Zahckrael

It was all laid out. All of the map was as organized as it should be. The pieces were in place. The tanks at the front, the infantry in the rear. It was all laid out. All ready. It was finally here. We've been waiting outside of this city for two months, and now, finally, we were taking it down. We got here in early March and it was already the beginning of May. We had no right staying here this long. Not when the Dragon of the West himself was outside these walls, but then again, I imagine that's why we were called here. To fill the role he couldn't.

He couldn't do this alone. His own life dream of taking Ba Sing Se he couldn't pull off and so here we were. In a way, it was an honor, to be the influential role in the fall of not only the greatest city known to man, but the end of the largest nation known to man. I would be here the day the Earth Kingdom fell. I've endured enough in this army and now it was all paying off. I was going to bring this city to its knees. And it all began today.

I heard the tent flap open and raised my head to see who it was. I had rearranged my desk so now I was never facing opposite whoever came in. I wanted the advantage over whoever walked in on me and wasn't planning on letting it fall to anyone else anymore. Luckily, it wasn't Gan or one of his other Unit 350 shits. No. It was just my two commanders. Commander "insubordinate" and commander "fuck-up". When this war was over, I'd be promoted. So would they, but that wouldn't matter. So long as we were far enough away in the chain of command I would never have to worry about them again. Zor'ak should've been executed by now if it weren't for his lack of a replacement for himself. With any luck, once the infantry breached the outer walls, he would fall in combat and the infantry would roam wild, killing all in their way. I only needed his command for getting past the outer wall. The inner walls would be far easier to breach. Once they were breached, then I wouldn't complain if Zand fell in combat likewise. Once we were in the city, I'd have no need for them. And if they did fall, all the more glory for me.

"Sit. Both of you." They sat. I was tired of the mistakes they'd made in the past and realized I gave them too much freedom to do as they saw fit. No more of that. I would keep firm control over them from now on. Victory was at hand, and I wouldn't dare let the likes of them claim it for themselves. "You got your orders, then?"

"Yes." Replied Zand. "This morning. Thanks for the advance warning about the assault." He doesn't seem particularly happy. So he has qualms with the invasion plan. What of it? He wouldn't voice his concerns. Not loudly of course. He would be defiant. Say "no" a couple of times, but he'd back down like he always did when he remembered who was in charge. I doubted sentimentality would get the better of him. "Is that a complaint?" I challenged.

He did as I expected, backing down, saying "No sir."

I looked to Zor'ak next, daring him to step past his bounds and resurface all the mistakes he'd made in the last month alone.

This siege had been going on for over 2 weeks now. The sky was gray with the smoke of the artillery and fire and over a dozen starless nights had gone by. I doubted either of them were going to complain about ending this siege as soon as possible. At least, that's what I thought.

"Then you're dismissed. Assemble your divisions as per your orders and get in position for the assault. You have your time-marks. Follow them. I will be commanding from my pavilion."

Zand thought I didn't see the look in his eyes that screamed "Of course you will, sir." I had changed my expectation for this meeting regarding him. Zor'ak would be the loyal dog I threatened him into being and would voice no concerns. Zand on the others hand, well, he used to be loyal, and now he thought he could use that as leverage. He would remain, and I'd be forced to put him in his place. Again. "Then you may leave." I said, dismissing them, or rather, Zor'ak alone. And of course, Zand stayed. And so it begins.

"Tell me these orders are a joke."

"Those are your orders, and this is a military matter of vital importance to the Fire Nation. There is no room for jokes here."

"Really? Because I myself find putting one tank of 12-14-year-old children at the front of the assault to be rather humorous."

"What you find funny or not is of no concern to me. Those are your orders."

"So you don't find it funny then? Or strange perhaps? Putting them at the front of this 'vital military matter.'" And there he lost all subtlety. "You are putting one tank. One tank! Of children at the front of this invasion. Not even a squad, just one damn unit! Are you insane?! Not only are you going to get them killed instantly, you're putting this invasion in jeopardy just because what? They won a battle without you?!"

"They defected from the 5th Corps and lent their services to the Dragon's Host!"

"Because you urged me to send them on an already suicidal mission north of the city, through those mountains that, let me guess, you knew were trapped, to Iroh's camp with the sole purpose of assisting the Fire Nation in taking down that listening post!"

"I ordered them to deliver a message to Iroh's camp. Nothing more!"

"Oh Boo-Hoo. They went above and beyond to save this siege and you're mad because you got none of the glory for it. I noticed they didn't get their promotions yet. Where are their patches? You keeping them hidden somewhere or were you really so petty as to burn them?"

"Zand. I'm warning you."

"What. You'll kill me if I keep on talking out. You're an idiot, but you're a glory hound too. You can, at least in your mind, get away with killing one friendly tank, but a commander of hundreds of those tanks, well, you're not as dumb, believe it or not, to kill someone like that."

He was pushing me. Far more than he knew. He was asking to be executed on the spot. But he was right. I did need him. For now. Maybe I wouldn't need him to get past the inner wall. I guess I'd find out. For better or worse. "Leave. Now. Or you'll be leading the 15th armored from a prison truck"

His resolve hadn't weakened. I hadn't scared him. He just knew he was getting nowhere. It was true. He wasn't. He raised his hands to his forehead in a slow salute, muttering "Sir. Yes. Sir" before leaving.

I looked at the time on the stop-watch on my desk. It was 7 hours past midnight. The assault began in one hour sharp.

I looked back to my command map, where I did still have Unit 350 at the forefront of the action. I only had one small change to make. I pushed Zand's command vehicle to the front of the main tank line, right behind Unit 350 where he would accompany the rest of Squad 5, Unit 350's previous squad, commanded by a somewhat recovered Staff Sergeant Zaedra: a man I could actually trust. If things went as I'd hoped, Unit 350 would fall. The sight of it would enrage the rest of the troops, marking the Earth kingdom as child-killers, and they'd promptly slaughter the city's defenders out of a sense of justice. Yes. The plan was sound. Then again, the death of a commander would also strengthen the anger of their troops. I pushed Zand's command vehicle even father ahead, parallel to Unit 350.

Yes. Everything was going to work out perfectly.