."

As usual, Xisheng stood around the war room table at the command post for the base. Present was everyone who mattered: Logistics Officer Aranai, Major Shairo, Engineer Muzai, and of course, Azula herself. Everyone was present because they were in the absolute final stages of planning their assault. It had been another two days since Xisheng's conversation with Kori about justifying the battle, and in that time, everything of note had finished coming together.

According to Aranai, all of the supplies they had requisitioned were accounted for: granted, not all of them had made it, but the young officer had assured Xisheng that nothing else was coming. Everything they had on the base right now was what they had available to destroy the walls of Ba Sing Se. Furthermore, all reinforcements were accounted for. There were no other forces coming to join the assault. Ultimately, the Fire Nation forces had been joined by roughly two thousand colonials, though only about half of those were Earthbenders. It was enough to get the job done, Xisheng was sure of that.

Major Shairo assured Xisheng that all of the regular army forces were ready to go at any time. The formations they would fight in and the composition of the assault forces had all been settled on, and Shairo already had a chain of command planned out down to the grunts themselves. Engineer Muzai had calculated the best tunnel strategies and supports, and had drawn up multiple ways for any obstacles to be handled if they arose during the breach.

Almost everything was ready. All that was left to do was give the Earthbenders at large sufficient training for the tunneling process. Once that was done, it could all begin. Xisheng was just making sure every detail was accounted for now.

"I agree. It's impossible to completely remove the possibility of failure during the tunneling operation. This rate of success is already astronomically good. Even though it will likely drop during the actual operation, since the number of participants will increase, we can't delay forever while hoping to achieve some perfect odds. Assuming Her Highness agrees with our plan of attack, we will begin the operation in three days."

He said this while turning his gaze to Azula, who was on the opposite end of the table. Naturally, it wouldn't do to not get the final say-so of the Crown Princess on this plan of attack. Xisheng knew she trusted his strategy, but for the sake of appearances, she needed to weigh in on it in the eyes of the important officers. Especially since she was the one who had put Xisheng in charge in the first place. If she listened to the entirety of the plan and figured that it was a legitimately good one, it added some credibility to her reasoning for appointing Xisheng as a commander.

"Well, I can hardly condone the operation without hearing the plan in its entirety. From start to finish, tell me how this strategy will unfold, Commander."

With a nod, Xisheng pointed to a thick black line on the map of Ba Sing Se and its surrounding area. "Our line of battle will start six hundred meters from the walls. This is a hundred meters less than the maximum range of our trebuchets. Our reasons for getting this close are two-fold: first, it will put our forces in range of return fire from the enemy. Ordinarily we would avoid this, but since the siege engines are a distraction, we want the enemy focused on them as much as possible. If they are able to return fire, that in and of itself will demand more of their attention."

Xisheng dragged his finger from the black line to the walls. "Secondly, our Earthbenders will be starting their tunnels from behind this battle line. Shaving a hundred meters off of how far they will have to dig reduces the odds of something going wrong, and also reduces how many benders per tunnel we'll need."

The young acting commander pointed to three different areas on the battle line, each of them pretty fair apart. "We will be launching three separate attacks. Each assault will involve its own attack force, and each will include three tunnels attempting to reach the walls. Once a tunnel successfully reaches the target location, we will begin moving explosives through the tunnel. Once that is done and everyone has been evacuated from the tunnel in question, we will light the fuse and begin advancing our assault and hold forces immediately. According to Muzai's calculations, by the time the walls go down, our forces should only have around a hundred meters to cover before reaching the breach. This does place them in range of potential debris from the blast, but will also ensure that we can maximize the window of opportunity presented to us."

Now, Xisheng gestured at three large X marks on the wall. "We cannot guarantee that each section we attack will go down, so our plan has to be flexible at this point. Depending on the number of breaches made and the terrain on the other side of the breach, we may choose to pool all of our forces on just one area. Even if we succeed at breaching the wall in all three assaults, we cannot hope to hold three areas at once so close to enemy territory. So, we'll secure the immediate area wherever breaches occur, then decide which one is the ideal ground to hold and fortify it in preparation for more reinforcements. That in and of itself is complicated, but I see no reason to go into the details of the aftermath before the operation even occurs."

With everything said and done, Xisheng fell silent and waited for Azula's judgment. Not that he was worried: aside from the fact that she had already expressed confidence in him, Xisheng knew he had a good plan. Maybe even the best plan that had ever been considered for feasibly taking these walls down. Better than Qin's plan for sure, and probably better than what anyone who replaced Qin would have come up with.

Even so, Azula made a show of ruminating over it. She didn't want to seem too eager to immediately endorse the very man she had appointed. She at least had to make it look like she was judging the plan on its own merits. Then again, it wasn't like she wasn't doing that. If Xisheng had come up with an objectively stupid plan, she would have condemned it. She just knew that he was better than that.

"All things considered, I can see no reason to disagree with this strategy. It seems that all of your advisors agree with its feasibility, and you've gone to great lengths to finalize every detail. As such, this operation has my full blessing, as does its timetable. In three days, we will attack Ba Sing Se. A great deal rides on all of your shoulders: don't grow lax now. I expect each of you to give it your all in making the final preparations."

Everyone at the table, Xisheng included, bowed. That said, he was the only one to speak. "Thank you, Your Highness. Everyone, you know what tasks must still be carried out. Dismissed."

With nods, bows, or salutes from everyone else besides Azula, the assembled officers scattered to carry out important duties. Xisheng still wasn't universally loved, but at the very least, he was obeyed without much dissent. Once everyone had dispersed, Azula gestured towards the door to the war room, signalling that Xisheng was to follow her. Xisheng had no reason to refuse, so he was soon with her out in the hallway. Once they were alone, Azula allowed her stony expression to fall, replacing it with one that was actually a little excited.

"So, this is finally it, is it? I must say, the anticipation has been killing me. This could be the greatest military success of the war, you know. Just imagine the rewards you'll reap as the one who planned it all."

Feeling a little tired from all of the work and late nights he had been pulling lately, Xisheng rubbed the bridge of his nose, giving an honest answer to that. "It'll be reward enough if I can wrap the war up and get as many people home as possible. I couldn't ask for more than that."

Azula scoffed, shaking her head in disbelief. "It wouldn't hurt you to be a little selfish from time to time, Xisheng. People who work hard deserve compensation for their efforts. Hmph, maybe you just don't realize how much you stand to gain from succeeding here."

"Do tell."

"Well, as I mentioned before, I've no doubt you'd be granted a title of nobility for your massive contribution to our nation. You would definitely grow in wealth and prestige, and could likely afford a very nice home in the best of places. You could earn a place as one of the Fire Lord's chief military advisors. Even your romantic options would open up."

To this, Xisheng cocked a quizzical eyebrow. "Most of that makes sense, but how exactly will my romantic options be affected?"

For some reason, Azula glanced away from him. "Well, that is to say, you could be considered for marriage by women of nobility at that point..."

For the life of him, Xisheng didn't quite see the allure in that. "I don't think I'd be romantically interested in any woman who would only consider loving me if I passed some sort of social caste rating first. So I don't think that'll really change anything about my love life..."

Because he was busy rubbing some exhaustion out of his eyes, Xisheng didn't notice the distinctly displeased expression that took over Azula's features. "It's not always that simple. Some noble women have obligations in their lives that infringe even on their romance. Your romantic idealism isn't aligned with how our society functions."

"I'm just saying, I'm not marrying anyone who doesn't love me because of who I am. If being a noble is the all-important criteria that supersedes all others for their affection, it's not happening."

Folding her arms and glancing at a particular spot on a metal wall, Azula muttered aloud. "Good thing I met you early, then..."

Because this was said under her breath, Xisheng did not really hear it. "What was that?"

"Nothing. What remains for you to do before the assault?"

Xisheng eyed the younger girl curiously, but didn't press her to reiterate whatever she had said a moment ago. "Honestly, not much. Most of the final preparations are being carried out by my subordinates. Heck, I think I can actually rest... at least, relative to how little of that I've been doing. I guess I'll still be taking a lot of reports and whatnot..."

"Most assuredly. Even so, perhaps you should take it easy while you have the chance. It's been awhile since we had the opportunity to train together..."

"What about training with you is taking it easy?"

This earned an annoyed glare out of the girl. "You've gotten awfully cheeky these days."

"You gave me permission to, remember?"

With a huff, Azula pointedly ignored that truth. "At any rate, since you actually have the time to use for yourself, why not spend it well? Ty Lee's been complaining every day about how busy you are, and even Mai's made some sour comments about it. I can't imagine how hard they'll complain if they find out you had spare time and still ignored them."

Xisheng smirked at the Princess, pleased to hear that. "What's this? Princess, are you longing for the old days already? It was hardly that long ago, you know."

"Don't be presumptuous. I'm just tired of bearing the brunt of their complaints. Why should I have to put up with it when you're the one causing it?"

"So I have to spend time with just the two of them, right? Are you still busy?"

With a scowl that was clearly a result of being flustered, Azula snapped at him, though it wasn't harsh. "Just come eat dinner tonight, you upstart."

Raising his hands defensively, Xisheng smiled. "Alright, alright... I'd be happy to."

Annoyed, Azula huffed one more time before turning on her heel and leaving right away. Xisheng wasn't bothered, because he could tell that it was just a matter of petty ire. Admittedly, he had missed the idea of just relaxing with the girls greatly. He wasn't used to being this busy. And the idea that they missed hanging out with him was nice as well, though he hadn't actually doubted that before now. It was just nice to have that affirmed.

For now though, he still had a day ahead of him. He personally didn't have that much to do, but he had no doubt that there were many people still vying for his official time as commander of the base. For that reason, the young commander sighed before returning to the war room.


The following day started relatively early for Xisheng. As promised, he had eaten dinner with the girls in Azula's personal quarters the night before, which was a fun reminder of slightly simpler times, when the scope of his obligations hadn't been so huge. It was weird to say that, since his obligations had included personally protecting the Crown Princess of the nation before, but having the lives of thousands of people in his hands was more demanding.

At any rate, even though it was reminiscent of old times (old being less than a month ago, ironically), it had still been a unique experience. For one, it had undoubtedly been the least amount of complaining Mai had ever done related to cooking something. In fact, Xisheng dared to say that she had almost seemed glad to do it, which was incredibly rare. The only time she had even remotely acted like that about cooking was right after his lightning accident.

Ty Lee had been acting quite strangely too. She actually hadn't been very talkative, which was unusual. Despite that, Xisheng caught her stealing odd glances at him quite often. She always engaged in conversation when someone prompted it out of her, but outside of those times, she had been weirdly lost in thought. She wasn't exactly the introspective type, so Xisheng found himself wondering what could have been on her mind.

Azula had actually been the most talkative of the bunch for once, going on about all sorts of things that would happen after the operation was successful. She seemed unusually excited about the prospect of battle, but Xisheng didn't find it too difficult to discern why. This would be the first really big achievement to her name since leaving the Fire Nation. Sure, she had tangled with the Avatar a few times, but she hadn't actually accomplished anything in regard to that. She hadn't actually captured Zuko or Iroh either, which had been the original intent of her expedition. This was to say, she hadn't actually accomplished much of value since leaving the Fire Nation, and Xisheng was sure that she was eager to change that.

Ultimately, Xisheng had still been forced to turn in for the night early, as he was tired several hours before midnight. Probably the many late nights catching up to him. There'd been unspoken disappointment from the others due to this, but Xisheng had agreed to meet with them at the training field around noon the next day.

That was where Xisheng was now, as he sat on a closed steel crate near the edge of the flat, open area that was often used for troop training. He had already given out standing orders for the day, and had assigned Shinji to the job of running any important messages to him out here on the training field. Xisheng had a scroll with some scribbling on it, but he wasn't able to focus on it much as a continuous swishing sound of a blade swinging through the air commanded his attention.

The source of this noise was Mai, who was currently whipping around that rope dart she had gotten from all the way before their boat trip. Despite having only practiced with it a few times, one would never be able to guess as much as the young woman effortlessly spun it around her body in arcs of various sizes, occasionally even using her other arm to bend the rope at a second angle while in motion. The speed of the blade spinning through the air was astounding, which was funny considering that Mai was being fairly casual with her exercise. It looked more like an act of amusement for her than actual training. Maybe that was the deadpan expression at play, since it made it look like she wasn't worried or even concentrating on what she was doing.

Unlike Xisheng, who probably needed to do that.

"This is significantly more distracting than your usual training."

Mai did not pause her motions for even a moment, though Xisheng had not expected her to.

"Is that a problem?"

"Eh, a little bit, but don't feel the need to stop on my account. It's very satisfying to watch you wield that thing. Crazy how you got so good with it that quickly..."

Reining in the rope dart to a length where she could twirl it in small circles around her wrist, Mai shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, not to say that there's a definite transference of skill just because blades are involved, but there is some shared similarities with what I already know how to do. Lots of geometry and physics, and just the physical understanding of how my movements dictate the flow of what I'm wielding."

Xisheng chuckled, a bit amused by that. "Of all the things you actually like to do, I never would have thought that mathematics was one of them."

"I said I knew how to do it, not that I enjoyed it. Though admittedly, it's less dull than usual when the end result is sticking knives into things. Speaking of which, it's been a long time since you've practiced doing that. Not interested anymore?"

"Not at all. I'd love to keep sharpening that skill. There just hasn't been much opportunity to do so lately."

"Yeah? What's stopping you right now?"

Though there was nothing written on it yet, Xisheng held up the scroll he had in his lap. "Gotta plan my big speech to the troops soon. Every huge battle needs a rousing speech for the troops, y'know."

Extending the rope dart again, Mai started swishing it around in circles reminiscent of the symbol for infinity. "How much can fancy words really help convince someone that they aren't gonna die? I think I'd be annoyed to have someone trying to talk me up right before they throw me to the wolves."

"So you say, but even you admitted to feeling a bit patriotic and teary-eyed after my speech at the mess hall that day. If I can get you of all people to feel that way, imagine what I can get others to feel."

"I think you're exaggerating my reaction. Though I guess I can see your point. That said, I thought you already had all this type of stuff squared away. According to you, you pulled that speech in the mess hall out of nowhere. But now you need to actually plan it out ahead of time?"

Xisheng glanced out at some Fire Nation troops doing drills on the other end of the training field, their orange plumes of flame occasionally lighting up the flattened dirt of the area. It would have matched well with the orange hues of the morning sky, but things were a clear light blue now.

"I mean, an impromptu speech works for an impromptu situation, but this is a little different. Sure, I already know what I want to say overall, but this will be my first 'official' presentation to rank and file troops of the military. More importantly, it's going to be my main means of making an impression on the soldiers under my command. Some of the men have a personal impression of me already, but most don't. This is my chance to state what kind of leader I want to be: it could shape the efficacy of the army for the entirety of this conflict, not just the part where we breach the walls. Soldiers want many things out of an ideal leader: someone who sees them as more than disposable fodder, but also someone who knows what they are doing and has proven reliable."

Looking down at his blank scroll, Xisheng furrowed his brow. "Moreover, I have to present myself to all these troops in a desirable manner while acknowledging that I'm younger than most of them. It's gonna be a hard sell, convincing these men to follow me into battle when many of them could be my uncle or father."

Noting the consternation on Xisheng's face, Mai finally stopped twirling her rope dart for a moment. "I guess you've got a fair point there. Still, you're worrying too much. Anyone who hears you talk even casually can tell that you're mindful and considerate of every angle. And you're an excellent orator, so I can't imagine that you won't make a good impression when you're actually intending to."

With a smile, Xisheng turned his focus back on Mai. "Oh? Someone's being generous with her words today."

With a rueful smile of her own, Mai started twirling her new weapon again. "You can't claim that I never say anything nice about you. At any rate, you'd better get something written down before Azula and Ty Lee show up. I doubt you'll have any time to think at that point."

"Speaking of which, why were you here before them anyway? And by a good twenty minutes, no less?"

To this, Mai shrugged. "Beats me. I didn't see them on the way here. Maybe Azula's just busy with something. As for Ty Lee, well... I'm not sure why she would be late, but she has been a little off these past few days."

"So I wasn't just imagining things. She was weirdly quiet at dinner last night."

