Jet

Complete and total darkness.

Only a few feet of stone separating us and the enemy and we were invisible to them, completely shrouded, the reality of us and our intent unknown to them.

War was being waged above, we knew. Team 2 would have already engaged in battle with the Fire Nation, and I had no doubt that with each second that passed, no shortage of them would be losing their lives in the fighting.

We do this so we can help the others, I tried to remind myself.

There was only the breathing of my comrades at my side to remind me that I wasn't alone down here. Their labored breaths told me once more that they shared with me the curse of what had to be done here.

The soft glow of a torch behind me, the small warmth it gave, all of them just hints of the force that lay below—dozens of us, dozens more outside, ready to strike at my command.

Why me?

I understood why in some small part, it had been me, but that made it no easier. It was as much a curse as it was a privilege.

We do this so Shibi can be free of the Fire Nation's grip.

We had worked our way beneath the surface easy enough, into Shibi's sewer system. If there was one thing I could say about the Fire Nation, it was that they knew how to keep a city clean. Perhaps once Shibi was ours, we could learn a thing or two, but not because a foreign oppressor had dictated it so, but because it would be our own will and choice.

We all knew the moment was coming. The last 2 weeks preparing for the role we would come to play, creating a diversion for the rest of the invasion, attacking from the rear.

It would be dirty work, that which would see many lost on both sides, sure, but it was what would need to be done.

We do this for the Earth Kingdom.

I would be the first out. I had to be.

I turned to the others behind me, exactly 2 dozen lining through the sewer tunnel, a scattered few bearing torches to light the way, more being lit between one another in preparation for what lay ahead.

They were ready.

I gave them the hand signal that we were set, and made my intent to be the first out clear as I ascended the iron ladder up to the manhole cover.

I raised my arms to the steel manhole that I knew would lead into the center of Shibi. Hours every day for the last 2 weeks mapping out the city, it was impossible for me to be wrong. Or so I prayed.

I put as much strength as I could into my arms, and lifted, feeling the manhole cover budge above my strength, the clanging of metal causing me to clench my teeth in the hope none other heard until, finally, it raised.

And the light of the moon shone in with a steady rhythm of rain in accompaniment, and we knew our time had come.

Using the stone ground around to boost myself up, I lifted myself out of the sewer. And sure enough, just as it had been planned, I emerged on the edge of Shibi, the defensive walls not at all far, and the interior of them too.

Precisely in position.

Around me, other manhole covers opened, revealing more Separatists as they rose from the ground like badger moles.

How appropriate.

Not a moment could be wasted, all of us knew, and so we rose, headed immediately to our target-the walls.

For every one of us within the walls who had infiltrated via the sewers, two to three waited outside, using the edge of the forest for cover, awaiting our sign that their time had come—a sign, and an opening, that we would provide.

We made for the walls, the attention of its defenders likely diverted outside rather than in. It was likely they expected a diversionary attack, but from beneath their own noses, through sewers they had believed completely blocked off, no, that they did not anticipate. And it would be their undoing.

It was a trivial matter, scaling the walls from within, ascending via their stairways, myself immediately slitting the throat of a defender where he stood, crossbow by his side, eyes scanning over the edge of the tree barrier that surrounded Shibi.

Good luck. You'll never have seen them coming.

Even before the man was dead, his body sinking to the ground, another had been killed across the turret from me by Kai, shoving his shortsword into the Fire Nation soldier's back.

The killing of the man had not been so quiet as my own effort, however, and the attention of a soldier from the turret was caught, quickly descending the stairway to come to blows with Kai, which he did, quite easily overpowering my friend in a fashion that would have meant his dead.

Such would not be the case, however, as my own blade quickly pierced the man's lower back, emitting from his stomach, all strength to him lost as he slumped to the floor of the wall.

Kai nodded in appreciation, and I returned the favor.

There was no need to thank me. We're all in this together.

He wasted no more time. We couldn't afford to do so. The soldiers on the wall were aware of our presence now and every second was one they could spend attempting to raise an alarm.

It was by pure luck the next soldier to notice us, across the wall, had his leg sliced out from behind him by a fellow Separatists I couldn't make out from this distance, but by the technique, I knew to be Gahun.

