99 A.G
Lord Kaien had spent the last several weeks feeling so proud of his daughter. Every report arriving from Ba Sing Se seemed more unbelievable than the last. Lin had breached the outer wall, broken the Earth Kingdom army and secured almost half of the city's territory in a matter of weeks.
The casualty reports were not that terrible, not if you took into consideration the amount of lives taken from the other side, and the campaign itself had gone better than anyone in the Fire Nation could have reasonably expected. The Renshi family looked stronger than ever before.
Which is why his informant delivering these types of news was quite concerning.
"You are certain it happened again?" Kaien asked.
The man sitting across from his desk nodded. "Several witnesses confirmed it, my lord. Officers, soldiers and some of the Yuyan archers attached to General Shinu's army."
Kaien leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. Lin had suffered episodes like this many times when she was younger, especially during the years immediately following her accident. She would become confused, speak in languages nobody around her understood and occasionally behave as though she were somewhere else entirely.
Most of the time, she became violent enough that several adults were needed to restrain her. At the time, they were her instructors, and she lacked the strength to beat them. They wouldn't be able to with her present daughter.
Shyno and Kaien had eventually concluded that the spirits responsible for blessing their daughter were reacting badly to what had happened to her. Lin had nearly died, lost most of her limbs and spent months barely able to move.
They assumed that the spirit had chosen her for some purpose, and was understandably angry seeing its blessed human damaged so badly. It was fortunate that it seemed that it was only able to take control of Lin's body and not pass whatever skill the spirit had.
The episodes had become increasingly rare as Lin grew older, which Kaien had taken as a good sign. Whatever spirits followed her had apparently accepted that she was recovering and had stopped interfering so frequently.
Having one appear now meant something big happened. His informant placed several copied reports on the desk.
"This is the detailed report, my lord." The man said.
He took the files quickly, scanning the pages quickly. Lin's group had discovered a Dai Li facility beneath Lake Laogai filled with imprisoned refugees. Those who had escaped described people being tortured, conditioned and stripped of their memories until they obeyed whatever commands the Dai Li gave them.
Some of those same people had later been sent against the nation's army. Kaien could understand why the spirits would object. According to the Yuyan archers, his daughter had destroyed the underground facility before emerging in a confused state and attempting to head directly toward Ba Sing Se.
She had apparently spoken in that weird language, and only uttered a few words in the common tongue mixed with the spirit's lost language. The few they could understand were about burning the entire city to the ground.
Several officers recognized quickly that something was wrong with her and tried to stop her. There were no reports of anyone injured, fortunately. It had taken the Yuyan archers to finally restrain Lin without badly hurting her.
Kaien was particularly grateful that Princess Azula had not attempted to stop his daughter personally. The princess had apparently remained nearby throughout the incident, and if Lin had turned on her while possessed, the consequences could have been disastrous regardless of what ultimately happened after.
"Let's control the narrative of the official version. Let's spread it quickly." Kaien said.
"Yes, my lord. What should we say?"
"Let's spin the tale that Agni himself had witnessed what the Dai Li were doing beneath Lako Laogai. He became so enraged that he momentarily acted through his blessed general."
Considering Lin had already returned from the Spirit World claiming to have spoken with Agni directly, people would be willing to believe it.
Kaien did not particularly care whether every detail was accurate. The story would protect his daughter, and the Renshi family's stability as well.
----0000----
With his propaganda campaign in full force, instead of newsletters discussing General Lin losing control of herself in front of her soldiers, they were describing Agni's outrage at the barbarity of the Earth Kingdom. The destruction of Lake Laogai was already being presented as divine punishment, while Lin's instability had conveniently become further evidence of her connection to the spirits.
It also gave her time to recover without anyone openly questioning whether she should remain in command. Kaien was confident she wouldn't need that much time, and another occurrence like that was likely to happen anytime soon either.
The war was approaching its end. Half of Ba Sing Se was effectively under Fire Nation control, the Earth Kingdom army had been devastated, and the remaining population was trapped behind their walls. Once the city fell, there would be little left capable of seriously resisting them.
Perhaps when the war ended, the spirits would no longer bother Lin. Most importantly, the family would be hailed as the heroes who won the Fire Nation the war. They would be spoken of for centuries to come.
He pushed the military reports aside and pulled another folder closer. Unfortunately, his daughter was not the only matter demanding his attention. Something unusual had been happening inside the Fire Nation political sphere.
