Boss

Just one week ago we were on the other side of the continent. Such was the beauty of the serpent's pass. It was no small wonder that the Fire Nation had always possessed ambitions to control the passage, but now, with the loss of Lu Ten, the retreat of Iroh, and the withdrawal of most Fire Nation forces, it seemed that ambition wouldn't be realized any time soon.

The war was a day away from victory. When Ba Sing Se falls, the Earth Kingdom falls. It was that simple. We were on the verge of victory. And we lost. I was a Fire Nation patriot, never stopped being one. I loved my country and its people. I disagreed with a few key points of our strategy: the exploitation of civilians, though the Earth Kingdom did the same, the genocide of water benders, and now, the disregard for Iroh.

I still refused to believe that Azulon would abandon his first born that way, but that wasn't my fight. I wasn't a politician, and I refused to get involved in a civil war that would turn me against my own country, but I couldn't serve it either. I knew Ozai by reputation only, but that was enough.

We all had a separate purpose now. Perhaps some in my crew wished we were doing more, but what we were doing now was work that should have been done decades ago. I was content to leave it be when we were on the precipice of victory, but now, in a war that could last decades longer, it was time that the true victims of this war saw the help they needed.

I looked at the map on the table with Gordez. He had taken the liberty of drawing all other currents he could memorize, and we've been making better speed, riding them, letting them carry us. We've been saving on fuel as well, but our combined estimate said we only had about a month's left. It sounded good now, but there was the issue of where we would even find such resources.

"If we've been following the current for the past few days, we should be here, no?"

"More or less. Heading right towards the southern air temple islands. We should probably leave it soon and head inland."

"Agreed," I said. "I'm thinking we keep doing south along the burning sea and we leave at around this point." I pointed at the map, just due north of the whaletail strait.

"You thinking of heading into the JianJiang?" Gordez asked. The JianJiang was a small passage leading into the earth kingdom for quite a few miles, but no, that wasn't my intention. Too much attention there. Easy to get trapped.

"Not quite. Too much attention. Too dangerous. I'm thinking of riding the blue sea north a bit and heading into the Nip sea."

"What there? Just swamp"

"And a good amount of fishing villages. I'm thinking we get some food, some rods, enough to let us fish on our own. We can take the boat out to fish when we need it."

"Well. Hey, you're the boss. And besides, this was your theater in the navy. Not mine."

"Don't remind me," I said, joking, but in reality, wishing not to be reminded any more of my time with the Southern Raiders. It was a low point in my career. They had no regard for anybody save themselves. They passed themselves off as a branch of the military, but in reality, they were glorified pirates. They raided whoever they could, Earth Kingdom and Fire Nation alike, but they always came out on top as for one reason or another, they had Azulon's favor. I was glad to be done with them.

"Well then. I'll tell the crew to get the engines ready."

"Good idea. I think Luke's shift's about done anyway."

"Hey, I'll try, but he just refuses to leave. Didn't yesterday, the day before, or-"

"I get it. Just ask anyway. Give him the option."

"Of course."

With that, he left, and I looked out the bridge into the horizon. It was a sad story behind the Burning Sea and its name. Story was that when Sozin attacked the Southern Air Temple personally, hundreds of air nomads tried fleeing on their bison to the north, across the burning sea.

One by one, with his dragon that was renowned for being as aggressive and ruthless as its master, Sozin brought down each bison over the sea, showing no mercy, returning to finish his job, ensuring no survived. And with the power of the comet at his back, nothing was left in his wake save ashes and floating corpses, giving the sea its long-standing name.

I put the thought out of my head as we passed by, trying not to swell on the fact that it was my country that had done this. I used to believe it was all in the past, but with Ozai, I saw new fears rising from the ashes I once thought dormant.

I carried on, shifting course when the time came. At this rate, if I was right about where Gordez's current would take us, we'd be by the Nip coast this time tomorrow.

With the course set, there was really no need to remain up in the bridge, save any unforeseen circumstances of course. However, I didn't expect any such. We'd personally seen Chan's fleet out of the passage into the open sea headed towards the homeland. The Earth Kingdom was still likely in disarray given recent events. It would be time until they were ready to start reasserting their claims. The longer the better.

