Captain Zhao

The war room aboard the FNS Ajax was not meant to be impressive. It was not constructed to mimic the war room of the Grand Admiral or the Fire Lord at that. It was not constructed to cement some sense of authority, no. It was simply a room. It was those in the room that set the room apart from anything else. Every Captain of the Western Armada all in the same location, and the General himself at the head of it all.

It was the first time that such a council had been assembled to discuss the stage of the campaign that had been dominating every logistics report, every troop reassignment, and ever degree of espionage we could muster. Operation 'Red Moon.' Such was the title that was stamped on the cover page of the stack of papers in front of every one of us, dozens of identical copies lining around the room, mine just one of many.

But it's different, I thought, looking around me, trying to ignore my less that heightened position alongside Captain Yukai of the FNS Stalwart and Captain Raikan of the FNS Ascension. This isn't their brainchild. This isn't the product of over a month spent in the desert, hunting for answers, losing nearly everything to bring it back to the Fire Nation. That was the work of only one person in this room.

As if on cue, my periphery caught sight of Harzek, still bearing the same grim look on his face, facing completely opposite of me as though he were attempting to avoid my gaze.

Well. Two people in this room.

I wondered how he was faring. I still had our ominous encounter from yesterday at the forefront of my mind, wondering just what it was he had meant.

Perhaps I was reading too deep into things. He'd lost half of his men and was stationed away from the other half at that. I'd checked his record. Those had been his same men for over a year. I didn't need to imagine what that would do for a commander. I wouldn't presume to know. I considered my own crew then. Growing attached to one's subordinates had its advantages as well as its risks. Harzek's case was a blatant demonstration of the risks involved, of what transpired when personal feelings were allowed to override rationality

On the other hand, there were the clear positives, having also been demonstrated by the selfsame man throughout the execution of our work together. His men, while doubtful of the mission, had remained entire loyal to their commanding officer, never doubting his motives nor his intentions. They had trusted him with their lives, as any proper soldier would to their CO. And as a proper CO would also do, Harzek made it his foremost goal to preserve their lives, only second to the objective itself. When the time had come to make sacrifices, it had been his own men who had to go before the objective. That was simply how it was, and Lieutenant Harzek, now Captain Harzek, had not failed his nation. And for that reason, we were all sitting here, capable of now deliberating the most effective strategy to rid this region of the Earth Kingdom.

"I'd like to first thank you all for coming," started General Shu. "I know we've been operating in this theater of war for a while now, and many of us are desperate to bring this fighting to an end. As of late, this fighting has seen to become all the more prolonged with increased Separatist activities to the North and emerging Water Tribe complications to the East. That is why we are gathered today, as I'm sure you all know. In front of you is a series of documents for an operation many of you had likely heard hearsay or rumors of. Today, it will no longer be a mystery to you. This operation is code named "Red Moon." These documents are not to leave this room. If they do, or if any of the contents are missing, we will know who is responsible and whoever is the culprit will be tracked down, court martialed, and executed.

"Now then, that aside, I will ask you to turn to the first page of the document in front of you."

A chorus of pages turning as dozens of pairs of eyes settled on the contents before us. Research documents pertaining to that of a lunar eclipse. I recognized the foot notes and the formatting. These documents had originated from the Royal University of Caldera. Others, however, I recognized as direct copies of the documents that Harzek and I had acquired from Wan Shi Tong's library. The documents spanned a number of pages, covering details I had already done my own research in and knew the near extent of. For those less informed, however, General Shu ran through a brief synopsis, outlining the heavenly movements, the rotation of the bodies, and trapping of the moon in the shadow of Earth as created by the sun, and, most importantly, the connotations of such an astronomical event.

"Numerous historical documents have verified the information garnered by two present in this room, Captain Zhao and Captain Harzek. It was their efforts that gave us access to this information, and the information that will come to follow. Many of you are now likely questioning the importance of what is being said. The effect of lunar eclipses has already been known to the Fire Nation for decades now. However, this has always remained something we were unable to take advantage of, having no means of predicting when the next would come. Up until today, that is.

"Captains Harzek and Zhao, in their expedition into the Si Wong Desert, managed to uncover a planetarium in a hidden library that informed us of an upcoming lunar eclipse, one at the end of this month."

There was a silence that filled the room, a series of whispered chattering around the room, some of it likely even questioning the validity of what Harzek and I had uncovered.

These doubts, however, would not be acknowledged by Shu, and, frankly, that would be enough. If he believed it, then so would the others, and so he continued, placing his faith entirely on what we had uncovered, stating, "There will be no full moon at the end of this month. Rather, there will be a lunar eclipse, one that will see the Water Tribe stripped of their abilities. Our war council today is to discuss how best to take advantage of the opportunity provided, and such is the content of Operation Red Moon if you will turn to page 34 of the file in front of you.

"You all have likely heard, by now, of the successful assault against Xiahu yesterday. Minimal Fire Nation casualties were sustained, the Earth Kingdom fortress of Xiahu was demolished, and surviving belligerents have fled to Jingping."

"They should have been wiped out!" exclaimed a rather fiery officer to my right. A number of heads turned towards him, some nodding in agreement, others hesitantly cocking their head, gauging where the advantage in the room leaned before choosing their sides. So short-sighted, all of them.

General Shu's face remained hard, unfazed by the outburst, acknowledging it, however, with, "And such is Operation Red Moon's intent. As you can now see if you turn towards your documents, the purpose of document Red Moon is to coerce combined Earth Kingdom, Water Tribe, and Separatist forces into a single final encounter, one that will leave them devastated. The assault of Xiahu yesterday was the first phase of this operation, narrowing down the Earth Kingdom south of the Nip Sea to a single defensible location—Jingping.

