Being right is something you can always take pride in. It makes you realize that you have a stronger grip on the situation than you expected. This wasn't one of those times. The land mines weren't the only trap. I realized that when the first hole opened in the ground and then another and another as Earth Kingdom soldiers were born into the world, ready to kill.
They had dug into the very center of the formation, meaning we had no time to reorganized. The mine sweepers were promptly picked off by archer one at a time as half-defused mines exploded, and their falling corpses triggered more. I saw the explosives. Small-scale. Anti-infantry. Shrapnel based. Designed to kill men. If we stayed on these hills, we were dead. We head to push to the listening post or get killed before we even made contact. I sent a blast of fire at the soldier nearest me, sending him in agonizing screams to the ground as I closed the hatch of the replacement tank while Unit 350 was being repaired and locked the hatch, turning to Gan and saying, "Go forward!"
"The mines!" he started
"Are anti-infantry." I completed. "We'll live."
Gan shook his head, muttering "Fuck it" and sent the tank forward.
It was the only option. Our formation was surrounded on all sides except the side they wanted us to go into, where landmines littered the ground. Unless that was made safe and viable, this battalion was dead. The tank lurched forward and soon, as though a boat in the thick of a storm, the tank began to shake violently as we passed the last point reached by the minesweepers, rolling over their arrow-filled bodies into no man's land. The tank shook violently, but she held. I looked thorough the blast slit to see our position but was forced to duck again as dirt nearly shot into my eyes, but my peek was enough. We were almost to the hills.
The tank continued to shake and right when we were about to reach the base of the hills, the right tread gave out, sending our landship drifting to a halt, triggering one last explosion as the right tread triggered one last mine.
There was no time to lose. I opened my hatch, barely dodging an arrow as it came towards me, hitting the metal hatch. I sent a blast of fire at the archer on the hill directly in front of us, sending him rolling down the hill in a ball of fire atop the hull of the tank, rolling off, and landing on another mine, triggering an explosion directly to my left, the force sending me back into the tank.
I got back out after checking myself and getting asked by Gi Gu if I was "alright" only to realize I was fine. I shook my head, trying to force the ringing out as I crawled back out of the tank. I saw upon exit that the archer took the full force of the mine, explosion and shrapnel alike. I looked around, viewing the battle on the other side of the field at what looked like a hopeless situation, until a wave of metal vessels, the armored division of the crimson battalion followed our example, accelerating into the field of mines, triggering hundreds of small explosions as they rushed towards the hills, side by side, apart by mere inches, triggering every landmine in the field.
The tanks came to similar halts as ours, either falling apart sooner or later. All the same, the field of mines was out, barriers of safety marked by the carcasses of disabled tanks. I helped Gi Gu out of the tank and motioned for Gan to give me his hand to help him out until he said, "my leg", reminding me of his injury and all of a sudden, I realized I had forgotten about him. I just deprived him of his only weapon.
"Shit, Gan. I forgot. I'm sorr-"
"Don't worry about it. I remembered and I'm the one that drove into that damn suicide mission. Don't worry about me. Take this listening post."
Gi Gu crawled up the side of the tank, throwing his crossbow and bolt inside the tank, saying "Remember which end which is." Before closing the hatch above Gan. The rest of the Crimson Battalion was now following the wave of tanks into the field now cleared of traps, a wave of Earth Kingdom soldiers following suit. The gunners of the tanks nearby, other firebenders, began firing shots into the hills above the heads of the advancing Fire Nation personnel. I considered joining in, but was uncomfortable shooting projectiles so close near friendlies, daring not to even graze a single one of these men, far more battle hardened, and likely less tolerant of fuck ups.
Rather, I advanced up the hill, sword in right hand, ready flame in left, Gi Gu at my side. Gi Gu and I reached the peak of the hill in the exact same instance as an archer rushing to get some shots at the advancing Fire Nation battalion. That thought was ended soon enough as I brought my blade in a swing, catching him above the waist, sending him to the ground, guts spilling onto the muddy grass as the rain began to come down in more force than before. Gi Gu caught an additional archer, plunging his sword through his shoulder, sending him to the ground. I was watching Gi Gu's kill, not paying attention to the new archer that had appeared to my right. I failed to notice him until I hear a thumb behind me and watched him fall to the ground with a crossbow bolt through his neck. I turned to face back down the hill, and sitting on the edge of the tank, loading a new crossbow bolt, was Gan, staring down the sight of his weapon as he fired an additional bolt, hitting a soldier who had just arrived over the hill. I nodded to him, thanking him for saving my life twice in the last 10 seconds, and turned back to the battle.
The rest of the battalion had caught up with Gi Gu and I, as we stormed through the hills. I looked over the hills to find a rear guard of firebenders and spearmen occupying the Earth Kingdom skirmishers who had first been sent to us.
I turned north however, alongside the rest of our battalion, and charged with them, the sound of screaming, swords clashing, and cries for help finally drowning out the drone of the falling rain. The battle was far from over.
We fought our way through the hills, slicing through whatever disorganized Earth Kingdom soldiers that tried to meet us, sending them to the ground. Before long, we reached where the listening post had been, or, in a way, still was, marked by a small ladder going down deep into the ground. "Luke! Gi Gu!" a voice called. I turned to my right to see Lu Ten, blood on his face, torso, and everywhere that the sun shone, approaching us. Judging by the way he looked at us when we turned to face him, we didn't look too different. "Head down that latter with my firebenders and burn them out of those holes. We found other Fire Nation soldiers on the other side of the hill fighting. Looks like guys from your camp. Meet us there when you're done down there, and we'll finish this fight!"
"Yes sir!" I shouted, not caring that I was just ordered to climb down into the heart of Earth Kingdom activity in this area. I sheathed my sword, still operating on adrenaline, and slid climbed down the wooden ladder through the tight corridor of earth, watching as Lu Ten raised his sword, rallying the rest of his battalion, leaving me, Gi Gu, and the firebenders to boil the soldiers in this tunnel alive.
When the corridor of Earth ended and I was in the cave, I let go of the ladder, jumping off onto a waiting Earth kingdom soldier with his spear raised, knocking it out of his hand as I landed on top of his, not wasting the time to reach my sword, but placing my hand on his face, fueling the flame as I burnt the side of his face, ending his life after only a few seconds of his struggling from under me. I saw the other spearmen charging at me from one of the tunnels in the obviously manmade cave and grabbed the dead soldier's spear from underneath me and raised it, ducking low to avoid the enemy's own spear, dodging his and planting mine in his chest. I released my spear, allowing the man to fall to the ground, dead, and unsheathed my sword. Gi Gu was now down with me along with more Firebenders who had just come down the ladder. I didn't remember much of what happened after that. I remember walking through the tunnels in that cave, not giving any soldier I found a single moment to prepare for battle. I realized then that the Earthbenders in this area were dead, already having died on the surface meeting our forces. The fact I was facing people less prepared than I didn't stop me. I let the fire flow free, engulfing entire room around me, trapping soldiers in burning rooms, shutting doors on them and barring them, leaving them to their private hells. Me and 5 other firebenders walked through those halls, finally finding the information hub, housing over 20 men, only 5 soldiers, and the rest tacticians. It didn't stop us. The room was soon smelting pot of agonizing screams of misery that didn't end when the fire stopped or when we turned around to leave the room. I didn't look back. I didn't turn my head. I Faced forward, looking through the two eye slits in my helmet, looking nowhere else. I was a soldier, and I followed orders.