Aegis
The tank lurched forward with a sudden jolt before steadying into its forward charge, all blood rushing to my brain, my focus centered dead ahead on the world that awaited me outside of Shanzi's gunner port, the enemy ahead, fortified, waiting for us, all of it reminding me of one thing–it had begun.
I had to squint my eyes to prevent the wind from howling in through the narrow slits of my helmet and into my eyes, but even with them nearly shut, ahead of me, I could see the smoke and fire of enemy artillery firing into the air, and our own crashing into the ground.
"Ready for impact!" I heard Boss shout from the cockpit.
The Earth Kingdom was trying to halt our advance, a wall of fire and steel heading directly towards them; it wouldn't work. Explosions rocked the ground to our sides, a flaming boulder of earth fired from a catapult leading directly beside us, a shower of cinders landing atop our hull, doing nothing to stop our push. Nothing would, not as we were only thousands, hundreds, tens of feet away.
I allowed my eyes to open fully now, felt the warmth in me grow, new life, new spirit, the fight approaching all I was in that moment.
I saw projectiles of Earth launch from foxholes alongside arrows and other missiles, but none of them would be enough. They were beginning to recognize as much, myself catching sight as one man, then ten, then dozens, and even hundreds would begin stepping out of their foxholes as we approached, turning our backs to us, and beginning to run, but it was too little too late.
"And here we go," I just barely heard Zek mutter beneath his breath.
Ahead of us, one such soldier had stepped out of his hole, his back to us as he ran, possibly to another foxhole, possibly as far back as the auxiliary trench, but he wouldn't make it two steps out before our tank struck him, rolling over him entirely to the point I could have sworn I felt his bones crack beneath the weight of our metal behemoth.
I didn't linger on it. I turned my turret to the left, towards the very foxhole he'd run out of, and found there three men who just seconds ago he'd been sharing this hole in the ground with. Only one of the men had shaken off the shock quick enough to realize what mortal peril he was in, but it wouldn't be quick enough. I fired a stream of flame from my hands into the hole, roasting its inhabitants where they sat for all but the three seconds it took for them to stop squirming, dead now.
Looking ahead to our left, I could see as other tanks no dissimilar from ours smashed into the lines of foxholes, torching them as though lighting bonfires. I swung my turret right, met with the sight of an Earth Kingdom soldier stepping out of his hole to try and fire an arrow at us. Pathetic an attempt that it was, he wouldn't even get the chance to loosen his arrow before a bolt of fire from my hand had pierced through his chest.
"We're clear!" I shouted. "Go!"
We didn't have time to bring our tank to a stop. And perfectly on cue, we moved. Our objective wasn't to clear the foxholes. We had a higher priority target yet ahead of us–the auxiliary trench line. Our objective was simply to scatter the Earth Kingdom's defenders, to blitz through their position and send them running so that our infantry, close behind us, could finish up the job.
I had no idea where in the assault the 114th was stationed, if even they were. They'd already been sent into hell the night before to help in bringing down the wall, and so they may very well have been in the reserves for this operation if not recovering in the rear.
For some reason though, I had my doubts. They would be here, fighting. I had no idea just where they would be in the line, but I told myself that they were right behind us, and that every foxhole I rooted the Earth Kingdom out of, every soldier I burned to ashes, it would be one less obstacle standing in their way.
We pushed ahead, rolling straight over another Earth Kingdom foxhole. I turned my turret to our rear in time to catch an Earth Kingdom soldier in the arm with a bolt of fire before he could dive into cover.
My focus was diverted, however, by a sudden thud against Shanzi's right. Turning my turret again, now to our starboard, I saw the perpetrator, an Earth Kingdom soldier, prepared to launch another attack until a second later he was caught in the explosive volley of another Fire Nation tank.
I didn't sulk over the stolen kill, instead turning my attention back ahead of me.
Another volley of friendly artillery fire was coming down atop the Earth Kingdom's auxiliary trench line, in range of our artillery by merit of the elevation granted by their captured wall. They returned fire, now towards the wall but towards us, as I supposed was reasonable. We braced for impact as the first volley fell upon us, narrowly missing our tank as I could hear the metallic explosion of another off to my side, indicating that another tank hadn't been so lucky.
"Guess they moved their arty back after all, huh?" Zek commented from the cockpit in response to a point of contention between the crew of the Shanzi earlier. A fragment of our hope had been on the possibility that the Earth Kingdom, overconfident perhaps in their ability to hold us at bay with this cluster of foxholes, may also reinforce this position with artillery, allowing us to easily seize and destroy their higher-yield weaponry,
That now seemed not to be the case, however, such weapons moved further back, used against us now, even if such meant their own men were caught in the crossfire.
I watched a flaming boulder come down upon the field, striking a foxhole of Earth Kingdom soldiers rather than any one of our own, just one projectile out of hundreds raining down.
"They really don't care about their own guys, do they?!" Zek exclaimed as we continued thundering ahead, myself catching a pair of Earth King soldiers fleeing from their hole in an effort to escape a harrowing mix of their own artillery and our storming masses.
