A/N- Right on schedule. Let's go! As for the consistent upload schedule, I will upload the next chapter in two weeks(please remind me on the discord if I mess that up- here's a link- /33ZREJT5, and the next one after that two weeks after. Two releases in a month seem fine to me. Of course, you could skip all the waiting and read the next two chapters on pa-treon (same username as up here and the link's in my bio). Don't feel pressured, though. Everything will come up here soon enough.

XXXXXXXX- NATSU

It had been a week since he received his promotion, along with command of what had once been Major General Sung's division- Lieutenant General now, he supposed. Now it was his. The First Division of the fire nation Army, Battalion 1 under the command of Major General Natsu of the noble Wu family, was the official name of his command. And his command now held the Earth Kingdom City of Omashu. He held it under the grace of the noble FireLord so he did not have carte blanche to do as he would with the space.

In fact, he was actually very limited on what he could do. And so he focused on the things he could do. The changes he could make. He would be turning the town over to someone else in a few weeks or months so he had no interest in turning it into some developed bastion of the Fire Nation, only for someone else to take the credit for his actions. With that in mind, his changes and policies could actually be loosely considered as sobatage. Well, only if one stretched the definition by a lot. He'd be long gone by the time the effects of his actions bore fruit.

His first choice had been deciding to keep things broadly as they were. He'd had the entire Kingdom-city searched thrice for soldiers of course, but beyond executing or improving all who bore arms against them, they'd done their best to have as little effect in the lives of the average person as possible. That policy was what led him to his present position.

"Major General Natsu, they are ready for you" Toji said to him with hidden mirth in his eyes. He didn't feel the same amusement but understood that toji had a peculiar sense of humour.

"Good" I replied and walked forward. We were at the steps of Bumi's castle. It loomed over Omashu, and from these steps, one could see much of the city. It was also the perfect place to host events that needed public notice. In this case, it was punishment. He made things business as usual as much as possible, but he did still have a few rules to keep order, and more than a few to ensure the security of his men. The seven people knelt at the foot of the stairs had undoubtedly broken those rules in one way or another.

"Lord Confessor. Read out their charges" I projected my voice, making sure that the hundreds of people who gathered to witness the proceedings could hear me.

"Major-General Sir! Three of these men are of the Imperial Army. They were caught trying to rape a local girl" Toji read out the first charge. I sighed. I already knew this would leave me less popular with my troops, but we'd be heading to the battlefield sooner or later, and as a leader who led from the front, there was no better way to gain favour from ones troops than killing on their behalf. Besides, I killed Bumi. I could suffer a little repetitional damage from doing the right thing. And I had made the rules more than clear from the beginning.

"These other four- three men and one women- are citizens of Omashu who were caught attempting to leave the city after curfew." I nodded at the charges. The punishments clear and rote at this point.

"For the would-be rapists, the punishment is clear. All three of them are to receive 50 lashes of the whip, and will report to the breaking grounds for retraining" I said. I could already see my men whispering among themselves. Sung had run a disciplined camp but had been more than willing to turn a blind eye and allow the men take their liberties with those we conquered. He punished theft, but little more.

"Those caught breaking curfew will receive 40 lashes of the whip each" I pronounced. Here, the Omashu citizens were the ones whispering, but to lesser numbers. This was not the first time I was pronouncing this particular punishment for this precise crime. I considered it a victory in fact that there were only seven who had broken the rules today. On the first day, there had been several dozen. I'd had to spend hours dealing with case by case. Now, I had Toji doing most of the investigating and only those who were assuredly guilty were brought before me.

The second thing I'd done, I thought to myself as I walked away to my next appointment, was empty much of Omashu's treasury and spend all the money employing every single blacksmith in the city. The Fire Nation military was the most well provisioned of them all, but even we had budgetary limits. With the coffers of an entire Kingdom at my disposal, I could ignore most of those limits. Each and every single one of my men would be armed and armoured to the very max. There was no expense that could not be borne when you weren't the one paying, I'd come to learn.

And beyond fixing my army's armament problems, I'd also been working to integrate the new arrivals. Sung had taken about half the army with him on his reassignment so I was receiving reinforcements from all across the Fire nation's outposts in the earth kingdom. It had quickly become a race among the other Commanders to send the worst of their worst to me as often happened in situations like this. The most undisciplined, unruly, and least skilled across the fire Naton's military machine were converging on Omashu, and in a few months, I'd be forced to march with these man at my back. Needless to say, Toji only had a few hours a day to spend on his duties as Lord Confessor.

The rest of his time was spent with me training these miserable fellows. A fireball splashed uselessly against a boulder to the left. I noticed an even smaller one fly through the air from the corner of my eyes. I spun around. "Who sent that?" I barked. It did not matter that I was younger than most of them. They all still shrunk in the face of my fury. Entirely feigned, of course. But there was utility to be found in some harmless theatre.