I headed away from the bridge on that note, taking the latter down through the levels, passing the levels containing the officers' quarters, the armory, the mess, and the troop dormitories.

Or at least, that's what those rooms would have been had they been occupied by man or object alike. They all stood empty, sad reminders of the new path the navy was taking. Just like that, years of active and proud service had been stripped from this vessel and reduced to scrap. I shook my head as I dismounted the latter, now on even footing with the main deck. Completely empty. It was nigh impossible to tell there were even others aboard. All belowdecks, keeping the ship alive.

I'd considered going down before, to help with the running of the engine, but there had been one thing I'd learned in my career: the officers didn't lower themselves. It sounded like a dick thing to say, but I knew that's how it was. There was a level of respect and acknowledgement of superiority that had to be acknowledged. We may not have been in the Fire Nation anymore, but they chose me, for better or worse, to lead them. And I was going to do just that.

I shook my head, turning back towards the command structure, but turned around. These were my friends though. And there were only 4 of us. The job ahead of my crew was one not even designed for only twice their number. I shook my head and turned towards the stairs that led belowdecks. Why should I live in comfort up on the command deck while the rest worked to keep us afloat?

So a few minutes later, I climbed down the ladder leading from the catwalk to the engine room where an unholy heat pervaded as Zek, Gordez, and even Luke, against orders, continued to work as he had been since morning.

His eyes were heavy, eyelids drooping, arms slowing. I put a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around. "Get some rest, Luke," I said. "That's an order."

He closed his eyes for a blink that lasted longer than any blink should to the point I feared he'd collapse then and there, then opened them again and nodded his head, dropping his coal shovel to the ground and stalking off to the shell of a room he'd picked as his own, and headed off for some much-needed sleep.

"Well thanks, Boss," Zek said. "Now we have one less shovel."

I picked up Luke's shovel where he'd dropped it, sweat soaked and unsanitary by any normal officer's standards. But I wasn't any normal officer.

I stuck the shovel into the coal pile on the side, compliments of the FNS Victory, and headed to work.

I looked back at where Gordez and Zek were eyeing me suspiciously. "No you don't," I said, and headed back to work.

"Well thanks, Boss," Zek replied. "Could've not waited until now, but thanks anyway."

I chuckled anyway, reveling in the company of my crew, my friends, and headed off to work, all the glad for it.

And in reasonable shifts, hard work, and sweat, lots of it, we arrived ahead of schedule. It had only taken me making slight course alterations every hour or two, and the last I checked, the coast was in sight. We were there.

So coal shoveling ceased as we used our remaining fuel to search for a viable sight of civilization until we found it, a fishing camp, an outpost.

So we stopped a fair half mile from the coast. Gordez chose to stay onboard for this one. Claimed "He wasn't giving up his sea legs anytime soon." So we left him as security and headed to shore aboard the nice and compact patrol boat that was safely secure in our rear.

We realized as we approached the fishing outpost that it was occupied. We were hardly presentable, all of us in sweat-soaked uniforms from the works, dirty from lack of bathing save the occasional swim, and tired, but we had weapons, and from what we saw as we approached, these fishers didn't seem the type to start a fight. All the better.

Yet when we stopped, as Zek and Luke tethered the skiff to the dock, we were approached all the same and greeted with, "So you finally come back."

And there was a solid pause there. It didn't take long to understand his meaning. The uniforms I realized, looking down.

Zek and Luke waited, unsure of what was going down here. Were we Fire Nation today? Or defectors. They looked at me for a decision, while I waited for more information.

"What do you mean?" I asked the aged fisher, a man I'd put at 50 or so, white haired, poorly shaven, and bearing signs of disease. Best not get too close, I told myself.

"You Fire Nation folk! You came by here, taxed us all to hell, promising protection, then all leave in a hurry? Who do you think you are?"

I made a decision then. No point lying to the man, especially when the lie of Fire Nation involvement wouldn't exactly paint us in a positive light. "We're not Fire Nation."

"Well you sure look it!"

"We used to be Fire Nation. Not anymore. Not after Ozai took over."

"Bah! Sozin, Azulon, Ozai. All names I don't care about! It's all the same anyway."