Something about it was wrong, and not just from an ethical standpoint of allowing their men to be caught in their own artillery bombardment. Why the hell not bring all of their men back to their auxiliary line, far more defensible than whatever the hell this is?
The thought lingered in my mind, even as I torched another soldier who'd been brave, or perhaps simply foolish enough to try and throw a grenade at our tank. I'd burned him on the spot, the explosive detonating in his hands, blowing himself apart.
I was at any moment expecting some explanation behind the Earth Kingdom's move. Were we rolling into some trap unbeknownst to us all, waiting to be unveiled once our infantry had moved into place, or perhaps an intensification of artillery to catch us in the act as we slaughtered their men like sheep to a slaughter, but no such surprise had come yet, and with every minute that we cut down the retreating men without regard, I wondered more and more if it would.
Did the Earth Kingdom really believe they could recover the wall like this? I asked myself. Did they really think they stood a chance of pushing us back once we had taken it? Perhaps it hadn't even been their intent. We'd rained hellfire upon them all throughout the night, not given them a chance to move back to their trench line if even they'd wanted to. We'd cornered them into this killing field, and now we reaped the slaughter we had sewn.
It was a grim thought, but such was war. We rolled ahead and I felt ourselves trample over another soldier's now lifeless corpse. I was in no position to question my station. We had it easy. We delivered death to the enemy from inside an armored landship, paving the way for those who had the real fighting ahead of them–the infantry.
We stormed ahead still, and my mind went to those who would be following us soon–the 114th and the men of Citadel.
Give 'em hell.
Danev
We ate the dust of the armored charge, storming ahead to clear the ground for us as we now did the same, swords and spears raised, putting one foot in front of the other, unable to see past the growing cloud of kicked-up dirt, knowing only that beyond it, the enemy waited for us.
It was all that those of us in the 114th could do to not breathe in the dust that lay heavy in the air as we ran forwards into the abyss that awaited us. Some of us had been wise enough to don their gas masks before hand, or at the very least wrap their faces in the scarves that'd helped to stave off the winter cold.
Not me. I knew what awaited us, and I was now one who would now be liable to indulging in momentary comfort in exchange for what would be visibility later, my periphery cut off entirely by a gas mask, or the danger of a scarf getting caught in the middle of the fight. I regretted it now of course as I squinted so hard I could just barely make out the point of my spear ahead, but I knew it would be over soon.
We were approaching.
I could see the yellow and orange glint of fire beyond the dust, could hear the scream of agonized men being burned alive in their trenches, and the storm of steel of those of us infantry who had already reached the enemy.
I took a moment to take a mental account of those at my side. There was Chejuh to my right, Mano to my left. Beyond them, there was only dust.
It didn't matter. We would have to trust each and ever one of us to do our jobs, and to come out of this alive.
I approached further to the ongoing sound of the battle, and the wall of dust break, myself only a foot away from a foxhole in front of me, two soldiers inside, looking behind their shoulder at the advancing tank, and only just now turning to notice me, their guards down. I did not hesitate in the slightest.
I stepped forward, thrusting my spear into the chest of the man, or rather, boy who had turned first to see me. It found him direct in his heart, and he slumped over dead. The second man only had a moment to turn and see me before Chejuh's blade found his neck, slicing a red line of blood from one end to the other before he dropped dead to the ground.
We did not stop for an instant. Not to verify death, nor to loot, nor to celebrate. We moved. I stepped out of the foxhole and rushed forward, thrusting my spear into another unsuspecting Earth Kingdom soldier with such a speed he was brought to the ground, myself atop him.
I stood again to bring my spear out of him when another Earth Kingdom soldier, this one an archer, took sight of me. His eyes wide, I saw as he nocked an arrow, not even having time to pull back the string before a cascading trail of earth creeping along the ground found him, jutting upwards at the last moment to knock the soldier right upside the chin, damn near separating his head from his neck. It jerked back with such a violent snap that spelled only death, and he dropped to the ground.
My spear finally free, I continued forward, watching as Chejuh shoved his sword into the back of an Earth Kingdom soldier unfortunate enough to find himself on the ground. Whether Shozi had found him or sent them there mattered not. The man was dead either way.
Such was the state of many of the Earth Kingdom soldiers we came across, and how could I blame them. They were lost, dazed, confused, battered by artillery throughout the night, struck by a lightning wave of tanks with the morning sun, enveloped in a cloud of dust the second after, and now being set upon by a hostile army on their doorstep.
They were confused. They were scared. And we were slaughtering them.
One soldier who I'd thought dead lept from where he'd been lying on the ground, a knife in hand. He'd been slow, and so I had caught his armed wrist in one hand, shoved my spear so deep into his unarmored stomach that it came out the other end, and the boy fell to the ground, the look in his eyes indicating that he hadn't yet been given the time to process why the world around him was burning. Few, if any here, would get that chance.
The dust was beginning to clear, enough so that I could see the rears of our still-advancing tanks in the distance, fire sprouting from their turrets as they caught Earth Kingdom defenders in their holes, not even bothering to stop, moving monstrosities of steel and fire.
