Captain Zhao

The war council's meeting had concluded, and I had been right beside General Shu's side throughout it.

Any mentions of the technicalities of the lunar eclipse, he diverted to me.

General Shu had known that the others may come to view it as favoritism, but, to my surprise, he seemed indifferent towards that potential, as though it mattered little to him.

Neither should it matter to the others.

The briefing had been 3 days ago.

It would be the final war council meeting of operation "Red Moon". All of the Western Armada's command was present. Every captain, task group commander, and, of course, General Shu. And he considered me the second most important person there.

Everything on the face of the Earth had been discussed, had been considered, the meeting lasting the full day. Whether it was updated intelligence of Separatist, Revanchist, and Earth Kingdom forces, now dubbed the 'Unified Front', and their recent raids on our cargo caravans to the east, their increased trade across the sea, or their amassing of forces at the ruins of Jinping, we knew they were preparing for something big. The potential of retreat was now out of the window. And the timing of it, it would be on the eclipse.

They were coming. There could be no doubting that anymore.

And they will be ready. They had arms, armor, manpower amassed, benders, the advantage of the terrain, the mastery of the sea.

We had discussed every possible attack plan they may utilize, how to respond to each and every one, how to prepare defenses, contingencies, and how to ensure we did not loose the entirety of the Northern Nip before the eclipse arrived.

And then there was the matter of the counterattack, and such was where the genius of Shu revealed itself to me in a way I hadn't expected.

It would not be a wasted night. That much was clear. The defense of Shibi was not all there was. All of the Western Armada would be put to use.

Tomorrow, the tide of this war changes.

The lunar eclipse was only a day away We knew what was coming, what to expect, believed we had as complete a picture of the coming war to prepare, to brace for, to push back.

For the last week and a half, the defenses of Shibi had been built up as much as possible to prepare for the coming invasion force. We knew with the power of the full moon behind their backs, they would push through indeed. I had assisted in the building up of defenses as much as possible. A naval defense task force was in position. They won't make it. Our sea wall was erected, artillery lining the top, catapults behind, harpoon cannons overlooking the bay. Those defenses will be crushed.

The truth was that I had never faced a waterbending force on the full moon. Granted, a lunar eclipse would be present to poison the full effect of it, but notwithstanding, we would need to hold out against the power of full potential waterbenders for the rest of the night before the eclipse arrived.

It is going to be a hell of a night.

Many of our men would die, much of Shibi would be occupied, but when the eclipse struck, we would make our move.

The fleet was in position to intercept, our reserve forces ready to encircle them, and the heavens themselves already in motion to secure our victory.

This ends tomorrow.

It would be the hardest I'd ever fought; I knew that much. Many men would die, perhaps even some of my own crew. I only had records of previous battles under full moons to know that we would be at a severe disadvantage, but it didn't matter, we would persevere. We had to.

No. We won't just persevere. We will crush them. And all because of what I had learned.

Tomorrow, I end this fight.