Over the last couple of months, several of Fire Lord Ozai's strongest supporters had lost their positions one after another. None of the incidents were suspicious enough on their own. One noble had been caught hiding financial scams, another had become involved in a scandal with a married woman, while a senior official had been accused by his own subordinates of secretly negotiating with colonial merchants for personal profit.
There had also been accidents, rumors of betrayal and old family disputes suddenly becoming public at particularly convenient moments. Each incident removed another person closely tied to Ozai and forced the Fire Lord to replace them.
Ozai had apparently begun noticing the pattern as well, because those close to the palace described him as increasingly suspicious of the people around him, and highly paranoid. There was a rumor that he even banished some workers to the colonies.
Kaien initially wondered whether the group of dissatisfied nobles that had visited him previously might be responsible, but he had dismissed that possibility rather quickly. Individually, a few of them were clever. Together, they were still a collection of morons incapable of organizing dinner without arguing over who sat where.
Whoever was doing this understood how to play politics by the hand. Kaien had quietly ordered his own people to investigate, and so far they had found very little. There was no obvious connection between the scandals, accidents and accusations beyond their effect on Ozai's political power.
More interestingly, nobody had touched the Renshi family. Kaien's businesses remained undisturbed, his allies had not been targeted, and no damaging rumors had appeared despite Lin becoming one of the most politically valuable figures in the entire Fire Nation.
Considering how carefully other pieces were being removed from the board, Kaien doubted their exclusion was accidental. Someone wanted the Renshi family left alone, but he couldn't figure out what their end goal was.
Whether that was because they considered them allies, useful tools or simply too dangerous to provoke remained unclear. Kaien closed the folder and stood from his desk.
"Continue investigating." He said to the informant. "Quietly. I want to know who benefits every time anyone is removed from their post, especially those close to the Fire Lord."
"Yes, my lord."
"And keep watching the reports from Ba Sing Se. If Lin suffers another episode, I want to know before word gets out."
The man bowed and left the room. Kaien remained there for another moment, looking between the growing list of officials disappearing from Ozai's inner circle and the propaganda posters. He disliked having two problems at the same time, but sometimes you had to do with what life gave you.
He called for his attendants and began preparing to return to the Royal Palace. If somebody was carefully dismantling Ozai's support from inside the Fire Nation, Kaien intended to find out who it was.
He would make sure to understand if this new player was worth supporting or if they were traitors who needed to be put down.
----0000----
Aang could clearly see that things had been a little tense between everyone lately. Haru and Katara still believed letting Lin's brother travel with them had been a mistake. Neither trusted him much, and Katara in particular seemed uncomfortable having someone from the Fire Nation around after everything that had happened.
Sokka disagreed, although he made it clear that he did not trust him either. In his eyes, having someone who knew Fire Nation territory and could eventually help Aang learn firebending was hard to come by. Besides, he had helped them already.
Aang understood both sides, but personally he was just happy to have made another friend. Having someone from the Fire Nation traveling with them made him feel better about the situation too.
Since waking up, he had heard so much about what the Fire Nation had done and how everyone saw them as monsters. But surely not everyone was the same way, and if the war wasn't a thing, he was sure most people in the Fire Nation would be cool friends to have.
There were still ordinary people there, and if someone raised among their supposed enemies could travel with them, laugh with them and help them, then maybe things could be a lot better than everybody assumed between each nation.
Lin's brother didn't talk much, but he was kind and understanding, even when Katara or Haru treated him badly. He would often sleep further away from everyone to offer comfort, and he had a lot of knowledge on how to survive in the wilderness.
What convinced Aang that he wasn't a bad person to have as a friend was Appa. His companion enjoyed spending time with Raizo. Especially when he was left in charge of cleaning his toes and helping with the excess of fur he had.
Raizo also had advice on which towns to visit and where they wouldn't be bothered at all. He had even suggested that he could travel on his own. He thought he would be too heavy for Appa to carry him and everyone else, but Aang insisted they try and Appa didn't even break a sweat.
Still, the group would bicker among themselves whenever Raizo would head out to look for provisions. The disagreement came up again while they rested for the evening, with Haru questioning why they were still taking the risk and Sokka immediately arguing back.
Aang sighed as the discussion started getting louder. 'Not again.'
----0000----
Azula had spent most of the day watching Lin more carefully now that they were back at the camp. She had calmed down after the incident at Lake Laogai, but it had taken several people to get her there.
Kaida and Aiku had been the first to try stopping her when she suddenly started moving toward Ba Sing Se, and both had learned very quickly that getting in Lin's way while she was like that was a terrible idea.