I opened my mouth to argue, but the man wasn't done. Not by a long shot. "What I do care about is my town. Ever since you fire breathers left, raiders have been breathing down our neck. I'm not saying I miss your taxes, thieves that you are, but it was preferable to this nonsense."

"We told you. We aren't Fire Nation."

"You think I care?!" he yelled, waving his arms in the air in an exaggerated manner. "I just want them to stop!"

Then it hit me. This is it. "Could you use any help with these raiders?"

"Could I?! You're darn right I could!"

And as I heard Luke and Zek stand, presenting themselves in a characteristically professional and intimidating matter, I said, "We could help you out."

"Hmm hmm. Got any more boys on that ship of yours?"

Oh boy. "Just one."

The answer we got wasn't particularly what we had hoped for. "Bwahahahaha!" He began laughing. "Baha. Hahahaha." He wiped the tears flowing from his eyes as, I admit, my patience began to run thin."

"Thank for the laugh, lads, but you didn't have to get my hopes up like that."

"We're not joking," I said, tension inadvertently rising in my voice, I only realized after the fact.

"Oh please. Bunch of boys like you? Look at that one! He's shorter than me!"

I turned back to see where he was pointing at Luke, who was unphased for the most part. I imagine he was used to it by now. "We're serious," I reminded the man. "We're soldiers. You don't get here by not being serious."

"Wish you told that to the men you had 'protecting' our town. Fine. You want to make a difference, come see our town. Maybe you'll be of some use and buy something."

And so we followed him along the dirt trail that led through into the woods. It was a short walk of 10 minutes until we reached the town. But calling it a town was too much of a compliment. Perhaps it had been at one point, but now, it was barely a settlement.

Dead livestock lined the street, killed by disease, being picked for meat by wandering birds. What better way to spread disease? The houses, or better put, hobbles were falling under their own weight, on the verge of collapsing in on their inhabitants at a moment's notice. No shops were open. Whatever food was in the town wasn't about to be sold, no. It was being hoarded by whoever had it last, assuming there was even food going around in this village. As we passed through, the eyes we earned the attention of were not kind.

"Welcome to Shibi! Or what's left of it. You can see our crop fields to the east, or what's left of them," said our fisher now turned tour guide. "Raiders grabbed what they could and burned the rest."

"What about water?" I asked.

"Normally, we'd have the Gujia, but raiders are camped right by it, harassing anybody trying to pass through or collect water!"

"How many of them are there?"

He turned to me, stopping. "Don't you see what I'm saying, lad! They did this to us!" He said, motioning towards what was left of his home. "They're held up in some old Fire Nation fort too. I saw it with my own eyes!"

"I hear you, I do. How many?"

"20 or so. I don't know. I didn't count."

"That's do-able."

I walked past the man as Luke and Zek followed. We wanted a look this place first. "Are you kidding me. There's just three of you! We couldn't do anything! What hope do you have?"

I turned around. "As we said. We're soldiers. This is what we trained for. Any before I forget to ask, which way is this river?"

Nigh agape, he pointed, and we left.

And sure enough, there it sat along the river, the prize any raider would sell his own mother for, and more-an abandoned Fire Nation outpost, in perfect condition.

"Well they sure left in a rush," Zek pointed out.

"That they did," I replied.

"Gonna be tough to run 'em down. They seem cozy in those walls."

"That they do." So now, the real question: how to penetrate them.

"They're front gate's open," Luke pointed out.

"Not going to mean much if we rush right in though. If that fisher's even off by 10, we'd still get shot the second we step foot inside."

"Well, that's only if we go in by foot."

Perfect. I chuckled. Good idea, Luke. Zek, how much juice does Shanzi still have in her?"

He paused, then got it, and smiled. "Enough. You thinking-"

"Oh I'm thinking. Let's head on back to the village. Get Shanzi on the skiff and meet us at the town, and check up on Gordez, make sure he's not getting lonely."

"My pleasure." And with that, Zek ran ahead to reacquaint himself with Shanzi and be ready for our arrival. This was going to be tough, but these guys weren't the Earth Kingdom. After what we'd been through, this should be a breeze."

