The Officer and the Princess: The Flames Of War

Chapter 48

As Sung had expected the second he had gathered his forces and told them they were being deployed to the Ma'inka front they all seemed to let out one collective groan that he couldn't blame them for expressing. He had explained to them what he had learned, of Kurn being on the Island and how if they moved quickly they could cut off Ma'inkas capital and prevent Kurn from escaping like he had done so many times before. He told them that they could shorten the war by months if not years if they succeeded. This had reinvigorated them somewhat though no one could truly be excited about the prospect of going into battle again.

But being the well disciplined fighting force they were, the twelfth had worked as quickly as they could to get themselves squared away and loaded back onto the ships that would carry them into oblivion. At exactly twelve that night they had set off from the Capital, the trip had been a silent one. The soldiers using that time to get as much rest as they could before they were back to marching and fighting...and dying.

Sung usually hated to be on water craft, they were hot, cramped, and the smell of unwashed bodies just seemed to hang in the air. But after the hard fighting he had seen on Funarano he was happy to have a few days where people weren't trying to kill him. This "Phoenix Rebellion" didn't fight like Earthbenders did. Earth Kingdom armies based their military doctrine around a firm hold, much like their element. But the Phoenix Rebellion being made up of Fire Nation national their doctrine was based on aggressive, and fast movement meant to overwhelm, like a fire in a dry field that quickly grew to big and spread quickly.

This Civil War made Sung actually miss fighting Earthbenders. At least with them he knew how they would fight, but the Rebellion adapted. On Funarano they had used smaller forces to slowly Pick at Sung, and then had planned to use tanks to land the killing blow. If that so called "friend" hadn't sent a message when they did then he and most likely his entire army would be dead. Fire Nation officer's weren't to keen on taking prisoners most of the time. During the Great War the only time the Fire Nation had taken prisoners was to use them as shields in later engagements. Sung had never believed in doing that to the people he captured, then again he had once thought it was dishonorable to surrender, the only choice being honorable death in battle. Amaterasu was more than likely upset in his change in views.

But still, he kneeled on the top deck of a Fire Nation cruiser as it sailed to the Ma'inka Harbor in a fleet of five, that grew closer by the second. Facing the Sun rise he leaned forward until his nose touched the deck, uttering a wordless prayer before straightening back up. He then looked silently over the passing horizon. Hearing the rushing of the ocean as the ship cut through it. The sounds brought him at least some semblance of peace.

"You alright there General?" He heard the voice of Duru behind him. He could hear the man's boots clicking across the deck and out of his peripheral vision he watched as the man stopped and sat down beside him.

"I'm fine." Sung said, not taking his eyes off of the horizon. "Just...tired."

Duru mumbled something incoherent. "I know the feeling." Duru looked up. "Has she answered you yet?" He asked. "The Goddess you pray to I mean."

Sung shook his head. "She never does, the scripture says that she doesn't involve herself directly, only points those who believe in the right direction but...if she is then I wish she would do it more clearly. I'm tired of riddles."

"Never cared for riddles myself to be honest." Duru said. "Never been very spiritual either. My parents were, they were always praying to one spirit or another for a good harvest but in my experience, the spirits never answered. I figured if the spirits never cared about us why should we care about them?"

"You're not wrong to think that." Sung said with a sigh. "At one point I was one of Amaterasus most devoted followers, I prayed to her often, I fully believed that it was a great honor to die in her name and be elevated to the Sun Guard. But as the years past I found that anyone can die for their beliefs but it takes a certain person to find things to live for. I'm not fighting to die anymore, I'm fighting to live....Nikkō still needs me and I won't leave her if I can help it."