All around us, the scourge of the walls continued, soldiers being killed left and right by the Separatists they still lacked proper time to respond to. They were being cut down, and those who did become aware failing to raise the alarm in proper time. Luck was running short however, and a Fire Nation soldier atop the turret watch tower had borne witness to Gahun's killing of the man attempted swiftly to ring the bell beside him being interrupted only by the flash appearance of an arrow from the forest edge, a line of rope trailing behind it.

The arrow quickly lodged into the man's neck with such pinpoint accuracy I knew to belong to Longshot alone, sending him to the ground with a violent gurgle.

The rope that had been trailing behind the fatal arrow suddenly grew taut, indicating that the shooter would be showing himself soon, and sure enough he did, scaling the wall, using the body of the man he shot as an anchor.

And there, Longshot was not alone.

Across the wall, more and more Separatists who had just minutes ago been hiding in the woods, ascended. Aided by their compatriots already atop, it was simply a matter of seconds for them to rise.

By now, there could be no denying our presence atop the wall as earthbenders manipulated the ground beneath themselves to rise atop the wall and waterbenders took advantage of the downpour to, for all intents and purposes, fly to the top of the walls in the creation of watery platforms beneath them. It made little difference to the Fire Nation, however, at the rate in which their numbers were being culled, our segment of the city we were attacking quickly being cleared, shrouded to security checkpoints further down the wall on account of the storm.

We were invisible, striking in the dead of night, leaving a heap of Fire Nation corpses in our wake.

In no time at all, they would all be dead, and I would be descending the walls to come face to face with the mass of Shibi ahead, knowing what was to be done.

It was all going exactly as had been planned.

I remembered when Cholla had pulled me aside following his war council with the others. In the span of only a few minutes, it had felt as though I had suddenly been elevated from a mere afterthought to a pivotal piece of the Earth Kingdom Commander's machinations.

"Do you wish for the Earth Kingdom, for your home, to win this war for the Nip Sea, this war that you have been fighting for so long?" he had asked me that day 2 weeks ago when what he had suggested had been just that—a suggestion, and not what it was now—reality.

"Of course, sir," I had answered, the only reasonable and true answer there was. Victory for my nation, for my home, it was what really mattered. All that mattered at the end of the day, I supposed. That's why we were fighting after all, was it not?

"Are you willing to do what must be done to ensure that your home achieves victory here?"

I thought it had been an innocent question—one aimed towards my dedication, my preparation for the coming storm, and I had answered in the affirmative once again.

"Good," he followed with. "Then there's something I need to discuss with you."

I hadn't the slightest clue of what he'd been speaking of, thinking perhaps it was only a larger role he wished for me to play in what was to come. Which, of course, would end up being the case, but far from a way in which I had anticipated it.

"You already know that the fighting in Shibi is going to be hard on our men. Many will die. Many earthbenders, waterbenders, separatists, there will be blood."

"I know," I answered, the fact having occurred to me plenty of times before, knowing it was a childish dream to believe we'd be coming out of this unscathed.

"Our men will be facing the Fire Nation in the center of town, but there is a way we can reduce casualties. I believe you can be a pivotal part of it."

"Anything I can do to help, sir, whatever it is."

"Hmm. Good. That's what I like to hear. You'll be attacking the enemy from behind, hitting them where they least expect it and opening a new front."

"You want us to open a new front? You mean, fight the enemy head on?"

"No. You won't be the front. You will create the front. Sew chaos, take their attention away from the others?"

"You mean harass their flank, destroy equipment, or-"

The man had frowned then, however, indicating to me that I had done something wrong then. Had I given the wrong answer? I was going to ask just that until he said, "Kiu really has been an influence on you, huh?"

"What do you mean, sir?"

"He hasn't taught you what it takes to win wars. What extremes, disturbing though they may be, we must resort to in order to protect those we care about."

"The commander, Kiu, he…he tells us that if we wage a war based on terror, we're no better than the enemy."

"And you don't believe it holds you back."

I had no idea what he was implying at the time. "From…time to time, sure. We don't have the luxury of playing fair, but he means well. He believes it's our way of staying above the invaders."

"And what do you believe?"

