General Hwa awoke to the droning sounds of work. The assembly had been going on for days now, with work crews working literally day and night hammering and welding away on to get the Great Drill ready.
While she and the others could not sway the Fire Lord from going ahead with this operation, at least her army would not be dragged into that foolishness. Hwa had not been alone in riling up Chief Engineer Gunsou of the War Ministry and poking at the obvious flaws of his lumbering mountain of metal. Other generals and even civilian courtiers saw the dangers in such an undertaking, and together they had not only angered the aspiring minister, but also harassed his pride so much that he swore to only use resources from the War Ministry in the push for Ba Sing Se.
Hwa didn’t mind at first, until several armored tank divisions parked themselves by her front lines and clogged up the logistics network. And then the components for the Great Drill were brought in to be assembled, and she had to hastily reorganize her supply lines around all the clutter. New routes had to be paved to avoid building-sized blocks of metal and wood being dragged across the continent by herds of komodo rhinos.
Apparently they tried using the tanks to tow the stuff, but the fuel expenditure became ridiculous.
In the meantime, Hwa also had to contend with the Earth Kingdom’s rising aggression. No surprise that they noticed the drill and additional forces being gathered, and Ba Sing Se had seen it fit to organize a proper pre-emptive strike against the work in progress. Hwa’s command barely held against the surprisingly savage assault, with many fronts being ground down to a few active squads out of whole companies.
The Earth Kingdom’s new train carriages, clearly inspired by Ba Sing Se’s monorail, allowed them to deliver way too many men and spears right at the front lines to drown the Fire Nation positions. As they were made of earthbended rock, the windowless carriages took considerable effort to bring down, and the earthbenders pushing those transports were often too protected to target.
Only the fact that the human waves consisted mostly of poorly trained conscripts allowed the Fire Nation’s East Army to survive the onslaught. The front lines were whittled down, but they ultimately held at the end of the first week.
Thankfully, timely reinforcements helped bolster her forces and fend off the second and third attempts, with far less painful success. With the disgraced commanders from the Invasion of the North being relegated to the very thankless duties they sought to escape, General Sho and his army were free - with Crown Princess Azula’s permission - to come to Hwa’s aid in full force.
Sho adopted a less static defense, the colonels and majors under his command were happy to engage the enemy far beyond the defensive lines and slowly worked their way back.
‘Kiting’ as Sho had put it. A tactic refined by Xing, and up until now was heavily disparaged for being a dishonorable approach to war.
The rapid counterattack and withdrawal chipped away at the Earth Kingdom hammerblow, knocking out their earthen carriages one by one and forcing the conscripts within to disembark to defend their transport, only to be forced to re-embark again as their harassers quickly pulled away. Occasionally a carriage’s earthbenders would be taken out, dooming the human cargo within. Those that sought to hunker down in their transports often found themselves being cooked alive as Sho didn’t want to risk unnecessary assaults.
Those that tried to flee enjoyed a much swifter but bloodier end.
The oaf Dao had reportedly slaughtered two carriages worth of conscripts by himself so far, after blasting his way into them. Hwa pitied those poor trapped men, to have to die from the sheer loudness of the brute. Dao’s men of the 4th Regiment were no better, opting to isolate carriages before pouncing on them and slowly tearing them and their occupants apart like hungry wolves.
Yashen, Koda and the other commanders were more conventional, though their efforts were no less effective. Hwa’s thin defenses barely strained by the time the harried Earth Kingdom armies reached her lines, the weary and demoralized conscripts being a far easier ordeal than before.
The Earth Kingdom stopped after their third failed assault, though her defenses were still on high alert due to the occasional probing attacks. And all the while, the War Ministry’s tank companies and guards didn’t do a thing other than surround the drill’s build site protectively.
As if they stood any chance if the Earth Kingdom broke through.
A part of Hwa wanted to order her men to pull back and actually let that happen, but her sense of duty overruled that. As annoying as the factionalism and rivalries within the War Ministry was, at least she still had reliable allies to depend upon.
