Luke

"Open the gate!" came a gruff voice from somewhere atop the wall, though I couldn't see from who.

All I knew was that, shortly after, a divide in the seemingly whole stone wall emerged, and the pieces began to move apart deeper into the wall, a gate revealing itself for us to enter.

Such came as a sigh of relief for us all, half expecting to have found ourselves crushed or riddled with arrows. Luckily enough, Gordez had managed to convince them that we were, in fact, on their side, now finding ourselves being ushered in rather than still breathing rather than hauled out in body bags.

On the other side of gate stood an entourage of soldiers, earthen disks at the ready, sending back a number of images through my mind that I would have much rather have avoided.

The all-purpose weapons, capable of wiping out infantry as well as armored vehicles had us in their shadows where they rested above us, the earthbenders wielded them eyeing us suspiciously as their commander approached, small in stature compared to his subordinates, eyeing us all in the order in which we stood before asking, "So you're the Nip Sea Separatists, I take it?"

His voice betrayed his stature, authoritative and deep, asked us, "So you're the Nip Sea Separatists, I take it?"

Gordez responded in the affirmative as the man continued to eye us, the occasional pebble from the stones above us falling atop our heads, reminding us that we stood on death's door, the knocker just a few finger hairs away.

"Who're the women?" he asked, focused on Zare and Ka'lira alike."

"They're with us."

"I see. Lower your weapons, men."

In perfect unison as though trained for parades, they lowered their rock disks, the synchronous clashing against the ground shaking the castle around us, parting ways at the indication of their commander's dismissive wave.

The commander turned, indicating for us to follow, and so we did.

"I am Hanief, commander of Xiahu and military governor of the Weicheng region. You'll forgive my suspicion, but it's hard to know just who we can trust nowadays. We've been receiving reports of Fire Nation activity in the area. We hear that Heigou may have been infiltrated by hostile forces."

Looks were exchanged between our party, realizing just how out of date this man's information must have been. Zek spoke, much to Gordez's initial annoyance, asking, "Just when did you last hear from Heigou?"

"Around 3 weeks ago for their monthly donation of food to our fortress. They told us that they had suspicions of Fire Nation activity and I sent some men to investigate. They found nothing, but I raised a town militia to keep an eye out. We'll hear if something happens there."

Yeah, unless it's the militia that betrays the town in the first place.

A roll of Zek's eyes towards me was enough to get the ire of Gordez whose eyes alone told us both to be quiet.

"We're afraid to tell you," Gordez said, putting clear strain in managing his tone and just what he said, "But Heigou has been destroyed."

The commander turned, his interest apparent, but his sympathy next to nothing. "Really?" he asked. "How would you know this?"

"We passed through the area. It seemed that the Rough Rhinos had bribed the town militia into opening the gates. The Rhinos slaughtered the entire town. Left hardly any survivors."

"The Rhinos? That can't be. Our intelligence placed them at the Serpent's Pass harassing caravans only a fortnight ago.

"Well, either they moved quickly, or your intelligence is faulty, because they slaughtered nearly that entire town just about that same amount of time ago.

"Hmm. I see. So you aided the survivors, I take it?"

"Yes sir, along with some nuns who had come to the town to give food, water, and medical aid to them."

"Hmm, I heard they were in the region. Figured it was only a matter of time before they reared their heads."

The negative light in which he painted them caught me off guard, and by the look on her face, Zare as well. Enough so that she felt the need to speak up in their defense in asking, "You have a problem with the nuns?"

"I wouldn't if they had any loyalty, but when they tend to the enemy just as much as my men if not more, they make themselves a hindrance. Not an ally."

Zare made no effort to hide her disdain at his comment, but luckily for all of our sakes, he was only focused ahead of himself as he walked us through the fortress, the earthen gates rumbling to a close behind us.

The base was well-staffed by the looks of it, but despite its seemingly full contingent of men, none of them seemed particularly busy, rather, idling, as though waiting for orders and savoring whatever moment they could to be avoiding responsibility. Despite that sense of sloth, everything seemed well maintained. The ostrich horse stables were clean, the catapults in working order, the structural integrity of the fortress itself seemingly sturdy.

These soldiers are just waiting for action. They're just waiting here, and they don't even know that a town that's supposed to be under their protection just got annihilated.

"So these nuns that were helping this town. They send you our way?"

"No, sir. We'd been heading to Xiahu anyway, but they did ask us to deliver a message. They're in desperate need of medical supplies and troops to help move the wounded. They were wondering if they could bring them here to protect them in case of an additional Fire Nation attack."

"'fraid we can't afford to do so. Neither the supplies, troops, nor housing."

Gordez stopped for a moment, dead in his tracks, the refusal of all three seemingly something he hadn't expected, though just in how this officer had carried himself for the last few minutes, seemed as though it was inevitable. "Wh-wait. Why?"

"This is a military outpost, wait, what was your name again?"

"Gordez, sir."