Lin had shoved them aside hard, sending both captains flying several meters away from her. Neither had been seriously injured, although Kaida had landed badly and complained about her shoulder afterward.
The situation might have been almost funny if Lin had actually been herself. Azula had already experienced another outburst like that before, and she had almost been killed. Her eyes became dazed, her attention would go somewhere else entirely, and it became obvious that she no longer understood what was around her properly.
The Yuyan archers had eventually brought her down without hurting her, using their accuracy to pin her armor plates in place and restrict movement before the rest of the soldiers could restrain her properly.
Even then, Lin fought against them for several minutes before she suddenly stopped moving, almost as if she were a puppet whose strings were cut off from one moment to the other.
When she finally recovered enough to speak normally, she apologized to everyone she had hurt and admitted that she remembered very little of the entire incident. She seemed embarrassed by the entire ordeal, especially when she learned she had nearly marched toward the inner city alone.
Azula had reassured her that nobody important had been badly injured, and they had already recovered everything they needed from the base anyway. Although it didn't stop Lin's concern, at least she looked lighter and smiled at her.
Spiritual matters had never interested Azula much before. People could believe whatever they wanted about spirits, blessings and ancient stories as long as it did not interfere with anything important.
She had grown up hearing that Agni watched over the Fire Nation and that the royal family carried divine authority, but most of it had always felt rather useless. The Fire Sages were old men whose power diminished with each passing year. If the spirits really cared about humans, they would have helped them before her father began diminishing their influence in the Nation.
Azula had now seen these episodes happen twice with her own eyes, and both times Lin seemed to become someone else completely. Combined with everything Lin had told them about meeting Agni and the stories surrounding her since childhood, Azula could understand why people believed the spirit that had blessed her sometimes took control when angered.
The things the Dai Li had done to those refugees felt wrong even by Azula's standards. Taking someone apart mentally until they obeyed without question was cool, but they would have no passion to venerate her, so what was the point?
The princess would have to reevaluate her opinions on spirits, but for now, her mind was somewhere else. Although it was similar to that frightening yet exciting incident years ago, she felt a bit disappointed that the spirit's violence was not directed at her. Azula was still not sure she liked the idea of any spirit borrowing Lin's body whenever it felt offended either.
She sat beside Lin later that evening while her general rested, writing a letter to the capital city to her contacts in the palace. Her plans were coming together nicely, and she knew she wouldn't be bothered staying there. Azula had another reason for staying nearby.
During the incident, Lin had spoken several sentences that nobody understood. The sounds were completely unfamiliar, and according to the soldiers present, they had never heard it before. She wanted more information and she hoped the Royal archives would have something that may help her learn it.
If there really was a spirit speaking through Lin, then she wanted to understand what it was saying. She had already begun writing down whatever fragments she remembered phonetically, but it was very foreign to pick up its meaning.
It was a shame Lin didn't remember what she said or what really happened in her episodes. She could make the right questions and they could figure it out together if she did. Azula glanced toward Lin again and found her resting with her eyes closed.
'Well, I cannot waste this opportunity.' She thought with a smile on her face.
She got up and locked the tent with a hook, coming back quickly to rest beside her. Cuddling with Lin was still a novelty for her and she liked the feeling of having her body close to her.
----0000----
Long Feng was furious with how the situation had developed since his plan had gone into motion. He had expected the Fire Nation to accept negotiations once they realized how difficult taking the rest of Ba Sing Se would be, especially after what he assumed had been an extremely costly victory against the Earth Kingdom army.
Instead, every attempt to open communications had failed. The Fire Nation had rejected his terms without even entertaining them, and two of the messengers he had sent had been killed before they could return. It was becoming clear that whoever was making decisions on the other side had no interest in giving him an opportunity to preserve his position through negotiation.
That was considerably more frustrating than dealing with the usual Earth Kingdom stubbornness he was used to. Long Feng had expected them to grab whatever opportunity gave them a faster victory, especially when several million people remained protected behind the inner walls.
The loss of the Agrarian Zone had created a problem that would only become worse with time, since nearly all of the food necessary to sustain Ba Sing Se had come from the land now controlled by the Fire Nation.
Long Feng believed they were refusing to grab the opportunity for quick victory because they controlled that territory, believing they had already won by taking their food source and besieging the inner city. They were also stopping every attempt at leaving as well, which only brought a crisis between the inhabitants.
The agents he had sent in an attempt to escape the siege and gather information had also failed to return. He did not know whether they had been captured, killed, or simply found themselves unable to get through the Fire Nation lines, but he was unwilling to continue sending experienced Dai Li agents away when none of them came back. They were far too valuable now that the city was becoming increasingly difficult to control.