And Fluke was in one of those, delivering fiery, agonizing deaths to scores of men unfortunate enough to have found themselves on the wrong side of the wall.
And to think that just over a year ago, he would've shivered at the sight of me, a monster in his eyes. Now, I found myself almost being the one who was afraid. I put the thought out of my mind. It wasn't anything to dwell on, not when he was just doing his job, same as I was. We were soldiers fighting the last battle of a war that'd been waged nearly a hundred years longer than it ever should have.
The dust settled, and I could better see now the soldiers of Dragon platoon, storming through the Earth Kingdom lines. They too had been scattered by the dust, but now that I could see them all, we needed to organize, concentrate our efforts towards piercing through the Earth Kingdom's lines.
"Dragon!" I shouted. "On me! Maintain adv-"
I was cut off by an earthbender's boulder just barely missing my face by half a foot. Perhaps I shouldn't have been advertising my standing as an officer by barking orders, but it was too late for that. I could see the bender now, emerging from a trench. He'd zeroed in on me. He would have launched another boulder at me too had a bang not erupted in the air and he'd slumped over dead, a gaping hole in his dead.
The author of the man's demise was Shozi, stood a dozen feet away, arquebus in hand, smoke still retreating from the barrel. He kept his head low as he approached, a cocky smile on his face.
"What was that, sir?" he asked. "You were saying something?"
I did not entertain his jest, not as we were starting to take more concentrated fire.
Our tanks had passed us, on their way now to provide suppressing fire on the Earth Kingdom trench line lest we continue to be beset by the Earth Kingdom's artillery. Their passing had, however, allowed the rear foxholes of the Earth Kingdom's position to reorganize and begin mounting a solid defense against our infantry. We would need to uproot them. One way or another.
I looked over Shozi's shoulder in search of Chejuh, staff sergeant of Dragon platoon. I found him, tossing a grenade into a foxhole before retreating, and letting it explode behind him, chunk of shrapnel, or what very well could have been the foxhole's prior defenders, flying away.
"Chejuh!" I called out, getting his attention as I now took cover with Shozi in the same foxhole that'd once housed the earthbender who just tried to take my life.
His attention turned to me, and he ducked just in time to avoid an Earth Kingdom crossbow bolt before rushing over to me. I called out again for the others. "Dragon! On me! Get to cover!"
I could make out a good chunk of our platoon: Shozi, headed towards me now, Mano, bending up a wall of earth to protect himself as well as Murao who was tending to an injured Tosa, Asaih who was attempting to establish a firing position alongside Demee and Tisai, but was being pinned down by suppressive fire.
We were in close enough proximity that I knew their attention was on me. We were being pinned down, as was, by the looks of it, a good deal of our company. I could make out Elephant in the distance struggling to avoid being hit by Earth Kingdom rapid fire, limited, though effective. We could very well have overrun them with sheer numbers, but not without a severe cost to our ranks.
"Chejuh," I said again from where I was lying down in my foxhole beside him and Shozi, now that the man was beside me. "See where the hell that's coming from?"
He peeked up, the concentration of Earth Kingdom fire presently on our bundle of new replacements. He scanned the horizon, then brought his head down again, saying, "Earth Kingdom pillbox, eleven o'clock. Got a rapid fire shooter there."
"Just the one?" Shozi asked.
"S'all I see."
I looked to myself, scanning our lines for Mano, and found him supporting the weight of an earthen barrier to allow for Murao to bring Tosa back to the nearest foxhole. I called his attention. "Mano!"
He turned to face me.
"Earthbender pillbox! 11 o'clock. See it?"
He had no need to actually put his head in the line of fire to investigate. All it took for the man was to plant his hand firmly on his conjured barrier, close his eyes, and sense. I had just begun to grasp the extent to which the man could see without being seeing, such an ability having been a necessity for us in Ba Sing Se's wall, but was only really now beginning to gain an appreciation for how useful too it proved in combat.
He opened his eyes, looked at me, and nodded. "I see it!" Want me to draw 'em out?!"
"When I give the order!" We would need to time this right after all.
I looked at Shozi now, and said, "Get a line of cannoneers trained on that pillbox. Once Mano tears it down, wait for my order, and open fire, clear?!"
"Yes, sir!" he answered back, looking above the foxhole's lip to find his opening before leaving to sprint towards the mass of our men, quickly assembling them while still in cover to prepare to form a firing line. I saw as their bladed weapons went away in exchange for the hand cannons slung around their backs.
A quick inspection that their weapons were loaded later and the men were simply awaiting an opening to fire. I would give them that.
"Mano! Bring it down!"
Mano, still looking at me, nodded, and now stepped out of cover, reaching out with his senses to find the anomaly in the earth, a stone pillbox providing cover to an earth bender and his gunnery crew, and he tore it down, an unmistakable rumble and cloud of dust indicating its collapse.
Shozi and his men left cover, assuming firing position, and just in time too. From the cloud, its occupants stepped out, first one, then two, then five, gasping for air, struggling to reclaim their senses, any one of them possibly having been the earthbender giving us hell. Or, he could already have been buried in the rubble, but I would take no chances.
