Luke

In that moment in time, Ba Sing Se paled by comparison.

Ba Sing Se had been a warzone, a meeting of armies, a clash of soldiers who, on both sides of the line, knew what they were in for. There were standards, lines that were not crossed, honor.

Ba Sing Se was war.

This…this is genocide.

I looked around me, and all there was around me was hell.

Homes burned to the ground as desperate civilians fled them, women holding their children, militiamen escorting them out, only for them to be caught in a firebender's fury, reduced to nothing but ash moments later.

Waterbenders battled the flames with what minimal strength the moonless night afforded them, Earth Kingdom personnel doing what little they could to assist them and attempt to herd their people to safety.

If they were not of the 1% making a stand, then they were fleeing, and if they were not fleeing, they had already given up, dropped to their knees, accepted their fate, their coming death.

It came to all of them sooner or later.

It all came rushing back.

So this is what it had been like.

The flames burned, drowning out the cries of the commoners as they fled, desperately sought out their families, their friends, anybody.

Ruthless marauders, not soldiers, but barbarians, ravaged through the streets, fueled by an insatiable lust for blood, slaughtering all in their wake, wild blades cutting and slashing, man, woman, and child falling dead by the dozen.

This I what I had done.

I could hear sobbing, that of a child, and I saw her, a small Earth Kingdom girl, clinging to the corpse of her mother.

I could see the white mask of the soldier before anything else through the smoke, the flames that engulfed the street bending to his will, allowing him to pass. He saw the girl where she sat on the stone ground, begging for her mother to get up, to help her, crying, screaming, begging.

He was a behemoth of a man, myself not daring to question just who the hell was the man beneath that sadistic, uncaring faceplate, so easily able to let those flames spark and grow in the palms of his hands as he approached ever closer.

Why? I wanted to scream. Why why why why why?

Why would he do this?

Why had I done this?

When my senses came back to me, the man was dead. I don't know what had happened. One moment, I had been watching, still, frozen, shivering to the bone in spite of the fires that burned around me, and the next, I was atop him, my hand to his chest, the steel plating of his armor reduced to almost a liquid, completely burned through, the black of his chest visible beneath the plating that had failed to save his life. He stared at me, his eyes, visible through the slits in the skull faceplate, having already lost all life to them.

His uniform, the black and red, I had burned right through it all. I retracted my hand from his chest where it still rested, still attempting to process just how I had done what I had. I burned right through it.

Such was no what was chiefly on my mind, however, as my eyes looked over his body again. A Fire Nation soldier. I'd killed him. One of my own countrymen. He was dead, and I was to blame. The people who had saved me from Citadel, given me a life, a purpose, who I had fought beside for a year, who had given their lives for me, and I had killed one of them. My shoulders dropped, and I slumped to the ground.

What had I done?

I killed him.

What in spirits' name had I done?!

Why?

Why had he made me do this?

I questioned why he was here, why he had done this, why any of them were doing this, why this town was being burned to cinders behind me, why I had been forced to end this man's life. I wanted to scream, to cry, to put the blame on somebody other than myself, but found that I couldn't do so.

I understood.

The other people I had seen in a state similar to what I found myself in now, having given up, simply lying in wait for fate to claim them, I understood it now.

Nothing compelled me to move. I just wanted to lie still, to wait here, to let the world claim me. I was unable to move, too terrified to do so.

What I was afraid of, I wasn't sure, but my hands were shaking, my heart thumping in my chest at a rate I could by no means keep count of, threatening to burst free of my chest at any moment, my head just as clouded, unable to think, to process anything around me.

I wanted it to be over.

All around me, I was being forced to watch person after person slaughtered needlessly, and at the hands of those I had served, of those I had given my life to, watching this selfsame army I had been proud to serve just over a year ago now reduced to mere barbarism.

Please, just let it be over.

And then the same noise, not a sob this time, but a whimper. I allowed my eyes to open, and turned to my side.

