Chapter 15

The duel began with Deniigi launching a spear-sized icicle at Bikki like a harpoon. Bikki slid under the shaft of ice, popping up in time to parry a second icicle thrown at him with a draw cut of his Emushi Blade. A stomp and arm movement from Deniigi had Bikki forced to leap into the air to avoid a rising wave of water that coalesced out of the moisture in the air and threatened to freeze Bikki's legs to the ground.

Fliping around in mid-air, Bikki launched a blazing arc at Deniigi with a descending axe kick only for Deniigi to throw up an ice block in the way of the arc. Fire and ice met with a hissing noise as Bikki's blazing arc melted the ice block in half, parting it as Bikki descended from the apex of his fall. He fell in a shoulder roll that carried him forward through the two halves of the ice block just as Deniigi swept her arms around in an attempt to slam the halves together and pin Bikki between them.

Bikki's roll carried him past the danger and he sprang up to his feet and lashed out with his Emushi Blade that Deniigi had to hastily parry with a draw cut of her belt dagger. A flex of yang chi and a breath out had the edge of Bikki's Emushi blade superheated and it bit into the blade of Deniigi's dagger, tearing a chunk out of the metal.

For a moment, Deniigi's eyes widened fractionally at the power on display before she grabbed Bikki's wrist in an attempt to disarm him. Bikki, however, was no stranger to martial arts and grappling and managed to break Deniigi's grip with an application of Leverage just as Deniigi grabbed hold of his Emushi Blade. She disarmed him at the same time as he moved to do the same to her with the effect being that they effectively swapped Bikki's Emushi Blade between each other for a few brief moments as they grappled.

Then Deniigi seemed to grow frustrated with her lack of progress and pulled Bikki into a shoulder throw suddenly. The sudden shift from grappling to throwing took Bikki off guard for a moment and he found himself flipped over Deniigi's shoulder and sailing through the air. He swiftly flipped around in mid-air in time to land in a crouch just as Deniigi shot another icicle spear at him, snapping off a parry with his Emushi Blade that sheared through the Icicle with a hiss of heat. He responded by punching a fireball at Deniigi which forced her to abandon her attempt to fire off a second Icicle at him in favor of putting a block of ice in front of his fireball.

Bikki poured on the flames, his fireball turning into a steady stream of fire, before being joined by more flames as he kicked out in a front thrust kick and added a second stream of fire to the first. The two streams merged and became a torrent, swiftly melting the block of ice and sublimating it into a cloud of steam. Bikki's grin widened as he switched his stance to that of Steambending.

Deniigi attempted to leave the cloud of steam and get clear of the danger, but it was too late. With a short stomp and a small circular movement, Bikki brought his elbow around and the steam coalesced from a lukewarm cloud into a piping-hot jet that smashed into Deniigi from the side, parboiling her left arm. The Water Tribeswoman roared out in pain as she landed hard on the flagstones of the fortress and Bikki moved in to capitalize.

With a snarl, Deniigi threw out her uncooked right arm in a desperate attempt to stave off the inevitable by flinging an icicle at Bikki as he charged, only for Bikki to lean out of the way and smash a roundhouse kick into Deniigi's face. His kick knocked the Water Tribeswoman flat on her ass and before she could get to her feet, Bikki's Emushi Blade was at her throat.

"Yield! This duel is over!" Demanded Bikki.

Deniigi looked like she wanted to continue fighting, but Bikki pressing his blade just a bit more firmly into the skin of her neck, nicking her, convinced her otherwise. She looked back up at him and he gazed down at her with a frown.

"I can superheat the edge of my blade in a fraction of the time it'd take you to try to start fighting your way out of this position. You fought well, why not yield and swear to Prince Zuko? He needs retainers who can fight." Tried Bikki.

For a few moments, the air was tense, before Deniigi sagged in place visibly. Then she began shaking. It took Bikki a while to realize that Deniigi was laughing. She looked up at him, defeat on her face along with a rueful grin.

"Damn it all, Little Captain, you beat me. I'd rather meet Koh the Face Stealer on one of his bad days than swear to some Prince who had no part in besting me, though. I'll give my oath to you if that works?" Questioned Deniigi.

"For now, it'll do. At least until I can actually talk with the Prince and see about settling things." Nodded Bikki.

"Then what's left of my fort and men are yours to command, Little Captain." Nodded Deniigi.

And with that, Bukda Neungbo officially belonged to the Fire Nation. The flags of the fort were pulled down and replaced with the banners of the Fire Nation, Tamna Island Warriors, and the Banner of the Line of Koshamain. The Tamna Island Warriors had only suffered two and a half dozen wounded, all of which would likely recover. They'd even beaten General Iroh's capture of Woncheon by around three hours, though given how the defenses were situated and that Woncheon was an actual town and not just a fort, that was to be expected.