"As it stands, all Earth Kingdom forces, numbering approximately at 1,100 fighters, are gathered at the town of Jingping. We estimate that, by tonight, these numbers will be at around 3,300 as their current commander, Cholla, most likely, will be desperately conscripting civilian populaces into his ranks."

"Then their priority is defense," chimed in another Captain, this one less accusatory, merely concerned.

"We won't be able to wipe them out in such a fashion. We need to draw them out."

"Captain Saizo is correct," affirmed General Shu. "At that, attacking Jingping would see us only dealing a blow at the Earth Kingdom, potentially removing them as a threat, leaving the Water Tribe and Separatists as a remaining guerilla threat. Wiping Jingping off the map, while it may accomplish removing organized resistance, will still see Fire Nation activities in the region hindered by partisan fighting. Such is where it becomes essential to coerce the combined enemy forces of the region into attacking us. As you will see in front of is a suggested plan of assault on Jingping, likely the source of Captain Saizo's concerns. Much as how we allowed Earth Kingdom forces to flee Xiahu, a following attack on Jingping will not be a finishing blow, but rather, enough to force our enemy into one final ultimatum. The final objective of Operation Red Moon, to be clear, is to force enemy forces into a final assault against one of our coastal positions along the northern shore of the Nip Sea on the day of the Red Moon.

"So," continued Captain Saizo, "We plan on raiding Jingping to draw them out?"

"In a matter of speaking."

Now it was Captain Yukai to speak up, asking, "How do we pan on hitting Jingping believably enough that us pulling out will be considered believable?"

"The planned attack on Jingping will be on the new moon, 6 days from now. Such is when defending forces will be expecting an attack, giving them time to prepare. We expect that Water Tribe forces will be present for the combined defense. These waterbenders, however, as we all know, will be at a disadvantage on this day and thus, the most believable thing we can do is to attack on that day. We will be attacking with the same force that hit Xiahu, merely a probing task force. We have determined that a proper rationale for our defeat will need to be provided. Such is why Captain Sazuh has volunteered for his vessel, the FNS Protea to be sacrificed during the operation."

Sazuh? My head craned ahead of where the captains at my side sat, still sifting through documents, to try to find Sazuh's likeness in the sea of identically adorned seamen. He volunteered? No, that couldn't be it. I saw him then, where he sat, head faced down at the desk in front of him, seeming even more weary and defeated than he had this morning. No. This wasn't by choice. This was the consequence.

I wasn't sure whether to feel giddy or unnerved by just how quickly things had turned for him. Shu had wasted no time in finding a flaw in his command, and dealing with it in the most effective way possible, by cutting it entirely. This was it. Sazuh's vessel was on death row, to sink in precisely 6 days along with his career. Was this it? Was this his retirement plan? What happened after 6 days? How had this happened so quicky?

I was snapped back into reality by another question from the assortment of captains in the room. "You speak, then, of allowing the Earth Kingdom to push us back, claiming the battle as a victory. Why then, if they still hold Jingping, will they feel compelled to attack?"

"Because we will leave them with nothing." I had thought the words to have come from General Shu's mouth only to find when I looked up, that the eyes of everybody around the room were on me, coming then to realize that the spoken words had been my own.

I had been the one to talk.

I sat there, frozen, wondering how to proceed until General Shu took the initiative, stating, "Captain Zhao is correct. Our attack on Jingping will have no other purpose than to leave the enemy no other choice than to commit all of their resources towards a last-ditch attack."

"How do we plan on accomplishing this effect?" Saizo asked.

I already knew.

Absolute and- "Total devastation" General Shu finished my thought. "Precisely the same as at Xiahu, the reports of which are among your files, a primary naval bombardment will be conducted. Following such, a combined force of infantry deployed via warship and cavalry already on site, will attack the town. Their mission, however, will be different from Xiahu. It will not be their objective to force the enemy to flee as there will be nowhere to flee. Their instructions are to devastate Jingping. They will burn every home in their wake, destroy every ounce of infrastructure, reduce their defensive capability to nothing. They will slaughter every non-combatant they come across, woman and child alike, anybody incapable of fighting, leaving the soldiers of this town with nothing to defend, with no reason to stay behind. Our forces will leave Jingping a heap of corpses and ruins.

"It is an ugly job, but the ends justify the means. The enemy will have nothing left to defend, and thus, they will have no choice but to dedicate every last resource in a final attack on a day where they expect to have every advantage. On the 'full moon.'"

"They know we have the capacity to predict a full moon as well as they do," retorted the fiery captain. "What if they choose to forego attacking on a day when we'll be expecting them to, advantage of the 'full moon' aside?"

"Because they will have no choice. They are surrounded. They cannot flee south. They have no food. They cannot hold out. They cannot flee into the swamps as such would surrender their only and best chance of dealing a killing blow before we can cement our control over the Nip. They will attack, and we will make them attack. In 6 days, Jingping will be attacked, and the Earth Kingdom will be left with nothing. Then, on the day of the red moon, they will attack, and they will be crushed. Are there any objections?"

Not a word was spoken. I believed that those in the room were just as terrified at what General Shu had said as the Earth Kingdom would be 6 days from today, and, after that, 2 more weeks from then. Their end was coming. This month would be marked by bloodshed the likes of which this war hasn't seen since the closing days of the Siege of Ba Sing Se. This time, however, things would go differently. This time, the Fire Nation would emerge victorious, and history would know that it was me who had heralded it.

In just a few more weeks, the result of my labors would be seen, and the Earth Kingdom in the Nip Sea would be crushed.