"Oh, the bliss. Truly a rare moment. Still, I have to wonder what would actually keep her mind busier than her mouth..."

With a lighthearted scoff at the way Mai expressed concern for her friends, Xisheng quietly pondered what could have been on Ty Lee's mind. As best as he could tell, there was no glaring incident that would have gotten her wrapped up in her own thoughts, especially while hanging out with all of her friends. Of course, Xisheng had been very busy lately, and hadn't actually spent much time with her because of it. It was plenty likely that he had just not observed whatever incident was bothering her.

Then again, maybe he shouldn't jump to the notion that something serious was wrong. There were plenty of reasons someone could be quieter than usual, many of which weren't that major. She could have just been feeling a little under the weather. Or it could have been that time of the month, though Xisheng had yet to see the brunette behave in such a way with any regularity, so he doubted that one...

At any rate, Xisheng was determined to at least check on her when they had a moment alone. When exactly that moment would be, he wasn't exactly sure.

Mai cut into his thoughts before they could continue any further. "Heads up, your biggest fan is here."

Xisheng looked up to follow Mai's gaze, which directed him to the shorter Shinji approaching them from the direction of the command post with a bit of haste in his step. Though his first instinct was to grimace, Xisheng refrained from openly doing so. After all, he had given Shinji orders to move messages between Xisheng and the other officers today. Xisheng had just hoped that nothing much of import would come up. He had missed being able to just relax with everyone, so he wasn't happy to have that kind of time interrupted.

But, well, this was his obligation. Even so, he didn't rise from the crate he was sitting on, even as Shinji came right up to him and saluted. "Sir! Your presence is requested at the command post, sir!"

Restraining a sigh, Xisheng offered an almost pleading look to his adjutant. "Required, or just requested?"

To this, Shinji's expression grew uncertain. "Er, sorry, sir. I'm unsure. Major Shairo said it was about maintaining supply lines to the breach during the construction of fortifications to hold it, or something...?"

Sighing aloud this time, Xisheng rolled up the scroll in his hands and got to his feet. "So, something I'm going to have to personally authorize as part of the battle strategy. Got it. Return to the command post and tell him I'm on the way."

Releasing his salute, Shinji bowed before making his exit. "Yes, sir, right away!"

Working out a kink in his back, Xisheng didn't see Mai come to stand next to him as he watched Shinji hustle back to the command post.

"Azula and Ty Lee are probably gonna be upset when it's just me here."

"I know, but there's not much I can do about it. The actions we take post-battle are just as important. If we can't hold the ground we take, everything we're doing right now will be for nothing. If Major Shairo has some sort of concern regarding the post-battle stage, I need to hear it in person. Besides, it might not take that long."

Mai cocked an eyebrow at him. "You really believe that?"

"No, but I didn't want to be pessimistic. At worst, I'm sure I'll be free to eat with all of you again tonight. Maybe..."

Not feeling too optimistic on this front herself, Mai held back a sigh of her own. "Your new life sounds remarkably exhausting, Gohan. Are you sure this is something you want to do in the future?"

With a chuckle, Xisheng seriously contemplated that question. "Well, who knows... I do think I'm a good fit for it, but it's true that I don't want to be this busy all the time. That said, I took command of an incredibly massive operation, so this isn't exactly a good indicator of the usual amount of time and effort I'd have to put into the job."

"Still, are you actually getting anything out of this other than personal satisfaction? Like, are you getting paid more?"

"Well, I haven't actually gotten paid at all since joining up with Azula..."

Though it sounded kind of crazy, in hindsight, that made a lot of sense. Xisheng had been cut off from regular Army logistics channels since joining Azula's personal team, and Azula herself wasn't carrying loads of funds around to continue giving Xisheng his due wages. Granted, it wasn't like there would have been much for him to spend money on throughout most of this journey, but still, Mai raised a fair point. Did Xisheng have some sort of backlog of wages? Hopefully someone was keeping track of how much money he was owed for his service lately. Maybe he should have written down the exact date that he had been promoted to Lieutenant. As for 'Acting Commander', Xisheng wasn't even sure if that counted as an official military rank. Was he actually getting any sort of official compensation for all of this extra responsibility he was taking on...?

At any rate, Mai seemed a bit surprised to hear him say that. "...this just sounds like you've been duped, if you ask me."

"I'm sure someone will reward me something if everything goes right. Heck, according to Azula, a big plus for me will be 'officially' being eligible for noble ladies looking to marry. The more you know."

For some reason, Mai's gaze shifted to the side. "It doesn't sound like you think that's a big deal."

"More just that a noble title or lack thereof will have no influence on my future marriage. I know we have complicated politics and all, but even if I become some sort of legendary world-renowned war hero or something, I'll marry a girl from some backwater rural village if that's who I love."

Mai took extra effort to sound nonchalant as she posed her next notion. "But if the woman you wanted to marry was a noble, then it would be a good thing that you've got the political clout to do that without any issue, right?"

Taking only a moment to contemplate that, Xisheng swiftly agreed. "Yeah, I suppose that's true. Better to have as few obstacles in the way of as many options as possible, I guess. Still, I can't help but romanticize the idea of people throwing all societal norms to the wind because they love each other that much, you know?"

Wondering if she was straying too far from the realm of subtlety, Mai nevertheless muttered what was on her mind. "Sounds like your ideal woman would be someone who doesn't care much for societal norms in the first place..."

Apparently, she muttered that a little too quietly, as Xisheng questioned what she had said. "What was that?"

In hindsight, maybe that was for the best. Mai was kind of getting ahead of herself here. "Nothing important. Didn't your fanboy say that you were needed at the command post?"

"Right, right... just procrastinating. I'll see you later, Mai. Tell the others I'm sorry for being busy."

"Yeah, will do."

With a parting wave, Xisheng started walking towards the command post. Once he was far enough away, Mai felt a bit of a sheepish blush come on as she looked back on the things she had said just a few minutes ago. She'd acknowledged how she felt about him by now, but still, talking about marriage that casually? She was definitely getting way ahead of herself. Especially since they were coming up on a major battle, in which Gohan would likely be heavily involved. She had to keep a realist mindset and stay aware of the bad things that could happen in the near future. There was no point in getting one's hopes up just to have them dashed soon after.

Still, if she acknowledged that it was just a silly daydream to not put too much stock into... Mai couldn't deny that the notion in and of itself was kind of nice.


Some hours later, Xisheng found himself exiting the war room in the command post, having spent most of that time discussing aspects of the post-operation strategy with his advisors. It wasn't the first time such things had been talked about, of course, but most of their planning since Xisheng had taken charge had focused on actually getting through the wall, since that was the most daunting task before them. But as he had told Mai earlier, all of the effort of getting through the wall would be pointless if the Fire Nation couldn't hold the ground it took, and that notion was easier said than done.

While the Fire Nation had grown very adept at erecting bases and fortifications in short time-frames over the course of the war, it wasn't as simple as all that. Assuming that the actual destruction of the wall went off without a hitch, there was still a great many things that would need to be done to actually secure the victory. For one, the assault force would actually need to clear and secure the area. Two, rubble and debris from the wall itself would need to be cleared from the site. Three, they would need to establish a suitable location to erect a new forward operating base in enemy territory. Four, they'd need to keep that location secure the entire time materials were being moved from the current base to that new location. And as Major Shairo had called attention to, that would necessitate keeping a supply route safe and secure between the two locations that entire time.

It was an incredibly large number of factors to take into consideration. And on top of that, it was more difficult to prepare for all of this because there was no way to predict how the defenders of Ba Sing Se would react.

Sure, their walls had been breached before, but never in the manner that Xisheng was planning, and even when the wall had been breached that time, Iroh had retreated his forces instead of claiming any actual ground within Ba Sing Se itself. So there was no precedent here: would the defenders launch a furious counterattack mere hours after the breach? Would they retreat to the second wall? Would they create new fortifications to encircle the Fire Nation forces that had broken through? Or would they simply go around the breach and attack the supply lines from behind? If they went on the counteroffensive, they could simply deploy from Ba Sing Se in unsecured areas and completely envelop the location of the breach from both sides.

Honestly, if they succeeded in breaching the wall, the following strategic aspects of the assault were even more daunting. Currently, Xisheng knew he didn't have the troops or resources to do everything that needed to be done after the wall was successfully breached. He would need enough troops to hold the new area, start new offensives, and watch their own backs. Unless he wanted to go for an absolute blow-through strategy, in which the Fire Nation simply plowed through the wall and continued to push as far as they could to cause damage. Most of Ba Sing Se's farmland lied in Outer Ring... if they could raze enough of it in a short enough time-frame, that alone could be a deathblow to the city, though it certainly wouldn't be a fast one.

At any rate, he had spent quite some time discussing all of this with his advisors, formulating possible strategies and tactics that could benefit them when the time came. They could make plans as best they could, but ultimately, nothing could be solidified until the wall was actually breached, and that alone wasn't a guarantee. For now, they had settled on some rough contingencies to fall back on depending on the various possible outcomes. It was the best that could be done for now.

Xisheng tried to rub some sleepiness from his eyes as walked down the stairs of the command post to get to the ground level. He hoped the girls weren't too upset with him for being unavailable today. Maybe he could just pin the blame on Azula. She was the one who had put him in charge, after all.

When he pushed open the metal door to the command post to step outside, Xisheng didn't plan on stopping to take in the air. Darkness had already fallen, casting the metal buildings of the base in shadow thanks to a cloud-filled night. If he still planned on eating dinner with the others, he didn't have much time to waste. Unfortunately for him, a by now familiar voice stopped him short before he could be on his way.

"Commander."

In the confines of his own mind, Xisheng beat down a sense of frustration. He had already told the person standing beside the door that he wanted to be an approachable leader. Still, he hadn't expected her to pull this same stunt so soon after the first time.

Resisting the urge to sigh, Xisheng glanced over his shoulder, spotting exactly who he had been expecting standing next to the entrance of the command post.

"Kori... I must admit, I didn't expect to meet you under these circumstances again so soon."

With an apologetic bow, the Yu Dao native to his side asked for forgiveness. Xisheng noted that she was covered in dirt in some places, though she had clearly tried her best to look more presentable before coming here. No doubt, she had been busy training today.

"Please forgive my intrusion, sir. I know you're busy. But there's... a matter that I cannot take to anyone else but you."

Despite being frustrated with the hold up, Xisheng took a deep breath and turned his full attention on on Kori. He'd wait to judge how annoyed he should be until Kori presented her issue. Thus far, she had never bothered him with anything that wasn't worthwhile. Though he was certainly hoping that she wasn't looking for another philosophical debate so soon.

"Very well. What is it?"

With permission granted, the brunette wasted no time in getting to her point. "More Earthbenders from the colonies were informed of the battle plan today. I knew we'd be moving on from the secretive stage at some point, but... the officer in charge of the exercises today stated that the battle plan would be shared with the entire army tomorrow. Is that true?"

Since it wasn't like that was a secret or anything, Xisheng wasted no time in confirming it. "Yes. The assault will begin soon. Naturally, the plan will need to be laid out for the participants before the day of the battle itself, especially for the colonials who will be carrying out the most technically demanding aspect of it. Our forces will be briefed in full tomorrow. You have some concern regarding this?"

Kori was silent for a moment as she contemplated how to present said concern. "I... am worried about the window of opportunity between the briefing and the battle for those who might... wish to reveal our plans to the enemy."

With this concern raised, Xisheng's eyes narrowed instantly, all traces of exhaustion disappearing within a moment. Suddenly, this conversation had grown very serious.

"That doesn't sound like a hypothetical concern, Kori. Are you accusing someone of being untrustworthy?"

Evading his stern gaze, Kori looked to the ground. "...what would happen to that someone if I did?"

Despite the intentional vagueness being thrown around, it wasn't like Xisheng didn't know exactly who they were talking about. That was partly why this exchange was so serious to begin with. It was incredibly unexpected for Kori to come to him with concerns about this one particular person.

"That depends on what he does. I can't punish him before he does anything wrong: just keep him under incredibly close watch."

After another moment of silence, Kori tentatively raised her anxious eyes to meet Xisheng's own. "And if he does do something wrong?"

"You sound certain that he will."

"Sneers isn't a bad person, Commander. But... he's incapable of separating the people of the Fire Nation from the wrongs he's suffered in the past. He sees that past unfolding again here at Ba Sing Se, and no one can convince him it'll be different. He's trying to do the right thing, it's just... not the same right that the rest of us have in mind."

Xisheng was quiet as he contemplated this. Though he was not privy to Sneers' exact background, it wasn't hard to imagine it either. The military of the Fire Nation did not always carry itself with honor and dignity. There were many a town and village razed to the ground indiscriminately by officers and soldiers who found glory in ruthless slaughter. Even forces that did try to adhere to some semblance of restraint sometimes inflicted damage to civilian areas. You couldn't invade a country without destroying the lives of some of its inhabitants: even if you tried as hard as possible not to.

Taking that into consideration, Xisheng had no doubt that there were some people in the Earth Kingdom that would forever despise the Fire Nation, regardless of what it cost them to do so. Orphans, widows, those who had seen their homes destroyed: it was likely that Sneers could count himself among that number. And anyone who had suffered such a fate would undoubtedly empathize with the invaded, fully believing that such horror would strike them too. Frankly, Xisheng had already been wary of Sneers even after their first encounter at the mess hall that day, but to have Kori voice similar concerns only reinforced the suspicion.

As for why she was willing to do that, and why she was nervous about it... well, Xisheng could only assume. Perhaps she had weighed the personal value of her relationship against the livelihood of her city and her friends, and found that the latter was more important. But even if that was true, she probably didn't want anything too terrible to befall her partner, even if they ended up not being partners in the near future. Even if they did something you didn't agree with, most people didn't immediately stop caring about those close to them.

"Frankly, if he were caught in the act, it's very likely that Sneers would be summarily executed, if any other commander was in charge. At least, if it could be proven that he planned to divulge our secrets to the enemy. If all we could accuse him of was desertion, he'd still be imprisoned. I'm sorry, but if he betrays us, I can't protect him from any sort of consequence. At best, I can keep execution off of the table, if that's what you're asking of me. I owe you that much for the role you've played in this operation thus far. But he will be incarcerated. There's nothing I can do to change that."

With the slightest of relief, Kori bowed in gratitude to Xisheng. "That alone is more than I have any right to ask for, Commander. I know already that it's unfair to expect any lenience for someone I care about when they rightly deserve punishment for their actions. I just wish I didn't have to ask for it in the first place. I know it's the right thing to do, but... it still feels like betraying him."

Xisheng refrained from saying what was on his mind right that moment. That, if Sneers was really willing to divulge their battle plan to the enemy, it would mean that he was willing to endanger the lives of everyone from Yu Dao, including Kori's. That her life ultimately didn't matter as much to him as his principles did. If he was willing to do that, than he didn't deserve Kori's concern for his life.

Which raised an interesting question for Xisheng himself: was there some ideal that he actually valued enough to choose over the lives of his friends, if such a choice had to be made? If defeating the Avatar and ushering the world into a new age meant betraying all of his friends, or even just one of them, would he still do it? It was easy to condemn Sneers for the choice he may have made, but Xisheng didn't know for certain what he would do in that kind of situation. Perhaps it was conceited of him to think that he'd never consider such a thing himself.

At any rate, he had to continue his conversation with Kori. "Like I said, I can't punish him for things he hasn't actually done yet. And though you are concerned, it's possible he won't do anything at all. Security will be significantly increased across the base following the briefing, but special attention will be paid to Sneers... I presume you will also be keeping a close eye on him."

"Of course, Commander. I will do my utmost."

Admittedly, Xisheng could have just gone ahead and imprisoned Sneers now, just based off of suspicion. It wasn't like anyone had a higher authority than him on this base, not including Azula. It would be fully within his rights to do so, not to mention a surefire way to guarantee that Sneers couldn't tip off the enemy. But there was a reason he wasn't going to do that. He had stated to Kori already that he couldn't punish someone who hadn't done anything wrong yet, but that wasn't really the reason Xisheng was waiting: though it was unfair, he'd have no qualms with preemptively isolating someone for the greater good of the entire force.

