"Alright, now this is definitely just them compensating for something."
With their current transport vehicle having come to a brief stop on its way to the Fire Nation staging area, many of its occupants were taking the opportunity to stretch their limbs. Ba Sing Se was not far off now: in fact, it was close enough to see the top of its massive walls in the far distance, just over the curve of the horizon. While they seemed small from this perspective, the fact that they could be seen at all from this distance was a testament to how truly massive they really were. Xisheng estimated that they still had about an hour of driving to get to the staging area, and even that was several miles away from the walls proper. Needless to say, the scope of Ba Sing Se's walls had not been exaggerated in the many tales Xisheng had heard about them.
Mai was the one who had commented on their size as she stretched a kink out of her arm. Although she had not been the one to drive an Overlord this time around, the transport they were currently making use of had not been luxuriously modified to Azula's tastes, so it was far less comfortable of a ride, even for the passengers. Ty Lee didn't seem to have as much of a problem with her body, but that was no surprise. She was already the most limber among them, so Xisheng doubted she got kinks as easily as the rest of them. At any rate, she didn't seem to have any such weaknesses as she stood beside her friends.
Xisheng also had to stretch, though he noted with some discomfort that his arm still shook a bit when he stretched it out fully. It was truly slight, but still, the fact that some residual consequence from his failure to bend lightning still existed even several days after the accident had occurred was troubling. He couldn't help but wonder just how long it would take to go away completely, since Azula had said he couldn't train with lightning again until then.
"Well, when you live in a country full of people who can manipulate earth, there's really no reason to not build giant fortifications. For the Fire Nation, building something of this scope would be a monumental undertaking that would require decades, speaking optimistically. Not to say it was easy for the Earth Kingdom, but I doubt it took them more than a few years to build these walls, even as huge and widespread as they are."
Ty Lee seemed curious about some aspect of this. "Why did they build them at all, though? I mean, it's not like they built them after the war started, right? What was the point of having such huge walls before there was any fighting to worry about?"
Xisheng pondered his answer for a moment. For one, he didn't know all the right aspects of the answer. Two, it was pretty complicated. "Well, it's not like the Earth Kingdom was peaceful prior to this war. This continent has been the battleground for many a faction trying to dominate it. Long before the Fire Nation was fighting them, the Earth Kingdom regularly fought among themselves. Which raises an interesting question I'd like to ask the Avatar about why foreign wars are unacceptable, but domestic ones are seemingly fine... at any rate, even ignoring wars, there may be other reasons they built the walls. Maybe they just needed something for people to do: providing jobs, and all that. Maybe they serve some public purpose for the city aside from defense. Admittedly, I'm not well-versed enough on Ba Sing Se's history to say with certainty exactly why they built them."
One of the girls may have had something to say about that, but the addition of another voice from behind the trio prevented that from happening. "Why they built these walls is irrelevant. All that matters is whether or not we can take them down."
All three of them glanced over their shoulders as Azula approached them. She had been conversing with one of the officers during the stop, rather than relaxing right away. As a member of the Royal Family, she technically served a military role of a sort, so she often had to stay abreast of things. Xisheng was glad that she took the initiative when it came to things like that. At least she didn't seem to find the notion of dealing with military affairs tedious. Anyone who felt that way didn't need to be in a position to make military decisions.
"Very true. Though I have to wonder if such a thing is within our current capabilities."
Coming to stand beside them all as she crossed her arms and appraised the distant walls, Azula frowned. "Well, loathe as I am to admit it, Iroh breached them once before. I see no reason why we shouldn't be capable of the same."
"Maybe, but it's also possible that whatever weakness Iroh was able to exploit has been rectified by now. I doubt Ba Sing Se is going to allow us to employ the same strategy that worked the first time. The opportunity that traitor squandered isn't likely to resurface."