Bikki would wind up being called to Woncheon that night to meet with the Dragon of the West, Prince Zuko, and other nearby commanders for a strategy session. By that point, he'd already had his Lieutenants organizing the fort and setting up a garrison. The streets of Woncheon were, it had to be said, not quite as collateral damage-free as the General had hoped for with his attack. It couldn't be helped as you could not always surgically strike a target, especially if that target was a large port town.

There were a few buildings burnt here and there, with one tavern still smoldering as Bikki walked through the main street toward the fortified complex that served as the governor's residence. It was remarkably restrained for a fire nation conquest by all accounts, and even the various underworld fighting men that had been loaned to them for the overthrow of the Waegu Pirates seemed to be behaving themselves with only a modicum of looting. That last bit was likely due to the Wolf Armored Warriors patrolling the streets and keeping an eye on the various Yakuza, Triad, and other underworld toughs that had been lent out as makeshift soldiers.

As Bikki entered the fortified governor's mansion, passing through the gates that had been literally burned off their hinges, he couldn't deny that the Sons of Kiviuk and Tamna Island Warriors were well worth having to take on the dregs of the criminal underworld alongside them. He nodded to Sergeant Kentaro of the Dragonhawk's Marine Compliment as he entered into the main area. The Sergeant had stepped up in a big way to help bring the Marines around after the mess with Lieutenant Keiko had finished playing out.

If he'd tucked a gilded comb into his belt that hadn't been there before, well, Bikki was minded to not point it out because of that. Besides, the Sergeant had mentioned how much of a pain it was to have his longer topknot aboard a ship on an indefinite assignment, so this would help him manage that. it was certainly better than the rampant thievery that Bikki had been expecting, anyway.

"The General and Prince are expecting you in the Governor's receiving room, Sir. Just take a left past the cracked statue of the dragon and head up the stairs at the end of that corridor and you'll be in smelling distance." Nodded Sergeant Kentaro.

"Smelling distance, Sergeant?" Queried Bikki.

"It seems the Pirate that was put in charge of Woncheon Port was fond of mummifying dissidents. The General took one look at the man's collection and burned it all to ash. We've aired out the receiving room as best we could manage, but, well that sort of stink doesn't just vanish in a few hours, Sir." Answered Sergeant Kentaro.

"Thanks for the warning, Sergeant." Nodded Bikki.

Following the Sergeant's directions brought Bikki to a room that still stunk faintly of burnt embalming chemicals and dead bodies. The room had been stripped bare and fresh furnishings had been brought in from the Dragonhawk but it still stunk. Bikki could even still see the scorch marks in the flooring where the floorboards had been singed in the destruction of the former Governor's Macabre Collection. Even the Dragon of the West's control might slip a bit when confronted with that sort of thing. Bikki couldn't blame him, mummifying dissidents as trophies seemed barbaric even to Bikki, who most people would call a barbarian.

Seated around a recently placed table on a few fresh tatami mats were General Iroh, Prince Zuko, and the dark-skinned, wolf-tail-wearing, wolf-armored, form of Captain Aukinek. There was also a man wearing a leather jerkin and wielding an Earth Kingdom-style Iron Ruler Baton that he rested against one shoulder.

"Ah, Lord Bikki good of you to join us. Have you met Captains Aukinek and Wong?" Questioned General Iroh.

"Captain Aukinek and I met briefly back in Eohang, but I'm not familiar with Captain Wong. What unit are you with?" Asked Bikki, already knowing this was the Underworld Enforcer that the Company of various Criminal Hatchet Men and Thugs that were padding out their numbers for this invasion had decided to elect as their leader.

"I'm the commander of the Second Islands Provisional Militia." Nodded Captain Wong, proving Bikki's suspicions correct.

"Please, have a seat. I am eager to hear your report." Nodded General Iroh.

Bikki sat and gave his report, how he had a dozen and a half wounded all of which would be able to recover, how they had taken the fort mostly intact with its stores, along with over a hundred-fifty prisoners including the Commander of the Fort. How the Commander of the Fort had agreed to bend the knee to Bikki and if her oath could be trusted, the works. By the time he was finished, General Iroh got a thoughtful look on his face.

"It seems you had an easier time than we did. Prince Zuko was forced to deal with the Governor's Firebending second-in-command on his own after clever use of barricades broke up our assault." Nodded General Iroh.

"Uncle's being polite. What he means to say is that we almost got half our force annihilated by a stupid petty trick." Scowled Prince Zuko.

"But we didn't. You led us in fighting our way out of the trap and we managed to take the Harbor completely intact because of it." Pointed out Captain Aukinek.

"Indeed Prince Zuko, you are too hard on yourself. A mistake is only devastating if you do not survive to correct it." Added General Iroh.

