Dragon At Heart

Chapter 34

34. Half-truths

Sergeant Jiri stood on the deck of the ship, looked out toward the horizon and waited. He was on guard duty, but considering how their vessel was surrounded on all sides by dozens of other Fire Nation ships, it was unlikely that the Water Tribe would be able to take them by surprise.

"Any sign of the enemy?" Lieutenant Jee asked and walked over to the Sergeant. Jiri turned to face him and shook his head. The Lieutenant nodded and came to stand next to him, gazing toward the horizon as well. Any moment now, they would become some of the first Fire Nation citizens in over eighty years to witness the majesty of the Northern Water Tribe capital.

Jiri was cold and scared, and although there was a feeling of destiny in the air, the excitement it could have caused under ordinary circumstances was drowned out by the gloomy mood on the ship. It was not just fear of the upcoming battle that was keeping spirits low, though that of course played a big part, but it had also been over two weeks since Prince Zuko had allegedly died, and although most of the crew still found it hard to believe, nothing had been heard from him since.

Up on the command deck, the Sergeant could see their new captain, a sullen man in his fifties, giving last minute orders. Since Zhao had only taken Zuko's crew but not the Prince's ship, the soldiers had been assigned to a new vessel. This ship was bigger and in much better shape than their old one, but if Jiri had a choice, he would have preferred being on Zuko's ship. And not just because they all missed the Prince's company and leadership, but over the years, the crew had learned their little ship's weaknesses and quirks, and Jiri would have felt more sure going into battle in a ship he knew inside and out.

This vessel was bigger and newer than their old one, but with the invasion of the North looming over them, the Navy hadn't been able to spare enough new hands, and they were a tad undermanned. That had actually turned out to be an advantage rather than a problem, as their ship had been assigned to the third wave of the assault, which consisted mostly of inexperienced and undermanned vessels.

The first wave would attack the city from afar with specially designed catapults. Most of the first wave would probably be lost in the fight against the waterbenders before getting near the capital, so it was the second wave's job to bring the first landing parties to shore.

Most of the ships in the third wave weren't carrying their maximum capacity of troops, and in between battles, the third wave would gather sailors and soldiers from sunken or irreparable damaged ships from the first two waves. After evacuating the destroyed ships, they would follow the second wave and set land. That was why they had onboard the backup landing parties, some komodo-rhinos and even a few tanks.

The fourth and final wave would stay back and secure the water area, making sure the Water Tribe couldn't attack the fleet from behind and potentially trap their troops on land. The Fire Nation had the most versatile and resilient navy in the world, while the Water Tribe's greatest advantage was their heavily fortified position and knowledge of the land. However, the Tribe had years of experience fighting on water, so a counterattack from the sea wasn't out of the question, and the Fire Navy fleet could not afford to get caught between two fires, so to speak.

The good thing about being on the third wave of the assault was that it was nowhere near as dangerous as being on the first or second wave. Initially, before their orders had come in, some of the other crew members had been sure that Zhao would assign them into the first wave just to spite Prince Zuko, but it turned out that the Admiral wasn't quite that petty. Not that the Prince was in a place to take offense, if the rumors were true, though Jiri was inclined to think they weren't. Zuko's crew had seen the Prince face worse odds than a ship getting blown to bits. The Sergeant liked to think that sooner or later they would hear from their old captain.