So Luke and I headed back together on what, just a few weeks back, would have been a dreadfully silent endeavor. Now though, I considered myself fortunate to even get a few words out of him, and he even started. "So," he asked. "How much do you think they have inside?"

"The raiders?"

He nodded.

"No idea. Fire Nation's just been gone for a little over a week. They must still have some gear."

"Unless the Fire Nation took it with them."

"I don't think so. Such a hasty retreat. No time."

"Humph. Why do you think they left in such a hurry, anyway?"

"Our guys?"

He nodded.

"I'm guessing Ozai wants his army back in town to ensure a, how should we put it, smooth transition in power?"

"But he should know the army's loyalty lies with Iroh first."

"And that's just what Ozai wants. This is Iroh's one chance to make a move. Iroh knows it, Ozai knows it. And if Iroh makes a move, the Fire Nation will turn against him. Any power he wins through combat will never be secure. He knows this. No. Iroh will come back, and he'll bow."

"Yeah. He'll bow. You saw him after it happened, right?"

"Yeah. When he told us to leave."

"He's not going to fight"

"No. He's done fighting. At least for now."

"Maybe some day he'll take back his throne," Luke suggested.

"Maybe someday, but no time soon, that's for sure."

"Yeah. So you got a good feeling about this?"

"For sure. Big fortress, only around 20 guys. Big area to cover. Guarantee you we take down half before the other half realizes," I said, trying to sound as confident as I could. It had been a while since we'd seen any actual combat. Over a month now that I thought about it. What was it now? November? I could hardly remember.

"Assuming that fisher knows how to count."

"I'm giving him at least a 10-person leeway. And odds are he did no actual counting. Probably just a number somebody claimed to have seen that caught wind."

"So expect anything?"

"No. I'm expecting around that many. A raider group like this, just a group of bandits who found an empty fort and decided to take it as a new home. They wouldn't have had time to grow. Not yet."

"Like us, then."

"Sure. That's one way of putting it."

"You know we'll have to keep some of what we find."

"It's not ours, but I know. We need to eat. We'll give back the villagers some of what we find, but we're taking everything we can get."

"Glad we're on the same page."

He didn't initiate any conversation after that point. There was no need, the way he saw it. And by the time we had gotten back to the village, a small crowd had already gathered around where Zek sat on top of Shanzi, like a costumed performer atop a float in a parade. It was truly a sight to behold.

Children were gathered around like an exotic animal at the zoo. Who could blame them? All the same, despite their fascination, they parted for Luke and me, allowing us to pass through and take our seats. I looked around for the old fisher before I closed the hatch over my head, finding him in the crowd, wide eyed. It was hard to determine what that look was of. Fear? Hope? I couldn't tell, because I was already picturing what his face would look like once we came back, by no means empty handed. I smiled at the thought and closed the hatch above me, and we set off.

It was near midday now, and we had the tank parked less than a quarter of a mile away as we scouted out the outpost one last time. This time, we saw guards. Late risers, huh? Sloppy. Very sloppy. No full-time patrols. Those fools.

This is going to be too easy.

I signaled Zek to follow me back to the tank and we mounted up, Luke already in the gunner's seat, ready for combat.

And into combat we went. No hesitation. There were times to be slow and steady, but we determined here, that the most effective strategy would be a lightening strike. Leave no survivors.

We barreled down the mountain. The guards atop the walls noticed, but far too late. I saw one of the guards' body drop to the ground through the tiny sliver of a window in the tank, as I unsheathed my sword and readied to dismount.

Zek drove straight through the gate as Luke continued dropping targets. And we were inside the small outpost, and we dismounted.

The camp wasn't even awake. There was hardly anybody nearby.

Luke was out first, dropping a raider who had been reaching for a spear next to where it seemed he had been laughing. The fire consumed him, and he went to the ground writhing in pain as Zek and I emerged, a sword in my hands and a crossbow in Zek's. I motioned Zek to head Left to check the perimeter. I had faith in him.

I signaled to Luke to follow me inside. He nodded, and we set out. He sent a blast of fire unlike any I'd ever seen from him before that took the door down in an instant, blasting it inwards, tumbling against the far wall. He's been practicing.

I went in first and realized the mistake shortly afterwards. It was no small wonder there had hardly been any outside. They were in here, eating lunch. Oh boy.

