Captain Hideteki fought back his despair as he led his men further into the woods. The colonial garrison of Sozuro had finally reaped the full bounty from days of harrying the ungrateful home island force that sought to punish their beloved princess.
Hideteki had been proud that none of his men and women had shied away from acting as rearguard to buy precious time for the other colonists to flee. He'd been even more proud that his troops had managed to harass the invaders with incredibly light casualties.
Until now, anyway.
In the back of his mind, the captain understood that what he and his command were doing could only last so long, that the were living on borrowed time. But still, when the invading force finally had enough of the night raids and scout ambushes and trapped carts, Hideteki found it both gratifying and crushing to have the whole damned army's attention fully fixed on them.
A final stand would be worse than useless, considering the severe numerical superiority. So the partisans of Sozuro fled deeper into the forest in hopes of losing their attackers. It was a vain hope, it turned out. They've been running for four days now, the flames nipping at their heels, with barely enough time to get a nap or even eat. And the forest was thinning out.
The enemy army had enveloped the whole area and herded them all the way to the other end of the forest.
Captain Hideteki would've laughed at just how pissed off the enemy commander must've been to order such overwhelming force, but he was busy trying to come up with a way for at least some of his troops to survive this. Once they reached the other side and hit the grasslands, the partisans would be easily obliterated.
On the other hand, trying to put up a fight in the forest would see them all simply burn to death while the enemy happily stood back.
They'll go out with a roar instead of a whimper, Hideteki decided with his resigned but determined servants of Princess Azula. They had their last meals in the evening, wailed their regrets before they slept, and then in the morning, the whole group dashed out of the forest.
Hideteki bit down the dismay of seeing another damned army, one far more massive than the one at their heels, arrayed just half a mile away, while behind him the enemy firebenders urged the flames on.
"This is it," he told the warriors of Sozuro as they took a short breather outside the tree line. "Brothers and sisters, we'll meet them in the open. Let them see that Princess Azula does not employ cowards! Let them see that each colonist that these islanders sneer down upon is worth ten of their blinkered lives!"
"Twenty!" someone yelled out.
"Fifty!" another countered, and then others joined in to raise the number higher. The roar of flames from the forest grew louder, and the haze from it became thicker as it rolled out to blanket them. Hideteki stared at the creeping smog for a second, and then willed away his dread as he addressed his men and women.
"Warriors of Sozuro! It is an honor to have served alongside you. For the princess, long may she lead us!"
"For the princess!" came the cheers of the defiant partisans of Sozuro. "For Princess Azula!"
They doomed partisans continued chanting her name as they marched out in the open, daring the second enemy force idling in the grasslands before them to attack. Fierce pride bloomed in Hideteki's heart as none of his comrades even flinched when the massive force began to move against them. Someone gave a report of the first enemy force finally catching up from behind, but that only made everyone wish louder for Princess Azula's wellbeing and longevity.
The captain looked over his shoulder and found the invading force that had chased them for days rushing out from the trees as a roaring mob. They must have been far more frustrated than he had accounted for that they didn't wait to reorganize their ranks. Good. One more insult to the enemies of the princess and the colonies.
He then turned his attention to the enemy in front of him, who were marching in a far more orderly fashion. Almost…lazily. That annoyed Hideteki, and he pledged to make this force curse his name just as the first one had. His last breath would be saved until he saw the enemy's full frustration.
As the approaching army drew closer, they finally began to pick up speed. Hideteki heard some sort of order being yelled out, and in turn called for his warriors to brace for a charge.
The ostrich horse cavalry rushed ahead of the second army's rumbling advance towards his position. Each mount was barded in metal plates, each rider was encased in armor in the style of shock cavalry despite their mounts being ostrich horses instead of komodo rhinos. Curiously, their spears and blades weren't lowered for the charge.
Were they intending to simply trample them to death?
Before Hideteki could muster a defiant roar, the cavalry leader raised their spear and the approaching force split apart to flow around the warriors of Sozuro.
"Protect the colonists!" yelled the surprisingly young cavalry commander.