No, the real reason he would wait was to try and root out other traitors. The base had taken on many volunteers from many colonies and walks of life. Xisheng doubted that Sneers was the only person out of all of them who might have misgivings or an outright desire to betray the Fire Nation. Granted, it was not a guarantee that Sneers would work together with others to try and get away from the base, but it was likely, seeing as how he was a nonbender. It would be difficult for him to escape the base with increased security in play, and it made sense that he would seek the aid of a like-minded Earthbender to help with that. It would be beneficial to catch as many deserters in the act as possible, so Xisheng wanted to wait for that opportunity.

If he somehow slipped away without anyone noticing, well... the Fire Nation had vehicles. He was certain they could hunt him down before he got to Ba Sing Se. Not to mention that the young man would need to actually get into the city somehow, and Xisheng was pretty sure you couldn't just walk up to the wall and be let in. At any rate, it was a gamble he was willing to make.

Of course, even ignoring Sneers in particular, the threat of someone leaking their plans to Ba Sing Se had always been looming, and it wasn't like Xisheng and his advisors hadn't put some thought into it. While there were plenty of altruistic reasons for the decision to make the colonial barracks out of steel prefabricated sections, there had been a more subtle intent as well: Earthbenders couldn't tunnel out of those barracks in the middle of the night. Anyone who wanted to use Earthbending to sneak out of the base would have to exit the barracks first, and naturally, those would be kept under close watch after the briefing. That said, one could never be too careful...

"Speaking of security issues, Kori: I want you to round up some Earthbenders that you trust in order to keep watch around the base on the nights following the briefing. Mostly to try and detect any would-be defectors who are trying to tunnel out of the base without being noticed. Security will be increased at these times, but the regular army troops can't do anything to stop such an attempt even if they were able to detect it somehow. I know I am asking you to take on even more responsibility, but at this point, I think you know that you're my direct liaison for the colonial forces: or at least, when it comes to those from Yu Dao."

"I understand, Commander. I'll get the same people from the training exercises to exercise vigilance on those nights."

"Excellent. Is there anything else you wish to discuss with me at this time?"

Kori swiftly shook her head. "No, sir. Thank you for your time."

With a nod of acknowledgment, Xisheng quietly walked away from the Yu Dao Earthbender, who likewise made her own exit since what she had come to do had been completed. In a perfect world, Xisheng would have been able to put serious thoughts from his mind now and take it easy, but now that the talk of traitors had come up, his mind was focused on the upcoming battle once more.

Granted, he didn't think he'd truly be able to put such things from his mind until the battle was over. But that wasn't doing any favors for his social life right now. If he still had a chance to even eat dinner with the others tonight, he probably wouldn't be much fun for them to be around. But, maybe it was better to just be around at all, versus holing himself up somewhere to brood about war.

At any rate, he'd still prefer to brood in the company of cute girls, so he'd try to spend the rest of the night with the others regardless. He just hoped that he wasn't getting on anyone's nerves with all of this.


The following day marked some of the final preparations for the assault on Ba Sing Se. As Xisheng had told Kori the previous night, the combined forces of the base were all briefed on the battle plan: the colonial groups were amassed out in the fields around the base to be briefed by Engineer Muzai on the details of their tunneling strategy. The regular army forces were briefed in sections by their direct superiors after those superiors were themselves informed by higher command. By the time noon rolled around, everyone on the base was aware of the battle plan, and the final stages of the preparations were being made now.

Naturally, the Earthbenders were practicing their tunneling en masse: after all, as Xisheng had predicted, the length of the tunnels they would be digging during the assault meant that dozens of benders would be needed for each one. The exact members who would be carrying out this part of the attack had not yet been settled on, as there was still today and tomorrow for the Earthbenders to prepare. The ones who were best suited for the task would be identified over the course of the next two days.

As for the regular army troops and the colonials who weren't Earthbenders, they had different preparations to make. Namely, preparing the vehicles and siege engines that would be needed for the diversionary assaults. The base was working under a sense of organized chaos right now, with troops moving parts and munitions onto transports, engineers double-checking the readiness of the tanks, and people just generally going over the state of their equipment. There wasn't much to actually train for specifically if you weren't an Earthbender, so making sure equipment was in order and that logistics were ready to go was the best most of the troops could do.

On top of that, everyone had been informed that a curfew would be in effect starting tonight. Everyone without specific orders to be doing something during the night was expected to be in their respective barracks by before nightfall. Basically, the only people who should have been out and about by that point were guards. This too was done to reduce the risk of spies or traitors escaping from the base. Of course, that curfew only helped at night: the wall security had been doubled as well, and Xisheng had also ordered patrols to move around the outer perimeter of the base to try and catch deserters or other undesirables.

All of this made for a somewhat awkward experience for the Earthbenders from the colonies, all of whom felt the eyes of Fire Nation troops on their backs as they trained to master new skills as quickly as possible: even when all assembled, they had many regular army troops watching them work. Xisheng hoped that most of them realized it was a matter of prudence, more so than distrust. That said, he had no doubt that some of the colonials felt slighted by it.

Though he had expected some degree of complications that day, Xisheng was surprised to receive no reports of anything untoward throughout it: no one was caught attempting to leave the base regardless of reason, not even Sneers. That was great, as it left Xisheng with time to focus on his speech to the assembled army the following day. With most of his responsibilities taken care of, he spent most of that night alone, pondering his choice of words and how he would present himself to the army. Needless to say, he didn't spend much time with the girls that day, but they all seemed to understand why he was busy.

Thus, the second and final day before the assault rolled around without major incident, and on that day, just shy of noon, Xisheng found himself anxiously fidgeting in the war room, which was empty save for one other person: Azula.

It was empty because the army was being assembled in the staging area outside, regular army and colonial alike summoned to listen to Xisheng's address. Technically speaking, a big speech wasn't required for something like this, but Xisheng knew better than anyone that the troops needed a morale boost the day before a big battle. He'd been a part of enough large conflicts to know how one's nerves got frazzled in the final stage of preparations. As Commander, it was his responsibility to assuage the anxieties of the troops and assure them that victory was guaranteed.

Despite having known this all along, and preparing for it for several days, Xisheng ironically found himself nervous now. He couldn't help it, considering that he had never given such a massive public address before, and certainly not while the crowd had high expectations of him. While he had given a good impression on a fair deal of soldiers, there were just as many who had yet to see their new commander in person, or learn much about him at all. For many of them, his incredibly young face was the first thing they would see, and that would be a difficult impression to overcome.

Currently, Azula was doing her best to reassure him, since they were alone in the war room.

"You worry too much, Xisheng. Just say a few words about glory and honor and be done with it. That's how most military speeches go, I'm sure."

Running a hand through his hair, Xisheng glanced over at his shorter compatriot. "I think you of all people know that it's not as easy as all that. Remember that conversation a few days ago about how you're unproven and people have no reason to inherently trust your judgment? This is exactly like that."

Azula crossed her arms, leveling an amused smirk in his direction. "Well, it's not exactly like that. At the very least, you're not a teenage girl, so you have some inherent credibility. Misplaced though it may be, you'll at least get a few points in the eyes of the rank and file for being a man. Imagine trying to get their unflinching loyalty as an unproven woman."

"OK, fair enough. Still, I don't think the typical spiel about honor and glory is going to work here. I'm sure Qin said some nonsense just like that before marching a bunch of our soldiers off to their deaths."

"No doubt... but your acknowledgment of that fact is why you'll be fine. What sets you apart from people like Qin is that you've stood in the shoes of those common soldiers out there. You know how it feels to be one of the rank and file. You know what inspires confidence, what instills doubt, what a follower risking their life wants to hear from the one they are following. You're even a colonial, just like many of those out there. You know what those people want to hear, Xisheng. All you have to do is say it confidently."

With a moment of pause, Xisheng contemplated whether or not it could really be that simple. But it wasn't like Azula didn't have a point. Xisheng's experience as a soldier was not universal for all soldiers, or even all Fire Nation soldiers. But he had his own experience, plus his many interactions with other people who had fought by his side back in the day. He had heard the opinions of the young and old, the veterans and the rookies. He knew how leadership affected morale personally, as he and his comrades back in the day had been subjected to both good and bad leaders.

It was guaranteed that some people would be unhappy with the idea of him as a leader, no matter what he said out there. But he could definitely get the majority on his side... he had to at least believe that.

"Thank you, Azula. Knowing you have that much confidence is reassuring."

The young girl tried to wave it off, clearly attempting to look nonchalant about her praise and his gratitude for it. "Come now, you and I both know that talking is one of your strongest suits. More than fighting or strategizing even. If you can even convince a Crown Princess to change her mind on some things, surely you can get some other people to take you seriously. Though I must reiterate that a fashionable cape may help on that front..."

Xisheng chuckled as he started heading for the door. "I'll consider it after the battle tomorrow."

"You should have more faith in my fashion sense, Xisheng. Unless you're saying I have poor taste?"

Glancing over his shoulder one last time, Xisheng smiled. "Oh, I'd never say something like that aloud, Princess."

Amused by the mildly annoyed expression on the girl's face as he left, Xisheng nevertheless put a serious face back on as he walked through the halls of the command post once again. Naturally, it didn't take long to get outside. Under the light of the noonday sun, the base sounded a lot louder than usual. That was because the majority of base personnel were all gathered in one place this time: in the staging area just inside of the base gates. Ordinarily it was just a cleared space for transports to pull in and out of as they moved cargo about, but it was the best place to give a speech to an amassed crowd too, so the space was now entirely occupied by row after row of soldiers and militia from the colonies.

Well, the Fire Nation soldiers were organized into neat rows, at the least. They dominated the right side of the area, not quite standing at attention, but ready to do so at any time. Discipline and respect was a big part of the army life, after all, and they knew they would be addressed by someone of a high authority soon. That being the case, their officers had made sure that everyone looked presentable and orderly. On the left side of the staging area though, things were a bit less organized. The colonial volunteers occupied that section, and though they were hardly brazen slobs, they were nowhere near as dignified as the Fire Nation troops beside them. Some were reclining against buildings. Other had grabbed crates or barrels to sit on. A few were even just outright sitting on the ground.

Granted, some of them were doing their best to be presentable and orderly, likely due to that feeling of pressure put on them by the dignified Fire Nation soldiers, but overall, it was a much more casual group of people. Well, Xisheng didn't really mind: he didn't expect a bunch of volunteers who had just joined up with the military a little while ago to be on the same level as them when it came to stuff like this. Standing at attention was actually a niche skill and not as easy as it looked.

At any rate, the staging area was filled to the brim with people, with soldiers and volunteers crammed into every possible corner, and some of them even on the walls of the base. And this wasn't even everyone: naturally, there were some tasks that couldn't be paused just for personnel to attend a speech. Patrols still needed to keep the base secure, and there were many logistics personnel that were too busy to stop what they were doing, with a big battle happening tomorrow and all. The people Xisheng was speaking to right now were mostly part of the combat arm: people that would actually be fighting personally.

A small podium had been built at the front of the assembled crowd for Xisheng to stand on. It would elevate him enough for most everyone to lay eyes on him, except maybe those in the back. Speaking of which, he'd have to take extra care to project his voice well. Even if he did, he was certain that some people would miss half his words. But hey, if he spoke well enough, the people that did hear it would be parroting it back to others, so that was the goal he was aiming for.

Knowing that he didn't have any excuse to wait around, Xisheng began walking towards the podium where he would be giving his speech. Glancing over the crowd as he took the steps, the young officer wondered if Mai and Ty Lee were in the crowd, or at least nearby enough to hear him talk. He had no doubt Azula would hear it all somehow, even though she hadn't walked out of the command post right behind him. They all seemed to think that he was a pretty good speaker, so he felt a certain need to live up to their expectations. Though admittedly, what they thought of all of this really didn't matter much.

With the podium being fairly small, Xisheng only had to take a few steps to get on top of it. His presence didn't go unnoticed by some of the assembled troops in the front row, but there were plenty of people in the crowd that couldn't see him well or just weren't paying attention, which continued to contribute to the overall noise of such an assembled mass. Thankfully, there was a soldier on the ground to Xisheng's right who was ready and waiting with a Tsungi horn for just this purpose. Said soldier looked up to Xisheng expectantly, awaiting the order he knew was inevitable.

Taking one last deep breath, Xisheng gestured towards the soldier, who wasted no time in taking a breath of his own, though his was a matter of properly blowing the Tsungi horn. Blowing into the instrument as hard as he could, the soldier's act resulted in a deep, overwhelming thrum that penetrated the general noise of the crowd and demanded attention from all who were assembled. The near complete silence that followed was almost eerie compared to what had come before. That silence was made all the more intense by the gazes of hundreds of troops now resting on Xisheng's person. Both regular army and colonial volunteer had him transfixed in their visage, now that he had demanded their attention. Very few of them actually knew why they had been assembled here today, so the arrival of a very young man on the stage before them was most certainly unexpected.

Naturally, Xisheng felt the discomfort of the stage upon him, as it was not as though he had ever done this before, but he knew that it would only get worse the longer he stayed quiet. The best thing he could do was simply begin. Good thing all of that Firebending training had taught him how to use his lungs well. He was sure he'd need the breath such training had focused on mastering.

"Greetings, soldiers and warriors of the Fire Nation. I am the current Acting Commander of this base, Xisheng. I have been in charge of our operations since shortly after War Minister Qin's failed assault on the walls of Ba Sing Se. All of the preparations you have been making for the assault on those very same walls tomorrow have been conducted at my command. It is my strategy that you will all be carrying out tomorrow."

Immediately upon sharing this information, Xisheng was met with murmurs of confusion and even questioning glances between the usually dignified soldiers of the Fire Nation. It was clear that many of them had not expected the young man before them to be the commander of the entire force. Well, it wasn't like Xisheng hadn't been expecting that. A big part of this whole thing was overcoming the preconceptions about a young commander and actually instilling trust in his troops. And in order to do that, he felt that he needed to be honest with them.

"As I'm sure you can all see, I am young. Younger than many of you, in fact. I know this does not inspire confidence. I know this because I once stood where you stand now: an enlisted soldier, one of many, who answered to officers whose plans I was never privy to until they deemed it necessary. I have gone into battle time and time again on the orders of men who likely cared nothing for whether or not I lived or died, so long as their aims were achieved. In my service on the Earth Kingdom Defensive Line, I endured all of the hardships you soldiers are familiar with: injury, sleepless nights on the hard ground, food that grows tasteless as ir consumes every waking meal, backbreaking labor, and the deaths of many of my comrades in arms."

"I tell you this so you may be assured of one thing, if nothing else: I am a soldier. Before I am a Commander, I am a soldier. Before I am an officer, I am a soldier. Before all else, I am a soldier. Most importantly, I am a soldier of the Fire Nation Army, and no matter what title I bear or what role I carry out, there will never come a day when I do not consider each and every one of you my comrade. I will not ask any of you to risk your lives on a battle plan that I myself would not be confident to participate in. I have laboriously pored over every detail I can think of to devise a strategy that will bring as many of us back home as possible. I have spoken with every capable advisor available to me, all to ensure that we not only emerge victorious tomorrow, but that we may grieve for the least number of fallen heroes feasible. I know how it feels to be a sacrificial pawn: know that I will hold your lives as dear to me as my own, and I have every intention of marching with you into battle tomorrow to fight by your side."

The muttering among the crowd grew slightly less incredulous, though Xisheng could tell that it was not uniform. He could tell that some of the regular army troops were impressed with his words and promises this far, but just as many were still skeptical of him as their leader. Well, Xisheng hadn't expected to truly win over everyone with words alone. Talk was cheap, no matter how grandiose that talk was. Plus, it wasn't like he actually had any way to prove to these people that his background was accurate. For all they knew, he could be lying to them to earn sympathy and trust. Ultimately, Xisheng would still have to prove himself to his soldiers, no matter what he told them today. Still, it wouldn't do to just relate himself to the regular army troops. A large part of his force was not regular army, after all. With that in mind, he turned his gaze to the gathered colonials to his right before gesturing towards them.