"Me, Major General Sir." A Warrant Officer stepped forward. I noted his appearance. Nothing more than a boy. At least two years younger than me at the very least.

"What is your name?"

"Warrant Officer Sato, Sir." He said with a salute. At least his manners were up to snuff. If only I could say the same for his bending.

"What was that?"

"A fireball sir"

"No it wasn't. Are you a fire bender?"

"Sir, yes, Sir"

"Show me" I said, facing him in my stance.

"Sir?"

"I said show me" I said again, allowing my impatience leak into my tone.

He looked behind him. Everyone else had basically abandoned their training to watch. They'd stay behind an extra hour for the insolence.

"I don't have all day Warr-"

His fireball interrupted me as I spoke. I smiled. Smart. I weaved around the attack with ease. It moved slowly, and lacked conviction.

"Are you a fire bender, Sato?" I asked again.

"Yes Sir." The next fireball was equally pathetic. I stood still and allowed it hit my chest plate and wash out across the metal. My point was clear. A few of those behind had begun snickering. If this was any other bending art, then I might have asked them to stop. But with fire bending, they were helping more than hindering.

"Show me your fire, Sato"

Another useless fireball. This time, I stomped the ground and punched forward with a massive blast of flames that shut everyone up and forced him to dive out of the way.

"Show me fire, Sato. Or die" I commanded.

His position on the floor did not change for a few seconds. Someone loudly claimed that he'd fainted and everyone else burst into laughter.

He stood up at that. And this time when he faced me, I knew he meant business.

Without even taking a stance, he punched towards me with a scream. I called upon my own inner fire to match and redirect his fireball as I forced the fire to part around me. Silence. I broke it by beginning to applaud him. An action that the rest of the soldiers were smart enough to copy.

I walked up to the boy. He was stunned and looking at his fist in shock. "You are a Son of Agni, Sato. So am I. So is everyone here. The fire is yours. You control it. You wield it. It will respond to your rage better than anything else. When you want to bend, remember the feeling you felt just now and use that" I instructed. He looked to still be in a daze. I just smiled as I walked off. There was more training to be done.

XXXXXXX- MASASHI (WINTER, 99AC)

On days like this, he rather hated his job. The FireLord was furious. The entire council was furious, and they were all screaming. There wasn't any headway to be made, just a headache to be gained as each member of the military tried to put the blame on the others. The Navy higher command seemed keen to remind everyone that before Zhao had joined the Navy, he was a member of the Army, and that it was the Army that had been charge of his foundational training. The Army, on the other hand, were more than willing to point out that it was the Navy Command that ha recommended Zhao for promotion and brought his plan to the FireLord in the first place.

The FireLord was silent. Only the ever-rising heat around his person made it clear how displeased he was. They had lost. And they had lost badly. Thousands of soldiers, Millions of Bans in resources, Hundreds of ships, weapons, and even more were all gone in the same attack. Lost, and they hadn't even managed to conquer the Northern Water Tribe in the end. They'd been beaten back by the Avatar. Masashi wasn't a military strategist, but he had attended one of the finest serving schools in the fire Nation to prepare him for this role and he'd learned enough to know that this kind of loss was the kind that could break a Nation.

"Is there any word on my Son?" That was the first question he asked so far. And it brought the entire council to silence. Part of it must have been the fact that it was the FireLord asking, but Masashi would wager that at least part of the silence was shock from the question being asked. In all his months of service, he had never heard the FireLord ask about the banished Prince. The Generals still reported on his whereabouts when it was pertinent but he never seemed to pay any special attention to it. So it shocked them now that he was asking seemingly out of the blue.

"Our reports say that he still lives, My Lord. Perhaps he has retreated towards the Earth Kingdom." One General said. The others nodded along to his words. They probably didn't have anything to add.

"So what you are saying is that you have no idea where a Prince of the Fire Nation is" The FireLord said. Once again, there was silence. His voice was low when he spoke, but no one could fail to recognise the anger within.

"The Avatar henceforth ceases to be the sole responsibility of Prince Zuko. All Fire Nation forces and personnel are to work to apprehend him the second they catch sight of him. Remind them that the death of the Avatar is not the will of the FireLord. I will not fail as Sozin did and allow that cursed cycle to continue and plague my descendants" He said instead.

"Yes, My Lord" They all chorused at once.

"And now we must begin to look towards the future. Our losses in the North Pole, while regrettable, are nothing we can not recover from" At least a few Admirals seemed to disagree but they all had the good sense not to express any of that to him.

"Yes, My Lord" They chorused again.