"Fire!" I shouted.
"Line 1, fire!" Shozi echoed, and four hand cannons blasted.
3 soldiers went down, struck solidly, the other two just now beginning to realize what was happening, though not soon enough.
"Line 2!" Shozi shouted again. "Fire!"
And as line one knelt down, line two stepped up, and over their comrades' heads, fired.
The last 2 Earth Kingdom soldiers went down, the pillbox and its defenders cleared. I didn't waste a moment.
"Dragon platoon!" I shouted. "Out of cover, advance!"
Be it the men hiding in foxholes or those who had provided our relief, the whole of Dragon Platoon was one again, forming up in a shared advance towards the rear of the Earth Kingdom's foxhole defenses, nearing total abandonment.
Either its occupants had already been cut down, or had somehow managed to flee, but Dragon faced little resistance left in its advance as we drew closer to our line of tanks, side by side one another, firing volleys of flame towards what must have been the Earth Kingdom auxiliary trench line.
We dared not approach the tanks too close just yet on account of the fact that they were also, at present, the sole target of said trench line's artillery, one boulder after another falling down upon their position, some hitting, though most being misses.
We'd reached our first checkpoint, and so Dragona assumed cover once again, watching as the metal behemoths on the hill ahead of us launched fireball after fireball towards the enemy, paving the way for what would soon be another assault, as we all suspected, but proof would come soon enough, now in the form of Rulaan, of all people.
The 114th's captain did not hide his presence to us as he approached and said, confirming what we already suspected, 'Initial assault has succeeded! We're continuing to phase 2!"
"We following up an armored charge, sir?!" I asked over the sound of artillery coming down upon us, wondering if this next attack would indeed mimic the first.
Rulaan, however, shook his head. "We're offering direct support to armored, going in together! Whistle is in three. Get in position!" With that, Captain Rulaan left, off to bring the word to the next company after us.
Going with the tanks then, I thought to myself. It was hardly a desirable position, but it made the most sense. Our tanks alone bypassing an enemy trench line, it would just leave them vulnerable targets from the rear. They would need us now more than ever, and so the least they could do was offer some support as well.
"Dragon!" I shouted, turning towards my men, a quick count confirming we were still at full strength minus Tosa who'd been sent to medevac. "We're advancing! Stack up four by ten behind the nearest tank! Stay close and advance with them! Use the tank for cover!"
"Use the tank for cover!?" Chejuh shouted. "Are you serious?! They're the ones attracting all the heat!"
"You rather take on the artillery in the open?! I shouted back, a flaming Earth Kingdom boulder landing a few dozen feet away in a brilliant fireball as though only to emphasize my point at the perfect moment.
"Fair point," he muttered. And so, all argument aside, I turned to Dragon once again, and repeated my order. "Behind the tank!" I shouted once more. "Now! We have a trench to take!"
Aegis
There was a tremble beneath the Shanzi as it came to its stop, a familiar one too. I didn't need to use my imagination to imagine what sight awaited me, not as I turned my turret to the left and was met with the sight of a smeared blood trail that led from the Shanzi's port side treads to a man who crawled on the ground in Earth Kingdom uniform, pulling himself along the ground one handful of dirt at a time, and missing both legs.
How the man was still hanging on to life after having lost both legs, so dedicated so as to try and crawl forward out of the way of danger, one foot at a time closer to the auxiliary trench, was a mystery to me, one that could likely be attributed to adrenaline and perhaps a lack of realization of how much, or rather, little of him was left. The rest of his existence would be short-lived, but a hellish one of agony nonetheless, and so I put him to rest, shooting a spout of fire towards him, consuming the man entirely until all movement came to an end.
"We clear, Aegis?" came a voice from the cockpit. It was Boss asking, likely having observed the blast of fire from above.
"We're clear!" I yelled back in answer.
And we were, at least for the time being.
"How's it looking ahead?"
I turned my turret, and scanned the terrain
We'd made our way to the rear of the Earth Kingdom's first leg of defenses–their scattered arrangement of foxholes. Armored units had stormed through near entirely uncontested, but for a few minimal casualties, and had now reached the elevation that marked the end of the foxholes.
Atop these hill, the Earth Kingdom had, at the very least, been smart enough to place a few dugouts for rapid fire earthbenders as well as some low-yield artillery, but had pulled them out back to the auxiliary line in time to avoid being completely tramped over by us, which was a damned shame, but did, at the very least, allow for a separate opportunity entirely, set as per our pre-established orders.
"Alright, you know the drill," Boss said. "Hizo, get Aegis within firing range of their line and lock us in!"
"Digging in!" Hizo replied.
The tank shifted forward only the few feet required before coming to a sudden stop, and I could feel the emergency brakes of our tank shifting in. We must have moved only a foot and a half forward, but up the slope that guarded the rear of the Earth Kingdom's foxhole line as we now were, I was afforded from my elevated platform the perfect picture of what awaited us.