"As for our comrades from the colonies, let me first thank you all for being here. Unlike us regular army troops, none of you had an official obligation to be here. You all came of your own free will, because you wanted to fight for your country and your homes. For that alone, you have my utmost respect. A respect that I hope you will have from the whole of the Fire Nation after this battle is over: despite the many decades your homes have been a part of the Fire Nation, I know that colonials are often treated like inferior citizens, doubly so if they are Earthbenders. When I left West Heiatu to enlist with the military in the home islands, many a fellow recruit looked down on me, even as a fellow Firebender. So I can only imagine the disdain or dismissal faced by other colonials."

Considering that the target audience was a little less restrained than the regular army soldiers, Xisheng's words earned a bit more vocal feedback this time around, with some colonials shouting in agreement or otherwise hooping and hollering. A bit unprofessional, but that didn't matter right now. Xisheng just needed to get on their good side, and appealing to their travails was a good way to do that, so he continued on.

"Many of you probably volunteered to fight in hopes of gaining recognition for your homes and your people. And yet, few of you probably expected this battle to hinge on colonial might. Make no mistake, we will win or lose this fight on the strength of you, our colonial brothers and sisters. Without you, this battle would not be possible. Thus, as Commander of this assault, I swear to you all that your contributions to victory will not go unacknowledged. You will be justly credited for your effort and sacrifice. I will ensure that victory at Ba Sing Se will never be spoken of without acknowledgement of your vital contribution to it. And I promise you all that as both a soldier fighting alongside you and a fellow colonial, your lives will hold no less value than any Fire Nation soldier. I aim to bring as many people back home as possible, be they colonial or homelander. As far as I am concerned, this army is one cohesive entity, with everyone being as valuable as the warrior beside them, and everyone sharing the glory we achieve."

Once he finished with this part, the cheers and affirmative shouting from the colonial side of the assembly increased exponentially. For a moment, Xisheng was practically applauded by them. Needless to say, this reaction was a lot stronger and more positive than the one he had gotten from the regular army, but at the same time, Xisheng was not really surprised by that. Most of the colonials were civilian volunteers, many of whom had relatively straightforward wants and desires: respect, recognition, fair treatment... all things that Xisheng was promising to give them. And while the regular army had a bit more skepticism about them, most of these volunteers had never been in this situation before. They had no experience with war, and no experiences with bad and untrustworthy military leadership. In other words, most of them weren't jaded to this particular situation, so they were easier to sway.

But that was a great boon for Xisheng. As long as he stuck to his promises, he could easily get these people on his side. Many of them would be very loyal after the battle was over if Xisheng's assurances were all kept true. Granted, the faith of the regular army would hopefully improve as well if the operation was successful, but earning the loyalty of men who had been on the frontlines, and who had been scorned by previous commanders, was no small feat.

With both specific sides of the assembly addressed, Xisheng figured now was a good time to speak on the battle itself.

"I know you've all been briefed on the battle plan already, courtesy of your superior officers. Earthbenders will tunnel under the walls, while the rest of our forces provide a diversion via a multi-pronged direct assault. I am asking a lot of all of you in both respects: the Earthbenders doing the digging will have a very dangerous task ahead of them, one that they have little time to prepare for, and one they must execute well if we are to succeed. At the same time, the rest of us must risk our lives in an attack that is not even meant to succeed, which I know can be tough to accept. But bear in mind that I am not asking anyone to throw their lives away. The diversionary attack is absolutely vital to our success, as equally important as the actual act of sabotage that will take down the enemy's walls. We are all needed to have any chance of victory. If you can only keep one thing in mind during the battle, let it be this: your comrades will be counting on you. If the tunneling fails, any loss we incur assaulting the wall will be for nothing. If our diversionary assaults are not convincing enough, our comrades in the tunnels may be exposed and defeated. You won't just be fighting for your own life, or even your own squad out there. To some extent, every member of this army will be putting their lives in your hands."

Wondering if he was prattling on too long or if he actually had everyone enraptured, Xisheng tried to drive home the sentiment he desired.

"I know that can seem like a large responsibility. And undoubtedly, it is. But don't look at this as a burden. Rather, consider it an honor to be entrusted with something so important. You are not some pawns being thrown aside to earn glory for an old man back in the homeland who will never see battle. You are warriors fighting for something tangible, something real: the lives of your comrades. The people you train with and eat alongside every day. Lifelong friends whom you will remember fondly even years after this war ends. As we fight tomorrow, take pride in the fact that all among you, from the newest recruit to a volunteer who has never seen battle, will have a meaningful impact on both the outcome of our battle, and the number of comrades who come home. Dispose of all notions of separation between you and those who fight with you: tomorrow, we will all risk our lives together, and we will all fight to keep one another safe. We will all be as one on the battlefield, unified in a common goal and a shared human experience. Fight for the comrade who fights for you, and we'll achieve a victory greater than any in the Fire Nation's history. You are all already heroes for having the courage to fight: come tomorrow, we will ensure that the whole of our nation knows the same!"

Having raised his voice to a final crescendo fitting the end of his speech, Xisheng was pleased to get cheers and applause from the majority of the crowd, their raucous noise overtaking any other in or around the base. For a few moments, it continued unabated from both the regular army troops and the colonial volunteers. As it continued on, Xisheng saluted the assembled crowd, then stepped down from the podium. Another officer would assume his place to issue directives for the day soon enough.

Once he was out of sight of the crowd, Xisheng breathed a heavy sigh of relief. That had gone a lot better than he had expected it to. Not that he had been expecting an awful outcome, but still. That said, he was certain that the roused spirits of his army was not universal, nor was it guaranteed to last in everyone's hearts until the next day and throughout the battle.

The thing about good speeches was that they could easily get people wrapped up in the moment. Rousing words and the cheering and shouting of those next to you could whip you into a frenzy as well, or at least convince you of what you were hearing... temporarily. For those who were not truly convinced at the time of the speech, that feeling would wear off later, even if they had gotten caught up in the fervor at the time. But Xisheng was alright with this reality: winning the hearts and minds of his army would take more than a good speech before they actually achieved anything. He would need to actually lead them well and prove to be a man worthy of their loyalty, and that was something that could only be achieved through action.

Still, he was happy with this result as he headed back for the command post, though he didn't make it very far before someone called out to him.

"Over here, Commander."

Glancing to his right, Xisheng spotted Azula gesturing for him, flanked by Mai and Ty Lee as well. Xisheng wasn't sure if they had all been standing around across from the command during his speech, or if they had just found each other by accident and decided to get together. Either way, Xisheng wasted no time in walking over to them, and the whole group was soon gathered under the eave of a warehouse structure. It provided some shade from the harsh light of the sky above.

"Good afternoon, everyone. Go ahead and lay it on me, I'm sure you're all going to rate my speech skills somehow."

Despite saying this to all of them, Xisheng got Azula's answer first, and without any hesitation. "Well, I suppose it was passable. Not quite the angle I would have gone with for motivating the troops, but they seemed to like it. Not as much 'for the glory of your nation' stuff that I expected from speeches like this."

"Take it from my personal experience, Princess: when it really comes down to life and death, most people aren't that willing to die for glory. Glory might convince them to go into battle, but once they are there, most people aren't going to risk their lives for something that abstract. Willingness to sacrifice often requires more tangible things to sacrifice for."

If Azula was going to say something about that, perhaps regarding how unpatriotic it was, she didn't get a chance to. Ty Lee, with a prominent and unusually serious frown on her face, took this opportunity to cut in.

"Speaking of risking lives, what's this about you fighting on the front lines too? I didn't know you were going to do that!"

Before he could even respond, Mai, arms folded, weighed in as well. "Yeah. You're in command of the whole operation, so it would be really bad if you got hurt on the front line of battle. Shouldn't you be in the back somewhere, directing the fight from a safe position?"

With both girls bearing down on him, Xisheng did his best to try and remain unfettered. After all, he understood that they were just worried about him.

"Tactically, I agree with the fact that the commander should stay safe, but there are more practical things to consider than just that. Our nation has a longstanding history of commanders going into battle with their subordinates. It's expected of them. I can't convince the army that I can be trusted and respected if I'm not even willing to do that. Even Qin actually went into battle on his own plan. So did Zhao at the North Pole. I might be able to stay off of the front line later on, but if I keep myself safe in the rear while others die on my orders in my very first battle, I'll never gain the trust I need from this army. I know you two are worried, but I have to do this."

Despite these words, the looks of concern on the girls' faces didn't grow any happier. Even Azula looked a little dissatisfied with the notion, though she didn't say anything to combat it. Quite the opposite, actually.

"I know it's an unfortunate reality, you two, but you have to admit that it makes sense. Would you ever really be comfortable entrusting your lives to a coward?"

Looking back on the times when both Mai and Ty Lee had relied on Xisheng to protect them or at least fight by their side, neither of them could deny Azula's truth. It would be very difficult to trust someone who was afraid to fight. It would be even more difficult to trust that said person actually had any vested concern for you if they sent you off to fight their battles while they hid somewhere safe. Still, even if the notion did make sense, it didn't make them any happier about it, which Mai wasted no time in expressing.

"This whole 'military leadership' thing sounds like a lose-lose situation to me."

Frankly, Xisheng couldn't refute that at this exact moment. "I can't hide away from danger completely, Mai, but I promise that I won't be doing anything foolhardy out there. I'm not looking for danger or heroics."

"You've said plenty of times before that you can't be prepared for everything that happens on a battlefield."

"That's true. But being prepared and careful goes a long way in increasing your odds."

Still wearing a very severe frown, Ty Lee seemed intent on finding a loophole. "You said that even Qin went into battle, but he did that while inside of a huge metal monstrosity, and he ran away at the first opportunity too! It's not really the same, you know?"

"I know. But I'm making a point in trying to be as different from Qin as possible. He's the exact type of leader the rank and file hates, and with good reason. Though I'm not above retreating if the situations calls for it. Seriously, you all can rest easy here knowing that I'm very intent on staying alive."

Azula's hands went to her hips. "What do you mean 'you all'? I hope you don't think I'm going to stay here on the base while the battle is going on?"

Xisheng raised an eyebrow at the young girl. "I kind of did, actually. This won't really be the type of up close and personal battle that you excel at, Azula. Our enemies will be on top of the walls, and our forces will be all the way at the bottom. There won't be much of anything for you to do other than be endangered by stray rocks from on high."

"That's assuming that the enemy decides to not send anyone at all down to meet your forces. They did just that with Qin's drill. Or, what if the Avatar and his flunkies show up? We have no idea if they are actually in Ba Sing Se right now. There are plenty of situations in which my skills would be useful in this battle."

Xisheng's brow furrowed as he considered that. Frankly, he wanted to keep all of the girls away from the battlefield. Getting in small fights with the Avatar was one thing, but war was another entirely. For one, most of the Avatar's crew didn't want to kill them. Short of maybe Katara that one time, lethal intent was usually not a part of their repertoire. The soldiers of the Earth Kingdom, on the other hand, would have no qualms with killing them in battle.

Of course, Xisheng was confident that Azula could take care of herself in most cases, but being a prodigy didn't save you from a stray boulder you didn't see coming. Mai wasn't exactly the best person to go up against Earthbenders, considering that her entire skillset could be nullified by a rock wall. On top of that, she had no defense against any Earthbending attacks other than dodging them, which could only get you so far when you were outnumbered on the battlefield. And Ty Lee, well... Xisheng's biggest concern for her was just putting the girl in a kill or be killed situation to start with. Xisheng wasn't confident in her ability to kill someone else if that was something she needed to do to survive. That was why he was more comfortable just never putting her in that position to begin with.

"You aren't worried about how it'll look, Princess? To have you around, even though everyone is deferring to me for guidance and orders instead... it could paint a disparaging picture for the troops."

Surprisingly, this did seem to give Azula pause. "I suppose that's true... although at the same time, if it's clear that you're technically deferring to me, it should be fine, right? Technically, since you have my blessing, every decision you make is approved by me and carried out only because I allow it."

"That's a lot of subtext you're expecting soldiers to decipher in the middle of battle, Azula."

"Yes, well..."

With the princess pondering her decision again, Ty Lee cut in once more with a worried expression. "Whatever the excuse you have to use, I think Azula should be there to help keep you safe, Gohan! If it'll minimize the danger that you're in..."

With a huff and a cross of her arms, Azula leveled an incredulous look at Ty Lee. "No concern for minimizing the danger I'm in, I see..."

"Well, I didn't mean it like that, but..."

"Hmph. Whatever. At any rate, I can just be... 'overseeing' the battle. It would make sense for me to watch my appointed commander at work, to ensure he represents me well. I can't imagine too many people questioning my presence on the battlefield in that regard, even if you're the one making decisions."

Azula clearly leveled these words at Xisheng, who wasted no time in answering them. "While I can't deny that, admittedly I'd prefer if all three of you stayed off the battlefield entirely. For my personal peace of mind."

The reactions to this admittance were varied. Naturally, Azula looked a bit offended at the notion. Meanwhile, Ty Lee and Mai almost seemed relieved, though there was a trace of guilt in the expression of the latter. But being the most dissatisfied with this notion, Azula was the one who spoke up to combat it.

"I'm honestly a bit insulted that you'd even suggest such a thing. And more than a little irritated in imagining your reasoning. You suddenly think I'm too young or soft for the battlefield, is it?"

With a slightly bemused expression, Xisheng leveled a meaningful look at the young princess. "It's nothing as deep as all that, Azula. I just don't want people I care about getting hurt."

This upfront admittance from Xisheng took Azula aback for a moment. She even appeared a little embarrassed to hear it. Surprisingly though, after the moment in which she collected herself, she said something unexpected as well.

"Yes, well... if you understand that feeling, then surely you understand that we feel the same way. So as far as I'm concerned at least, I won't be taking no for an answer."

Though he was heartened to hear that sentiment, Xisheng was not entirely pleased with what that sentiment meant for the upcoming battle. But he didn't get to say anything against it, as the arrival of a new voice from behind the group interrupted their discussion. After all this time on the base, Xisheng easily recognized it as Shinji's.

"Commander! Please excuse my intrusion, sir!"

Refraining from an outward sigh, Xisheng turned on his heel to address his adjutant. "What is it, Shinji?"

"Officer Aranai requests your presence in the war room, sir. Something about a report from the engineering teams on the estimated combat readiness of our tanks by the time of the assault..."

Sighing for real this time, Xisheng turned back to the girls, all of whom looked frustrated or annoyed, since they knew full well their discussion was about to be cut short.

"Sorry, everyone. This sounds important. I'll see you all tonight sometime, I promise."

With little time to spare since this was the last day for the army to make preparations for the battle, Xisheng turned on his heel and began to follow Shinji back to the war room, leaving all three of his friends with various levels of disgruntlement on their faces, though the exact reasoning for it varied for each of them. The only thing their concerns had in common was the root cause of the issues.

War was now imminent, and it seemed that its travails stretched even beyond what they had all expected.


The following morning, Xisheng stood in the war room. Dawn had just broken outside the window, but he had been awake for an hour already. Currently, he was making one final inspection of all of his armor. That wasn't a very complicated process, since most of it was new: anything that had been damaged upon their arrival at this base had already been replaced. But some parts of his ensemble were old, things he had worn into battle many times in the past. He had elected against new boots, since they would need to be worn in, and the undergarments that made up his raiment were some of the same that he had always worn.

Even so, his battle regalia was quite a bit different than it had been just a short time ago. Both shoulder pauldrons were now gold. The flame shaped crest on his helmet had been modified to be gold as well, and the face plate had been removed. He had also ultimately succumbed to the notion of a single shoulder cape on his left shoulder. It was a simple black garment with gold edges, only large enough to cover the left arm if he wished. Though most of the time, it would rest against his back and leave his movements unobstructed.

The purpose of these changes was not solely to make a fashion statement. Xisheng needed to stand out from the regular troops. He needed distinguishing aesthetic features that would allow his soldiers to instantly recognize him as their commander. In the chaos of battle, it would be easy for soldiers to get confused. Formations and organization could help mitigate that, but ultimately, if someone needed to report an urgent matter to the army commander, it was very important that they had the easiest time locating him that they possibly could. For that reason, he needed to stand out from everyone else in uniform.

Granted, standing out also made him a prime target for the enemy, but the risk was worth the benefit.

