Chapter 23.1- And so the Dragons Danced

Victory. But at what cost, I wondered. Of the crew of 45 men and women, brilliant firebenders one and all, I had lost 17. Four had died in the jump down the mountain. In retrospect, that was probably more risky than it should have been, and I really should have explored less risky means of achieving the same objective. The remaining 13 had found their deaths in the fighting. It was a lower number than should have been expected because I’d done such a good job of drawing all the attention and firepower to myself.

Cutting through the earth bender ranks like a hot knife through butter meant that there was space for my soldiers to get in behind me, and when the earthbenders turned to face me and attack, my firebenders could take them out from behind. It was an effective system at the very least, and one that meant that I hadn’t just led everyone into a pointless slaughter. Regardless of that, I’d still lost over a dozen of my best benders. I had hopes of training the rest of the army up to that level, but it stung. This was the first operation I was truly in charge of from start to finish, and that meant that each of those seventeen deaths were on my head.

Not a single man had died while I fought on the ground with them, but the second I jumped inside to face Fong, the Earthbenders had wisened up to the others and teamed up to levy their greater numbers on them. That had led to thirteen deaths between the second I stepped in and when I shot out with Fong’s body beneath me. A large number, to be sure. Especially considering that in much the same way my presence had disorganised the earth benders, my absence had done the same to my own men. It exposed a lot of be improved on, and that was what I needed to know.

“We will be leaving soon” I told Maki as she walked into what remained of Fong’s command centre. I’d commandeered it and the writing materials within to write the After Action Report on our activities here, as well as take inventory of what remained of the fortress.

“I figured. Doubted you’d want to stay in this shithole much longer” She said.

“It’s not such a bad place. Fong ran a tight ship, and most of the damage here was caused by us, remember?”

“Doesn’t change the facts. The troops have been trying to find any spoils of war to keep, but apart from a middling treasury that you’ve ordered us not to touch, there isn’t much to go off here”

“Find me a messenger hawk to send these off to the mainland” I said, ignoring the statement.

“The treasury?”

“I’ve made my orders.”

“They’re stupid fucking orders. These people just saw their friends die. At least allow them walk away with something”

“We aren’t Earth Kingdom barbarians. We fight for honour, and glory, and the Fire Nation, not for gold and silver.”

You fight for honour, and the rest of that shit. Most these people just want to make enough to retire before they lose an arm or something”

“Fair point.”

“Thank you. Now, the treasury?”

“Let each man take as much as they carry. There should be enough in there for that.”

“And your share?”

“As you just said, I fight for ‘honour and the rest of that shit’”, I said, getting a chuckle out of her as I moved to seek out once of the messenger hawks we’d brought with us.