The girl's eyes were locked onto mine as I turned to face her. There was only horror in her gaze, nothing more, and as I approached to do pick her up, to carry her to safety, to do whatever I could, she screamed, at the top of her lungs, and she ran.

"No!"I tried to shout, scrambling to my feet from where I had been leaning atop the Fire Nation soldier I had burned to death, but only falling to my knees in the process as I looked up helplessly to see her disappear behind a cloud of smoke, the space behind suddenly lit ablaze by a fireball I could not see, but I knew had taken her life.

No.

My knees weakened below me once again, and I fell down to the ground all over again, struggling for my footing, just wanting to get to my feet.

I wanted to rise, tried to, the effort of doing so feeling overwhelming in that time.

Why? Why is this happening? Why can't I move?

Why?

I was on my feet, the world spinning around me as fires burned, voices yelled, and chaos engulfed every facet of the world around me.

I have to move. I have to snap out of it.

I have to find the others. I have to stop this.

I have to-

"Luke!" I turned to face the source of the panting voice just in time to see Zare approach down the street from the west. She caught up to me, palpably out of breath, leaning against me with a hand on my shoulder as she struggled to allow her breathing to catch up. I helped prop her up, myself just glad to see she still breathed. We had been separated, a collapsing temple having divided the square we'd been passing through, forcing us to temporarily part ways and find some way to reunite with one another.

Her having gone west, and me east, I had born witness to nothing short of chaos, and judging by the look on her face, I doubted that she had experienced any differently.

"It's all hell," she shook her head. "Anything different on your end?"

"No sign of anyone," I coughed out, my eyes still looking towards the smoke screen to the north that the girl had disappeared behind, where she had lost her life only moments afterward.

Zare followed my gaze, looking towards the north, saying, "It's all hell that way. Rest of our guys are headed south towards the outskirts. If the others are still alive, we'll find them there."

"They'll be there," I said. They had to be.

She nodded, not intent on countering my statement. "Then we need to go now. More are closing in."

She turned to leave, facing the road as it led south, turning, waiting for me to follow.

My eyes drifted one last time to the soldier I had killed, the dread already seeping in of what I would have to do. There would be more, I knew. This night was far from over, and I had no doubt that by the time the sun had risen, there would be more dead by my hands.

I'll do what I have to do, I determined. This isn't about nations, of banners, of kings. This is about right and wrong, and if it means protecting those who cannot protect themselves, then I'll kill whoever the hell I have to.

I retrieved my blade from where it had lain on the ground, myself not knowing just how it had gotten there anyway, the details of my brawl with the soldier only now beginning to work their way back into my mind.

My effort to stop him, tackling him to the ground, raising my blade to his throat, yelling for him to stop. His kick to my stomach, knocking me to the ground, the sword sliding to my side. His leap atop of me, the flame in his hands, the glare in his eyes, and my retaliation, the hand to his chest, the energy flowing, the shift of initiative, and his death to my hands as they burned away at his chest.

I had tried, I realized. I had tried, but the soldier, no, the animal, there was no reasoning with him. He had made his choice, and now I just had to make mine.

And so I did. I left the scene behind, catching up to Zare.

We made our way south, doing whatever we could to save our own skins. The Fire Nation was right on top of us. Try as we might have to have helped, there was little we could do. They outnumbered us 10 to 1, and so all we could do was run.

Some stood in our way, one along the street in the midst of attempting to crush the head of a woman beneath his boot before my blade impaled his side, knocking him to the ground from my momentum with me on top of him, removing my blade and offering my hand to the woman, who took it, only for a bolt to enter her back from behind, sending her to the ground writhing in pain. An arrow from Zare's bow had immediately killed the sharpshooter, but not before the woman was already lifeless on the ground.

We could only run.

A house was blown to bits to our side, a full family retreating from the wreck, lit ablaze, Fire Nation soldiers putting them down as they screaming in agony, human torches.

