I had been right in the middle of it when it began. The explosion went off, knocked me to the ground, and when I had woken up and gotten back up, regaining full conciseness, I had seen a legion of Fire Nation tanks coming straight towards me.
Then in the span of 5 minutes, the camp was ash. Just like that. It was the fastest and most well-coordinated attack I had ever seen. Iroh and his command had only possessed a few hours to come up with a plan of attack and they had done so perfectly. The battle had lasted no more than 10 minutes and by the end of that time period, 2 Earth Kingdom camps had been destroyed, their trench line had been pushed back, we were around a mile closer to the inner walls, and over a thousand Earth Kingdom soldiers were dead with an unknown number of friendly casualties, but I'd guess under 50.
It might just have been the most successful Fire Nation military operation in history. And it was because of me. No. That was vain. But it's true, it may not have worked without me. Or even happened. That's all there is to it, and you know what? That's fine by me.
I walked across what used to be the camp grounds, past corpses of Earth Kingdom soldiers, either covered in scorch marks or filled with crossbow bolts. I was walking closer to where I had blown up the artillery stash. There were less bodies around there. The fire had gone up quick and few were willing to get near it hence the lack of bodies, but then I heard a clinging on the ground and saw the last thing I expected to see.
I had thrown my dagger, well, Zurang's dagger, at the blasting jelly stash to get the jelly leaking out to start the explosion. I knew it had worked as I had been thrown to the ground by that very same explosion not a few moments later, but I had assumed the dagger had been lost, but there it was, beneath my foot, in one piece, as bright and shiny as ever.
I bent over to pick it up, still failing to comprehend what the hell I was looking at, refusing to believe it could have survived something like that, but there it was, in my hands, in better shape than when I had retrieved it from Zurang's body, or rather, what had been left of it.
I chuckled, still amazed, as I sheathed the blade back into my belt, wondering what the hell else I would find. Apparently, it was a good day for miracles. Who knew what else lay ahead?
It wasn't a what else though, it was a who else. "Luke?" Yeah. It was him. "Hey Luke! Holy shit. It's you!"
He was covered in dirt, dust, muck, and blood (hopefully not his) and he was looking around the camp not with the awe I had, but with, well, disappointment kind of. But what the hell was he doing here, on the ground? Had he come out of his tank? And why did he look so down and beat up? Was his tank hit?
"You alright?" I asked.
"Yeah. I. I guess. Is it over?"
"Yeah. You're alright, man. It's over." I thought he had been asking me for comfort, but he didn't seem right.
"Damn." Was his response. "I missed it."
I looked him over again, seeing the remains of the battle painted all over him. "It doesn't look like you missed it."
He looked over himself, checking his hands, his right arm no longer braced, just casted, but it looked as though most of it had come off in the fighting. "Oh this?" he asked. "Just a little fight. I missed the real deal though."
I had to laugh at that. "Real deal? It was over in 5 minutes."
I didn't know what response I'd get, but "Huh. Alright." Wasn't up there with my top guesses. He continued, seemingly out of his trance of disappointment. "So Danev. How long's it been, again?"
"2 months? More or less."
"Hmm. I guess I oughta hug you or something considering that you're still alive?"
At least he still had his wit. "Something like that would be cool, I guess."
"Alright." He came up to me and us last 2 Hornets, amazed after all this time we were still alive, gave each other what could only be described as the manliest of man hugs amidst the destruction of that battleground.
"So this your handiwork?" he asked as we split apart.
"Some of it."
"Should I assume you're to credit with a fortunate case of friendly fire on behalf of our beloved opposition?"
"You could say that."
He took on last glance at the remnants of the Earth Kingdom camp, nodding his head approvingly, saying "Nicely done."
"Thanks. Hopefully command will feel the same."
"You shitting me? You're getting a promotion for this shit. Add that to helping bring down the wall from the inside. Fuck. That's a division for you or some shit right there."
"I doubt that, but a pay raise would be nice."
"Shit. For all this, making Sozin look like a novice when it comes to blowing shit up, you're pay grades gonna match the whole Starros family combined."
"Ooh. I'd like that. Buy myself a nice factory to settle down while selling weapons to whoever pays. I'd like that."
"I know you would."
Then a new voice entered the mix, and we both shot to attention by instinct and instinct alone at the sound of Lu Ten's voice. "Boys." He said.
And of course, we spun around to face him as he approached us, him too looking worn from the battle, blood covering his armor while his face and entire body for that matter were smeared in mud and muck.
"Sir!" we said in unison as he approached us.
He gave us a tired half-salute as he approached us, murmuring "At ease. Danev. Nice work with the explosives. Both here and at the wall. If you gave us more time we could have attacked tomorrow and let you keep your cover with Earth Kingdom forces."
"That cover's long gone, sir. If they don't know my face by now, their general sure as hell will know better than to let anyone go alone."
"What general? Kozad?"
"Yes sir. The general of this camp."
"He died in the attack. We found his body right outside his tent. Got killed by some random tank. Nobody's claiming his death for their own. Shit. Dad's going to be pissed. He wanted him alive. Sorry. And Sergeant Luke. Funny seeing you here. I recall you were assigned to Squad Iron Fire. Funny seeing you on the ground and not with them."
Luke spoke up, saying "I was on patrol, sir. With corporal Zek. We saw the battle in the distance, and I rushed to join."
"And what was the analysis of your patrol, sergeant?"
"That the Earth Kingdom has a lot of mines that are now disabled by our tanks. That the Earth Kingdom has a long line of trenches now secured by our men, and that the Earth Kingdom has a second artillery camp now destroyed by, wait for it, our men. My commander just wanted me out of the fighting. That's all."
"I wouldn't say that. He didn't even know there was to be an attack tonight. We only got word of it at around mid-afternoon. Still, while I respect your willingness to assist in the fighting, and, judging by the looks of you, you did a whole lot of that, please don't disobey direct orders in the future. Much more of that and I may have to demote you to keep up appearances, but for now, good work. Both of you. Staff Sergeant Danev, report to the command tent at 0800 this morning for a full debriefing. Sergeant Luke, you get back to your squad and stick with them. The closer we get to the wall; the more dangerous things are going to get. For now, get some rest, and be ready for whatever comes next come morning. Dismissed."
With that, the two of us saluted again, and Lu Ten returned the favor before turning and leaving.
"As I said." Spoke Luke. "One hell of a promotion."