ATLA, In A Darker World

Southern Earth Kingdom.

Underground Tunnel .....

Thud! Thud! Thud!

In the man made underground cave, the sound of soft footsteps resounded, followed by the darkness giving way to the light emitted from a dim torch.

Thud! A boot appeared in the light as a young man wearing green clothes with a bag on his back held the burning torch in his hand. His face sported an expression of one in deep thought as he walked unhurriedly to the end of the tunnel.

'… I should have known ….'.

His eyebrows furrowed as his expression remained contemplative.

Thud! Thud!

'… After all. I completed several past missions relying on this kind of people'.

Thud! Thud!

Footprints could be seen behind him in the dim light. Before ultimately disappearing into the darkness as he walked further away.

'Back then, Infiltrations had never been easier'.

Thud!

'And today ... The whole thing smelt fishy from the start….'.

'… I knew something was wrong. I just didn't think fire nation tactics would have advanced this far up in the short span of a year'.

Luca's eyes narrowed.

'… Well, they found better ways to make use of collaborators'.

Back in the Fire Nation Intelligence and assassination division, Luca had been tasked with various missions.

Some included breaking into earth kingdom territory and gathering Intel on enemy movements. Their distribution of forces, stationed troops, attacking and defensive intentions…. He was a spy, and a good one at that.

But infiltrating enemy ranks was never an easy task. Especially for someone of his age.

A fifteen-year-old gathering sensitive intel wasn't easy. Especially when the earth Kingdom army was under strict supervision.

Their ability to keep information limited to the high-ranking members was as strong as the very earth they bent.

That was where the necessary help came into play.

Collaborators. Earth kingdom Collaborators to be specific.

Earth kingdom soldiers or militants who voluntarily or involuntarily supported the Fire Nation during the hundred-year war.

The Fire Nation who were winning the war had defectors. It was only normal for the losing Earth Kingdom to have similar people among their ranks.

Especially those whose military unit had been either abandoned or sacrificed. Those willing had become official workers of the Fire Nation, aiding their advance to finally win against the people who betrayed their trust.

Most of them were reinstated back into enemy lines under the guise of soldiers who managed to escape and placed as loopholes to be used when needed.

Luca had gone behind before, precisely due to the help of these people. Enabling him to steal important information to aid in the Fire Nation's advance.

After defeating the Earth benders and extracting all useful information he could from the last one left alive, Luca had already determined that Captain Li Shan and his men were undoubtedly such.

Earth kingdom Collaborators. Of course, people like him were previously used as pieces to create loopholes within Earth kingdom ranks, Fire Nation battle manpower and at times, fodder group.

But from what he just learned, Luca could see that the Fire Nation had upped their game.

The soldier didn't know much, but after spitting out everything he did know, Luca determined that this stronghold had fallen a long time ago.

This was why the Fire Nation hadn't already marched to destroy the base with siege weapons.

What now remained was a front to deceive both the actual Earth kingdom forces of Omashu and the large number of refugees that made their way here every day.

Their purpose? Exactly what had happened earlier.

Labor. Skilled labor to be exact.

After food, weapons, and supplies, the most sought after resource during the hundred-year war was skilled manpower.

After all, the Fire Nation was lacking in numbers when compared to the Earth kingdom. Many times, they were outnumbered five to one on the battlefield, and this was still under the circumstances that the Earth kingdom hadn't implemented forced conscription of regular people and refugees.

Earth Kingdom villages could and would quickly provide any soldier regiments they encountered with whatever help they needed.

In the earth kingdom army, there was no shortage of blacksmiths to help forge weapons, herbalists to help patch up the wounded, miners, engineers ..... In this regard, the earth kingdom surpassed the Fire Nation by far.

Without the need to distribute additional troops to handle these areas, they could fight against their invaders with free hands.

Until finally, the Fire Nation decided they had had enough.

Haican Stronghold was still standing for two reasons. One, to transfer all skilled workers among the refugees away from the Earth kingdom straight to Fire Nation possession.

Just like the prisoners on the Mo Ce Sea Prison Rig, these refugees captured would be forced to use their skills to the service of their invaders.

All Engineers would be transported to work on the Navy cruisers. Miners would be forced to slave away in the coal mines, herbalists would create healing medicines without end for their wounded, but the worst of all was saved for the warriors with combat experience.

These unlucky men and women would be imprisoned and later on forced to wear Fire Nation uniforms to act as unarmed diversion in combat.

The prisoners would surely die, but the fire nation would succeed in tricking the army of the earth kingdom while losing zero troops in the process.

Double win.

This was why there had been a roll call for specific occupations. This was why they were told to leave their families behind without exception. They were being hauled off to their captors without their knowledge.

But that was only the first reason.

Reason two was even better. As at this point, only two great cities stood strong under the Fire Nation's offense in the earth kingdom.

Omashu, and Ba Sing Se.

Why were they gathering so many refugees at Haican? Simple. To transport them to Omashu. That's right, the talk of taking refugees to the great city wasn't false.

But here lay the problem. As far as Luca could tell, the Fire Nation had been cutting off all trade routes that led to Omashu for months now.

Without the trade routes, nothing could get in or out of Omashu without first passing through the Fire Nation. This meant ...

"Raze the surrounding villages and drive all their unskilled labor as refugees towards the target city. Cramped and homeless, they'll sow panic and despair among the local populace about the upcoming invasion and the horrors they had experienced while eating through the city's limited food supply without being able to meaningfully contribute back".

"By transporting so many refugees to Omashu, there would be too many mouths to feed and not enough to go around. That's where everything falls into place. The trade routes locked meant no food could be transported to Omashu from allies. Once the city's food supply runs out, it was only a matter of time before they began to tear themselves apart. Ultimately, how long they could last would be the deciding factor. Depending on how much food they currently have in store, in due time, Omashu would be forced to surrender or face death by starvation. Add a timely siege at the right moment, King Bumi will surrender without putting up a fight".