"Natsu Wu remains in Omashu, yes?" He asked no one in particular.

High General Hiro was the one to respond in the affirmative.

"He is to expand. Give him whatever resources he needs. I want every scrap of earth Kingdom land down to Ba Sing Se under Fire Nation control before Summer next year" He commanded.

Not a single soul spoke up to tell him that the demand was unreasonable or impossible.

"Have Natsu expand and take Goaling. That is to serve as the centre of our operations. All other forces within the Earth Kingdom are to report to him and fall under his command. As his division expands, they are all to sweep behind and manage the integration of these forces into the earth Kingdom. Whatever ships we have remaining are to abandon all previous pursuits and to join the blockage around the Earth Kingdom. No resources are to pass into the Kingdom without my approval." He did not stop there, and issued order after order for the continued war within the Earth Kingdom.

The Princess scared him. She just had that look in her eyes that said she wanted to kill you and take your skin off and wear your skin, and all that weird painful stuff that he shuddered to even think about. Now, she was knelt before her father, but Masashi knew that if she found that he'd done anything to displease her, she'd find him later. Not even the FireLord for all his power and glory could stop Princess Azula from expressing her displeasure. Most people agreed that it was better to be in the daughter's good graces than the father's. At least the FireLord would satisfy himself by banishing you from the palace. The Princess would ensure she kept you close while she exacted her revenge in a million slow and painful ways.

"I serve at your pleasure, Father" She said. Lie, his brain recognised. He had a very technical and complex method for telling whenever the Princess lied. It had a 100% success rate to the best of his knowledge.

"Well done, Azula. I am told that your lessons continue to progress at an astounding pace. Your teachers sing tour praises to me night and day." The FireLord could not see her face, but from the angle he occupied, Masashi could spot the reflection of her smile in the polished floor of the throne room. She was pleased with her father's praise it seemed. Lie, his brain pointed out and he nodded.

"All I do, I do to please you, Father. To make you and our ancestor proud" Lie.

"And you are doing so. But there is one task I must require of you to prove yourself as the leader I know you can be" He said.

"Whatever it is father. I am your loyal instrument. Ask me to boil the oceans. Ask me to cast down the clouds. Ask me to cleave asunder the walls of Ba Sing Se themselves. Whatever you ask, Father. I will do. I will not fail you" Lie.

"Thankfully, your task will be easier than all of those. Your Uncle Iroh is a traitor. Your brother, a failure. I require you to bring them to me for punishment"

"Is that all, Father?" There was something in her tone. It sounded like a vague note of disappointment. The fact that he could hear such a thing told him that she was consciously projecting the feeling. She wanted it to be caught.

"Do my orders somehow displease you, daughter? I thought you served at my pleasure or did I mishear?" There was a dangerous note in the FireLord's voice. Masashi was reminded that this was the man who burnt half his Son's face and left him both scarred and partially blinded for an implied insult that no one had taken as such. He did not broker insubordination in his children, and it seemed that the Princess could hear it as well. She was much slower in her response than he was used to. Usually quick witted and unafraid to show it, the Princess was careful about her next words.

"No Father. Of course not. I serve at your pleasure, always. But as a good daughter, I wanted to take some initiative. To deal with a problem that has plagued the Fire Nation for a century now."

"You want Zuko's mission"

"Yes, Father. He has failed. But I will not. I am your right arm. I will take your will to all corners of the world and seek out the Avatar. I will strike him down, Father. Just as you will it."

"The Avatar is a powerful bender who destroyed hundreds of Fire Nation Ships in one go."

"If he could reliably reproduce that kind of power, there would be no Fire Nation anymore."

"I agree" The FireLord said with a nod. And then he appeared to be considering things. Assuming Masashi had not been present at the meeting where the FireLord decided to entrust the Princess with the mission of hunting down the Avatar, then he would have fallen for the theatre the man was putting up.

"Are you sure about this, Azula? He remains a powerful bender of much renown either way"

"I am your daughter, Father. The Blood Of Sozin. I was born for this."

"Then go forth with my blessing. Take whatever resources you need from wherever you need. I want Iroh, Zuko, and The Avatar, brought before my feet in chains." He finally ordered.

XXXXXXXXX- NATSU

I stood along with the rest of my forces as we prepared to welcome Lord Hiroshi. The one that was to take over Omashu as Governor while I moved out to carry out my next orders. Of course, we were not really preparing to welcome him. We'd be leaving as soon as he arrived, and I only waited so long to maintain the thin veneer of civility that guided interactions between the Fire Nation's Upper Class. He was a former friend of my Grandfather. Emphasis on the word, "Former". He was one of those had not hesitated to cut the old man off once it became clear that the FireLord's displeasure was lasting and not merely a passing phase. His actions meant that I didn't hold him in much regard, but leaving before he arrived was a level of disrespect I was uncomfortable with. Even worse, it had potential to be dangerous for the Fire Nation's position in the area.