Hideteki stared in confusion as he processed the words and watched the stampede deflect off his formation. As the last of the ostrich horses rode past, he turned to find the heavy infantry of the second army with their massive shields approaching. The battle-damage on their shield and armor was clear enough to see.
And then the horns began blaring, shocking Hideteki out of his confusion.
"For Prince Xing and Princess Azula! For Prince Iroh and Prince Zuko!" What had been a second enemy army roared as one, and they completely ran around Hideteki's warriors without slowing in the slightest.
"Death to the enemies of the Scorpion and Phoenix!" The captain could only blink in confusion and follow their charge with his stunned eyes. The cavalry had already crashed into the similarly surprised first army with brutal results, and the heavy infantry was quickly following up with bloodthirsty roars.
It became less of a fight and more of a ruthless and bloody grinding of the first army. Hideteki turned his head as he heard the loud, booming laughter of a madman somewhere in that throng of blades and fire.
Only as the last ranks flowed around Hideteki and his troops did a voice call out. "Well met, good captain."
Hideteki turned and found a pair of well-dressed officers, their armor clean but not pristine. It took a second before he recognized their ranks. Generals. Two generals, a man and a woman.
"Err…uh, thank you for your timely aid, sir, ma'am," Hideteki stammered as he remembered his place and bowed.
"None of that," the man casually replied with a disarming smile. "We're glad to be able to help such valiant allies. I take it, you're the rearguard from Sozuro?"
The captain nodded, ignoring the sounds of laughter and dying from behind him.
"Good, good. We've ran into your refugee train. A regiment has been dispatched to escort them to Ba Sing Se."
"Thank you, sir."
"No need to thank us, it's the right thing to do."
"Not that the dolts from the home islanders would know anything about that," the other general finally said, matriarchal disdain clear in her tone. "Stupid fools talk about loyalty and duty, while forgetting the contributions of the princess and shamelessly accusing Prince Xing and Prince Iroh of treason."
"Pardon my wife," the first general said with faux placation. "The orders she received from the home islands were most unreasonable."
"They asked me to deliver your head!" she snapped angrily, but he seemed unperturbed.
"That was one of the options," he agreed, "Though admittedly the other options were not as…palatable either."
"Not palatable? They all but threatened my family and yours!"
The first general inclined his head in a placating fashion. "And no doubt if there's any strand of political sense in them, that's all they can do until we reach the home islands, where they can finally use our family as hostages. And besides, didn't you wish your relatives to experience some hardships?"
Hideteki stared at the two generals, and only as they continued to go back and forth did it finally click.
"Husband…wife… Y-You're… You're General Sho and General Hwa?"
General Sho gave a genial smile, and even General Hwa's lips turned up a little. "I see we've got a reputation."
It was the first time the captain saw the storied generals in the flesh, the few commanders out in the continent that dutifully guarded the colonies and aided the princess in bringing prosperity and stability to the continent. Theirs were names ranked closely to the princess and the Scorpion.
"Oi, Sho!"
Hideteki turned to see a burly commander walk in, stained and dripping in gore from head to toe. Even his smile was stained red. Hideteki saw the axes rested casually on the man's shoulders, and with the context he was given, identified Colonel Dao, the Thunder of War and the great patron of teahouse girls all across the colonies. "Fighting's over. The fuckers are running back into the forest like you said they would."
Despite General Hwa frowning with heavy disapproval, her counterpart was uncaring about the total lack of respect. "Any sign of their baggage train?"
"Not yet, Yashen's men are pushing into the woods to find it."
"Hm… And casualties?"
"Eh, we got a light scratch, they got reamed with a komodo rhino's-"
"Remember yourself, Colonel," General Hwa admonished sternly, and the great Thunder shut up, though looking not a bit ashamed.
The plodding of claws caused Hideteki to turn and find the cavalry commander returning, almost as covered in gore as the Thunder. The young man's spear was gone, and wielded an infantryman's sword, though it looked chipped and glowed dimly with heat.
The rider came to a stop before the generals, who surprised Hideteki by bowing formally. Then he cast something down from his lap, letting it bounce and roll on the gras- A head. It was a severed head.