Though he hadn't really intended to, Xisheng noted the fair deal of vehemence that crept into his voice while discussing Iroh's previous siege. What could he say? He had a very negative opinion of the man. Either way, Azula didn't seem to care.
"Be that as it may, you don't sound very confident at all, Gohan. It almost sounds like you don't think we can do it."
The young officer contemplated shooting down that notion, but figured there was no point in lying. "I'll admit, I'm mostly just worried about the plan of attack. For all of our military strengths, the Fire Nation has its fair share of foolish old generals who find strategy too difficult to grasp. Heck, even Zhao's plan at the North Pole just amounted to an all-out frontal assault, which only worked due to vast numerical and ranged bombardment superiority. Something like that isn't going to work this time: the walls are much higher and thicker, there's a lot more enemies, and there's a much bigger city behind those walls that has to be taken."
Azula's expression was difficult to interpret as she continued appraising the distant city in question. "Though I hate to admit it, I'm not well-versed enough in strategy and tactics to know the best way to approach our task. Nor do I know what our supposedly reputable generals are planning. According to our current crew from the war camp, War Minister Qin is in charge of the upcoming assault."
"I thought his job was to oversee technological advancement and acquisition? Why is a War Minister in direct command of a tactical operation?"
"Yes, well... other news from our new crew includes talk of some sort of never-before-seen massive weapon that will be used to siege the city. Apparently it hadn't arrived by the time the crew left the camp to come and retrieve us, but the rumors were already spreading even by then. If I had to assume, I'd say this weapon is some sort of pet project for Qin. He likely assured many a soul that his new toy could get the job done. And he probably didn't want to relinquish said toy to anyone else..."
Xisheng cocked an eyebrow at her. "Why is he allowed to make that decision? It may be his design, but he's still not a commander. Who agreed to let him be in command of an operation this critical?"
Azula cast a sideways glance at him. "My father, I imagine."
The young soldier grimaced, fully understanding why his words were problematic in retrospect. Doubting the decisions of high command aloud without knowing who made those decisions meant you could end up questioning the Fire Lord's judgment without even knowing it. Not that Xisheng was willing to rescind his statement...
A small part of him expected Azula to be upset at this implication, but she didn't seem to be that bothered. If anything, she almost seemed to agree with her pupil. Then again, Xisheng had come to realize that her father wasn't a complete and total figure of adulation for her.
"Unfortunately, we are a culture that prefers to give people a chance to prove themselves when they proclaim their own competence, rather than simply allowing fools to bluster on without giving them anything at all. It either reveals someone of great value or gives you a chance to put someone in their place. That's effectively why Agni Kais became so popular in the first place. Perhaps my father wants to see if Qin can live up to his claims. If he does, all well and good. If not, well... I'm sure there will be some consequence."
Xisheng didn't say anything to this immediately. He understood that there was a time to test the competence of your subordinates with actual field experience. But this was not such a time. This attack could be the most crucial operation in the last two decades of warfare. Thousands of lives hung on the decisions that would be made during this operation, there was absolutely no reason anyone other than the most qualified commanders should be in charge of it all.
He must have made some sort of face while thinking of this, because Mai pretty accurately managed to guess his thoughts. "Maybe he still has a military advisor or something? Or maybe he's just in charge of the weapon, and someone else is still making the big tactical decisions?"
Sighing in consternation, Xisheng tried to take some solace in such thoughts. "One can hope..."
As for Azula, she decided that there was no point in continuing with all of this hypothesizing. "Regardless, sitting around here and guessing won't reveal anything real to us. We won't know the situation until we get there. Let's return to the Overlord. We'll know how things stand soon enough."
Mai groaned at the thought of returning to the uncomfortable seating of the vehicle, but said nothing to dispute Azula's command. Those hard metal chairs still beat walking. Ty Lee patted her on the shoulder as the two of them walked back towards the Overlord, seeking to offer some nonverbal comfort. Xisheng would have made to follow them, but he was stopped by Azula before he could. Clearly, she wanted a moment alone with him.