Earth Kingdom soldiers evacuated civilians and militiamen alike from a bunker only for the next to be cut. We watched as they were herded back into the bunker, and were promptly lit ablaze all in the same grouped cluster, their dreadful screams infecting the night with their horror. We could not help them.

We could only run.

It was only when we were far enough south in the town that there was any sign of organized resistance, an entire cluster of blocks having been walled off, their perimeters manned, ensuring a relatively safe passage away from the rest of the town, if it could even be called that anymore.

"Get in, get in!" the archer atop a ceiling, armed with a crossbow, had yelled for us to do, the earthen wall promptly splitting apart to offer us passage inside.

The "organized resistance" however, was more of a refugee camp than a military fortification. The wounded ranked in the hundreds, by far outnumbering those still fit for fighting, the majority of whom were greatly impaired at that anyway.

The walls were manned, soldiers making every effort possible to assist the wounded however they could, escorting them somewhere to lie down before promptly returning to their posts. From an outsider perspective, the operation here may have seemed rather impressive given the circumstances, but I knew I was bearing witness to the feeble minority of soldiers still capable of waging resistance, the rest having either fled or been killed

The bulk of the fighting had not yet reached this far south, that being the only reason for why this cluster of blocks was still within our control. But if there would be anywhere to find the others, it would have to be here, and so Zare and I stuck by one another as we traversed deeper in.

I noticed then as we moved on that only a small proportion of the injured were civilians, the vast majority being soldiers and militiamen. Were no civilians able to make it out? No, that's not possible. That can't be how this works. Something's not right.

Somehow, Zare, at my side, had been able to observe the early signs of my mind falling into the same mental trap, giving me a slight pat on the shoulder to snap me back into things, just enough for me to push ahead, especially given the sight of a makeshift earthen command post at the center of the block cluster, and, standing within it, Cholla and Gordez.

You're alive!

"Gordez!" I yelled out, my heart rejoicing at the sight of him still breathing. His head cocked at the sound of my voice, and his eyes went wide just as I caught up to his position, a look of shocked relief rising to his face.

"Luke!" he sputtered out. "You're-" and he quit attempting to speak. He leaned forward and gave me a quick embrace before pulling back. "Thank the spirits you're alive. And you too, Zare. I had thought you two were-"

"We're fine," I managed in a mix of a cough and a chuckle, momentarily just elated to see he was still with us. "Zek and Ka'lira. Have you-"

"We're fine!"

Both my head and Zare's shot to the right where they appeared from around the corner of the command post, certainly worse for wear.

They're alive. We're all alive.

So far.

I turned to face them both, nodding, my hands falling to my knees as I let out a sigh of unmatched relief.

Thank you. Thank you.

"We won't be for long," Commander Cholla chimed in, descending the command post ramp and nodding to both Zare and me in turn. "They outnumber us 10 to 1, hell, 20 to 1 at this rate."

"Is this? Is this all of us?"

"More of our men are scattered throughout the city. The Water Tribe has left to regroup. Their planning a counterattack on their navy. Going to try to disable on of their ships. Every little bit counts, I suppose. In terms of organized resistance, this is it. We have to hold our ground."

"It's pointless" Gordez interjected. "Even if we hold off their infantry, they'll only bombard us from their ships. We can't outlast here. We need to move, flee further south while there's still time."

"We are NOT abandoning Jingping. If we lose this location, the Earth Kingdom will have lost its last coastal fortification on the Nip. They will have total supremacy over this region."

"They already have the Nip Sea! If we stay here, all that will be accomplished is that we'll die with it!"

Cholla closed his eyes then, looking out to the North. The black bridges of the 3 Fire Nation cruisers, still standing strong. Gordez was right. The moment the Fire Nation decided that the losses of their infantry wasn't worth it, they'd bomb us without a second thought.

Staying here, it was suicide.

"Damnit," the commander muttered beneath his breath. He turned to his aide, the faithful Earth Kingdom soldier still by his side, awaiting order. "Get the word out. We're retreating south. Gather the men and-"

But there was no time for him to finish. He was cut off. Not by artillery, or by some near fireball, but something worse. Something far worse.