There must have at least been two-hundred yards between us and the distant Earth Kingdom line. I could see where the land diverted downwards, forming the first trench line, then were it did so, forming another what could have just been a few yards behind. Then, pillboxes, at least one ever half-hundred yards. And behind that all, catapults, trebuchets, and stolen artillery pieces.
Yeah; that's the Earth Kingdom auxiliary line alright.
"We dug in?!" I asked below me to the Shaniz's crew, awaiting the confirmation to begin laying down fire
The Shanzi came to a final halt, and the order came.
"Open fire!" Boss commanded.
And so I did. There was no way of making a certified claim that my tank had been one of, if not the first to begin opening fire, but with 200 yards of empty killzone between me and them, it certainly did feel as though I was alone there, firing that first blast of fire towards the enemy.
Of course, that hadn't been the case. Beside me to either direction were dozens more thanks just like mine, now finally reaching position, setting down their hard brakes, and opening fire on the Earth Kingdom's position. They had been hammering us all throughout the morning, at the cost of even their own allies' lives, and now, we were returning the favor.
Shanzi buckled with each concentrated blast of fire that I sent forward. At a glance below me, I could see Zek bracing with his arms against the walls for support, Hizo in the back holding on the wall's handholds, and Boss, trying to remain stoic as he could, grasping onto his seat.
I could not speak as to the efficacy of my attacks, the burst of fire seeming to disappear into distant explosions beyond such a point that I could no just how much damage they were dealing. I had to believe though, that one way or another, I was giving them a pain in their side, and that between the line of tanks that hammered their lines, they were being given one hell of a beating.
Because a beating was what they would need to keep their attention off of us as we continued to push forward.
Infantry was catching up with us, as I noticed from my periphery as troops began reaching our tanks.
The foxholes must be good and cleared then, I thought to myself as I turned my attention back to the auxiliary line, and conjured up another great ball of flame to send at them. I wondered just where the 114th was, if they were somewhere down the line by perhaps hundreds of yards, or if perhaps it was them right now reaching the rear of our tank, stacking up behind us.
We'd been made aware of the plan ahead of time. We knew there would be a good stretch of killing fields between this series of foxholes and the Earth Kingdom's earnest fortified position. Such a field was undoubtedly the target of the enemy's adjusting artillery, ready to rain down hell upon us with catapults, cannonfire, and rapid earthbender projectiles.
Our artillery atop the wall wasn't in range to reach this new trench line, which had left us with 2 options, to either dig in and ready ourselves for a protracted series of trench warfare, or advance regardless. And the Dragon of the West had chosen the latter.
It was hardly a decision that upset me, putting me face to face with the enemy as soon as what possible, but that didn't mean the general was keen on getting his men killed, and so the only way that had been available to him to advance without sacrificing his entire force had been as we were doing now–battering their lines with our tanks in the hope of disorganizing their artillery, and then advancing forward, our tanks acting as mobile cover for our infantry.
I heard the knock of a plated fist against the side of our tank–our signal.
"Ready to move again?" came Boss's voice.
I felt the tank stagger as Hizo disengaged the emergency brake, and we rolled a few small inches down the incline before catching ourselves lest we roll over our own men in cover behind us.
"Set!" Hizo yelled back in response.
So, the wall of iron began to move. The sound of just one tank whirring into action would have been enough to hear from over a hundred yards away, but with what must have been at least over a hundred all setting back into motion at the same time, the sound was something not off this world, more akin to that of what I imagined a whale call must sound like from what I'd been told by fishermen passing through Taisho, an inhuman whirring of gears turning and treads digging through dirt as they rolled forward.
And this sound accompanied by the unending bombardment of fire emitting from our turrets, we resembled more an untamed bush fire than a simple advance of soldiers. We pushed ahead, firing at the Earth Kingdom lines as they struggled to return the favor.
If ever there was an indication of the efficiency of our advance, then it was how long it took the Earth Kingdom to respond, even in spite of the slow rate at which we were advancing in order to ensure the soldiers behind us remained safe. They were our priority now–the men who would be deployed straight into the Earth Kingdom trenches to unleash hell, and though I had no way of knowing, I told myself that it could very well be Dragon platoon stacked up behind us, the Shanzi the only thing between them and Earth Kingdom firepower, because it did indeed begin, though it took its sweet time.
The catapults were the first to respond, our forces already at close enough range that their trebuchets would need to be moved back, and out of range enough that their rapid earthfire could not yet begin, though that didn't stop a few early birds from trying.
A boulder crashed down to the ground a few yards away, the shudder it sent through the earth resonating even within the Shanzi. Then more came down, an orchestra of desperation on the Earth Kingdom's behalf as one came down after the other without even a thought to adjust for our hastening advance. Most overshot the tanks of our advance, a few striking down near enough to scatter some groups of infantry, but the effort was, for the most part, in vain.