"How's your arm doing?"
Xisheng subconsciously clenched the arm in question, wondering if he had been shaking without noticing. Was he really incapable of even telling now if he wasn't thinking about it? Although, maybe that was a good thing. Either way, Azula seemed to notice his apprehension right away.
"Calm down, it's not that I saw anything troubling. I'm merely curious to know how much it's been ailing you lately. Aren't I just such a caring teacher?"
Seeing that she was trying to lighten the mood with her humor, Xisheng managed to calm his nerves. "It's fine. The shaking has stopped almost completely when at rest. It's onlywhen I really stretch my arm or leg out all the way that I notice."
"I imagined as such. That's about the experience I recall from years gone by."
"Frankly, I'm still surprised you shared that story with me."
The young Princess cast her gaze elsewhere for a moment, perhaps trying to hide a bit of bashfulness. "Well, it was either that or allow you to wallow about in self-pity for an untold amount of time. I can hardly see any reason to let you waste your time and energy doing that. Besides... sharing that story seems to have worked wonders, doesn't it?"
Well, Xisheng couldn't deny that. Knowing that even Azula had faced similar struggles as his own during her training was uplifting, in its own way. Comparing yourself to someone who was perfect and never failed guaranteed you would feel unworthy. Comparing yourself to someone who was very good, but had gone through the same travails as you to achieve their ability, was much less demoralizing. Such a person also made for a much better teacher: who wanted to learn from someone you never felt you could actually live up to? It almost felt pointless to do that. Xisheng didn't really think he could reach Azula's level of prowess, but at the same time, he believed that he could get reasonably close to it in time. That she had trusted him enough to share a story that could be considered evidence of her weakness was not lost on him either. She was a good teacher, but also a good friend.
Not to say that she trusted him with absolutely everything already. There was that strange bit about her mother that had come up, but Azula had refused to elaborate on it as soon as it had been mentioned. It would obviously take some time before she was willing to discuss whatever troubled her about that aspect of her past. Xisheng would wait patiently for that time, even if it never came.
"I suppose it did. It at least made me feel like less of a fool."
Azula smirked, but it wasn't entirely malicious. "You're still a bit of a fool, Xisheng. Just because someone else made the same mistake as you doesn't mean neither of you made a mistake. It just means you were both foolish."
Xisheng leveled a questioning expression at her. "Don't you mean 'we', Azula?"
"Get back to the Overlord, Gohan."
While she had not agreed to that assessment, Xisheng nevertheless felt quite relieved that he could even jest with Azula like this. Not long in the past, the mere thought of implying her to be a fool would have been unthinkable. Times certainly had changed for the better...
That said, it was hard to be too happy about it as the soldier's thoughts turned back to Ba Sing Se. War would soon be upon them, and there was no telling who could get hurt or worse. All he could do was pray that his friends would stay off the battlefield, even if he knew that was selfish of him. He wasn't really sure how he would handle something happening to any one of them, short of killing everyone responsible. He was probably better off not thinking about it right now: there would be plenty of time to fret at the war camp.
---
The remaining drive to the war camp was allegedly an hour, but it felt much shorter than that. It seemed that Xisheng had only sat down for five minutes before he was stepping out of the vehicle again. In doing so, he found himself struck by a very powerful wave of nostalgia as he looked about the camp. Everything here was familiar territory: dozens upon dozens of prefabricated metal structures and walls, with a smattering of tents about to serve as substitutes until more such structures could be erected. Metal plates had been placed down as flooring in as many places as possible to prevent Earthbenders from tunneling into the camp. Steel walls had been erected around the place, with a watchtower every fifty feet or so.