Reliable enough for Hwa to wake up in Sho’s tent, and nudge the sleeping general awake.
“Sho. It’s morning.”
Her peer slowly woke with a mutter, but by then Hwa had left his bed and was stretching her limbs. Four nights in, and her body had gotten used to the strains of coupling. Sho was a considerate partner, but one that still had…moments that had Hwa pleasantly sore.
“Mmh… Time?” her partner asked groggily.
“We probably have some time before the morning meeting. I’ll get us breakfast?”
“Mmh…”
Both generals’ bodyguards snapped to attention when Hwa popped out of the tent to order up some food, the men all keeping their thoughts to themselves. So long as the gossiping was kept out of her sight, Hwa wouldn’t care.
Besides, battlefield marriages weren't anything new.
It had surprised her when Sho proposed, but Hwa didn’t have to mull over the offer for too long before accepting. Politically, the other general was a nobleman from a family of middling importance, which was more than her merchant family could even think of reaching. Besides, a union of generals of (hopefully) some renown was looked upon favorably in the upper classes. Enough so that both could consider retiring soon to raise a family and nurture a martial dynasty.
Technically, Hwa could immediately return to the home islands for that if she wanted to, but after decades of plays and songs romanticizing couples marrying on the front just to die together in the name of the Fire Nation, just considering to return home was already frowned upon heavily, as if it was some great act of cowardice. Which unsurprisingly saw a sharp drop in battlefield marriages and a spike in unofficial…dalliances.
Personally, Hwa found Sho’s quiet competence to be reassuring and highly welcome, plus he was easy enough on the eyes. That he didn’t mind her seniority was nice too. And he was highly satisfying in bed. They already broke both his and her cot in the first two nights, and had to settle for sleeping on the ground.
“How many more days will it take?” Sho asked as she slipped back inside.
“If we can keep any…interruptions from happening, it’ll be four more days before the drill gets moving,” Hwa replied as she strode over to help her husband with his uniform.
“You make it sound like it’s our fault that the Earth Kingdom is attacking.”
Hwa scoffed. “That’s what the War Ministry lackeys are insinuating. That it’s an inconvenience to stop work and have their tanks actually on alert as war machines.”
Her man offered a smile that she was starting to find quite charming. “Well, once they’re done they can forward their complaints straight to the Earth Kingdom.”
Hwa draped her arms over his shoulders from behind. “Mm… Hopefully they draw enough attention to give the front lines some peace. I have some ideas on how such quiet moments could be spent…”
Before they got too distracted with each other, a sharp stamping of boots from outside signaled the arrival of a visitor. Sho gave her a quick peck on the cheek before they headed to greet the inconsiderate intruder.
Waiting outside the tent was a young nobleman, his clean robes and well-groomed face making him incongruous to the battleworn environment around him.
“Ah, General Sho. General Hwa. How fortunate I am to meet the both of you right now. It saves me time on passing along this message twice.”
While Sho remained carefully neutral, Hwa was frowning, her hackles raised. This clean-faced noble spoke too smoothly, bowed too precisely. He had to be a courtier from the royal court.
“You bear a message?” Sho asked politely.
The slimy nobleman nodded, and proffered a message from his belt. “Hm, yes. I am most fortunate enough to deliver this message from Crown Princess Azula.”
Huh. It shouldn’t be surprising for the princess to employ talented politicians, but still, a part of Hwa thought such snakes to be beneath her.
Her husband took and unfolded it, allowing both generals to peer into its contents. Both commanders failed to hide their surprise.
“Princess Azula is actually going with the drill?” Hwa exclaimed with disbelief. Wasn’t it the princess who had warned her of the dangers of the drill? Why was she taking up Gunsou’s invitation?
The messenger gave an eerily polite nod as he answered. “Indeed. Her highness has deemed the endeavor worthy of her attention. Of course, she has summoned her regiment here…just as a precaution.”