When we passed a certain point, however, the Earth Kingdom's second line of defense picked up, and so they began their rapid-fire defense, a means of assault we'd been subjected to more than one. The two-man team of earthbender and soldier manned a cylindrical firing tube resembling one of our hand cannons, the soldier operating its aim while the earthbender focused on sending a near-constant stream of earthen projectiles with harrowing accuracy through said tube. Such a thing had cut down entire platoons of Fire Nation soldiers in the past, and the weapon was something to be feared, but with a moving barrier of armored units standing between our infantry and the enemy's gunners, the earthen projectiles simply plinked off of our hull with harmless ptangs.
It did not mean total safety, however, and I could hear the sound of the viewport shutter closing partially to reduce the opening that could spell certain death for them should a lucky projectile find its way in.
Opening fire on the Earth Kingdom as I was, I was not prone to afford myself the same luxury, not while I needed as much of an opening as possible to fire not only in front of me, but partially to the sides as well should Earth Kingdom gunners attempt to get the angle on our infantry. It happened more than once, but fortunately, armored was taking notice and no longer restricting their fire to what was simply in front of them, but rather, whatever posed a risk to our men.
This did, however, increase us as a target.
I fired a blast of fire ahead of me and slightly to the right, striking a segment of trench where a gunner had been attempting to get an angle on the platoon to the Shanzi's rear. I saw the explosion emerge right where I had intended it, and a second later, felt a piercing hit to the back of my head, jolting the entirety of it forward. My neck hurt from the sudden jolt, and I must have grunted, or screamed, or done something because Boss asked a moment later, "Aegis! You alright?"
I was alive to hear him ask that so clearly I must have been, albeit dazed. I reached for the back of my head, expecting the wet of blood, but felt only the metal of my helmet and then, something that shouldn't have been there–the jagged corners of a rock. I pried my fingers around its edges and removed it with some effort, holding it now in front of me, and then turned, seeing that directly behind me, on the interior of my turret, was a pronounced dent in the metalwork.
The damned rock had shot through my firing hole, past me, into the wall behind me, and ricocheted into the back of my head, with enough speed to have killed me if it wasn't for the helmet.
Spirits, I thought.
"Aegis!" Boss yelled again.
"I'm fine!" I finally answered, turning back around to man my station as I pocketed the rock, a nice memento to remember to always keep my helmet on.
I shook my head to snap myself out of it, and returned to my duties, praying that such a shot wouldn't come as close as the last one had.
Fortunately, the Earth Kingdom's window of opportunity to deal such a blow was waning. The Earth Kingdom line was only a couple dozen yards in front of us, that distance shrinking quickly.
I was eye to eye with an Earth Kingdom firing crew, likely the selfsame one that had nearly taken my life, and when we were within a dozen yards, close enough for me to see the widening of their eyes, I let the fire within me build, ignoring the pain that lingered in my right arm for an injury that they, the enemy, bore sole blame of. I wondered if they could see me back, through the window of my turret and the holes of my helmet. They perhaps would have considered fighting back, ducking, running for cover even, but they would get a chance to do none of these things.
I let loose fire, a continual stream of flame pouring into their trench, torching them, as well as the unfortunate bystanders who happened to be within 1 dozen feet of them alive.
I saw a body, still aflame, attempting to crawl out of the trench, away from us, screaming for his life , but the Shanzi was quicker, its treads rolling over the poor man, bringing me to a perfect line of sight that stared down the length of the trench. I fired again with a similar continual fury, flames flooding the earthen hallway one way, catching at least a half dozen men to my right, and when I turned my turret the other way, to my left now, another dozen then.
Any lucky enough to survive would not be so fortunate for long, as immediately following, the forty plus infantry who had been stacked behind the Shanzi left their positions of cover, and rushed into the trench with a furious cry of victory.
The Shanzi would roll ahead after, and continue to bring death to the enemy, though I envied myself in the position of those infantrymen, down to the earth where this war was for me, where it was personal.
Kill them all.
Danev
The tank in front of us let loose a blast of fire towards the rear of the auxiliary line, striking an Earth Kingdom pillbox dead center, setting it aflame from inside, dooming the poor defenders trapped within.
Desperate machine gunners layed down fire on the tank ahead of, trying with no success to bring the metal beast to its knees.
In vain as the effort was, the constant fire was succeeding in suppressing the infantry of Dragon Platton, now lying prone a few feet from the lip of the trench, away from the tank we'd previously been huddled behind, knowing that raising our head too high would only serve to earn us a shard of earth between the eyes.
But we couldn't stay lying prone forever, of course, and a single platoon that failed to advance could spell disaster for the entire assault. We had to move, and quickly.
"Dragon!" I yelled out only a few moments after we had thrown ourselves to the deck, capturing the attention of the platoon. "Grenades!"
Just as the platoon now was doing, I removed the small bomb from my belt, unclasping it. The small ball-shaped ceramic bowl packed with a gunpowder explosive charge was yet another one of the Fire Nation's advancements in filling the void left by ever-dwindling numbers of firebenders within its ranks. On its own, such a device could never hope to match the raw destructive force of a bender, but with an entire platoon's worth of soldiers throwing said bombs into a trench line, it was utter devastation.
