A/N- Right on schedule. Let's go! Of course, we know that the normal release schedule here is once in two weeks, but with some space in my schedule, I should be able to upload the next chapter in one week, which is the 19th of September. You could skip the wait and read the next two as well as continuous updates on Pa-treon right now. For Pa Treon, you can remove the hyphen between Pa and Treon and Google it, then search for my username—Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting it in your address bar.
"How are we going to approach this?" She asked as we walked into the Mountain Pass that marked the beginning of what was ostensibly Fong controlled Territory. It was called Fong-controlled because he was something of a rogue element within the Earth Kingdom's military apparatus. He acted as he willed and did not necessarily answer to the broader earth kingdom hierarchy. Part of it had to do with how remote he as and how it was just too difficult to control his actions, but the other part related to his nature as a person. Fire Nation Intelligence had extensive analytical profiles done on the guy. He was a textbook narcissist with an overinflated sense of self-importance. We kept a careful eye on him, simply because of the nature of his outpost. He held the closest unfriendly port to Fire Nation soil. The possibility of him launching an attack was remote, but it was one that was still relentlessly studied.
Taking him and his outpost off the board was sure to win me the gratefulness of many an analyst, as they wouldn't have to spend time wargaming attacks from that particular venture. Not like they'd be getting any more leisure time either way. They'd still have a million and more things to work through when it came to the offensive. We were fighting a war on three fronts in vastly different terrains and against vastly different opponents. Needless to say, they had more than enough to do.
"We climb the mountain, of course" I said, pointing at one of the steepest mountain tops. The plan had come to me during our march to this place, and it was just the kind of insanity that was guaranteed to work in a world where things like common sense took breaks early and often.
"That one?" One of the men behind me asked with trepidation in his voice.
"Of course. Are we not men of the Fire Nation?"
"And women" Maki stepped in.
"Man and Women of the fire Nation, yes. Thank you, Maki."
My words kept the detractors silent, but I could tell they were not convinced of the plan itself. They were shamed into shutting up, so that was enough for me for the time being. We took out our climbing gear from our bags and began to prep the climb. It was a good thing I'd taken all the most skilled firebenders from the main detachment because that also happened to mean that I'd taken the ones who had the best training. The best training that just so happened to include mountain climbing. In my force of sixty men and women, I could count about forty that I knew had attended the Academy.
I quickly took my position as the head to nods from Maki and one other and then began to make the climb. Tied around my waist was a length of rope that flowed down to Maki's waist, and then down further until it got to the very last man. The man was that if anyone below me fell, then those above would keep them up long enough for them to regain their grips and continue climbing. For me, I trusted in my physical capabilities enough that I did not need any guarantee as such. I had a hook for attaching to stronger holds as I climbed, but I had barely any need for it. The mountain was tall, and steep, so it involved very little walking and a shit ton of climbing to crest the summit. I did in just under an hour, and those coming behind me were quick enough that I did not get enough time to lose my patience with the whole affair.
When the last person had crested the summit, we stood at the top, and gazed down towards the mountain top that held Fong's base. His own mountain being a fair bit lower than this one.
"So, what's the plan?" Maki asked again.
"Use your flame jets and fly over there" I said, pointing over to another mountain that was still lower than this one, but higher than our target's base.
"When you get there, blow up that tower" I continued. It was obvious which tower I was speaking about. There was only one tower in the fortress, and it was clearly a lookout of some sort.
"We'll fly down and attack once you create the distraction. Everyone else will follow my lead. I'll cut through them, and you will follow behind as closely as you can" I said, turning to the rest of the group as I gave my orders.
"When do we strike?" Another person asked.
"At noon. When Agni is at His highest, our bending will be strongest" I said to them.
We only had a few minutes until noon, so Maki used that time to fly over to the next mountain. I'd hesitate to call it flying, however. Maki was a powerful fire-bender, for sure, but she wasn't a royal or anything like that. It was more like a controlled descent. It was part of the reason I'd waited until noon. Sure, everyone could use flame jets, as it was part of training, but this was an application we hadn't trained much in, and it was very possible that a few of them would run out of juice before we hit the ground. I hoped it didn't happen, of course. But it was a possibility nonetheless.
When the time came, I whistled at her, and Maki stared hard at the tower in question. Unlike the show, when a combustion bender used their powers here, there wasn't some easily predictable arrow that could be dodged. Sure, it created a haze in the air as it flew, but it was virtually invisible to anyone who wasn't specifically looking for it.
At this height, I had no chance of tracking the bolt as it flew, but I could see the effects. The bottom left part of the tower exploded in an echoing boom that made my bones vibrate. She'd put a lot into that one. She'd even aimed it well as well. The tower began to lean leftwards as the lack of support took effect. In seconds, it crashed down, landing in the middle of the courtyard that ran through the centre of the base.