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“Precaution?”
His eyes almost lazily scanned from side to side. Almost, because Hwa saw the keen awareness in them as he subtly checked his peripheral vision.
“If we may take this conversation someplace more…discreet?”
Sho welcomed the noble into the tent, and Hwa found herself carefully studying the man. This was no mere smooth-talking courtier. She should have expected that from the princess’ servants.
“We are free from prying ears here,” Sho reassured. “As free as any place in the front lines can be, at least.”
“Hm. Yes.” The noble gave another nod, and then shed his facade of simpering politeness. His voice became firmer and more solid as he got straight to the point. “I’m sure that you both understand the undesirable result the War MInistry’s wasteful project will achieve?”
As disturbed as she was by the sudden change, Hwa nodded along with her husband.
“Hm. As much as the crown princess disagrees with the extravagant waste, her highness also understands that some of the invested resources might be salvaged. Namely the War Ministry’s lower staff.”
That sounded about right for her character; Princess Azula was not one to squander human resources.
“So she’s going along…as an excuse?” Hwa guessed, earning the man’s nod.
“Her 11th will serve as her escort. In the meantime, her highness has asked for a force ready to mount a rapid rescue operation. Discreetly.”
“Understood,” both generals replied in unison. It shouldn’t be too hard to form a taskforce for that. Maybe mask it as a rapid response group to bolster the lines…
“In the meantime, continue doing your duty. Know that the crown princess is not ignorant of the ordeal your armies are enduring for the sake of the War Ministry’s inane competition.”
“So there is no real chance of success for the Great Drill?”
The nobleman gave a predatory smirk. “Not with their current resources. Not with…her highness’ disapproval.”
Hwa’s eyebrows shot up at the implication and shared a look with Sho, who seemed utterly unperturbed by the words. As if sensing her worry, the man shook his head.
“Mm… As you both are held in esteem by her highness, I am allowed to inform you that Colonel Xing of the 11th has…ah, speculated that the Avatar would be at the walls of Ba Sing Se to welcome the drill.”
Oh. Xing and his divinations. That more or less sealed the drill’s fate then.
“What little intelligence we have of the Avatar’s movements does nothing to discredit that. So her highness is preparing to soften the consequences of failure.”
Sho gave a salute, and Hwa followed along. “Crown Princess Azula will find the North and East Armies quick to respond when she summons for us.”
*****
Losing Appa had significantly shortened Aang’s temper and Sokka wisely toned down his quips. Even after leaving the desert, even with his bright smile returning, there was a fragility behind the Avatar’s eyes that threatened to snap at the wrong pressure.
Sokka didn’t know if it was better for Aang to consider the air bison to be dead, rather than worrying over possible fate Appa could be in right now. Katara’s calming influence could only do so much, especially with Toph’s spiky wit balancing it out. At least the blind earthbender kept aside her tough love approach and was happy to settle for a more easygoing attitude.
Which left all the hard adulting to Sokka.
Map duty? Sokka, because Toph was blind and Katara was busy trying to stop Aang from being…unbalanced.
Foraging? Same thing, plus the trio were often training their bending.
He’d complain about not being able to hone his own combat skills, or having time to properly pine for Yue, but Sokka sucked it up as the oldest and the brains of the group.
It didn’t help that his work was not appreciated.
“Are you sure there’s no other choice?” his sister asked as they neared the thin, twisting trail towards the Serpent’s Pass.
Sokka was about to reiterate his point, but then the party (sans Toph) saw an Earth Kingdom vessel floating past them towards the other end of the East Lake. Without hesitation Aang flew over to the ship, and then returned back with news of an alternative route. Momo’s chirp only served to accentuate Katara’s unimpressed glare.
How was Sokka supposed to know about Full Moon Bay? It wasn’t his fault it wasn’t on the map for crying out loud!
Sokka hated adulting.