We threw our grenades over the lip of the trench, and waited, until suddenly, over thirty grenades could be heard going off within, all in differences segments of the line, intermixed with the clattering of fragmentation along the trench walls and the shouts of the Earth Kingdom defenders.
I no longer heard the rattling of the Earth Kingdom rapid fire gunners, and so knew that, at least directly in front of me, the suppressive fire had come to an end, its gunners either killed, wounded, or at the very least, briefly distracted by the grenades. One way or another, it was an opportunity I could not miss.
I waited only a second for the dust to clear before charging in, pushing myself off the ground from my prone position then unsheathing my sword before jumping inside.
I was met in an instant with the sight of the mangled men left by my hand grenade. One was on the ground, dead, his body littered with holes left by fragmentation. Another was on the ground, wounded, but the least of my concerns as another Earth Kingdom soldier was still standing, seemingly uninjured, perhaps having come to investigate the blast, or perhaps simply lucky.
If the latter, then his luck would have been short lived, myself having caught him unaware as I did. I swung my sword, catching from the right of his chin and extending in a fluid cut to his left ear, dropping him instantly. Not far beside him, another Earth Kingdom soldier, this one having certainly been hit by fragmentation, both of his legs having been blown off at the knees, raised a hand to me and tried to shout out a single "Wait" before I plunged my sword into his chest, ending a life that would have been short-lived and excruciating anyway.
I removed my bloodied sword from the man's chest, and watched overhead as the tank that'd been offering us cover up until now rolled overheard, sending down dirt atop the ranks of Dragon platoon. It rolled along, certain to continue wreaking havoc, and left us infantry to do our jobs.
To my right, the rest of my platoon was inserting into the trench, our grenade volley having done the trick in dispersing enemy forces, but they were quick in attempting to reinforce their ranks.
I had caught up with Chejuh, who had been finishing off another Earth Kingdom gunner when, from a corridor trench, a soldier had emerged. Chejuh was quick in the response, however, spinning around to slam the pommel of his sword into the soldier's face, dropping him to the ground unconscious. He hadn't been alone, however, as indicated by a rock projectile being launched at us from deeper down the trench.
Direct confrontation with a bender sure to be a mistake, I took cover on one wall beside the side trench entrance while Chejuh took cover at the other.
I removed a second grenade from my belt, and flicked up the small metal circle that hugged the fuse, quickly generating a spark. The fuse lit, and I tossed the grenade down the corridor, retreating until cover until a few short seconds later, it detonated.
Mano, having been close by, was the first to turn into the corridor, finding 2 soldiers dead, and the bender, still grasping for life, attempting to stand and reassume a combative stance. The effort would do him no good as Mano quickly shot a shard of earth into the fellow earthbender's neck, killing him on the spot.
Mano made room for me to pass, and so I did, shouting for the nearest squads to me, "Squads 2 and 3! On me!" Most of the soldiers already present, they followed behind me, the lot of us knowing that the other squads would maintain their orders to advance as well, finding other such corridors that would take them north, deeper into the belly of this beast.
The trench line was a winding one, taking us deeper into the Earth Kingdom's defenses, beyond their first trench line, and closer to their second. The sound of still-firing Earth Kingdom artillery grew louder, us drawing ever closer past lines of barbed wire and the husks of armored units that'd been knocked out of commission by enemy fire.
We need those gone, I thought to myself as I led my squads deeper down the line, reaching a pair of side tunnels that led into the basements of a pair of pillboxes, each, by the sound of it, manned by earthbenders dedicated to pounding our tanks with heavy boulders and rapid fire, no doubt giving our men a hell of a hard time.
"Squad 3, right!" I yelled, sheathing my sword as I now unslung my hand cannon from my back. "Squad 2, with me!"
Shozi, staff sergeant of squad 3, appeared to have been already on the task, seemingly simply awaiting the word to engage. They moved into action as I, Squad 2 in tow, advanced left, proceeding down only a few feet of earthen corridors underground before coming face to face with more Earth Kingdom defenders, seemingly in the midst of evacuating supplies.
They reacted quickly, however. Quicker than expected. A shard of Earth was fired at me, just barely missing, colliding against a wooden support beam at the corner of the entrance. Wooden splinters shot into the air, one colliding against the side of my helmet. I didn't let it distract me though as I took aim at the bender, and fired.
There was a crack, snap, and bang in the room as it fired, the lead bullet finding its way towards the earthbender, the ptang of metal indicating a collision with his helmet, and the shattering of a glass bottle on a shelf behind him indicating it'd gone through. The man dropped.
Another projectile came my way, this one a bolt from an enemy's crossbow. It struck the earth wall beside me, the boy's shot ruined, opening the opportunity for Asaih to now enter after me, firing his hand cannon too now, killing the archer. Or, at the very least, dropping him to the ground. I was unsure if he was still alive, but I took notice of Demee shoving his spear into the man's body, possibly to finish a life barely clinging on, or perhaps simply in anger.
I did not inquire. It was hardly the time.
We were directly below the Earth Kingdom pillbox now, a simple ladder leading up into the fortified structure above.