"Gordez. Hmm. Colonial. Well, this is a military outpost, Gordez. We're acting as a hardline against Fire Nation movements against the coast. We need our supplies, we need our men, and we sure as hell need to avoid being distracted by sick and dying refugees. The nuns are free to move their wounded wherever they please, but military installations are off limits."

Gordez was shaking, Zek was drawing his hands to his side, Zare seemed about ready to kill the man, but it was Ka'lira who spoke up, calling out, "These people are dying because you failed your job at keeping them safe and now, you're refusing to help them?!"

Commander Hanief stopped in his steps, and turned, head cocked as though listening for a bird call, and then just eyed Ka'lira who he identified as the source of the noise. He wasn't the only one eyeing her. Heads across the fortress had turned towards her, toe to toe with Hanief. Gordez was frozen, Zek even closer than ever to drawing his sword, ready, I was sure, to stab the man through the throat if he so much as inched towards her.

Instead of doing anything to elicit a response from Zek however, he merely sighed, and said, "Look. What happened it Heigou, it's a travesty. I take responsibility for not doing more to safeguard them, but my responsibility is this coastline. We may be the nearest fortress to Heigou, but that does not make them our protectorate. My men and I are here to ensure the Fire Nation doesn't gain a foothold on the coast, so that's what we're going to do. Look," he said, putting a hand to his forehead, now appearing to realize the heartlessness of what he'd said. "I can send a messenger to them to let them know that, if they stop by here, we'll provide medical supplies and relief, but I can't spare any men or the castle for them. An attack is coming soon, and we need to ensure we're ready for it."

Ka'lira didn't have time to respond before Gordez interjected, afraid of anything more possibly being done to intensify the situation. "Anything you can provide is appreciated, and naturally, it is our job here to do what we can to assist in defending Earth Kingdom territory against the coming assault."

"Naturally," the commander echoed. "Which reminds me, where are the rest of your men. Last I'd heard from the Separatists, your numbers were nearly 2 hundred. Don't tell me you've been hit this hard."

"No, sir," Gordez chuckled. "Our numbers are still strong at 2 hundred, but we were sent ahead to attempt to restore communications."

"Seems the Water Tribe did that for us. Shame that fog of theirs didn't reach this far. But still, we'll take any help we can get. Should I assume you had something to do with that?"

"We bargained for their assistance, yes."

"Well, it's high time they joined the fight in truth. We'll welcome what support they can give. And what of your Separatists."

"The plan was to begin sending them south to the coast once access over the Nip became an option again, so I want to think we'll begin seeing reinforcements soon."

"Hmm, that's good. We'll reinforce our coastline, and with the Water Tribe, perhaps we can do some good in repelling any Naval Assaults they may attempt to launch."

"What about a ground attack?" I asked, recalling the same fate that Heigou had suffered."

"There's no concentrated Fire Nation presence to our south. We'll be fine."

"But the Rhinos? They managed to take out Heigou."

"To tell you the truth, the odds were that wasn't the Rhinos. I have no doubt that my militia, those filthy traitors, betrayed their hometown to the enemy, but the perpetrators were likely just a standard Fire Nation cavalry unit disguising themselves as the Rhinos to spread fear. It's a common tactic. Our main rival is their fleet."

"Do you have any way of countering a naval attack aside from the Water Tribe?"

"Matter of fact, I do. I can show you, but first, we'll get you settled in. Do your women cook?" he asked, questioning the girls.

I turn to see as Ka'lira looked to Zare who shrugged confusingly, then responded, "Yes, we can, but we're better as-"

"Good. My men haven't eaten a proper meal in months. The kitchen is in that building there across from the barracks. You may have to do some cleaning. I'll have my men prepare some separate accommodations for you for the night.

"Are you fucking kidding me?" I heard Zare mumble to my side. "I can't cook?"

"Well whatever do you mean?" I whispered back sarcastically. "You're a woman. What else do you do?"

"I'm going to stab you in your sleep." She whispered through gritted teeth as Ka'lira began pulling her away towards the troops awaiting them.

"I like mine medium rare by the way."

I was only met by her middle finger being raised towards me before Ka'lira reigned her in and proceeded to drag her along.

"I'm surprised you let them carry weapons," the commander admitted as he beckoned us along further, closer to the coastline. I was unsurprised by his stance. Out here in the deep Earth Kingdom, values akin to his were far more commonplace than in the Fire Nation or in groups desperate enough such as the Nip Sea Terrorists.

"They've proven their worth," Gordez said in defense of them. "They're great fighters."

"I notice they both wield bows. I see that, at the very least, you're keeping them out of harm's way."

"They're more than capable of close quarters combat. They're just playing to their strengths."

He chuckled, "Oh, I'm sure."

By now, we had approached the rear of the castle and were led out a similar gate as the one at the front, though this one opening wider to reveal the beach head, and the rows upon rows of trenches and battlements that lined it, lines of catapults at the ready, and in the center of the formation, an artillery gun, the size of which I hadn't seen since Ba Sing Se. It was a siege gun.

"I know it ain't much. Old tech after all, but we're proud of it.