When he was finished ensuring that every piece of armor was secured, Xisheng sighed and turned towards the people behind him, spreading his arms wide in invitation.

"So? How do I look?"

At this time, the only people in the room were his friends. Unfortunately, Xisheng had been up quite late the night before ironing out all of the final preparations for the battle. By the time he had finished, only Mai had still been awake, and she had told him to rest instead of talking to her that night considering the big day that was approaching. So he was only just now seeing them again, in this early morning hours before the battle.

Despite his attempt at levity, the expressions before Xisheng were mostly that of worry or anxiety. Even so, Mai tried to lighten the mood. Strange, for her to be the only one to try and do that.

"The cape is kind of gaudy."

"What, really? I thought it really accentuated my commanding aura."

Azula, clothed no differently than usual, scoffed. "Don't listen to Mai. I'm not sure any of us should take her opinion on fashion seriously."

"Not sure you're one to talk, either... why aren't you wearing a helmet, Azula?"

"What, and conceal my beautiful face? In all seriousness, I simply prefer the unobstructed vision and range of motion. That'll keep me safer than anything else."

Ty Lee, who had been fidgeting nervously this entire time, leveled a worried expression at her younger friend. "If Gohan thinks wearing one is a good idea, it probably is..."

"His helmet is a matter of decorum and identification of rank."

Knowing that there wasn't much time before he had to leave for the battlefield, Xisheng cut into the small disagreement. "At any rate, it'll be time to march soon. Are you ready, Azula?"

Replacing her mildly annoyed expression with a serious one, Azula nodded. "I am. As ready as I could be, I suppose..."

Despite her attempt to seem stoic and assured, Xisheng could tell that Azula was nervous. This was, after all, her first real large-scale battle. She knew how to fight, and she had been in small scuffles with other benders before, but that was nothing like all-out war. She wasn't arrogant enough to feel completely assured in herself with such an obstacle before her.

But Xisheng didn't have time to assure her at this moment. With an uncertain frown on her face, Mai glanced questioningly at him.

"...are you really sure you want us to stay here?"

Having determined by now that Mai felt somewhat guilty about the notion of staying behind in safety while he and Azula went off to fight, Xisheng tried his best to dispel her misgivings.

"Yes. I know that's tough medicine to swallow, but I really will feel much more confident knowing that you and Ty Lee are safe back here. It's already bad enough that I couldn't convince Azula to stay, so you two are truly helping me by doing this."

Though he said all of this, Mai didn't seem entirely convinced. Azula grumbled a bit at his insinuation, but didn't actually say anything much to challenge him. Ty Lee, naturally, still seemed quite displeased, though her consternation resulted in abject silence. Xisheng wanted to say something to assure her, but there was a knock at the door to the war room before he could, followed by Shinji's voice from outside.

"Commander, the force is assembled. They are waiting to march on your orders!"

The young adjutant's footsteps receded immediately after sharing this information, leaving Xisheng to sigh grimly.

"Alright... this is it. I have to go, you two."

Though she had been quietly worrying before now, Ty Lee swiftly grabbed Azula's arm and pulled her towards Xisheng. Before the princess could even express confusion, the young acrobat had both her and Xisheng in a tight embrace. Though she was struggling to hold back tears of worry, she managed to say her parting words.

"You two have to promise me that you''ll both come back safe! Don't do anything reckless and watch out for each other, and don't get killed over something stupid like honor or glory or anything like that!"

Xisheng wasted no time in returning her embrace. "I promise, Ty Lee."

Azula, on the other hand, looked a bit sheepish in this situation, but when Ty Lee turned her tear-streaked visage on the young Princess in expectation, she relented.

"Alright, alright! I promise. Try not to break my arm before we're even out there..."

Though she wasn't really satisfied, Ty Lee nevertheless released her friends, and with only a few sniffles. With her freedom restored, Azula began walking towards the exit to the war room. Naturally, it didn't take long for her to walk by Mai, though her parting words were not as emotional as Ty Lee's.

"Be careful, Azula."

"But of course. See you later, Mai."

With that, Azula exited the room, leaving Xisheng to follow in her footsteps. When he stepped up to Mai, there was a troubled expression on her face.

"Gohan..."

For a moment, the young woman was silent. But after a moment of consternation, she managed to come up with something to say.

"You'd better come back."

Xisheng couldn't help but get the feeling that Mai had initially wanted to say something else, but now was not the time to investigate that. Perhaps she just didn't know what to say at first. After all, she had hardly ever been in a situation like this prior to now.

"I will. I know if I make you mad, even being dead won't save me."

His joke earned the slightest of smiles from Mai, but it fell quickly. "I'm sure the army is waiting on you."

"Yeah. Wish me luck. I'll see you both when this is over, Mai, Ty Lee."

Knowing he couldn't afford to drag this out any longer, Xisheng exited the war room, wondering in his heart if he was being fair to those two by asking them to stay behind. In a way, that was difficult task. He couldn't imagine how he would feel if he had to stay back and away from a fight that was endangering his friends...

But it was too late to change his mind now. Putting the thought to rest, Xisheng walked out of the command post in a hurry, which had him stepping outside in no time. Though the sun was just starting to peek over the horizon, it was still quite dark, with even some stars visible in the midnight blue of the sky. It may have been calming, if only there wasn't a bit of controlled chaos going on in the staging area.

Dozens of armored vehicles, ranging from Firestorm battle tanks to Overlords hauling all sorts of supplies and weapons, had their engines running as they waited at the gates of the base. Engineers were swarming the vehicles, making final checks on important elements of their function before deployment. Crews were getting situated in their vehicles, and infantry were mounting transportation cars that would carry them to the battlefield. These were the final few minutes before deployment into combat: often the most hectic moments an army could face, sans actual battle itself.

Azula was waiting just outside of the command post for him, and spoke as soon as he was beside her.

"I must admit, I'm impressed by all of this. To see the might of our nation brought to bear so efficiently, I can't help but feel a bit of pride."

"We'll certainly see just what that might can achieve today."

Before their conversation could go any further, the duo was approached by Aranai, his topknot absolutely immaculate even at this early hour. He was rolling up a scroll that no doubt had dozens of important details on it. The green-eyed colonial officer bowed once he was close to Azula and Xisheng.

"Princess, Commander: I am pleased to report that our operational efficiency at this time is at a respectable eighty percent. Most of our munitions and vehicles are operational, and the vast majority of the fighting force is in battle-ready shape. Overall combat effectiveness for this operation is within acceptable parameters. Success or failure will not come due to our logistics, I assure you."

Xisheng ignored that assurance if only because he wasn't as confident in it. But he said no such thing aloud. "Glad to hear it. Is there anything important I should know about before deploying?"

Aranai unrolled the scroll in his hands, presumably because he would need to look at some details on it for whatever he was about to say. "Nothing too important, Commander. Forces Ember and Blaze have already embarked for their respective assault positions to the north and south. Only Force Dragon remains to deploy under your command. As long as you depart within the next fifteen minutes, all forces should be in position to attack three hours from now."

Xisheng noted a mildly irritated expression on Azula's face. Maybe she was still sore that her naming scheme for the assault forces hadn't been implemented. She's eagerly suggested a full dragon-body themed naming scheme when Xisheng was filling her in on the plan days before. She's been a little miffed when Xisheng told her that 'Dragon's Claw', and "Dragon's Wings' based on the position of the assault forces was too much of a mouthful for operational use. He'd tried to placate her annoyance by calling his own force 'Dragon', but she still seemed a but sore about it.

He couldn't help but find this weirdly childish aspect of her demeanor amusing.

Aranai was not privy to any of this, so he kept going with his report. "On another note, some undesirables were captured by the night watch and area patrols last night."

Xisheng's brow furrowed. "Deserters? Or worse?"

"Just deserters, as far as we could tell, Commander. Everyone who was captured outside of the walls was fleeing away from the city, not going towards it. Though of course, we can't say for certain where those caught before they got outside the base would have gone. We haven't had time to interrogate them to figure out their motives. All in all, forty-two deserters have been incarcerated at this time. Mostly colonial volunteers, but there were some regular army types too."

Before Xisheng could comment on this at all, Azula's flabbergasted exclamation cut between them. "Forty-two?! There were that many traitors on this base?"

Aranai looked unsure of what to say, so Xisheng did his best to ease Azula's ire. "That's honestly pretty good, considering the large size of the army. Though there's no guarantee we caught everyone trying to do so..."

This time, Aranai did know what to say. "Indeed. However, anyone on foot would require more than a day's journey to reach Ba Sing Se from here. Our assault should be well underway before any theoretical traitor could even inform the enemy of our plans."

For a moment, Xisheng wondered if Sneers was among those deserters who had been captured. But if he was, it wasn't like there was anything to be done about it right now. He could worry about stuff like that until after the battle.

"The benefits of being a mechanized army are great indeed. That said, it seems that we should be on our way."

"Yes, sir. As discussed last night, a specific tank has been chosen to serve as your command vehicle for the assault. Right this way."

With that, Aranai led both Xisheng and Azula towards the multitude of vehicles preparing to leave, and specifically, right towards the Firestorm tank at the very head of the pack. Once they were closer, it was easy to distinguish from the other vehicles due to a variety of aesthetic changes to the tank: namely, a Fire Nation banner draped over the rear of the turret, as well as diagonal stripes of crimson paint that had been applied to the sides of the vehicle. Like Xisheng's new wardrobe, the point of these changes was to obviously identify this tank as a command vehicle: making it a target for the enemy, but also a beacon to allies. Other than that, Xisheng imagined that the tank he was approaching was no different from any other of its make.

As they drew closer, one of the crew members, clad fully in the armor of a Firebending soldier, noticed their approach and turned to face them after knocking on the side of the vehicle. Shortly after, another soldier in identical uniform hopped out of the tank from its top hatch. They both faced Xisheng and Azula as they approached, saluting the prior before bowing to the latter. The soldier on the left spoke first.

"Commander, Princess: it's an honor to operate the vehicle you'll be occupying in this battle. Hotcake has kept us safe for months. We're sure she'll do the same for you."

Azula raised an incredibly confused eyebrow, prompting Xisheng to lean in and answer the question he was certain occupied her mind.

"That's probably the name of the tank."

The young Princess only seemed more confused at this. Well, Xisheng couldn't blame her. To outsiders, military folks giving names to equipment probably seemed silly. Doubly so if those names were also a little silly. But hey, there were two types of people out there: the crews who thought it was cool to give their tank a badass name like 'Firebrand Fury' or 'Dragon's Roar', and the crews who thought ironically innocent names like 'Hotcake' and 'Fire Lily' were better for their war machines. Xisheng could appreciate both takes, and he knew that soldiers formed attachments with gear and equipment that they served with for a long time. It was almost impossible to not humanize something that became as much a part of your soldiering life as eating and sleeping. The tank became as much a member of your squad as any human soldier. He remembered a pretty popular tank back in his old platoon, named "Preparedness Carries". The entire crew had come from the Fire Nation Royal Academy For Girls, hence the adoption of the school's slogan for the tank.

He couldn't help but briefly wonder if that old thing, and its crew, were still in one piece out there.

At any rate, Aranai gestured towards the two-man crew. "According to battle statistics recorded by this battalion in the past six months, this tank and its crew has consistently remained one of the most survivable. It is one of the few tanks in its platoon that has not been rendered inoperable due to combat in the past six months. I figure that is a good metric to judge the worth of a potential command vehicle."

This time, the soldier to the right spoke up. Xisheng was mildly surprised to hear a woman's voice, though he probably shouldn't have been. He wasn't that familiar with the gender ratio of the vehicular arm of the military.

"Just don't swear while in the tank, and everything will be fine, sir. She doesn't like it when you swear."

The seemingly senior member of the two-man crew shot an alarmed glare at his partner, and none too subtly bumped her with his shoulder to try and get her to shut up. Maybe he thought she was being way too casual, considering the presence of royalty. Honestly, Azula likely would have thought so, but Xisheng jumped to the crew's defense, merely by speaking up before Azula could say anything.

"You two know this vehicle better than anyone else. I trust that you'll keep both me and Her Highness safe. Go ahead and mount your vehicle: we'll be departing any minute."

Both crew members bowed before turning towards their vehicle, though Xisheng could hear the senior male nagging his junior about her words as they did so. Xisheng turned to Aranai one more time.

"Thank you for your assistance, Aranai. I believe that is everything I require of you at this time."

The logistics officer saluted him in return. "Of course, Commander. I wish you the best of luck in your assault. I'll be more than glad to organize a celebration for the army after your victory."

"Just don't get too premature with it."

With that, Xisheng saluted his fellow officer before gesturing for Azula to follow him into Hotcake's open hatch. Since the vehicles were low to the ground, she didn't need any help stepping onto the thing, nor did she require any assistance in getting in it. Xisheng would have offered a hand under normal circumstances, but he didn't want to do anything remotely questionable with so many rank and file troops about.

Getting into the hatch himself, Xisheng kept his torso out of the top so he could comfortably Firebend into the sky above the base, launching plumes of flame in an officially recognized army code pattern. Specifically, the code for 'follow me'. After a few moments, various plumes of flame erupted from the convoy of vehicles behind his position, all in the same code pattern for 'acknowledged'.

The Fire Nation had a lot of advantages compared to their enemies, but as far as their bending was concerned, communication was actually a niche one. Compared to all of the other elements, no one had an easier time communicating quickly at a long distance: flames being launched into the sky were usually quite hard to miss.

Now that he had issued his order to Force Dragon, Xisheng slid down into the tank compartment proper, finding himself a little pressed for space. The senior male crewman, presumably a sergeant if he was the crew leader, was in the driver's seat. The female junior, likely a corporal, was in the back near the steam engine. This left Azula and Xisheng in the center of the cabin, with Xisheng on the chair reserved for the commander. Said chair was needed so he could be tall enough to see out of the hatch openings without having to stand all the time. Azula, unfortunately, had little space to sit other than in the side space of the main cabin. At least she had enough leg space to not sit in a completely undignified manner, though she commented on it nonetheless.

"A bit cramped in here, isn't it?"

Since he was in the presence of ordinary soldiers, Xisheng took on as professional of an air as he could muster. No need to give them any funny ideas.

"My apologies, Princess. I know this vehicle is too humble for you, but it is the best choice for our situation."

Perhaps picking up on Xisheng's intent to sound professional and detached, Azula figured she would follow suit. Ah, well: it had been a while since she had really gone all out with the haughty noble attitude.

"Hmph. Indeed. I suppose I will tolerate this indignity... so long as we emerge victorious."

Smiling to himself since the other crew members were busy sweating nervously instead of looking at him, Xisheng turned his attention to the sergeant. "Sergeant, advance. Straight towards the wall. There lies our staging area."

"Yes, sir, advancing."

Xisheng's body lurched as Hotcake ground into motion, its treads tearing up the earth below. Soon enough, the rumbling of dozens of other tanks and transports roaring to life began to shake the very soil below as they followed the lead vehicle out of the base gates and towards the walls of Ba Sing Se. Now, a truly might army was in motion: soon enough, that might would be tested against the most formidable city this world had to offer. Though he was nervous, Xisheng couldn't deny that he also felt some degree of anticipation for it. Somehow, despite the many horrors he knew real war carried, he found himself feeling oddly at home, marching into a heated battle with the Earth Kingdom.

He doubted that nostalgic feeling would last into the battle itself, but for now, it beat being fearful, so Xisheng allowed himself to enjoy it as his army crept towards their foes.


One of the most frustrating things about the walls of Ba Sing Se was the fact that moving towards them felt incredibly unrewarding. They were so massive, that moving towards them did little to change your perspective for long stretches of the trip. For the first hour, they hardly seemed to get any closer even though they were driving right towards it. That made that leg of the trip particularly boring, since there wasn't a whole lot of casual conversation going on. Naturally, the rank and file crew of the tank were a bit nervous with both the commander of their forces and the Crown Princess of their nation present. Xisheng would have done something to assuage their anxieties, but since he was serving as the tank commander too, he had to keep his head out of the hatch to keep an eye on their surroundings.

Unfortunately, it was difficult to speak to them without ducking back into the vehicle, considering the rumbling of the treads of the large vehicle force. Xisheng felt kind of bad about leaving them down there with Azula, since that would be nerve-wracking for any common soldier, but he didn't really have that much of a choice.