Billowing pillars of smoke stretched into the sky in many locations, signalling smithies and workshops. The stench of such acrid smoke mixed with the metal and sweat of hundreds of thousands of soldiers to create a unique, unsavory, but not entirely unwelcome smell for one who was used to it. Dozens of soldiers milled about, carrying out one task or another. Delivering supplies, patrolling the area, maintaining equipment... this was the camp of a Fire Nation preparing for war, and it was an environment that Xisheng was intimately familiar with. He had spent many months in such places during his tenure on the EK Defensive Line.
At this point, those times felt like they were years in the past, and yet, Xisheng knew that it wasn't that long ago at all. Heck, was it even more than a year ago...?
Either way, he and his allies disembarked from the Overlord swiftly, after which the vehicle drove off, no doubt to return to a vehicle bay for maintenance. The young soldier noted all of the ladies with him wrinkling their noses to some extent, which wasn't a surprise to him. The scents around a place such as this were far from roses and green pastures. He also noted many soldiers glancing in the direction of the new arrivals, but none of them actually stopped what they were doing. Good; it was always heartening to see discipline and focus in the ranks.
Mai commented on the state of the place. "I'm not sure what I was expecting, honestly, but this... what's with the smell around here?"
Xisheng decided to give a brief explanation, leaving out the really gross stuff that none of the girls would probably want to know. "Gather thousands of people in one place with only the bare essentials to survive off of, and this is the kind of smell you get. Kind of hard to provide everyone with plumbing out here in the middle of nowhere, if you catch my drift."
The girl next to him suppressed a look of disgust. Xisheng imagined that she was worrying about whether or not she'd have to put up with the same conditions as the grunts. He didn't think she would: though what he said was true, Xisheng knew that there was often a few more luxurious installments made for high-ranking officers and nobles that may have been present at such camps. Generals weren't going to shit in the latrines with their men, after all.
Ty Lee or Azula may have had something to say about things as well, but neither of them had a chance to. One of the crew members from the Overlord had disembarked as well so he could guide them to the command post. After all, there were many things to discuss right now, and no time to waste. With that being the case, the group of Fire Nation nobles plus one followed a meek soldier that weaved through the camp with relative ease. Naturally the group ended up getting more looks from people as they passed, but that came as a shock to no one. You rarely saw nobles running around a war camp unless they were commanders high-ranking military officials. It was even rarer to see beautiful noble women about.
Sure, there were a lot more women in the military now than there used to be, but most of them were your average civilian, and even the ones that were extremely attractive were always in uniform when on duty, so half the time you couldn't even tell. Needless to say, Xisheng saw more than a few lecherous glances at the girls, directed a fair deal lower than their actual faces. He supposed some of them thought it was fine if they didn't get caught, and others may not have even known that one of the women present was the Crown Princess. Not everyone had seen her in person or even in a drawing.
Regardless, Xisheng felt a strong urge to glare back at every single one of these people. Which was a little silly, because he knew what was happening was harmless and too minor to get worked up over. But he couldn't help himself. Knowing that men were mentally undressing his companions at this very moment pissed him off. Sure, he had done that a few times himself, but... well, no one said being territorial was rational, right?
In the end, Xisheng simply did his best to ignore the problem, which did well enough for the somewhat lengthy walk to the command post. Seeing as how this was the primary staging area for one of the largest assaults in years, it was quite a large camp, and it took them nearly ten minutes to reach their destination, which was a large metal square structure with multiple floors that made it taller than the rest of the prefabricated buildings around here. Other than that, only the presence of Fire Nation flags draped over many sections of the walls designated this place as the command post.
The crewman that had led them here said his goodbyes and returned to his own devices once his job was done. Once the group was inside the building, it was obvious that it had been afforded some nicer luxuries than the rest of the camp: at the very least, it was very clean, and had installed wall torches instead of the haphazard braziers that illuminated most of the rest of the camp. Xisheng imagined there were also functioning toilets somewhere in this facility, among other things. Also in this facility was a certain War Minister Qin, waiting for them in the first hall. Apparently he had known of their impending arrival, and at least he seemed to have the wits about him to be present to greet the Crown Princess in person.
