Chapter 30.4- And so the Dragons Danced

I caught the scroll in mid air while my heart beat rapidly. Had my plan worked? It seemed like it had. But there was always a chance that something had been added in to make it a pyrrhic victory. I practically tore open the scroll’s seal to read the words within. My eyes scanned through at a rapid pace. By the order of his royal bla blah blah…in recognition of…blah blah blah….commends your…charges you to….confers upon you the rank of General of the Fire Nation, and grants the command of the Vanguard in the Siege of Ba Sing Se. I read with a smile blooming across my face.

“Pleased with the news then?” Sung said with a sarcastic tone and I looked up at him with my wide smile still in place.

“Yes indeed. It always pleases me to serve the fire nation. Now I trust that everything is as requested”, I asked him

“Yes. I have brought the ships. A dozen Imperial Carracks to ferry you and your army across the earth kingdom right to the gates of Ba Sing Se” he said.

“And the rest of it?”

“Well, I wouldn’t know about that but word is that High General Hiro himself will be journeying down from the fire Nation to take command of the Siege. With him around, I doubt you will find your forces lacking for anything.”

I took a breath and nodded.

Right from the beginning I knew the only chance there was that the Fire Lord would allow me full command over a siege of Ba Sing Se was iff he expected me to fail. And if he expected me to fail, I was unlikely to get access to the tools and resources needed to prove him wrong. Instead, I had to follow the lessons my Grandfather had given me even if I still remained estranged from him. I needed to turn the Fire Lord into an ally. That meant I needed my successes to become his successes.

After Omashu and the insult from its new Governor, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to have friends in high places and so had made sure to include a letter to the Fire Lord with my letters to command when I took Fong’s base. It had been nothing special. Just a piece of drivel that I had taken the fortress in his name and a request that the mountain base be renamed Ozai’s Fist when the Fire Nation eventually rebuilt and resettled it. The letter after Gaoling had been the real one. Dedicating the victory to him was only the first step.

The second step was requesting his guidance and wisdom in my mission to take Ba Sing Se, and including a draft of my plans but made sure to phrase . The hope was that he would leave the plans basically untouched but would be more likely to back them since he would feel like he had some level of ownership over them since I had asked his advice first things first. It was a very transparent attempt at manipulation, and that was why I had hope of it working.

“That’s good then. So we’re cleared to move?” I asked Sung.

“Yes. Let’s get going to Sozin’s landing.” He said, gesturing to the city behind him.

“What?”

“Our CO chose he name” He said.

“CO? Who commands a General of the Fire Nation?” I asked.