What do I believe? All I wanted to know was what game he was playing, but the severity in his tone told me there was no levity in this exchange. "I…I believe we already are above our enemies on account that we are defending our homes. Of course, we shouldn't resort to some measures, but sometimes, if it means protecting ourselves, we shouldn't hold back."

"Hmm", he said, his face still stoically unchanging. "So you do understand."

"Understand what, sir?"

"What I am asking you to do. Simply harassing their flank will not be enough to protect our men on the front, will not be enough to free Shibi, to win a battle for the Earth Kingdom. Destruction needs to be wrought upon the Fire Nation's civilian backing in order to truly cripple their defense. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"You…want us to target civilians?"

"It's unpleasant work, but I'm afraid it's the only way we can stand a chance against the enemy."

"But…that can't be our only option, right? Killing the people we are there to liberate?"

"Let me ask you something. I've been asking around about your revolt, and I've heard what you've done. Attacking the enemy, destroy resource houses, attacking convoys, you've been hitting their resources. What makes the people of Shibi any different?"

The question had outraged me, and I'd been on the verge of yelling as I'd exclaimed, "Because those are people! Not resources!"

"Are they? Think, Jet. A Nation is only as strong as its people, those it takes, those it conscripts. Ideally, yes, we would liberate them from their oppressors and allow them the chance to serve a greater cause—their home nation, but the situation now does not allow for that. All we can do is ensure they become sacrifices for their home, for their Kingdom, rather than resources for the invaders. It's unpleasant, horrible, but these are the measures we've been driven to, and if it's what it takes to free our home, I am prepared as a citizen of our Kingdom to act, to serve, to fight. Are you?"

And such was what it all boiled down to—what I was willing to do for my Kingdom.

Is this really what it has come to? What war has come to?

Of course it is. Just look at Jingping. Jingping, a town that had housed thousands, burned to the ground in the span of the night, leaving nothing in its wake, thousands dead, hundreds without homes, and the Earth Kingdom forces in this region crippled.

This is war now, isn't it? Total war, no exceptions.

They had targeted the lifeblood of our Kingdom when they had attacked our people. And now, now we did the same.

"Yes," I answered. I had to be.

"Then I have one lost question. Who do you trust to do the same?"

I looked around me at those who gathered. The walls had been cleared. The Fire Nation was either fighting the main battle on the primary front, or had been killed here. None stood in our way. All that lay ahead was only hell.

Only hell.

Those around me were those who had been carefully selected over the last 2 weeks, those similar to myself who had been made to understand the reasoning behind what we were doing here.

Armed, torches in hand, adrenaline still flowing from our infiltration, I knew longer we waited, the sooner we'd lose our nerve to do what had to be done.

I couldn't wait, not without risking losing everything, not without risking losing my nerve and subjecting those in the heat of battle right now to an all too sudden death.

So I was the first forward, torch in hand, until it wasn't, instead careening through the air, sending the distinct sound of glass shattering through the air as it penetrated into the window of the first house I could fine.

The minute it had left my hand, I had known that there was no changing it, no fixing it. What was done, had been done, and so it would be.

The house went ablaze, catching fire to the torn curtains first before spreading rapidly to the wood structure.

I tried not to focus on the screams.

Around me, inspired by my actions, I suppose, the others sprung into action, a house to my left now being sez ablaze by the torch of another.

I tried not to focus on the screams.

The violence spread like wildfire, as did the realization of just what was happening. People tried to flee their homes, but their efforts would come in vain.

Earth benders manifested barriers to block people from escaping their burning homes, and those who did manage to leave their hovels in time would only meet the blades of those who waited outside, myself among them.

I tried not to focus on the screams.

But they were too loud to ignore. All around me, flames danced, and people screamed.

I'm so sorry.

I did not relent, however. I knew what needed to be done, praying it was all worth it. With the arrival of Fire Nation forces however, equally horrified as I was, a new fervor in them, entering battle, I knew it would be worth it. It had to be.

But still, a knot in my stomach, a growing pain that understood more than those around me, I was sorry to say, the horror of what we were doing.

I'm so sorry, but we have to do this.

And so battle began as the Fire Nation endeavored to protect their own. The rampage was only beginning, I knew, but we would do what we had to. For the Earth Kingdom.

I'm so sorry.