The graying man also knew how to bow properly, as indicated by the way his topknot became parallel to the floor for a moment. "Greetings, Princess Azula. I was most surprised to learn that you would be joining us for this operation, and by messenger bird no less. I trust your journey was a pleasant one?"
Naturally, Azula did not bow back. "As pleasant as one could expect from military hardware, I suppose. I'll admit, I was impressed by the swift response time in dispatching transport and retrieving my retinue. I hope that's an indicator of strong logistics here."
Qin seemed mildly pleased with the praise, but didn't let it show too overtly. "Indeed, this war camp has been established for more than two months now, and most of our affairs are in order. In fact, there is but one step remaining in our preparations before we are ready for our assault on Ba Sing Se."
"I'd very much like to know the details of this assault, War Minister."
With a much slighter bow, the older man motioned down the hall with his arm. "Of course, your Highness. Perhaps we should discuss this in the war room?"
Azula simply nodded to this suggestion, prompting Qin to guide the team down the halls of the command post. The building wasn't terribly large, so it didn't take long to reach a metal door guarded by two soldiers on the second floor. Qin stopped outside of it and looked back at the people he was escorting.
"Here we are, Princess. However, the war room contains sensitive tactical and strategic information, so your allies..."
Azula cut him off right away. "They have my trust. Take us inside."
It looked like Qin might have wanted to say something about that, but ultimately he held his tongue, which was probably good for his career. When both his and Azula's backs were turned, Ty Lee held a hand to her chest and smiled, clearly indicating that she was touched by her friend's words. Even Mai looked a little surprised that Azula had said that so bluntly and without hesitation.
The inside of the war room wasn't particularly special: it was a large rectangular chamber, with a window on each wall overlooking the base (not that there was much to see), counters along the walls that were filled with parchments and writing implements, and a sizable table in the middle of the room that had a map and several pieces on it to represent troop deployments. What wasn't present in this room, however, was other people. Xisheng was a little surprised by this: usually a war room for an operation this large included many individuals of the officer ranks. At the very least, he would have expected to see a commander or something around.
Perhaps remembering their conversation from earlier, Azula questioned this very reality. "Awfully empty in here, isn't it, War Minister? Where are your colleagues?"
"I'm afraid there are none, your Highness."
"Excuse me?"
"General Lu Bei was supposed to be participating in the tactical planning for the assault, and was called forth from his post two weeks ago. It was confirmed that he left his previous station with an escort, but they have not been seen since. His whereabouts are unknown, but needless to say, he isn't here. It's possible he was waylaid by enemy forces, or has been delayed by other issues."
Xisheng refrained from expressing his surprise at having General Lu Bei mentioned. The man had been the one in command of his old division back before he had been drafted into the North Pole Invasion fleet. While Xisheng had only seen him once or twice in person, Lu Bei had always been known to possess at least appreciable concern for his troops and an impressive tactical acumen. At any rate, the man had been solely in charge of Xisheng's section of the Defensive Line, and that line had held for the entire time Xisheng had been deployed there. He had a high opinion of the man, and sincerely hoped he was alright, wherever he was. Frankly, Xisheng would have been a lot more comfortable if the General were actually present.
It was unlikely that Azula knew any information that specific about Lu Bei, so it was no surprise that nothing was said about it. "I see... even so, surely there are others of a high rank involved in this assault? Who is in charge of the tactical planning here?"
"That would be me, your Highness. There are a few lower ranking commanders here, but seeing as how the entirety of this assault hinges on a weapon of my creation, it seemed only prudent that I be in command. No one else present knows the capability of the weapon better than myself."
To Xisheng at least, this admittance sent what little confidence he still had in all of this out the window. It sounded to him like Qin had just strong-armed some of the actually qualified people around here to have command of the assault for himself. This was undoubtedly just a shot at glory and prestige for him: if he could take down Ba Sing Se's walls with his project and claim that the success was solely due to his planning and ability, Qin would be set for the rest of his life in the Fire Nation. He would ascend to all-time war hero status and never want for anything all the way to the grave.