A horn.

Its blare persisted, ringing out into the night, echoing across the valley, originating from the hills.

And as though summoned by some divine entity, eyes from all across the encampment turned to face just what it was that had made the noise.

And there, beyond the walls, seated up high on the hills to the south, nothing more than silhouettes in the dark, 6 shrouded figures sat atop 6 respective komodo rhinos, looking down upon us.

No.

They just sat there, waiting, watching.

Not again.

It was only when the echo of the first blare had already died that they blew the second.

Not now. Please, Raava, turn them away. Not now. Don't do this.

And the third.

The shape of the shadows in the dark shifted, turned, their beats facing directly down the hill, towards us.

Soldiers, under Cholla's commands, rushed to the south, manning the town walls, establishing fortifications, preparing their bows and arrows, doing whatever they could to meet the coming storm.

It won't be enough.

And they rode.

Their beasts spurred into motion, they began their descent down the hillside, the dirt kicked up by the beasts fading into the sky in their wake.

They rode, their speed unimaginable, their heading set, directly towards the southern town wall. Directly towards us.

Closing the distance in near exponential every second seeing them draw all the closer, I knew there was no use in begging.

They were here.

The Rough Rhinos are here.

And soon enough, they disappeared behind the wall, and all it was then was the wait for the inevitable.

The wall broke apart not a moment later, the soldiers atop being rocketed away with the debris and rubble, 6 mounted warriors pushing beyond the threshold of the wall just half a second later.

Benders, archers, and infantry alike of Earthen descent gathered to make their stand, but it was no use.

The reavers were in sync with one another, perfectly covering each other's hides as they rode deeper and deeper, slaughtering all in their path, but for the most part, practically completely ignoring the soldiers. They were not their target, no.

They're headed to the town. They're here to finish the job. Slaughter the rest.

Confused soldiers who had been fortifying the south watched as the rhinos passed, relief washing over them until they had come to the same realization I had, and then, the fear had settled in, and not soon after, the anger.

Soldiers scrambled to chase the rhinos, but they had already made it to their destination—the minimal areas of Jingping that still stood, and so had begun their reign of destruction.

Homes were torn apart, clusters of civilians slaughtered, explosives ringing off throughout the town's area, Earth Kingdom soldiers struggling to catch up.

The path they were taking—identical to a semi-circle as they reaped their path of destruction, fires and bodies being left in their way. No home was spared, them simply too quick, the element of surprise still in their hands, their assault one of shock and awe, a war waged in the time it took lightening to strike, and they were coming back around.

The remnants of the city near reduced to rubble, there was only one place left to go, one place still that stood, that possessed organized souls within it.

They were headed directly towards us.

My chest tightened, and I knew I was not alone. Some ran, and I did not blame them, but still here, Zek, Gordez, Ka'lira, and Zare remained.

"Men!" Cholla yelled. "Fight for your homes!"

It was no speech. There was none to be given, simply orders.

The Earth Kingdom soldiers who had remained rallied, prepared their swords, shields, and bows, and awaited the impact that was sure to come.

We could see the heads of their great beasts as they approached. The time had come. Whatever happened here, the battle was going to end. That much was certain.

The seconds counted down, and soon enough, they disappeared behind the wall.

And so the end begins.

Much like Jingping's outer wall, this one was torn apart with far more ease.

First in was their commander, the man I recognized to be General Mongke, his opening flurry of firebolts quickly claiming a quarter dozen men. The rest followed, a platoon of Fire Nation soldiers behind them, and so pursued the death they wrought, but we were not intent on standing down here.

We did not run, not a single one of us, not anymore. With the wounded still lining the streets around us, we could not allow ourselves to budge, to be moved, to be pushed out. We would stand here, hold our ground here, even if it meant the death of us all.

And so came the counterattack, the one thing the Rough Rhinos had not anticipated—bravery in the wake of fear.