It took another couple of days before they managed to find the well-hidden entrance literally built into the mountainside. The Earth Kingdom guards were stern faced and highly unemotive when they saw Aang, which was weird considering that he was the Avatar and all. Maybe they were very professional with their job.
“I can’t believe how many people’s lives have been uprooted by the Fire Nation.”
Sokka almost rolled his eyes at that, but Toph beat him to it with her usual snark. “Yeah, what a surprise that people are fleeing from a marching army.”
“I know that,” Katara snapped defensively and then scanned across the packed cove filled with tents and displaced families. “I just…looking at all this puts things more into perspective. So many innocent and helpless lives…”
Sokka heard the slight waver in his sister’s voice, and he too remembered the devastation in Agna Qel’a. The bodies littered across its snowy streets, or floating down its waterways… And that was only from a besieged city.
How many villages and towns had emptied out to fill this hidden cove? And there were barely enough soldiers around to protect them. Imagining the carnage that would follow if the Fire Nation managed to make it here…
“Well, let’s figure out how to get us into one of those boats,” Toph said, oblivious or uncaring about the discomfort settling on the siblings and even Aang.
It was in the long and exasperating queue that Sokka found out about Avatar impersonators trying to fool their way into Ba Sing Se. For a bunch of impostors, their costumes were surprisingly on point. One even had a decent staff-glider thing that Aang has.
Still, their presence made entry into the ferries nigh impossible, if not for Toph proving the power her family name had. Just showing her seal earned the whole gang passes to board the ferry. Sure, it meant having to pretend to be her servant (which she exploited rather well when she felt like it), but ultimately it got them that much closer to Ba Sing Se.
Ultimately, they enjoyed a rather relaxing boat trip, with Toph’s seal once again securing them much comfier quarters than what the other refugees had.
Unfortunately, for every good came a bad, and the bad during the ferry ride was Aang and Katara bumping into another group of youths. Sokka did not like the cold confidence Jet exuded. It reminded him too much of Zhao. There was something about the straw chewing guy that just screamed ‘untrustworthy’ and ‘loony’ to him. His friends weren’t so bad, but that they followed Jet was bad enough.
And strangely enough, Toph agreed. The blind earthbender was far more direct about her aversion too, preferring to stay in her cabin or wander the ferry than joining Aang and Katara with Jet’s group. Sokka tried to give the guy a chance (and looked out for his sister because that kind of charisma was just trouble) and joined in.
“We were part of a resistance group,” Jet said somberly when Katara excitedly asked about their background, “but…we had to disband and move on after we were betrayed.”
While Katara sympathized, Sokka noticed how the shorty Smellerbee hung along to Jet’s every word, while the lanky but quieter Longshot (cool name, admittedly) remained reserved in a way that suggested some sort of disagreement.
“The rest had given up and went their own ways after that, and with only the three of us left, we thought we’d try to start afresh in Ba Sing Se. Maybe they’ll have a place for fighters like us, you know?”
“What kind of fighting did you do?” Sokka tried inquiring, but Jet and his friends never gave a straight answer (Longshot never answered to start with, but he’s the quiet type so he gets an understandable pass).
“The kind that scares the Fire Nation. The kind that will do whatever it takes to fully liberate the Earth Kingdom.” Scare the Fire Nation? Has the guy met the Scorpion Dragon yet?
Again, Sokka got a bad feeling about it, but he tolerated Jet’s presence throughout the short journey.
Unfortunately, Jet proposed to join up with the gang, offering his trio’s aid in Aang’s quest to look for Appa. Both Aang and Katara seemed all about to accept, but fortunately, the privileges of Toph’s Beifong passes did not extend to the trio and they parted at the monorail exclusive express entrance.
Toph summoning the guards to do away with the riffraff earned her glares from the other two, but Sokka gave her a slow, commending clap. “Four out of five. You should’ve used ‘peasants’ instead of ‘riffraff’. It’s much more contemporary for the times.”