Saying all this, Luca felt ... Impressed. The action of helping refugees wasn't helping at all. It was literally pushing Omashu to the brink of destruction.

They left all the useful people for themselves and drove the useless ones to further burden their enemies.

And worst of all, this wasn't the first time this had happened. This had probably been happening for at least a few months.

'…. Omashu stands no chance …'. This was a fact. It would fall sooner or later.

As for all those refugees left behind .... They were fire nation property now. The end of that tunnel truly led to a bay with transport ships on the water. But those ships belonged to Fire Nation, and there wasn't just one of them.

There wasn't a specific amount given, but with his familiarity with Fire Nation cruisers, Luca could estimate the number he would be facing if he decided to go back in the way of the refugees.

Four Fire Navy cruisers,

Hundreds of Soldiers, a minimum of a tenth of that number would be Firebenders..... Although he had gained some strength recently, Luca didn't think he stood a chance against such a large number if he was discovered.

Even if he wasn't, that direction wouldn't lead him to anywhere safe. Assuming he remained undiscovered and snuck aboard a departing vessel, he had no idea where the transport ship was heading to.

Perhaps the Omashu Battleground. Perhaps the Fire Islands …. Perhaps outposts back West. Or perhaps going north, it didn't matter where. There was no ship going to the Si Wong desert anyway.

The only thing he could do in that direction was to save the refugees.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

It was a long walk to get to one end, and similarly, a long walk to get back to the other side. Once lit, a torch wouldn't last forever. Thankfully, it didn't need to.

Luca's footsteps came to a halt as he appeared at the very beginning of the tunnel. Up ahead was the stairway that led down from the way the soldiers brought them.

Currently, he was right under the Haican Stronghold.

Seeing the staircase, Luca bent down and rested on one knee while placing the torch aside.

Following which, he took off the bag on his back and opened it.

A wide array of plants and herbs appeared in sight as the scent of plants flowed into his nostrils.

"Sigh ..... I really wish I had that storage space".

During his journey before Haican, Luca had stored a variety of poisonous plants in his bag. Due to limited conditions, space and a not knowing how long he would be out in the wilderness, Luca had been particularly selective.

The main criteria for selection were the deterioration rate. In other words, every plant in this backpack could last for a minimal timeframe of a week before losing its poisonous properties after being uprooted while the more potent ones could last two to three weeks.

It had been four days now since the earliest one he picked. Without a proper place to store these herbs, they would wither away eventually.

With this thought appearing, a frown made its way to his face before disappearing.

Nevertheless, he couldn't be bothered about that at the moment. Because he didn't open the bag due for that reason.

The travelling bag procured from the Warden at the Mo Ce Sea Prison Rig had three separate compartments.

One was used to store the plants, the other stored his dry rations. As for the third ...

He reached into the third area and pulled out two finely crafted weapons. Ones he was much more familiar with their usage ever since he joined the assassination department.

Daggers.

Or Poison Knives to be more precise.

Sharp weapons with slight spikes on the handles that allow for better grip and included a concealed compartment with a vial of poison in the handle.

The vial contained a concocted paralysis poison, paralyzing those who received a single scratch in a matter of seconds.

He twirled the weapons around his palms for a few seconds, familiarizing himself with the twin blades before gripping them tightly.

A cold gleam flashing across his eyes as he looked at the stairway leading to the surface.

According to the soldier, the Earthbenders had created two passageways. One led to the Fire Nation bay where valuable prisoners would be transported to, and the other was the actual passageway that led to Omashu.

However, this passage only had two symbolic guards with spear weapons at the entrance.

The other one, however, was heavily guarded by close to a half a dozen earthbenders and several skilled non-bending soldiers both in this stronghold and the exit on the other end.

Even if he wanted to utilize the tunnel route, it was impossible to do so without alarming the entire base.

As for waiting for the batch of refugees heading to Omashu? That was even more impossible.

The next batch of refugees would only be transported when the soldiers leading his batch returned to the stronghold.

Soldiers he had personally killed himself.

That complicated the situation. When the soldiers didn't return, it would arouse suspicion and people would be sent to investigate.

Once it was discovered that they were dead, the stronghold would be put on lockdown and the refugees within would definitely be questioned.

If he were discovered, Luca would be swarmed to death. In that case, it would be best not to be here when that happened, hence leaving only one option. Leaving before anyone realized something was up.

This was why he had taken out the dual knives. Because his next course of actions needed him to operate as silently as possible.

For such actions, longswords simply weren't suitable.

The land around Haican was barren, as the Earthbenders had cleared it of all vegetation in the beginning to avoid sneak attacks through the trees from fire nation. Apart from the area that the refugees outside occupied, the others were clear.

Luca needed to escape this underground tunnel, avoid all patrolling guards and get to the eastern wall as fast as possible. Subsequently, he needed to phase through it and rush into the forest several hundred feet away before he was spotted by the sentries.

'Easy enough .....'. He thought to himself as he reorganized his belongings.

It was dangerous, but when had his past infiltrations and escapes ever been free of risk?

Compared to past times, the fact that he wasn't exposed now made his plan easier.

The bag on his back was once again slung over his shoulder and the sword repositioned from his back waist to back shoulder.

'Alright …. Let's get out of .....'.

Rumble.

At that moment, a rumbling sound emerged from above causing Luca to raise his head and narrow his eyebrows.

He knew what that sound meant. The entrance had been opened and someone was coming down the tunnel.

"Great … Now what?"

Luca muttered under his breath while picking the torch from the ground.

Swoosh!

With a light blow, the already dim light went out completely as the underground area fell into utter darkness.

...

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