The second hour of driving got the force much closer to the walls, but included some unfortunate mishaps as well. One of the tanks had broken down, requiring it to stay behind for field repairs. Furthermore, one of the Overlords hit a depression in the ground while driving, and while the vehicle itself was fine, it had tilted and dropped some supplies from the trailer it was towing. Naturally, that had required another vehicle to stay behind and rectify the situation. Xisheng couldn't allow the entire column to be stopped for much relatively minor issues. Force Ember and Blaze were expecting Xisheng and his troops to be in position on time, and any delays just increased the risk of the entire plan failing.

Shortly into the third hour, Xisheng's force was nearing their assault position. There were many reasons this was obvious, not the least of which was the force passing by Qin's massive drill, which was still buried in a hole, with its front and back ends lifted into the air. Driving by the massive, immobilized machine instilled a strange feeling in Xisheng: it felt more like walking beside a felled beast of legend than it did a piece of man-made equipment. When they were up close and personal with it, Xisheng couldn't help but wonder just how much larger his attack force could have been if all that steel hadn't been wasted on such a monstrosity. Even if the war ended tomorrow, it would probably take months to salvage all of it. Hopefully, it would serve as a monument to the folly of military arrogance for some time.

Aside from that, the walls of Ba Sing Se dominated most of the sky at this point by merit of their sheer height, and Xisheng's proximity to them. By now, the Earth Kingdom soldiers guarding the wall were definitely aware of their approach. Hell, with their great vantage point, they had surely seen the Fire Nation column long before now. Despite this, they had not done anything to stop said approach thus far. No party had come out to intercept them, nor were the Fire Nation troops being attacked from the wall itself, though that was probably because they weren't quite in range for that.

So, the Earth Kingdom wall guards were just watching them. The question was, why? Were they unconcerned with what appeared to be a much less formidable assault force than the drill from before? Did they have some sort of plan in mind? Or were they just playing it safe? After all, they had a superior defensive position, and the best strategy would have been to take advantage of that. Whatever the reason, being this close to the enemy, but unable to see them at the top of the wall and being unmolested by them made Xisheng nervous.

They were probably a bit off from the exact spot that had been marked on the map during all of the briefings, if only because there wasn't a whole lot to go on as far as landmarks and topography was concerned: the walls of Ba Sing Se were uniform in their entirety, and on this side of the city at least, the terrain was mostly long stretches of dirt over flat ground. But really, all that mattered was whether or not the assault forces were at the appropriate distance from each other and the enemy fortifications. As far as getting an accurate reading on that instead of just eye-balling it...

Shooting some plumes of flame in the air in the proper pattern to bring the column to a stop, Xisheng disembarked from Hotcake and walked back towards one of the Overlords that he knew was carrying regular army troops. Upon approach, the driver propped open the door so he could lean out.

"Orders, Commander?"

"I need a veteran archer to disembark. Tell them to be armed."

"Yes, sir."

Xisheng didn't have to wait long for the requested soldier to disembark the vehicle and come to stand before him. "Commander, Corporal Taichi at your service!"

"Thank you, Corporal. How far can you launch an arrow with your bow?"

The soldier took a moment to calculate an answer. "There's some variables involved that affect the distance, but generally the effective range is anywhere between one hundred and fifty to two hundred and fifty meters, sir."

"Perfect. Launch an arrow in the direction of the wall."

With a salute, the archer took a stance and hefted his quite large warbow. Knocking an arrow, Xisheng could see the strain on both the man's face and the yew wood of the bow itself as it bent backwards at full draw. Well, any bow that could launch an arrow as far as described had to be pretty powerful, Xisheng imagined.

The twang of twine and the sharp whistling of the arrow heralded its launch. Xisheng lost sight of it for a moment until it arced high enough in the sky to be seen easily. After coasting for another moment or two, the arrow planted itself into the ground between the Fire Nation forces and the walls of the city. Ironically, it made it about a fourth of the way there, which would be perfect for Xisheng, assuming the shot had gone out as far as it could.

"About how far do you estimate that arrow flew, Corporal?"

"Hmm... can't say exactly, but at least two hundred meters for sure, Commander."

"Good enough for me. Return to your transport, Corporal."

"Yes, sir!"

Walking back to his own command vehicle, Xisheng clambered onto Hotcake and slipped into the hatch, ducking down inside so he could speak to the crew.

"Sergeant, take us forward. We're just a few hundred meters out from our starting position. I'll tell you when to stop."

The driver nodded before setting the tank in motion, at which point Xisheng popped back out of the hatch and used signal fires again to get the column to follow him. With only about two hundred more meters to go, it only took another minute or so for the column to reach the rough location where the arrow had landed, and so, Xisheng gave the signal for the force to stop. The walls dominated almost the entirety of everyone's sight at this point. They were more than close enough for the Earthbenders at the top of the wall to start flinging things at them too.

Yet, no stones came raining from the sky just yet. Feeling relatively safe for the moment, Xisheng launched one, long, concentrated jet of fire into the sky, ensuring that it reached as high as he could muster. After holding this jet for several seconds, Xisheng let it fade away, then glanced to his left and right. For several moments, there was nothing to be seen, but after a while, plumes of flame similar to Xisheng's own erupted in the distance in both directions: signals from Force Ember and Blaze, telling him that they were in position and ready to begin. Though there was probably some room for error, each assault force should have only been about three or so kilometers from their flanks. Close enough that they could communicate and move towards one another if needed, but far enough that they didn't have all of their eggs in one basket.

With no reason to delay, Xisheng shot another signal far into the sky: 'begin operation'. This signal was for both the other assault forces and his own, and with permission granted, the armored column scrambled into action. Regular army troops began pouring out of the Overlords, with dozens of them moving towards the trailers in the back to begin grabbing pieces of the Comet-class trebuchets that would serve as their main weapons. With practiced ease brought about from recent preparations and years of drills, the troopers began quickly moving pieces off the trailers and to standard firing line positions to assemble them. Based on Xisheng's own experiences in the past with such drills, each weapon should have been ready to go in approximately fifteen minutes.

Other soldiers began unloading ammunition and stockpiling it near the soon to be war machines, while even more troops began to grab what seemed to be large steel walls: portable barriers that, while only a few meters tall, would be slanted towards incoming enemy fire and offer some degree of protection for various troops and equipment. More importantly, said walls would offer concealment for their movements.

The tanks moved forward in front of the trebuchet positions, preparing to serve as an interception picket for incoming rocks and boulders. Any projectile that could be destroyed before it reached the Fire Nation lines was one less thing to worry about.

But amidst all of this, there were absolutely no colonials to be seen. Naturally, this was on purpose. They had all been briefed on the plan, which included not disembarking the Overlords until proper concealment had been created. Though Xisheng doubted the guards at the top of Ba Sing Se's walls would be able to see the individual people on the ground well enough to pick out discrepancies in their appearance, the chances weren't zero. Xisheng didn't want them being suspicious of anything that could be avoided, so he intended for the colonials to remain out of sight as best they could manage. They would only go into action after the mobile barriers and the Overlords themselves could be used to shield them from the eyes of the enemy.

With all of this underway, Xisheng didn't notice Azula standing up in the hatch as well to look around. It was a little cramped since there wasn't supposed to be more than one person doing this at a time, but thankfully, she was small.

"Quick and efficient, I see. Though I must admit, being at the foot of such massive fortifications is a bit unnerving."

Xisheng glanced up at the top of the imposing walls. "That feeling is going to be a whole lot worse when they start actually attacking us."

"No doubt. Speaking of which, why aren't they attacking us? I imagine this would be well within their range."

"Well, there are many possibilities, but-!"

Before he could even really begin, Xisheng noted a number of black dots flying forward from the top of the wall. Said black dots began rapidly growing in size, which revealed them to be boulders of decent girth numbering in the dozens. Naturally, Xisheng forgot about his conversation with Azula completely so he could yell out to his forces.

"Incoming! Firebenders, intercept!"

Xisheng's forces scrambled to react to the incoming attack, with Firebenders both in the tanks and on foot launching concentrated fireballs to try and destroy the boulders before they could impact the ground around them. Lances of flame reached into the sky to collide with the earthen projectiles, which soon resulted in a cacophony of deafening explosions. But while dozens of incoming boulders were pulverized into much less threatening pebbles, the Fire Nation defense hardly went without error.

In some cases, the blast of fire that intercepted a boulder just wasn't strong enough to destroy it. In many others, the Firebenders simply missed their targets. It wasn't an easy shot to make, especially when you were worried about getting clobbered by a rock you weren't aiming at. Due to this, plenty of full-size boulders plowed into the earth alongside the dust and pebbles from the ones that had been destroyed. These boulders cratered into the ground, launching waves of dirt into the sky. One particularly close one showered Xisheng and Azula with soil upon landing. Before even thinking about it, Xisheng reflexively pushed Azula back down into the tank. She'd probably be upset about it, but that was the price she paid for not wearing a helmet.

At any rate, Xisheng looked around the battlefield to determine the damage. Most of the boulders had missed anything important. One seemed to have hit an Overlord directly, but had shattered on impact and done little to no damage. A couple of soldiers had been knocked off of their feet or peppered with stone shards, but their armor had kept them safe. All in all, an exchange in which the Fire Nation suffered no real damage at all.

With the chaos temporarily over, Azula wasted no time in pushing Xisheng's hand off of her and popping back up out of the turret, looking none too pleased as she did so. "Excuse you, what do you think you're doing?!"

Despite her ire, Xisheng found himself being rather dismissive in the moment. "Sorry. I really should have made you wear a helmet."

"You don't get to make me do any-!"

This time, it was another soldier on the field who interrupted. "Here comes another volley!"

Like before, the Firebenders present tried their best to intercept the incoming boulders. And like before, while they managed to destroy a good number of them, just as many made it past the interception screen, resulting in more than a dozen impacts on the ground around the force. This time, a few soldiers had to drop parts of the trebuchets and make flying leaps to avoid getting squished. At least one trooper got nailed in the knee by a flying chunk of rock that broke off from the boulder on impact, but for now, that appeared to be the extent of casualties. Quite fortuitous so far, but it was only the second volley. Xisheng knew there would be dozens more to come.

"We need to expedite this process, men! All troopers, focus on erecting the shields in front of the Comet positions first! Then use that cover to erect the siege weapons so we can return fire!"

With a chorus of affirmatives, Xisheng's troops scrambled to do as they had been told, ignoring the siege weapons for now so they could get some shields up instead. At least then, the crews could erect the trebuchets with significantly less interruption. Of course, more boulder came flying at them from the walls even in the midst of this, so some troops stayed ready to intercept what they could. Amidst the chaos, Azula questioned their situation.

"What about those archers of ours? At least get them to fire back!"

Keeping an eye on the situation, Xisheng pointed out the futility of that suggestion. "No point, Princess. Aside from the fact that the walls are more than four hundred meters tall, we're approximately six hundred meters away from them. There's absolutely no way any arrows are going to reach to the top of that thing from here. We're lucky that our siege engines can even make the shots!"

"Then why on earth do we have archers here to begin with?!"

"There will be plenty of things for them to do on the other side of the wall. Keep your head down!"

Xisheng's warning was punctuated by another boulder crashing down dangerously close to Hotcake, though this one took it a step further and bounced off the ground a second time, creating even more danger. Somewhere among the bustling ranks, Xisheng heard a scream of agony, swiftly followed by a request for a medic. Thus broke their good fortune, though he hadn't expected it to last too long anyway.

Thankfully, Xisheng's order to focus solely on the erection of the shield walls soon provided them with some cover to work with. Namely, the soldiers were able to focus more consistently on getting the Comet trebuchets up, even amidst the barrage of stones from the enemy force. While the walls weren't guaranteed to withstand any strike, they could at least endure hits from boulders of the current size being thrown around. Xisheng even got to witness this firsthand as some enemy projectiles smashed into said walls in subsequent volleys. They may have gotten dented, but they withstood the hits.

In the time it took for the Earthbenders on the walls to figure out that their current ammunition wasn't cutting it, the Fire Nation assault force had their trebuchets up and manned, and soon enough, they were launching projectiles of their own back at the enemy on top of the walls. The first two volleys from the Fire Nation side came decently short of their targets, but a bit of trial and error was expected for them crew to get the right information to make adjustments. By the third volley, Xisheng could see interceptions going on near the top of the wall, similar to their own at the base. Earthbenders near the top were doing their best to intercept incoming Fire Nation projectiles with boulders of their own, resulting in airborne explosions shy of the walls themselves. Of course, just like the Fire Nation side, some projectiles still made it through, blowing away pieces of the wall near the top as well.

Once the Fire Nation Comets were offering accurate fire, the situation on the ground improved significantly. Now under fire themselves and forced to divert some attention to intercept the projectiles besides, the volume of earthen projectiles coming at the Fire Nation forces had decreased significantly. They were certainly still under attack, but with a far more manageable number of incoming rocks, far fewer of them were making it through to pose a danger. All in all, this stage of the battle took about thirty minutes to reach.

Now that they had reached a more stable and consistent stage of the combat, Xisheng launched another signal flare for the Overlords behind him to see. They had been sitting still this entire time, dutifully weathering the occasional boulder that managed to hit them. Now though, the drivers had a new order, and the vehicles began driving towards the area directly behind the portable walls and trebuchets. With a bit of driving finesse, they organized themselves into a half circle, with their bay doors all facing away from the walls of Ba Sing Se. When this was accomplished, they wasted no time in opening those bay doors, and a large contingent of colonial Earthbenders (and their lamplight Firebender assistants) held within emerged onto the battlefield, using the cover of the Overlords and portable walls to remain hidden as best they could.

Xisheng didn't have to give any direct commands for this part. The Earthbenders had received a detailed briefing of what they had to do and how they were going to do it before the battle, and the most competent among them had been selected to lead their fellows on the day of the battle. Of course, for Xisheng's personal attack force, that leader was none other than Kori, who wasted little time in getting the attention of all of her comrades.

"Alright everyone, this is it! Break into your designated teams! Don't forget the tunnel parameters: a hundred meters deep, ten meters wide! Keep all slopes at an easily walked angle for the explosive transport, and be as quiet as humanly possible! And remember, if there's a cave-in, do everything in your power to clear it without surfacing! Speed, stealth, and stability are the name of the game. Let's go!"

Though they didn't manage to move with as much organized speed as the regular army troops, thanks to at least some training on this exact scenario, the colonial Earthbenders managed to get things underway at a decent enough pace, spreading out behind the cover of the vehicles and beginning to carve the earth in the necessary fashion to create a tunnel entrance that could be used by anyone. With roughly two hundred Earthbenders at work, the tunnels were well underway in no time at all, though they would need to stretch on for quite some distance before everyone could actually get to work inside of them. For now, the Earthbenders still outside helped remove rocks and dirt from the tunnel that was handed to them by the actual diggers.

Xisheng didn't get to witness any of this personally, as he was still directly commanding his troops near the firing line.

"Divert half of our Comets to fire at the center of the wall! Keep the other half maintaining pressure on the top of it!"

The young officer in charge of the artillery crews questioned this order immediately. "Sir, you want us to divert half of our firepower away from the enemy defenders?"

"The enemy needs to believe that these siege engines are our genuine attempt to breach through the wall. It's not going to be very convincing if we don't actually make an attempt to weaken its integrity. Remember, our goal is specifically to drag out this fight!"

Honestly, Xisheng was a high enough rank now that he definitely had no obligation to explain himself to anyone under his command, but as long as he had the time to afford it, he figured it was a good idea. Soldiers couldn't be informed of the reasoning behind everything all the time, but they tended to fight with a lot more confidence if the orders given to them had reasons they could grasp. All of that said, the siege officer wasted no time in following his orders, and soon enough, half of of the Fire Nation's trebuchets were firing at the middle of Ba Sing Se's walls instead of the top where the enemy soldiers resided.

Unfortunately, this diversion of firepower meant there was now less pressure on the enemy Earthbenders again, and this meant the intensity of their earthen bombardment was increased once more. Furthermore, they seemed to be catching on to the fact that their boulders weren't big enough to inflict the damage they wanted. When the next volley came, the number of projectiles was much less, but they were all around twice as big as before: undoubtedly requiring almost double the Earthbenders to throw to the same distance.