A disk of earth sent on behalf of Cholla forced General Mongke to quickly turn his Rhino to its side, just narrowly avoiding the projectile.

An artificial earthquake shook two Komodo rhinos off of their feet, throwing the rhino's ordnance expert and archer to the ground beside one another, the approach of at least 2 dozen armed infantrymen forcing them to quickly rise to their feet and attempt to defend themselves.

They held their ground for but a moment until they found themselves, in spite of having killed half of their attackers, needing to retreat for fear of being overwhelmed, just barely regaining their seating on their rhinos before retreating.

One of Zare's arrows managed to collide with the shoulder plate of the massive man bearing the great axe who had been the one to pursue me into the burning barn back in Xiahu. Sadly, the arrow only ricocheted, yet it was enough to send him off course, the huntress proceeding then to send another arrow straight into the neck of a separate soldier.

One of the men, I recognized, the one in engineer's attire, and it was him I chose to try and send on the run after removing my blade from the esophagus of a Fire Nation soldier, using his close path on a direct collision course with a cluster of civilians to narrowly dodge to the side and slide my blade across the hide of the rhino.

Only just scratching the massive beast, the cut was enough however to send it off its trail, writhing in pain with a horrifying shriek, the rider unable to regain control, forced to ride along as the animal retreated into the distance.

It was only their leader who remained then, watching as his riders were driven off in the face of overwhelming odds. And for a moment, he was still, watching as a commander would watch a battle unfold, but he did so from the midst of the battlefield, fearless of the gathering threats around him—the aiming archers, casting benders, approaching infantrymen, all of it. It was then that he nodded his head, and as though deciding he was done here, he fired a flare the color white into the sky, turned his Komodo rhino into a spin, and left.

And in that moment, so decided the Fire Nation soldiers, or what was left of them here, to follow, their heading determined—south.

They're retreating?

I looked up into the sky, anticipating at any moment the downfall of hundreds of artillery shells at any moment. They didn't come, however. All my senses perceived was the sight of the Fire Nation battleship bridges turning in the opposite direction.

They were retreating, and we were pursuing. It was hardly a conscious choice, but we raced through the burning remains of Jingping, of a town that had been whole only hours ago, catching whatever Fire Nation straggler we could as we chased them through the town, to the beachhead.

There was nothing less, but that concerned none of us now. The platoon that had engaged us alongside the rhinos had nearly been wiped out, the effort in doing so not unassisted by me, Zek, Gordez, Ka'lira, and Zare.

We arrived at the boardwalk, torn apart by raging flames and artillery fire just in time to witness what it was that had sent the Fire Navy so suddenly turning its heels. Its leftmost battlecruiser, a crown of ice around its hull, was being pulled down beneath the waves, nearly already completely submerged.

The Water Tribe counterattack, I recalled. They came through.

The last Fire Nation transport had boarded, en route for the Fire Navy vessels that were still afloat, already in the midst of steaming away.

Arrow after boulder after disk followed them as they ran, none finding home, but all directly targeting the men that had done this—that had reduced Jingping to the ruin around us.

It's not over. It can't be over. They'll turn at any moment and fire upon us, launching a new wave.

But they didn't do so. There was no continued burst of artillery, no new wave of soldiers approaching. They were leaving.

They had had us by the ropes. We were dead. And they had run. I didn't understand it, and neither did anybody by my side.

There was no cheering, only dead silence, the adrenaline still holding sway over us all as we could only watch as they slipped away.

Why? I asked. Why just run.

Nobody had any words to say as we could only watch. In those final moments, their had been only two outcomes in the minds of all of us—their total destruction, or ours, most having assumed the latter to be the inevitability.

This, however, none had anticipated, and yet such was what was unfurling before our very eyes, the ships in mid-retreat, one sinking below the waves.

And such was the moment when it struck us, as indicated by the first man who fainted to the ground.

Many would follow. I was unsure if I was among them. All I remember was the world going black, and that was how the Genocide of Jingping had ended for us so lucky to have survived.