Long Feng returned his attention to the agent giving him his latest report.
"Send word for our agents to start recruiting as well, we will use the old catacombs in the palace for our main base now." He said.
The Agent nodded and left the room, and he went back to his thoughts. The food already stored inside the inner city would sustain them for some time, but feeding millions of people would hit even their enormous reserves, no matter how much they planned for it, it would eventually disappear.
Rationing had already begun, although Long Feng knew he would have to make it increasingly strict if the siege continued for several months. The Upper Ring would need to remain stable first and foremost.
The officials, important families and Dai Li operating from there were necessary for maintaining control over the rest of the city. And while the Lower and Middle Rings contained enough people that any serious shortage could quickly turn into unrest, he was sure he could plant civilians that would fight against those with the strongest voices.
There were still ways to delay the problem if he acted quickly enough. Several parks could be converted into farmland, while buildings in less important areas could be demolished to create more space for crops. He cared little for the people living there anyway, they could be thrown into the lowest ring and people would forget about them.
It would never produce enough food to sustain the entire population, but even a limited harvest could extend their supplies and give him additional time to find a way out of the situation. The difficulty was getting everything done without allowing the population to understand how desperate their position was becoming.
Their defeat and the loss of the outer walls was impossible to hide, and the Dai Li could only suppress so much information when thousands of retreating soldiers had entered the inner city. So most people already knew their situation was dire.
Long Feng would need more agents if he intended to maintain order while food became increasingly scarce. Employing all of the Joe Dees to calm people down was crucial, and training additional Dai Li had become his priority.
They would not have the experience of his current agents, but the organization needed more people capable of controlling crowds, arresting troublemakers and ensuring that orders were followed throughout the city.
Long Feng was reviewing the available numbers when another one of his agents entered the room and approached him quickly. The expression on the man's face immediately told him that whatever news he carried was not something Long Feng was going to enjoy hearing.
"My lord, we received information concerning Lake Laogai."
Long Feng's breath stopped for a moment, looking at him concerned. "What happened?"
"The Fire Nation discovered the facility and attacked it. They liberated prisoners and then the base was destroyed. One of our agents was able to escape through the tunnels to bring this information."
Lake Laogai was one of the Dai Li's most important facilities, and the operations carried out there had never been intended to become known outside the organization.
"How much did they find?"
"We do not know yet. If they were there long enough to free prisoners they might have captured our reports, sir."
This definitely made the situation worse. There was no way of knowing what documents they had taken or how much information the refugees had been able to give them. On the other hand, if he controlled the city it mattered little what propaganda they used outside of Ba Sing Se.
The problem would be for the future. If they surrendered to the Fire Nation as he had planned, they would have to allow the Fire Nation to enter the city. If they spread that information, he would have a huge problem on his hands.
The methods used at Lake Laogai had allowed the Dai Li to take refugees who were otherwise useless to the war effort and turn them into obedient reserves for the army, while also removing people who could become troublesome inside the city.
If evidence of those methods survived, the Fire Nation could control the narrative and most of the people in the city would support their occupation.
"Was the destruction complete?" Long Feng asked.
"The underground sections were heavily damaged and much of the base appears to have flooded. We have no confirmation that everything inside was destroyed."
If the collapse had buried the records and equipment, then there was still a chance that the worst evidence had disappeared with the facility, while the testimony of refugees could at least be dismissed as enemy propaganda.
If the Fire Nation had removed records beforehand, containing the damage would become impossible. Long Feng despised not knowing, but he would have to plan for the worst. Maybe he could demand the return of those documents as a condition for their surrender.
"We will plan as if they have those documents, and spread the order through all of our agents: they need to be on the lookout for anyone who comes across any information at the border. I don't believe the Fire Nation would use their resources to smuggle that information in, but we can never be too careful." Long Feng ordered.
The other Dai Li facilities throughout the city would also need to be reviewed immediately, especially anything containing records that connected them directly to Lake Laogai or the conditioning of refugees.
Once the agent left to carry out the orders, Long Feng returned to the maps and reports covering his desk with another problem added to the growing list. The Fire Nation was becoming increasingly difficult to deal with, and he wasn't sure how he could force them to the negotiation table, but he would prevail like always.
He could only hope that when Lake Laogai was destroyed, everything that could be used against him had been buried along with it. It would otherwise hurt him by the time they were ready to discuss terms.
'Things are just going from bad to worse.'
----0000----
Art by nissimissi and you can find them in Ko-fi