"Still, the butchers' bill was high among my men. A dozen were killed and twice that wounded. I'd hoped for more liberties in the town to compensate." Frowned Captain Wong.

"You have received hazard pay, have you not? The last thing we need to do is go on a looting spree right now." Cut in Captain Aukinek.

"I agree. The People of these Islands have suffered enough under such piratical practices. If they're to become a protectorate of the Fire Nation, then we have to show them that their situation will improve by doing so." Intoned Bikki.

"Well said, Lord Bikki, well said. Now, shall we get to the matter I gathered you here for?" Questioned General Iroh.

"Yes, please Uncle. I'm not sure how much more of this detour I can handle. We should be out there looking for the Avatar, not seizing a few islands." Grunted Prince Zuko.

"Patience, Prince Zuko. Here, these arrived from Mokjang via Messenger Hawks an hour ago." Nodded General Iroh, reaching into his armor and producing a series of reports that had been folded a dozen times each to be carried by Messenger Hawk.

Bikki scanned the reports and frowned at the contents. He knew the second prong was going to be lighter on benders as a result of not having any of the Dragonhawk's contingent with them but it seemed that they'd still taken a pretty bad beating. The First Provisional Islands Militia had suffered close to a quarter of its strength killed or wounded thanks to the trio of Benders that had been in command at Mokjang. A Firebender, Earthbender, and Waterbender had worked in tandem to carve a chunk out of the second prong before the Sun Raiders and Red Banner Roughnecks managed to take out the Waterbender with concentrated arrow fire and allow the single pair of benders they had, an Earthbender Lieutenant named Ling the Pillar and a Firebender Sergeant named Goro the Blaze to take out the last two Pirate benders from a more even playing field.

If that hadn't been bad enough, there had been twice the expected amount of troops at Mokjang which had contributed to the casualties. The Sun Raiders got off the best from the fighting, with the Red Banner Roughnecks close behind them, but the second prong had still taken a beating in seizing Mokjang.

"They moved more quickly than we anticipated." Frowned Bikki.

"No, this was not intentional. It has all the hallmarks of an accidental encounter. We are likely to still be facing a remnant garrison at Gimi Port and Hayansaeg Fortress." Informed General Iroh.

"And that's a problem because, with every battle that stalls us out, our timetable gets thrown further and further out of balance." Pressed Captain Aukinek.

"And as Uncle keeps reminding me, the Timetable is the key to winning this. So, I want suggestions." Commanded Prince Zuko.

"Let me handle it." Offered Bikki. He hadn't meant to speak up, but something had compelled him, almost as if the Spirits themselves were telling him to do so.

"Lord Bikki?" Queried General Iroh.

"It's a remnant Garrison, you said, right? Let me take my men and deal with it. That way, you can link up with the second prong and proceed to Seonan City and the forts there without having to worry about it." Repeated Bikki.

"It would speed things along considerably. Are you certain you can handle it, though?" Asked General Iroh.

"I'm confident. Besides, as Prince Zuko said and you keep reminding us, the Timetable is the key. With this, we can get ahead of schedule and not have to worry about everything." Answered Bikki.

General Iroh looked over at Prince Zuko, who looked back at General Iroh. Then General Iroh looked over at Bikki and nodded his agreement with the plan.

"Very well. You would know your own capabilities best, after all." Agreed General Iroh.

"Then, with your leave, I'll go prepare my men and plans." Bikki responded, standing.

"Bikki. Don't bite off more than you can chew. We don't want another Lingchen Port Situation." Spoke up Prince Zuko as Bikki turned to leave.

"Don't worry about me, worry about your own front, Prince Zuko. I'll be all right." Grinned Bikki.

"I hope so. . .I don't have many friends." Muttered Prince Zuko under his breath.

Then Bikki was out of the Governor's Receiving Room, heading back out of the Fortified Complex and back down the road toward Bukda Neungbo. He had an offensive to plan and a Port to seize and only his own forces to do it with, after all. Even with a depleted garrison, it was likely to be a challenge.

Bikki just hoped he was up to it. . .

XXXX

AN: All right, here we see the duel with Deniigi, the fall of Bukda Neungbo, Woncheon Port, and the conclusion of the first day of fighting. We also get to see just a bit of what the next phase of fighting is going to be like. General Iroh's plans got messed up by bad luck hitting the second prong at Mokjong. Fortunately, adaptability is the watchword of most competent people.

Now Bikki will be dealing with the last port and its attached fortress to allow Zuko, Iroh, and everyone else to get ahead of the timetable instead of being behind. It's going to be a tough fight, but fortunately, Bikki just picked up the loyalty of a decently experienced Waterbender. Expect Deniigi to join the attack on Gimi Port and Hayansaeg Fortress with some of her forces now that Bikki has her oath of fealty.

At any rate, the next chapter will involve the preparations for and the start of that attack.

Stay tuned. . .