I smiled at the effect before turning to my squad.
"Victory or death" I screamed as I jumped. My cheeks pulled apart into a smile against my will as I heard all of them echo my words and jump as well.
"Victory or death" Our voices echoed into the ether as we fell.
A few seconds down, and I activated my flame jets, blasting left wards at an angle, and spreading my arms out to give me as much drag as possible. As I 'flew', I came to the realisation that one of those Airbender suits from the Legend of Korra show would be perfect for missions like this. It was too late to worry about that though, so I put even more power into my jets, shooting off and leaving my men behind. They followed as best they could, but I'd land with some time ahead of them. Perfect.
I could see the chaos within the camp as they grappled with the fallen tower. They tried to locate where the explosion had come from, sending boulders flying into the air on the exact opposite direction of me and my crew. Of course, the closer I got, the more likely I was to be located and when that happened, I took it in stride. They scurried in shock at the sight of a fire bender flying towards them. I smiled. It took three of them to send a boulder the size of a small house towards me. I flipped over, allowing my legs to face the attack, and blasted it with a massive wave of fire that slowed down its approach.
With my hands, I shot out even more powerful flame jets that made me and the boulder collide at speed. I bent my knees as I made the collision, standing right on the boulder and then beginning to push it downwards with my fire bending. I couldn't see the fortress' inhabitants from this angle, but the thought of their panic still brought a smile to my face as I crashed into the centre courtyard with the boulder right below me. It shattered with the impact, causing a shockwave that tossed quite a few of those who had been waiting for me to land off their feet.
I ignored the twinge of pain on my knees and ran forwards. The first man I reached tried to swing a sword my way. Fool. I ducked underneath the attack and punched him right in the centre of his chest plate. The armour dented beneath my fist as he flew backwards and crashed into the wall. Dead or dying, I decided, as I went for the next one. This one was still staring at his comrade's fallen form with shock, so he presented no resistance to the punch I landed on his head that snapped his neck. The next two came as one. The earthen spears they sent broke against my fist, and before they could reevaluate their strategy, I formed two long fire whips and spun. I felt no resistance against my whips, but by the time I returned to standing still, their bodies laid strewn across the ground, cut up into pieces. I smiled and kept my whips activated as I moved on to the next.
This was fun, I came to realise, after I cut through the tenth man. It was fun fighting earthbenders who weren't fucking legends.
If there was one thing to be said about Earthbenders, though, it was their fantastic stubbornness. I'd liked ten already, and even more kept coming at me as I cut a swath through their bodies and made my way inside. I had to find Fong and end this. I doubted killing him would make this lot surrender. They seemed to be the types to fight things out until the very last hope, but it would serve other purposes. For one, I'd noticed that they'd become much more organised after a single man, a runner, came out of the fortress and began to whisper orders to different groups. They still tried to keep me busy by coming after me, but it was clear that they were reallocating a significant portion of their efforts towards attacking those with me.
A brilliant strategy. It didn't matter how strong I was, I couldn't take a fortress on my own. Not one with competent leadership, at least. It reminded me of the fact that Fong had fought on the same battlefields as the Dragon of the West. He was familiar with strong firebenders, and he knew how to deal with us enough to at least accomplish a few of his objectives.
I leaned backwards, allowing the spike that rose up to do naught more than cut a few strands off of my fringe. I watched the hair fall to the floor with a breath while spinning around and blasting a fireball straight to the chest of the man who summoned the spike in the first place. I felt the ground around me shake as another explosion racked the fortress. Maki was going above and beyond with her orders, and even though the explosion had opened up the fortress a fair bit and I could now see a straight line path to what I was certain was the command room, but I could also see why it was unwise to even consider it.
At least a dozen guards between me and my target. A target that was indoors. Guards that were earthbenders. Situations like this one were what we called impossible in the Academy. The strategy I'd have recommended to anyone else was patience. Patiently deal with those around and then approach the command room with a prepared team while ready to take losses. But I wasn't anyone else. I smiled right at the crowd of guards and ran forwards, jumping right at one of the men in front of me. He lifted his hands in a frenzied block. Perfect.
I planted my foot on his crossed arms with a laugh and used him as a springboard to jump right into the exposed second floor of the building.
"Shit" I heard one man say as I landed. "He's fucking crazy" I heard from another, and I smiled at the responses, moving in for the kill. The first man wasn't even a speed bump as I weaved into his guard before planting an enhanced punch into his jaw that shattered it in one swoop.