I'm not sure if I heard him talk or it was just instinct telling me to, but I ducked, and the room emerged in hot yellow fire, as the raiders, mid-arming themselves with the weapons at the foot of their table, caught flame in a domino effect as Luke's flames spread through the room, consuming all in sight.

It was horrifying to watch, but relieving when I remembered who's side he was on. He kept the fire up for a solid 10 seconds as he paid extra attention to ensure everybody received their fair share. And within moments, nobody in the room save us two remained alive.

I rose, moving further into the building as Luke checked for survivors. I heard no commotion from outside, so assumed that Zek was meeting little to no resistance. I looked around the mess hall as I moved on. There must've been, what? 15 bodies here? All dead, now.

I moved to the back of the mess where a hallway stood out. I checked the rooms, one at a time. Bathroom? Clear. Armory? Clear, dormitory-

My thoughts were cut off by the ball of fire that nearly roasted my face had I turned to cover a half second later.

"What do you want!" He yelled.

I didn't bother replying. Luke had approached, but I shook my head to dissuade him. This one was mine. Besides, I wasn't letting Luke get all the credit for this.

I was in the hallway, door to my right, where inside, in a small room, was at least one opponent, a firebender too. Unskilled and untrained, but a threat all the same. Nothing I couldn't deal with. I'd dealt with benders before.

I switched cover to the other side of the doorframe. He fired, missed, recoiled. I bolted in, ducking, practically sliding to avoid his next blast trained on my head, and swung at his leg, slicing clean through, taking off his left foot as he tumbled to the ground and I rose in tandem. He didn't get the chance to scream before I swung again, slicing his neck in one clear motion, sending him down for the last time, dead.

Luke walked in now. "Nice kill," he said, as he looked around, seeing what I saw.

"You too," I said, but was too focused on the bounty ahead of us. We hadn't taken the time to notice when we first entered the base. It had been a bit too hectic for that, but we saw it now.

We were in the outpost barracks, rows upon rows of bunk beds, of the same design and style of our ship, lining the hall, and in the back, the stash of all stashes. Weeks' worth of raiding and pillaging, all for the taking.

I turned to Luke. He saw it too. He smiled. This was going to be a good day.

So we left the base, searching for Zek, only to be met by a raider attempting to climb into our tank and leave with it. Luke raised his arm to strike until a crossbow bolt found the raider clean through the throat.

The dead man went limp and tumbled over the side of the vehicle as we turned to see Zek standing on the other side of the outpost, loading his crossbow. "There he is. I was chasing that fucker around the camp this entire time"

And so like that, we spent the next hour grabbing what we could. The food and medicine and other supplies we deemed fair, taking it back to the village. And as Zek piloted the patrol skiff up the now uncontested river, the people of Shibi repossessed their confiscated goods, taking all they needed: food, medicine, the like.

And so before we left back towards the now empty raider outpost, that same fisher approached us just as we were setting off.

"You know," he said. "For a couple of kids." He swallowed. "You did good."

He smiled and turned around as I, and no doubt, Luke, attempted to suppress our grins. And so we returned to the ex-raider camp, where Zek had piloted the skiff, and had spent the last 30 minutes unbolted every bit of furniture from the ground.

And so, in a combined effort, by nightfall, every table, bed, counter, desk, everything had been moved to our ship. Every ounce of food we left behind had been moved into our freezers. Every bit of armor the raiders had worn, all clothing, all weapons, all possessions had been packed and moved into our ship. Luke burned the pile of naked bodies as we moved the last load of loot into the skiff for one final trip just as the moon came into view, and the outpost was now just an empty husk, a shell.

And so on the ride back, I smiled. Today was the first of many days. We fought and beat those who abused their power to prey on the weak. We made this area safer, we helped the people of Shibi reclaim what was theirs, and we came out better than ever before.

We spent that night bolting down the furniture we had possessed and moving the loot into appropriate places. The medicine in the infirmary, the armor and weapons in the armor, and sorting the miscellaneous accordingly.

And so, that night, in the captain's quarters, I fell asleep on a real bed for the first time in months, no, years.

I closed my eyes and smiled. Yeah, I thought. This was going to work.