Gordez's whistle signaled his interest quite clearly. "Where'd you get your hands on this?"

Fire Nation was besieging our little castle here at the same time as Ba Sing Se. When the Fire Nation lost its prized pony up there and the Dragon of the West went running back home with his tail between his legs, we took advantage of the Fire Nation's continent-wide retreat and picked up a few goodies along the way. This was one of them."

The look Zek and I had exchanged at his mention of Lu Ten and Iroh spoke clearly enough to our final assessments of the character that was guiding us. I imagined Gordez would have been none too pleased himself if he hadn't still been ogling the artillery gun.

"It's a mighty fine weapon, but these are siege guns. Imprecise as hell. You'd have to be extremely lucky to land a straight hit against a target as precise as a Fire Nation ship."

"Hmph." He scoffed, turning his head away from us, towards the rear wall, yelling, "Cholla! Launch a decoy!"

My eyes followed Hanief's up the wall in time to glance the silhouette of the man I assumed to be Cholla vanish behind it.

"Firing crew! At the ready! We have some visitors to impress!"

A pair of Earth Kingdom soldiers I hadn't noticed lounging by the wall suddenly shot into attention, seemingly excited at the mere thought of something to do.

"Shouldn't we let the fortress know we're practicing?" I asked. "The gun may spook 'em."

"Eh, let it spook them. They'll be happy for the momentary distraction.

They dashed into position, 2 by the gun, 2 adjacent to it, one with a binocular, one with a firing grid, and the last, the gunnery sergeant by the looks of him, overseeing it all.

It wasn't long before, out from the wall, a small, unmanned sailboat appeared, riding out into the center of the nip, slow but steady. It was a miniscule target. Did he really think his gun could hit a target this accurately?

"Ready weapon!" the gunnery crew sergeant yelled to his subordinates, followed by their immediate compliance.

"Load shell!" The shell was loaded.

By this point, the spotters had their mark, calling out, "5E, headed 4D."

"Copy," affirmed the gunner. "Shell ready!"

"Fire!" announced the team leader.

And the roar of the cannon firing shook the earth even more than the gates had, the gun's steel supports barely holding it in place as the barrel pushed back from the recoil, ejecting the still smokey shell casing.

Our eyes all turned to the horizon, waiting for the impact.

And so it inevitably came, the water splashing in a mighty display where the shell fell. It was a miss. I wasn't surprised. The first shot usually always missed. What surprised me, however, was just how close it came."

"Adjust" the sergeant called out. "20 degrees west, 10 north!"

They had a lot of faith that the shell would land precisely to their specifications. Siege guns such as these were rarely accurate. They certainly were putting a lot of faith in it.

"Adjusted!"

"Load shell!"

"Loaded!"

"Fire!"

And it fired again, shaking the boat as the shell landed not far from it, still missing, but, in fact, to the east and to the north, precisely how they'd adjusted the heading. You're kidding.

"Same heading! Load shell!"

"Loaded!"

"Fire!"

And it was in that last salvo that the small boat erupted in flames, hit head on by the cannon, nothing left of it save for charred bits of wood floating in the Nip.

The surprise we all felt was apparent, most noticeably by Gordez, who stood wide-eyed, looking back and forth between the target, or what was left of it, and the gun.

"H-how the hell?" he asked.

"We may have…made a few modifications," the commander stated proudly, slapping the side of the still hot barrel, stating to the firing crew, "Nice shooting, men. You're dismissed."

"What did you do?" Gordez asked, the awe in his voice akin to that of a toddler receiving a birthday gift for the first time in their life. "I see you lengthened the barrel, but that can't be it."

"Mhmm. Rifled it too. And shed some excess weight from the gun."

"Where'd you get the knowhow to do that?"

"Gun wasn't the only spoil we took. Caught the gunnery crew too. They lent us a hand, you could say."

It was easy enough to presume they were no longer among the living. Figures.

"Well then" he continued, clapping his hands together in front of him. "As you can see, the 325 men here are ready for when the Fire Nation decides to attack. When they come knocking, we'll be ready." He spoke with blatant confidence, clearly believing everything he said.

He cleared his throat, "But enough of that. Fire Nation hasn't attacked for months now, so why assume they'll attack tomorrow. With that supplies you all brought in, I'm thinking we have enough to enjoy ourselves tonight. We have some booze in the cellar and some guests to share it with. That's cause for celebration if I ever heard of it." He planted his hands on the shoulders of both me and Zek, ushering us along towards what I assumed were to be our quarters as he said, "Now let's show you where you'll be staying. By the time you're done settling it, methinks the ladies will be done cooking something up, and we'll let the festivities begin."

As he brought us along, I turned my head one last time to face the sea. In the midday clarity, I felt as though I could almost see the coast across. Or perhaps it was merely illusory. I figured it had to be, the coast being around 50 miles away. In that moment though, it felt closer than ever. Everything was drawing in. War was coming. That was unavoidable now. And we were about to find ourselves deadpan in the middle of it once again.