The sound of boulders being thrown and earth shards being fired at rapid pace had come to a halt, indicating a seeming understanding that the Earth Kingdom soldiers above had heard the clatter below, and come to the conclusion that their position was compromised.
We would not give them the chance, however, to properly respond to this knowledge.
Myself having run dry, I called out "grenades!"
Asaih and Tosa rushed forward, lighting the bombs before tossing them above us into the pillbox.
Lest they be thrown back down to us, Mano stepped forward in the grenadiers' stead, and manipulated the earth of the roof above us to collapse inwards, preventing any form of escape.
A muffled explosion sounded above us, and following my cue, Mano released his grip on the earth above us. The rocks he'd use to block the exit of the pillbox fell to the ground, and not daring to force any of my men to be the first to stick their heads into a potential death trap, I took the lead, stepping forward and the few steps up the ladder that it took to see that inside, the pillbox was devoid of life.
I climbed up the whole way, followed by Mano, quick on my tail, and confirmed that the men within, 4 earthbenders total, 2 rapid fire gunners and 2 heavy boulder throwers, had all been dispatched, their bodies torn apart by ceramic grenade fragmentation.
They were down, and as a result, the threat the pillbox posed to our forces was gone too, but fighting continued, even as our forces advanced. It was one of many, and by the sound of high-power fire being delivered unto our forces around us, the first of many.
Mano and I, now joined by more of Squad 3 as they ascended into the pillbox, turned our eyes to the east, towards the pillbox that squad 2 had been assigned to remove.
Still, it stood, defenders within dealing fire upon our armored units as they struggled to advance amidst a hellfire of return fire. It was impossible, in seconds such as that, to not ask oneself why. The implications were endless, and in the mere moments it took to observe such a sight, one could form thousands of conclusions within their mind, ranging from a simple misstep to a complete squad's elimination, and everything in between.
Squad 3 of Dragon Platoon of the 114th company stood in silence, staring down the pillbox, praying in silence for something to happen until, finally, it did.
It was a simple flash, then a boom, a merciless explosion outpouring from the opening of the pillbox in a brilliant blaze, followed only fragments of a second after by the entire pillbox's stone structure collapsing in on itself, disappearing into a cloud of smoke and dust.
The pillbox fell, and so the voices of our company rose, sharing in a cheer of victory at the sight, accompanied by whoops of encouragement, and chuckles of relief.
"Leave it to Shozi to go overkill," Mano muttered to my side, placing his hands on his hips.
I chuckled in response, my heart finally finding its way back from my throat into my chest.
I then bore sight next to the soldiers of Squad 2 rising from the ashes of their target, and at all ten, all heads accounted for. I smile in relief, now turning my eyes to watch as other soldiers of Dragon platoon could be observed winding their way through the trenches, hot on the heels of the Earth Kingdom.
The enemy was retreating.
Peering North now, I could see as individual soldiers crawled on their stomachs to get over the lip of the trenches, more than plenty cut down as they attempted to do so by the other squads of my platoon, Captain Rulaan no doubt at the helm, doing his job to press the advantage, but also to hold our forces at bay when more than one of them tried to pursue the Earth Kingdom onto even terrain.
Such an advance wouldn't be necessary. Not now. Not with the Earth Kingdom having surrendered this position, an effort to pursue them one that would simply cost us more men than was necessary. This phase of the battle had been won.
And it was time to consolidate our gains.
The Earth Kingdom auxiliary trench was ours, and with it, our final claim on the wall. If the Earth Kingdom before had had a shot in the dark to take back their wall, then it was now gone, along with every Earth Kingdom soldier I now watched run north into the distance, tails tucked between their legs, hauling as much supplies and artillery as they could behind them.
It was impossible not to feel the least bit of remorse for them as they, with every defeat, were forced to watch this war draw closer and closer to home for them, the fires of our advance drawing inch by inch closer to their own doorstep.
They were not us. They were not fighting on foreign terrain in a city whose name they'd only ever heard about through vague and disconnected tales of past glories and present ills. They were fighting for their home, for their futures, for everything they believed was theirs, and as I watched each of those men run, myself knowing full well they would not stop fighting until ever last one of them was dead, I wondered if I would do any different.
I'd fought for my home before, back in Citadel, and had seen nearly everybody I'd ever known and held dear die for it. But that home was lost to me now, and so I found myself here, fighting to take away somebody else's.
But it'll be over soon, I told myself, only now beginning to feel my heart rate slow, the battle finally done, at the very least for a moment. I had no doubt there was more fighting to be had before the day was done, but for now, as I crawled back down the pillbox ladder, and delved deeper into the trenches to rejoin the other squads of my platoon, and saw that of the heads I counted not a single man was lost, I remembered the simple truth of the matter was that I was wrong.
I did have a home, and they were the men beside me now, each and every one of them alive. Both I and the Earth Kingdom had fought for the same thing today, and though I would never abandon the sorrow I felt for those my nation had named the enemy, I realized too that the matter was simple–it was us or them, and I would continue to fight for my home until the day this war was over, or I was dead. But for today, my home was safe.
If that wasn't something to be thankful over, then I didn't know what was.