He crumpled to the ground, and the other two tried to squash me between the walls as they forced the two sides to slam together. Bending my knees, I shot right at them with jets from my feet. Reaching the first, I transitioned my charge into a roundhouse kick that cut through his shield, and decapitated him in one fell swoop. Enhancing the cutting power of my flames had thus far proven to be more useful against these brunt than it had been against Bumi. The next covered himself in a dome of stone and I smiled before stretching out a palm and covering the dome in firewood. Fire as hot as I could make it. I watched the edge of my flames turn a deep blue even as the centre whitened with the heat.
I ended the stream after thirty seconds as I felt myself about to drop from exhaustion. Whatever remained of the guard team had been forced to take cover from the heat. I shot past them, ignoring their attempts to stop me asI barrelled through the door. I found Fong there. He wielded an expertly crafted blade in his left hand and dove at me while attempting to cleave my head from my shoulders. I smiled as I dodged underneath the attack and punched him in the stomach.
He flew into the wall and I shot right after him, slamming into his body with my jets activated and used his body as a battering ram to push him through the wall. We shot out of the other side and I made sure to keep underneath me as we fell and used his body as a shield against the unforgiving ground. If my punch failed to kill him, and my slam also somehow failed, then there was no chance the fall had not finished the job.
I stood, watching as the Earth benders in the courtyard surrounded me and began to say some things. I could scarcely pick out their individual words as they spoke over each other. There was some vague thread of letting go of the General or something like that. I looked down at the man I was standing atop and noticed that he was teetering on the edge of consciousness. Interesting. How the hell had he survived that. I reached down to him, ignoring how the yells got even louder and picked him up by the collar of his breastplate. No attacks were sent at me as I held onto the man they wanted to protect.
I reached backwards with my hand, heated the air around it until it warped into a hazy blue and stabbed straight through the breastplate and into his heart. 'Chidori' I shouted in my head as I carried out the bootleg version of Kakashi Hatake's signature jutsu.
Of course, the second that their boss died, every hand that surrounded me moved to take me out. I would have been more cautious and maybe leveraged the man's life to escape the situation, but I could see something they didn't. Bunched together as they were, over half their number disappeared in a spontaneous explosion they hadn't seen coming. As for the remainder, they would be wishing they'd died soon enough. I pushed off the corpse of General Fong and backflipped over a piece of stone that was sent at me almost by reflex. The man who sent it was too slow with his follow-up, and the wall he tried to raise between us was too little and much too late. It was still at about his knee-level by the time my knife hand had cleaved head from shoulders.
I did not spend much time on the ground, running and jumping at the next target in almost the same movement. This man managed much more than the others. A boulder and a raised earth spear to be more precise. Neither of which saved him from burning to dead in his armour. For the third, his foolish charge with raised hammers proved to be his undoing. I dodged left to avoid the first, ducked underneath the next, and rose with a hand that stabbed through his meagre armour and into his chest. The other three did not get the pleasure of my attention. I watched the men I'd brought with me gang up on them and take them out. Staring around the fortress, it was clear that much of the Earth kingdom force was dead and gone. Hundreds of men had fallen to a force of fifty.
Of course, Maki's stunt with the tower had taken out much of their numbers. Collapsing the fortress itself had also killed white as few. And then there were the numerous explosions she'd fired into their numbers whenever they were foolish enough to bunch up. From her position atop the mountain, she'd killed more enemy soldiers than every single man on the ground. More than me, to be sure. I might have been the one to take Fong's last words, but she was the one who made this whole thing possible.
Now, if only the entire third-eye combustion bending training process wasn't more likely to kill those who went through it than it was to spit out a success like Maki. She was a prodigy without compare, and that made me even more curious as to how she ended up at the Academy of all places rather than either being fast tracked to the front lines, or being a fixer for the super wealthy elites of the Fire Nation like sparky spark boom man.
My soldiers began rounding up those who surrendered and binding them in chains while I surveyed what remained of the outpost. I would have to write a report on this victory, and it wouldn't do to fail to convey the state of the fortress. Especially since I was certain that forces would be sent from the Mainland to take custody of the fortress, and they'd need the information to know what exactly they'd be working with. Surely, someone at Central Intelligence would write me an Ode one of these days.
A/N; Last bit of the chappy. Love it? Like I said earlier, you can either wait till Thursday, the 19th of September, for the next chapter or skip the waiting and read the next two, as well as continuous updates as I write on pa-treon (same username as up here- link in bio). Both are equally valid actions, so no rush. For Pa Treon, you can remove the hyphen between Pa and Treon and Google it, then search for my username—Oghenevwogaga. Or you could copy the link in my bio and remove the spaces before pasting it in your address bar.