I wouldn't put it past the Earth Benders to start a rebellion of all things while I was gone. If the man arrived to an uprising, then I was unsure of what fate I would face. If the FireLord was especially displeased, I could see myself discharged from the military with that action alone. So here I stood, next to an Ostrich-horse, at the head of a long formation of soldiers as I waited for him. He was late. The sun had already passed overhead. It was midday and there was still no sign of him and his procession. A fact that was very strange because I had received the letter from the Naval base that had received his ships about three days ago. It was a two day journey from that base to Omashu. Adding an extra day for nobles to nobles meant that he should be here by now. Nevermind the fact that I had sent out two outriders from my own forces to guide him here and they'd confirmed that he was close by.

It was only when Toji finally spotted them over the horizon that I realised what was going on. It was a power play. He was going to have me standing around waiting for him as a display of his power over me. I scoffed. What foolishness. I turned to my horse and mounted it. Maki turned to me, wondering what was going on.

"I've gotten tired of standing. Hiroshi will meet me on my horse"

"Are you sure that is wise?"

"Purposefully keeping me waiting isn't wise either. If he went to all that trouble to pay me an insult, then there is no need keeping up appearances." I replied to her. She nodded, and then turned to some other member that had come with her from her division and whispered something to her. Both women laughed and I fought down the urge to probe into what she'd said. I needed to be cool. Caring about what people whispered to each other was not the way to get there. I stared down the approaching escort with mounting impatience.

Every minute that went by, I could see in real time just how much effort Hiroshi was putting into being disrespectful. He had slowed his march down even further. What his horse was moving at could not even be vaguely considered a canter. I stared ahead for a minute more, working out my thoughts in my head, and then made a decision.

"Move out" I ordered, and spurred my horse forward. My formation was a long one. Even as slowly as he was moving, Hiroshi would have arrived by the time the last of them were moving on. If Omashu burned in that time, then it was my loss.

"So what's the plan?" Toji asked after I made camp when we'd barely gone more than a few kilometres from Omashu.

"Our orders were to expand the Fire Nation's hold on the Earth Kingdom and take Ba Sing Se by the middle of next year" I told him.

"Yes. I read the scroll just as you did"

"That means we need to keep a pretty straight path from here, advancing through the Kingdom, but such a path puts us in a disadvantageous position" I said, pointing out a spot on the map as I did so.

"Fong's Fortress?" He asked.

"Precisely"

"Well, I don't know if you've begun falling for your own hype after the Omashu thing but it's a good thing I'm here to beat sense into your head. It's impregnable..."

"I'm aware" I said, but he continued like he did not even hear me.

"Not the kind of impregnable that you get when only idiots attempt something. It's really impregnable. It's at the centre of a mountain range that acts as a natural chokepoint. It has access to the sea so a siege would be fruitless, and the Earth Kingdom soldiers won't hesitate to drop a mountain on your head, besides. None of the traditional methods of approach work here. None of them" He said.

"I know that. But I have a plan…"

"I know you do. You tend to have plans, and I do believe that if you beat your head against this for long enough, then you'll manage to do what no one else could and take the damn thing. But we don't have that kind of time. I don't know about you, but six months is not a lot of time to me. And that's all the time we've been given to run through the Earth Kingdom and take Ba Sing Se. We can't afford distractions. Especially this kind"

"I am not comfortable leaving an enemy to my back, Toji"

"But we can't do anything about it."

"Well, you can't. But I can't. Like I said before you so rudely interrupted me, I have a plan."

"A plan. Let's hear the plan then"

"No."

"No?"

"If you're not going to believe in my plan before even hearing about my plan, then I just won't tell you about my plan" I replied.

"You can't be serious"

"You will find that I am"

"Okay then, what are you going to do?" He asked with a sigh.

"I'll be taking Maki and 200 of our best firebenders and impregnating that bitch" I told him.

He burst into laughter at that, and I joined him. His laughter was infectious, and I couldn't deny that I'd told a good joke then. A stolen one, but a good one nonetheless.

"Alright then. I assume you'll be leaving me in charge of this lot"

"You assume correctly. Make them run drills or whatever. Maki and I should only be gone a week at the most"

"Is there anything I can say to change your mind?"

"No"

"Then may Agni light your path, General," He said with a bow.

A/N; Here ya go. Ending this chapter here. Like I said earlier, you can either wait till Thursday, the 29th of August, for the next chapter or skip the waiting and read as I write on pa-treon (same username as up here- link in bio). Both are equally valid actions, so no rush.