He supposed that the notion was understandable, but at the same time, it just seemed excessively greedy. Qin already had an incredibly prestigious position in the Fire Nation: there was only one War Minister, and he had control of an entire branch of military development. He was already pretty much set for life as it was, unless he made some huge mistake. Which naturally made this assault a huge gamble for him. Sure, if Qin's strategy and weapon worked, he'd ascend to the height of prestige and honor. But taking full credit for success also meant accepting full responsibility for failure, and if that happened the man could easily lose his position and worse.
All of that aside, Xisheng could never condone an officer using the lives of soldiers under his command as expendable currency to improve his own status. Too many lives were at stake here to waste on petty social power plays.
He hoped that Azula would feel the same about this kind of thing, but if she did, the sentiment was not made immediately obvious as she acknowledged Qin's words. "I suppose it is true that you'd know the capabilities of your fabled machine better than most. Though I hope that means you also know its limits. Either way, surely you could benefit from the tactical input of the commanders present in the war camp?"
With a smirk, Qin motioned towards the map on the table, which had surprisingly few markers for Fire Nation troop elements on it. "Fear not, your Highness. With my weapon, we will have little need for further troops or even much strategy. There is nothing those Earth Kingdom peons can do to stop it. It will win this battle almost entirely unassisted."
Despite not even knowing that much about warfare, even Ty Lee and Mai looked skeptical of this assertion. Xisheng's hopes for this battle plummeted even further. Not once in his life had he heard of an 'invincible super weapon' actually living up to the unproven praise heaped upon it. Anyone who thought a battle, never mind an entire siege, could be won with one tool was an idiot that couldn't be trusted. On the other hand, he was at least happy to learn that Qin didn't plan on fielding many troops. That at least meant that this inevitable disaster would result in less casualties and wasted lives.
If Azula was thinking about any of this, she didn't express it outright. "You seem to have a great deal of faith in this weapon of yours, War Minister. Perhaps you'd indulge my curiosity and reveal it to me for appraisal?"
For the first time since they entered the war room, Qin's confidence fell a bit. "It's not here just yet, Princess. The weapon had to be assembled and deployed from a factory quite some distance from here, and it's not particularly fast... however, I have received assurance from the crew that it should arrive at the war camp sometime tomorrow evening. Once it arrives, we can discuss the plan of battle and move on with the assault posthaste."
"I see... well then, it appears there is nothing left to discuss at this time, doesn't it? We will speak of this in greater detail tomorrow. Until that time, refer myself and my companions to our lodgings for the duration of our stay."
Probably glad to see that he wasn't being accosted for anything at this time, Qin bowed low again. "Of course, your Highness. I will have one of the soldiers outside escort you to your private quarters. Said quarters have been prepared to the best of the camp's abilities and resources."
Taking his leave for a moment to speak to the soldiers outside, Qin exited the room and left Azula's retinue alone for a brief time. Normally he wouldn't have been the type, but Xisheng took the opportunity to immediately express his doubts with all that had been shared here. Maybe a little too eagerly, at that.
"I don't like this, Azula. Qin is clearly way over his head and has no idea what he's doing. The fact that he even thinks this super weapon of his is going to win the whole battle by itself is ridiculous."
Azula herself seemed to be pondering some similar sentiments, or perhaps just the situation at large. "I won't say I disagree. Still, we should wait until we see what Qin has in store before we condemn or condone the battle strategy. His device could be more impressive than we know. Assuming the worst right away won't do us any favors."
While he would have preferred for them to just intervene in the proceedings right away, Xisheng knew that Azula was right. While he had no faith in Qin at this point, it was still better to have a full grasp of the situation before trying to do anything to influence it. Still, he'd be lying if he said he was happy about the idea.