These giant boulders shook the very earth when they plowed into it, throwing soldiers even remotely close to the impact sites off of their feet and sending showers of dirt dozens of meters. One such giant boulder crashed right in front of Hotcake, actually throwing the front wheels up an inch or two before the tank slammed back into the earth. Inside the tank, a jostled Azula actually spoke to the crew of the vehicle for the first time.

"T-that felt immensely dangerous. Exactly how durable is this vehicle, Sergeant?"

Said sergeant may have been nervous speaking to the Crown Princess of his country under normal circumstances, but in the heat of battle, he had a lot more to worry about.

"Not durable enough to survive a direct hit from that, unfortunately! Shit, those boulders might weigh as much as we do!"

In the rear of the vehicle, the junior corporal covered her helmeted face from a spurt of boiling water from the steam engine. Some small leak had ruptured in the pipe at that moment. She'd need to get that repaired ASAP.

"Oi, no swearing! You know how Hotcake gets!"

If there was going to be any response to that, no one got to make it, courtesy of Xisheng practically screaming at them from outside the vehicle, loud enough that it could be heard over literally every other noisy aspect of battle.

"Driver, reverse, reverse now!"

As an experienced tanker, the sergeant leapt into action quickly, shifting gears on the vehicle at lurching it backwards only a moment after Xisheng's command. The reason for Xisheng's urgency became abundantly clear when an earth-shaking impact caused everything in the vehicle to jostle violently, while pieces of small rubble blasted through the driver's port. Though it was hard to notice in the midst of her own rebound, Azula saw Xisheng's body slam backwards into the rim of the command hatch, after which he slid down into the tank along with dozens of pebbles and small stones from whatever impact had just occurred.

Before she could even think of decorum in the face of rank and file troopers, Azula spoke as soon as she had the breath to do so.

"Xisheng! Are you alright?!"

Despite the seemingly severe impact he had taken outside of the vehicle, Xisheng seemed well enough to shake the discombobulation, though doing this allowed Azula to notice that the right side of his face was bloody. Xisheng apparently noticed as well, prompting him to put a hand to his face to check for damage. Thankfully, the wound seemed like nothing more serious than a cut across the cheekbone.

"I think I just caught some rubble to the face. I'm fine. What about all of you?"

Coughing some dust out of his lungs from the front of the vehicle, the driver called back first. "Looks like I got lucky, all the bad stuff missed the giant eyeholes in this fookin' mask."

From the rear of the vehicle, the young female corporal was struggling to contain the prior leak from the steam engine, which had been made worse by the jostling impact. "I'm not hurt, but I'd be doing better if you stopped swearing, Mao! Look how upset you're making Hotcake!"

"Are you sure it's not the giant boulders almost crushing her making her upset, Ling?!"

Honestly, it seemed like these two had completely forgotten that they were in the presence of the Crown Princess. But hell, even Azula herself couldn't blame them. Who had time to worry about putting on appearances in a situation like this? She had more important things to worry about than the casual speech of her soldiers on the battlefield. Now that she had gotten her thoughts in order, she was able to calmly return to the persona she was supposed to be exuding.

"What just happened out there, Commander?"

Xisheng's reply was curt. "Giant boulder. Landed very close."

"How close?"

The slightly older man spared her one more look before sticking his head out of the commander's hatch again. "You don't want to know."

Leaving it at that, Xisheng surveyed the battlefield around him once more. Directly in front of Hotcake, not even half a tank length before them, lie the shattered rubble of a massive boulder that had nearly killed them all. Though Firestorm tanks were tough, they weren't tough enough to beat physics. A boulder the size of the tank itself, falling from a height of almost four hundred meters? They'd have been entirely flattened.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, some of his troops had not gotten so lucky. One of the Comets had been hit directly by a boulder of similar size, absolutely obliterating it and no doubt killing some or all of the crew. One of the portable walls had been crushed as well, and Xisheng was certain that he could see the boot of a soldier sticking out from underneath it.

The sight of it all filled Xisheng with some small despair right away: he had known very well that comrades were going to die in this battle, but they had hardly begun, and they were already suffering many casualties. As his first battle actually in command, it was a tough pill to swallow, knowing that these people were dead because they went into battle on his orders.

On the plus side, Xisheng was surveying the battlefield just in time to see an explosive munition from his trebuchets land directly on top of the walls, blasting away a large chunk of it. Xisheng was certain that he saw a few men falling from the walls and to their doom due to the blast. The sobering sight made it difficult to actually be happy about the successful strike.

Still, more giant boulders were likely to come raining down at any moment, and thus far, they were incredibly dangerous. They were much too large for any of the ordinary Firebending troops to do anything about them. Xisheng had Earthbenders of his own that could have feasibly protected the force, but he couldn't afford to tip their hand to the enemy. If that happened, all of this would be absolutely pointless. But they couldn't last long out here under this bombardment. At least, they certainly couldn't last as long as the tunneling teams needed.

Sliding back down into the tank, Xisheng leveled his gaze at Azula. "Princess, I believe there's something you can do to help the assault along. Do you mind?"

For her part, Azula wasted no time in moving into position to stick her head out of the hatch next to Xisheng. "Not at all. Anything is better than sitting around and waiting to die like this."

With her agreement, Xisheng focused his gaze on the top of the wall. "You remember that giant boulder we destroyed during our naval scuffle?"

Seeing as how that incident wasn't really that long ago, Azula remembered it vividly. "Of course. You want to combine our strength to destroy some of these boulders?"

"No. Use your lightning, or your own compressed firebending if that's easier. We'll be able to intercept more of them if we're doing it separately."

Though now might not have been the best time for it, Azula cocked a curious eyebrow at her companion. "You can compress your firebending well enough to destroy such boulders single-handed now? When did that occur?"

"Well it's not like I know for certain, since I haven't had a chance to test it out on a giant rock. But I've been fitting in practice since taking command whenever I could, even if it was just straining my 'muscles' while reading reports or making plans alone in my room. Figured it would be useful to advance that skill when attacking a city full of Earthbenders. At any rate, I can manage a pretty strong attack if I use both of my hands to compress. I think it'll be enough."

Though she had yet to witness this alleged skill development, Azula had to admit that she would be impressed if Xisheng's assessment was true. "Very well. Let's do this."

Xisheng started lifting himself up out of the tank. "You stay with the tank. Be sure to duck if anything looks like it's going to be too close."

"Well, where are you going?"

"I'm going to stand closer to the firing line. It'll be easier to pick out which incoming threats are the most dangerous and need to be prioritized, making the interception more effective."

"Then I should be in such a position as well!"

To Azula's great surprise, Xisheng leveled a very serious expression and tone of voice at her once he was on the ground beside the tank. Staring right into her eyes, brooking no room for disagreement, he ordered her.

"Stay with the tank, Azula."

He did not wait to get her agreement. He did not wait to hear her answer. In fact, he turned immediately after saying this and marched off towards the firing line of trebuchets, seemingly fully confident in the fact that Azula would listen to him.

Part of the young Princess acknowledged immediately that she should be insulted by the notion. But as she watched Xisheng's receding form, his figure confidently upright and unwavering, she couldn't help but feel compelled to do as she'd been told, a sensation that caught her completely by surprise. Yet, it wasn't unpleasant: maybe this was how it felt to really, truly have total faith in someone's judgment?

Xisheng's approach to the trebuchet line did not go unnoticed by the siege officer guiding their use. Though said officer was clearly surprised by the commander approaching on foot, he didn't issue any orders for the crews to stop firing. Instead, he simply addressed the young man coming his way.

"New orders, sir?"

"No. Continue firing. I'm coming over here to offer additional interception cover from incoming projectiles."

Needless to say, this nonchalant utterance simply confused the siege officer further. "Commander, that task is... beneath a commanding officer, is it not?"

"I'm not going to sit idly by and let my troops die to something I can prevent just because it's 'beneath my station'. Continue the attack."

Still shocked by this behavior, the siege officer nevertheless managed salute. "Y-yes, sir..."

Moving to the middle of the line for the best vantage point, Xisheng ignored a few curious glances from the siege crews as they continued their work. He wasn't sure why the Earth Kingdom troops had held off on another volley for this long, but perhaps they had just needed to replenish their stockpile of rocks to throw. Xisheng doubted they would actually rip stone out of the wall to use for ammo unless they had no other choice, so they had to resupply from somewhere.

As if speaking the threat into existence, a series of huge boulders were launched from the top of Ba Sing Se's walls again. Due to their size, there weren't that many of them (they probably required a large number of Earthbenders to throw this far), but there was still a half-dozen at least, and with the relatively brief window of time between launch and impact, Xisheng doubted that he and Azula would be able to intercept more than two.

Rapidly picking out the boulder that would land closest to the Fire Nation lines, Xisheng placed the palms of his hands close together, birthing an orange flame between them before beginning the process of compressing it. Admittedly, it wasn't as though he had mastered this technique to the level of an expert. He had only been able to moderately improve his skill with it lately, what with the many distractions of being a commander now. At any rate, he knew that he would not be able to bring about the same level of destruction as he and Azula had together back at sea that day.

But as his flickering orange flame was squeezed into a rough sphere and its color changed to an unmistakable bright yellow, Xisheng knew that this was still his most powerful technique as of right now. Nothing else he could do would even come close to destroying these incoming boulders. And besides, though he was certain that he could accrue more power for this technique at some point, Xisheng took some pleasure in noting that the actual act of compressing his bending to this level was fairly easy for him. As Azula had stated once before, with enough practice, things that were once difficult became easy, and a new threshold of difficulty opened itself up to someone.

There was a brief crackle off to Xisheng's right, which was swiftly followed by an arcing bolt of lightning that traveled near instantly towards one of the approaching boulders and blew it into nothing more than dust and pebbles. Xisheng noticed the gasps of shock and awe from most of the srurronding soldiers, but was pleased to see them stay focused on their duties rather than getting distracted for any noticeable length of time.

Following her example, Xisheng unleashed his yellow sphere of flame towards an incoming threat, watching as it lanced towards it with much more speed than any ordinary Firebending blast. A raucous explosion erupted in the air between the Fire Nation Comets and the walls of Ba Sing Se, with decently large chunks of rock flying out of the smoke in all directions. Xisheng's attack had clearly not been as powerful as Azula's: whereas the Princess had turned her target into near dust, Xisheng's target had gone from one giant boulder to rocks that could still pose a threat. Granted, the majority of the remains were no larger than fists, but some were bigger and could still easily kill a man if they hit him at speed.

Even so, those smaller rocks were much preferred compared to the huge boulders. The portable shields of the Fire Nation could block the prior with little issue. Xisheng had hoped for a bit more destruction, but he was satisfied with what he could manage now.

Unfortunately, the other boulders that Azula and Xisheng hadn't had time to destroy still cratered into the earth around the Fire Nation lines, blasting up more soil and debris. But since they had gone out of their way to target the most threatening of the projectiles coming towards them, Azula and Xisheng had mitigated the damage significantly. No equipment was destroyed, and Xisheng couldn't hear anyone calling for a medic in the aftermath, so perhaps no one had been injured either.

Still, as another volley of similar size came at them from the walls of the Earth Kingdom city, Xisheng had to wonder how long he could keep this up. Even though compressed bending wasn't as taxing as it used to be, he knew that doing it over and over again would draw on his reserves of stamina quite quickly. He had no choice but to keep it up, but he knew there was a limit to his ability somewhere in the not so distant future.

Right now, he could only hope that the Earthbenders were making good progress on their tunnels.


"Are you sure we're still going in the right direction?"

The Fire Nation soldier next to Kori, a hundred meters underground, begged this question as she held up a small flame to light the darkness. Kori was at the front of a long procession of Earthbenders in this tunnel, who were moving rock and earth backwards out of the tunnel like a fire brigade. This method ensured that their Earthbending could not be witnessed by anyone on the surface. Kori tried to assuage her comrade's concern as she lifted another chunk of dirt with Earthbending and passed it off to the bender behind her, who would likewise do the same.

"It's a straight line, Yome. I don't know how we could get that far off course."

"It's deceptively easy to get turned around when you lose all frames of reference for direction, Kori."

Kori lifted another chunk of earth. She had performed this same motion probably five hundred times just in the last hour. Despite being fit and experienced with bending, she was already growing winded. This much repetition, and at a consistent rapid pace, would wear anyone down.

"Maybe, but... you know, the walls are huge. We'd have to turn almost completely left or right to miss the target entirely. I don't think... phew, I don't think our tunnel had any big bends like that in it."

The Firebender beside her didn't seem entirely assuaged. "Fair enough, but... even if we reach the wall, if we're too far off from the assault force, won't that be a problem for the commander's strategy?"

While Kori imagined that might be true, it wasn't like there was much that could be done about it right now. Even if they could afford to pop their heads up above ground to check their heading, they were very deep underground. It would take too long to dig a straight vertical path back up there. The best they could do was keep going straight until they hit the target.

Though admittedly, Kori wondered if it was possible to miss it. What if the foundations of the walls weren't even a hundred meters deep? They could go right under it and not even know. Sure, she doubted that walls that huge could have foundations less deep than that, but the possibility wasn't zero... maybe they should have had each tunnel dig at different depths? Would that not increase their odds of success in that regard?

Well, maybe Xisheng had thought about that and ruled it out for some reason. Or maybe he hadn't even thought of it. Even the best commander couldn't think about everything.

"There's nothing we can do but keep digging forward, Yome."

The Firebender at her side said nothing else to that, perhaps agreeing that this was the case. As for Kori, she tried to keep her mind focused on the task before her, while also finding ways to distract herself from the monotony of it all. After all, it was very repetetive: dig a few meters forward, erect some bracing and support, then do it again, over and over. It was about time for her to switch with someone else for the lead position, but not quite yet. Then she could do a slightly easier job of just passing the earth along as a another member in the line.

How was the battle outside going? If the Fire Nation forces had to retreat, how would the Earthbenders down here know that? She doubted that Xisheng would just abandon them out here, but she couldn't help but wonder how that would go down if it had to. Furthermore, how many people had died already, fighting as a distraction while the benders down here did their work? The longer this job took, the more people would die because of it... but even that thought couldn't give Kori more energy than she had.

She couldn't help but wonder if Sneers was safe. She had been ecstatic to find that he was still on the base this morning, having seemingly not gone anywhere or tried to desert or betray them. He'd still seemed unhappy with the upcoming battle, but had made no indication that he didn't plan to partake in it. Kori had honestly felt guilty, considering that she had expected something so bad out of him, only to be proven wrong. It certainly made her feel like a bad partner, to have her distrust in him disproven. Maybe she could apologize, assuming they both made it out of this alive.

But she had no idea what Sneers' role in the battle might have been. As a nonbender, he didn't have much to do right now. Earthbenders were the only ones who could do the tunneling mission, and nonbenders had no weapons that could even be used to attack the walls as part of the diversion, short of using the siege engines. As of right now, Kori had no idea where Sneers was on this battlefield, or how dangerous his task might have been. She hadn't been briefed on that because it wasn't relevant to her mission.

Before her worried thoughts could continue further, the Earthbender behind Kori spoke up in a hushed, but frantic tone.

"Wait! I think I hear something!"

Stopping what she was doing, Kori strained her ears to listen for whatever this something may have been. At first, she wasn't sure that she heard anything. But then, a faint rumbling made itself known, and it was growing steadily louder. For a moment, she wondered if it was a tank or something passing over their tunnel, but she soon realized that it was something much worse than that. Unfortunately, she barely had time to acknowledge the impending cave-in before the ceiling of stone above her head collapsed towards her in a heap of rubble.


Up on the surface, Xisheng was none the wiser to the plight of his Earthbending comrades. Considering the constant explosions and rumbling, there was no way he could hear what was going on down there, and there was no indication on the surface of anything that was happening underground. Besides, he was very busy focusing on interception. By now, he had shot down eight boulders from eight volleys over the past fifteen minutes. Thanks to him and Azula, the enemy's barrage had been heavily blunted across those eight volleys. Though that was not to say that the Fire Nation forces had escaped all damage.