"There's no high general here today, unfortunately," the young warrior said nonchalantly, and then his face took on a genuinely concerned frown. "Only some general I don't recognize. His lieutenants have surrendered."
"Well done, your highness."
Huh?
Hideteki blinked in confusion, earning an amused huff from Colonel Dao. "His highness, Prince Zuko."
Prince Zu-
Hideteki felt a pang as his body reacted before his mind did and he dropped to his knees. "Prince Zuko!"
It was not the princess, but her brother was on the same side, and his accomplishments were nothing to be sneezed at either. The stories of his hunt for the Avatar made him almost an ideal for dogged determination. He kept at his (unfair) quest for redemption despite his meager resources, surviving some sort of assassination attempt and the disaster at the North Pole. The prince traveled the world without a heavy escort, surviving off meager resources, and by every account did not try to waste time simpering or pleading for leeway or forgiveness.
Despite his lack of success before being recalled to the capital, it was admirable that Prince Zuko had kept on the hunt for so long, that he did not give up at any point and seek to establish some comfort in the colonies.
Besides, he had just saved Hideteki and his people. That warranted a lot of respect by itself.
"It's...okay," the warrior prince said with some unease. "Get up please, all of you. We'll need to regroup and reorganize, right General Sho?"
Hideteki rose to his feet, and then he had the unique experience of being the focus of Colonel Dao's gore-smeared attention. "Hm. So you're the guy who led the rearguard eh?"
"Yes- Uh, yes, sir."
Dao walked up, and Hideteki found himself craning his head up at the man towering over him like a dark spirit of violence.
"You held them back for days…more than a week. How?"
The captain found himself fighting off the urge to shrink away. "Um… We conducted hit-and-run night raids on their exposed elements, silencing their scouts a-and…"
Hideteki felt a tingle of apprehension as Dao continued to stare at him. The weight of the man's judgemental gaze was overwhelming.
A spike of fear stabbed into the captain. Was he about to get berated for adopting such tactics?
And then a bloody, armored hand flew out to smack him on the back with such force that Hideteki almost fell forwards.
"Hah! Good man! The princess really does foster good talent!"
"Spirits… You're a colonel, Dao. Act like it." This time General Hwa was much sharper in her scolding.
"Ah, calm your tits woman. We're among friends h-"
Hideteki didn't catch the blur of movement, but suddenly the Frostfire was standing before him, and Colonel Dao was down on his knees, clutching his groin with a pitiful whimper. This time, Hideteki did shrink away when Hwa's gaze fell on him.
"Forgive the oaf for his…crassness, captain. Clearly, the home islands are not the only ones stuck with idiots in their ranks." There was nothing to forgive, but Hideteki nodded anyway. "Anyway, you and your people can rest and resupply in our camp for the day. Then you can continue to the safety of Ba Sing Se."
"What…what about you?" Hideteki had to ask.
"We'll continue pursuing this force," General Sho declared firmly, the prince nodding in agreement. "Eradicate them and if the ships are not around, raze the depot they'll no doubt have built in your colony. It'll be one less thorn on our side."
"Here, here," Dao weakly agreed as he rose to his feet.
Hideteki looked at the generals, and then to the prince who seemed resolute despite the unfathomable hint of discomfort, and finally to the garrison-turned-partisans he led. The looks in his comrades' eyes told him enough, and he turned back to Prince Zuko with matching resolve. "We'd like to join you if you'd let us, your highness."
The prince adopted a thoughtful frown before turning to the generals.
"Having people familiar with the local terrain would be useful…"
"Quite so, my prince," Sho replied approvingly, as if he was instructing in a lesson.
"Especially when it comes to urban combat," Hwa nodded in agreement, and then fixed Hideteki with another intimidating look. "Are you sure of this, captain…?"
"Hideteki, Captain Hideteki, ma'am. Yes, we're sure."
"Hm. Then welcome to the Continental Defense Army. We'll find a place for you and your people, and you'll have the chance to enact vengeance for your homes."
Hideteki nodded dumbly and simply did as he was told for now. He was a mere garrison captain, and now he'd be fighting alongside royalty and the folk heroes of the colonies.
What's next? Meet a dragon in the flesh?