Ty Lee must have noticed his discomfort (maybe his aura was dingy or something), because she moved to assure him. "Don't worry, Gohan. If that guy's plan really is stupid, Azula can just call it off. She's the Crown Princess, after all."
The Princess in question didn't confirm or deny this assumption, though she didn't have much time to do so. One of the soldiers outside opened the door to address the party after a bow. "Your highness, I can escort you and your companions to your lodgings whenever you are ready."
Azula responded to the man immediately, seeing no point in staying here. "Very well. Lead on."
The soldier turned and walked out of the hall, with Azula following swiftly and Ty Lee not far behind. This left Xisheng and Mai alone for the briefest of moments, which the dark-haired girl used to quietly comment to him.
"For what it's worth, I agree with you. I met so many blowhards like that back in the day for noble nonsense..."
"I just hope we can do something to alleviate the disaster this guy is planning. Assuming he's actually planned anything other than a direct attack..."
Unwilling to fall too far behind the others, the two of them decided they could harp on Qin more later if they wanted to. For now, it was best to follow the soldier to their new quarters for the foreseeable future. Hopefully, they were actually prepared as nicely as the War Minister had claimed.
---
The following day was an odd return to army life for Xisheng, though his direct involvement in it was limited. With little to actually do until Qin's wonder weapon arrived, Azula had asked him to take stock of the situation at the base as best he could, claiming that she could do so, but wouldn't actually know if what she was seeing was good or bad. While that was a fair sentiment, it was still kind of annoying to wake up early in the morning so he could investigate the siege preparations. At least the room he had been allowed to sleep in had actually been quite nice.
It did mean that he hadn't seen much of the girls today, since he had awoken before most of them to do what had been asked by Azula. Admittedly, it was a little odd to act as Azula's aide in such a manner: Xisheng was not a logistics officer and only had rough ideas of what a base and army should have to be considered functional. But he supposed there was no one else to ask. Or at least, no one else to ask whose opinion she would actually trust.
Thus far, Xisheng's perusal of the base had yielded positive results. The majority of the soldiers appeared to be well-equipped, and based on his visit to the mess hall during lunch, food didn't seem to be a problem either. The armory and warehouses were brimming with weapons and munitions, even while the smithies cranked out more and more. The smiths seemed to have no shortage of coal and metal coming in either, which was no surprise considering the large number of transports coming to and from the base every hour. No surprise there either: this was the largest siege since... well, since the last time Ba Sing Se had been besieged. Either way, logistics seemed to be in good order, with stable supply lines providing for every need of the base. Of course, no one would know how robust those supply lines really were until after demand went up due to fighting, but for now, they were sufficient.
As for the soldiers, most of them appeared to be in good spirits, if not somewhat bored. Many of them were simply assured that they couldn't possibly lose with this much mustered manpower, while others had faith in Qin's alleged superweapon. Granted, many of the men Xisheng spoke to were young, or still relatively fresh recruits even if they were older. There were plenty of veteran battalions present as well, but most of them weren't as blindly optimistic about the impending battle. Still, no one was shouting from the rooftops about how they were all doomed and life was meaningless. Morale was high enough that it wouldn't pose any problem for the initial assault.
But after asking around throughout the day, it was clear to Xisheng that strategic leadership was oddly absent. Qin had mentioned the mysterious absence of general Lu Bei the other day, but there weren't even many lower ranking officers present. A few commanders here and there, but no one that would be expected for an army as large as this one. At the very least, whenever Xisheng asked soldiers what division they had come from, they often revealed that they had been pulled from another high-ranking officer's command, rather than having that officer called to this staging area for the assault.