One tank had suffered a near miss from a boulder, tearing its track and wheel spokes clean off. Though the tank could feasibly be repaired at some point, it certainly couldn't be done on the field right now, so the crew had evacuated. Several soldiers had been wounded by debris from impacts, and a few even from the debris created by the boulders Xisheng had destroyed. Only a few troopers had been outright killed by incredibly unlucky blows to the head. Fire Nation helmets were tough, but not invincible.

However, giant boulders were no longer the concern of the hour. Perhaps realizing that their giant boulder approach was being heavily blunted by Fire Nation interceptions, the Earth Kingdom troops at the top of the wall had seemingly settled on a new barrage tactic: small, torso sized rocks shaped into near perfect spheres. They lacked the destructive power of the giant boulders from before, but they posed a different kind of danger. Unlike those giant boulders, these smaller, smoother rocks had a high chance of bouncing off of the ground and continuing forward with deadly velocity. In doing so, they were much harder to dodge consistently, as their path of destruction was unpredictable. Xisheng had already seen one bounce off of the ground and shatter a soldier's leg after careening further into the Fire Nation lines.

Even worse, these smaller boulders were being launched at them in great numbers per volley, and they had much greater range. Many of them managed to sail over the portable walls of the Fire Nation assault force, and bounce into the rear lines where the support vehicles and losgistics crew resided. Whether or not this was intentional on the enemy's part, Xisheng was unsure. For now though, there wasn't much he personally could do about it. The smaller rocks meant most of the regular soldiers could realistically intercept them again, but at the same time, there were so many of them that it was impossible to get them all.

Frankly, Xisheng wasn't sure if this was better or worse than the giant boulders.

For now, he was peeking out from behind one of the portable shields, admittedly somewhat concerned with the series of divets and dents in it. Since he had done a lot of the heavy lifting for the the defense against the giant boulders, he was taking a breather right now, letting his troops focus on defense. They were doing a great job, there were just too many projectiles to get them all. At least half of them were getting through to pose a danger to the battle line. Xisheng was doing his best to predict their incoming trajectory, which was probably why he noticed when one of the earthen spheres bounced off of the ground a few dozen meters ahead, and seemed to be careening right towards an unaware trebuchet crew member but a short distance from Xisheng's person.

Tactically speaking, what Xisheng did next was a bad idea. Objectively, his life was worth more than that crew member, who could be easily replaced. But thoughts like that did not occur to him at that moment. And even if they did, they probably would not have stopped him. Acting on instinct, Xisheng leaped towards the crew member in question, tackling him with the full force of his body.

"Watch out!"

The crew member had barely turned his head to look at him before Xisheng crashed into the man shoulder first, sending both of them to the ground in a twisted heap of limbs just before the stone sphere Xisheng had identified soared past.

Pushing himself to his knees, Xisheng looked back at the projectile that had just missed them, now that it had buried itself into the dirt. The crew member underneath Xisheng followed his gaze in stunned silence, quickly determining what had just happened.

"C-commander...!"

Checking his own person for injury, Xisheng was mildly alarmed to find that his shoulder cape had been torn off, having presumably been caught up in the stone projectile that had almost killed him. Despite the realization that he had come very close to death, Xisheng felt more elated at his survival than troubled. That tended to happen when someone realized how close they had come to their demise.

"Close one, huh? You alright, soldier?"

Xisheng offered a hand to the crew member so he could help him stand up. Said soldier seemed overcome with emotion. Or perhaps he was just flabbergasted by the idea of a superior officer of Xisheng's rank risking his life for a lowly grunt like him.

"Commander, you saved me! W-why?"

"I could hardly call myself your comrade if I would just stand there and watch you die. I'd hope you would do the same for a fellow soldier if you saw them in danger. Now get up, I still need you out here."

"Y-yes, sir, right away!"

With renewed vigor and purpose, the soldier Xisheng had saved returned to his duties without any delay, though Xisheng imagined he may have been more aware of incoming danger from now on. At any rate, the young commander didn't get much time to dwell on it, as a trooper shouted at him from behind.

"Sir, look!"

Glancing over his shoulder, Xisheng saw one of his soldiers pointing at the wall of the city. Following his direction, Xisheng was alarmed to see the unfortunate image of several squads of Earthbenders, using stone platforms and bending to descend from their posts at the top of the wall and towards the ground below. Undoubtedly, they were coming down to the surface in order to get up close and personal with the Fire Nation army.

Ordinarily, Xisheng would not have been too distraught about this. However, this was a big problem, because it meant those enemy Earthbenders were getting four hundred meters closer to the Earthbenders digging Xisheng's tunnels. Moreover, those enemy troops would likely advance towards the Fire Nation lines, meaning they would be right over those tunnels too. There was no guarantee that they would detect them, but the odds were much higher under those circumstances. Xisheng couldn't afford for that to happen, not after all of this.

With a dozen curses on his mind, Xisheng rushed back to his borrowed command tank, clambering onto it without hesitation. Azula was still standing up outside of the command hatch, so he wasted no time in saying what was on his mind.

"Azula, get out of the tank!"

Needless to say, the young royal was surprised by this command. "Excuse me?"

"The enemy is coming down from the walls. We have to charge them and keep them distracted so they don't detect the tunnelers! Get out of the tank and stay here!"

Azula's expression turned to one of disbelief immediately. "I will do no such thing! Are you out of your mind?!"

"Listen, this isn't going to be anything like you're used to! Just stay back here and-"

The young Princess cut him off before he could finish. "Stop! I understand that you're familiar with war and that you're worried! But I can never become competent in it myself if you constantly try to hide me away from it! This is my nation too, and I will fight!"

Frankly, Xisheng was not happy with this sentiment, but as he noticed the enemy Earthbenders being about halfway down the wall, he realized that he had no time to argue. He couldn't risk the success of the entire operation just for Azula's sake. Besides, he knew in his heart already that he could never convince her to see his point of view on this.

"Fine, get in!"

With her argument won, Azula ducked back down into Hotcake. Before doing so himself, Xisheng used his bending to send another signal into the sky for his troops: an order specifically for his tanks and infantry to charge. After doing this, Xisheng hopped into his own tank and actually closed the command hatch over him. No need to expose himself to any more danger than was necessary.

"Driver, forward! Prepare to engage the enemy!"

"Yes, sir, right away! Get ready, Ling, this is gonna get ugly!"

In the rear of the tank, the junior corporal focused on ensuring the engine was running smoothly. "Come on, not again! We only just fixed Hotcake up from last time!"

Despite these protests, Hotcake lurched into action, rolling forward with plenty of other Firestorm tanks at its flanks, and infantry who weren't manning the trebuchets trailing behind. Xisheng's vision was now partially obscured by the hatch he had closed over him, but it still had pretty big holes to look through, since one often had to shoot fireblasts through them. From this new perspective, he could see their Earthbending foes reaching the ground in a cloud of dust from their odd mode of transport. Hopefully, Xisheng's forces would be able to engage them before they had any time to potentially sense something amiss underground.

Considering that the walls of Ba Sing Se were less than a kilometer away, and the fact that both forces were moving towards each other, it wasn't long before the benders of both armies were in range to attack each other. Flames and stones began flying with reckless abandon, an exchange of wrath that Xisheng wasted no time in joining himself. Though he was still tired from intercepting the boulders earlier, he went ahead and started using compressed bending to attack once more. He had no doubt that Hotcake struck a menacing figure on the field: he doubted the enemy Earthbenders had any experience with a tank launching yellow bolts of flame that blasted their walls and barriers to smithereens. They were probably used to feeling a lot safer behind said walls.

Still, Xisheng also knew that Hotcake would be a prime target for the enemy: aside from attacking in a much deadlier fashion than most of the other tanks, it was aesthetically different too. It wouldn't take a genius to figure out that it was a priority target, and that was made very evident as the tank started taking more and more hits from stones and boulders. None large enough to be a major issue, but it was obvious that the enemy had singled out Hotcake within a few minutes of the engagement starting. Xisheng did his best to shoot back at anyone who attacked them, hoping they would be deterred if the idea of getting his attention struck fear into their hearts. People were less eager to attack a foe if they knew said foe could destroy them with ease.

That said, Xisheng didn't feel invincible by any means. Right now, the Earthbenders were far enough away that they couldn't do much other than throw rocks at the Fire Nation tanks. But once they got closer, plenty of far more deadly options would be made available to them, including just burying the tanks in a hole. Because of this, Xisheng was constantly giving the driver orders to maneuver out of their range, or at least what Xisheng perceived to be their range. It wasn't like he was some sort of expert. At any rate, Hotcake hadn't been hit by some massively deadly attack yet, so Xisheng assumed that they were succeeding on that front.

Not everyone was getting so lucky though. Xisheng could see other tanks getting flipped or crushed by massive Earthbending attacks. Fire Nation foot soldiers were doing their best to keep the enemy away from the vehicles, but they too were finding themselves in a great deal of danger. Needless to say, fighting Earthbenders directly on top of a bunch of earth tended to go very poorly, and that was being made evident as Xisheng saw more and more soldiers fall, some more gruesomely than others.

But it wasn't like the Earthbenders were enjoying a one-sided fight either. Walls of stone and dirt were very good at defending against flames, but the Fire Nation had been fighting against Earthbenders for a long time, and they had various techniques and strategies to get around such issues. Xisheng was seeing quite a number of Earth Kingdom soldiers going down in a flailing mass of flaming limbs as well... some of which were courtesy of Xisheng himself.

From the belly of the tank, Azula was doing her best to maintain a sense of composure. While she had been very vehement about being part of the battle, that wasn't to say that she was without fear or anxiety. Especially considering that the hull of the tank did nothing to quiet the horrific sounds of the battle going on outside, which included plenty of screams of agony as people on either side were wounded or killed. Admittedly, Azula had talked herself up internally prior to all of this, telling herself that she was more than ready for the rigors of warfare: after all, if Xisheng had gotten through it just fine at her age, there was no reason she shouldn't have been able to do the same.

Maybe it was her fault for assuming that Xisheng had 'gotten through it just fine'. He may have survived his years of combat, but had he truly emerged from them unscathed, on a psychological level? In some ways, one might say that being able to cope with this type of situation was a sign of abnormality in and of itself.

Looking up at him from her position at the bottom of the tank, Azula noted Xisheng's gritted teeth and furrowed brow as he continued to charge yellow spheres of flame before shooting them out of the tank hatch. She couldn't help but wonder how many people he was killing with each one, and whether or not it really had no effect on him at all. Or maybe he just bottled up whatever he felt about it and buried it deep and away.

Undoubtedly, this was a side of him that she had not really been exposed to before now. He'd always talked about his familiarity with war, always said that this was the type of thing he was used to, but to actually see him in this element painted the young commander in a new light. Oddly enough, Azula found that light weirdly comforting. She was used to being in control, and in being unfazed by any problem that came her way. She was used to most everyone else being incompetent, or at the very least, no better than she was in handling a problem.

Now that she was in the midst of an actual battle in a real war that wasn't something happening on paper and in politics back home, Azula could admit that she was completely out of her element and was in no way confident in any of this, short of knowing how to fight. So having Xisheng be so assured and confident in taking control of this chaotic and lethal situation was comforting. She felt safer and more assured herself, knowing that he was there and in charge: even though he was 'in charge' even over her.

She wasn't used to being subservient to anyone other than her father, but taking all of this into account, she was weirdly content with the idea when it came to Xisheng. Maybe it had something to do with a man actually having confidence and command that was legitimately supported by his skill and intelligence. Either way, it was one hell of a confusing and foreign feeling for someone who had been above almost everyone else throughout her entire life, but now probably wasn't the best time to do emotional inventory.

Xisheng was naturally not privy to any of this. He was still trying to keep an eye on the entire battle around him, wondering what strategic play would be best. He didn't want to retreat, because that would endanger the tunneling crews, upon which the entire plan hinged. But then again, if the assault force was annhilated here trying to protect those crews, the plan would be a failure anyway, because there would be no one to attack and secure the breach. Even if the Earthbender members of the force escaped unscatched, there weren't enough of them to pull that off.

For now, the Fire Nation battle line was holding, but so was the Earth Kingdom one. Fire, stone, and arrows filled the sky between the two armies, maiming or killing young boys and old men alike. How many losses could Xisheng afford to sustain before the plan was doomed to fail? Sure, there was still Force Ember and Blaze, but as of right this moment, he had no idea how the battle was going for them. If they had been bombarded by giant boulders as well, they would not have had Azula and Xisheng's aid to mitigate that, so they may have been even worse off.

The truth was, Xisheng had confidence in his strategy, but he didn't know how many people he was willing to sacrifice to try and pull it off. A pyrrhic victory would essentially be the same thing as a defeat. He needed to have enough troops after this was over to actually carry out further operations, as it wasn't like reinforcements from the Fire Nation and its holdings would arrive immediately following the wall's destruction.

If he could just convince the Earthbenders of the enemy that they would be better off returning to a defensive strategy...

Opening the hatch to his command vehicle, Xisheng glanced around for the nearest Fire Nation trooper, calling out to one who was just moving past Hotcake to engage the enemy.

"Trooper! Return to the siege line and order the siege officer to redirect fire from the Comets towards the enemy ground forces!"

The addressed soldier shouted an affirmative before turning on his heel and rushing back towards the Fire Nation rear line, probably overjoyed to be leaving the fight for a brief moment. Hopefully, the addition of all that firepower would convince the enemy to retreat back towards their fortifications. Now, he just had to continue the fight until the friendly bombardment began...

But before he could turn his attention back to the enemy, Xisheng felt a sickening lurch in his stomach as he, along with the entirety of Hotcake, was flung into the air, undoubtedly from an earthen spike erupting underneath them. Having been halfway out of the tank at the time, Xisheng's body was flung clear of the vehicle, and for a moment, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Friendly soldiers dived away from the flying tank to avoid being crushed. The Fire Nation banner that had been hung over Hotcake had been thrown clear, fluttering in the wind beside it. Pieces of the track, presumably shattered by the Earthbending strike, flew in all directions. Despite the seeming slowness of all this occurring, Xisheng only had time to spare a single thought of fear for Azula's safety before crashing into the earth and being consumed by the darkness of unconsciousness.


"Ain't war hell?"

Anyway, here we are, finally at the battle that had been prophesized all that time ago. I hope that it has lived up to everyone's expectations so far, though obviously, it's not over yet. I figured it would be best to have a cliffhanger here and save the rest of it for next time, especially since this chapter was somewhat expedited compared to normal update scheduling.

If it feels like we're straying too far from the romance and relationship building that has carried this story thus far, don't worry. For one, I'm sure you all noticed that I still worked some of that into even this chapter. Two, those aspects aren't going away just because they've been a little out of focus lately. The travails of war will be used as a springboard for more relationship development, make no mistake about that. I know how important that has been to the story and how important it is that it maintains a major role in it.

Anyway, speaking of writing and expediting chapters and all of that good stuff, I'll be honest with you guys. The reason chapters take so long is mostly due to my financial situation. I work on an hourly commission type basis, meaning I generally spend 40 hours a week writing for work. Needless to say, that doesn't leave a whole lot of time to write for fun instead. That is to say, if I could make ends meet in other ways, it would open up a huge amount of time to write this story instead. For instance, if every person who had this story added to their alerts was willing to sacrifice a single dollar per month, that would open up roughly 80 hours a month for me to focus on writing this. At that point, updates could very, very easily consistently come around in two-week intervals or even less.

Now I'm not begging for funding or anything. This story is immensely popular, and I enjoy writing it, just from a purely 'hobby/passion' standpoint. So no matter what happens, I will continue to write it. But as they say, time is money, and if I have to choose between supporting my family and indulging in a hobby, it's obvious that I have to go with the prior. All I'm saying is, if you really enjoy my work as a writer and would be willing to make even a small contribution to my livelihood, every little bit adds just a little more free time to write more content. You can find a way to do that on my profile page if you so desire.

But I know not everyone can do that. And I also know that none of you have any obligation to do so. Understand that I am already immensely grateful to all of you for reading this story, even years after its beginning. At the end of the day, I am just glad to have so many people enjoying what I create.