Needless to say, Xisheng was quite suspicious of this. The largest military operation in years, and it was allowed to ride on the shoulders of someone who wasn't even a military officer? Qin didn't even have any advisors telling him what to do. Did Qin really have enough influence to strongarm high command into being absent from the battle so he could have any and all glory for himself? Or even worse, was this assault not actually that important? It could be that this staging area only existed as a diversion, or to launch a diversionary attack, and all of the officers one would have expected to be here were planning something else somewhere else. But if that was the case, would Qin really keep Azula in the dark? Or did Qin not even know? Cutthroat politics were definitely the type of thing to involve an entire battle just to defame one rival... or worse.
Still, this was a lot of manpower and equipment to commit to a mere ploy. Far more than the Fire Nation had to waste on a diversion. No, the lack of high-ranking officers was confusing, but it had to be something else. Maybe Qin was launching the attack prematurely, before those officers had arrived? Maybe the attack wasn't even scheduled until a few more months from now, but he figured he could make a name for himself by taking the city without anyone's help. A totally reckless gambit, but no one would dare accost him if it actually worked. Or maybe there just weren't that many really high-ranking officers to actually be involved? It wasn't like any admirals would have anything to do with this, and generals... well, Lu Bei's absence was already accounted for, Iroh wasn't a general any longer for obvious reasons, last Xisheng had heard general Han Fu had been sent back home after falling ill... shit, who else even was there? Was he forgetting someone? Turned out that being part of the rank and file meant you didn't clearly remember every high-ranking officer in the military.
Whatever the reason, Xisheng figured there was nothing he could do about it. At best, he could inform Azula of his concerns and they could discuss what to do about it, if anything. Right now, he was just double-checking everything he had written down on a scroll today as the evening sun descended toward the horizon. He'd recorded a lot of information for his report to Azula: certainly more than he could remember from memory alone.
He was just starting to write an extra note about a lack of bows to go with all the arrows being produced when a slight tremor caused him to make an unsightly squiggle. Wondering is his arm had trembled a bit, Xisheng carefully braced the parchment against a nearby wall so he could write cleanly. However, as he moved to write another symbol, another tremor ruined it. Glancing at both hands carefully, Xisheng carefully appraised them for shaking. He didn't realize that nothing was wrong with his body until one of the braziers holding a torch rattled its loose fittings a bit. A few moments later, the same thing happened.
Glancing around the camp, Xisheng noticed that he wasn't the only one noticing this. Lots of soldiers were looking around as loose objects trembled and shook at set intervals. That could only mean one thing: the ground was shaking. A few soldiers panicked and started running for walls or metal surfaces. After all, their enemies were Earthbenders, so shaking earth was not a promising sign. But this magnitude was a little too much for an attack. Even an army of earthbenders would have trouble creating the tremors that were shaking miles and miles of earth around the base. Especially since those tremors were growing stronger.
Everyone was running around looking for some sort of explanation, but it was one of the watchmen on the walls that found the culprit first. "Over there! It's... I don't know, but it's huge! Spirits, it must be taller than the command post!"
Dozens of soldiers ran up the ramps to the wall so they could get a look, Xisheng included. Once he had arrived, and once he managed to actually get a look past the shoulders and heads that barred his path, he laid eyes on something difficult to describe. In the distance, approaching the base, was a giant cylinder laid on its side.
"Hoooooly spirits..."
Every few moments, another tremor shook the earth, and the thing inched a little closer to the base. The color was the same dark grey steel of Fire Nation vehicles, though the scope was beyond anything Xisheng could liken to a war machine he'd seen before.
"What is that?"
As it grew closer and closer, more details became clear: strange spike-like contraptions shot out of the metal worm every few moments, creating the tremors everyone was feeling that entire section of the machine used the leverage created by those spikes to drag the monstrosity forward across the protesting earth. Smoke billowed out of the rear of the machine, and upon closer inspection, the front appeared to be an absurdly massive drill.
Soldiers around Xisheng were awestruck by the sheer size of the thing as it drew closer. As it dawned on him what this machine's purpose was, Xisheng's sentiments were a lot less optimistic.
"What the fuck is that?!"