Focused Fire (ATLA)

Even with practically all of the 11th returning to the capital, Zilang would only suffer a slight dip in activity. The bustling colony town still had plenty of industry to keep it lively, industry that grew from Crown Princess Azula graciously assigning her regiment here.

Under the watchful gaze of Governor Dae, corruption and grifting within the royal-blessed colony was kept low, to the point where the wily administrator had his lone arm controlling the inevitable black market as well. It also helped that being associated with the crown princess made Zilang be perceived as less as a dead-end posting and more of a potentially prestigious one, which then saw less troublemakers being dropped off the town’s port, which resulted in less lazy and corrupt nobility around these parts.

As a result, commerce increased dramatically in a few short years, with entire industries growing around the entertainment and wellbeing of the royal regiment. Zilang could proudly boast of hosting the most productive weaponsmiths and armorers in the colonies, and ranked only slightly lower than some of the famed factory towns in the home islands. 

It also housed a sizable guild of alchemists to meet the 11th Regiment’s curiosity for new tools for the battlefield. They were the ones credited with the recent refinements to battlefield medicine, the new practice of sterilization with new antiseptics resulting in a significant drop in deaths from infection. It was an open secret that Colonel Xing, as generous as he was wise, allowed the guild to take full credit even if he was the one to guide them through the breakthroughs.

In exchange, the alchemists of Zilang gladly ensured that the 11th Regiment would always have a significant amount of herbs and ingredients stockpiled and reserved for their needs. New initiates would be ensured to spend at least half their waking time grinding animal dung into powder for the regiment’s naphtha weapons, for example.

With the 11th being generous with their knowledge, Zilang’s local garrison found itself rated highly, even among the more venerated guards of the home island. Crown Princess Azula had even seen them fit enough to serve as auxiliary bodyguards on her rare visits, while other colonies often requested transfers or exchanges to train their own garrison up to standard.

Such was the prestige he was used to that Hanh almost forgot how poorly the colonies were viewed as a whole back in the home islands.

Almost, because the nobles and officials back in the capital were quick to remind him the moment he landed.

Oh, they were all polite and smiling when they met, but that was only because the crown princess was in the same procession. But Hanh saw how their smiles turned hollow, how their salutes became less respectful, once their gazes swept across Zilang’s representatives. The fact that Hanh and his staff were here on a personal invitation by the princess was irrelevant.

They were from the colonies, and even a colony with royal favor was still considered a backwater.

Only a pitiful few gave them the proper respect, and all of those were clearly within Princess Azula’s circle. It was obvious because of how she afforded these officials a favorable nod as she passed them, and how they didn’t scrape their foreheads as they bowed in return. Hanh was grateful to these few officials, because otherwise there’d be no one to guide the colony representatives to their residence, or provide the servants and dragon-moose to help unload the luggages and gifts. The princess chose her people carefully, it seemed, and it was just another proof of her reliable character that belied her age.

Despite Crown Princess Azula maintaining an aloof, imperious mask, the sycophants still swarmed around her, looking for scraps of her favor. It was disgusting the way they carefully flowed around her, they were like mosquito locusts smothering an armadillo bear, while the Zilang representatives and the few soldiers of the 11th Regiment that came with her were completely ignored.

“Don’t worry, these are minor nobles at best,” an elderly magistrate suddenly said beside him in an apologetic tone. “They are an ambitious lot, but impotent. In normal circumstances, your group would be greeted by proper officials instead of parasites, but being the heir to the Fire Lord has an unfortunate effect of drawing out these lot. Be thankful that you are viewed as a nobody, or you’d have to endure their attention as the crown princess does.”

Hanh blinked, and then bowed gratefully for the advice. “Thank you, sir. I apologize if my first impression of the capital was shallow and offensive.”

The old man shook his head and waved a hand dismissively. “No, no. You should feel offended. We are all working for the good of the Fire Nation after all. Princess Azula knows that, which is why she invited you over to show her appreciation. And it is why she ensured that the attendance of me and my friends…” the magistrate gestured to the princess’ more honest followers waiting at the edges of the procession, “...was compulsory and non-negotiable to even accidents and bad luck.”

It was hard for Hanh not to widen his eyes at the insinuation of such cutthroat politics, and the elder simply chuckled at his expression. “I take it you’ve never been in the capital before?”

“No, sir. I was born and raised in Zilang. It is by the crown princess’ grace that I am able to set foot here for the first time.”

Another chuckle, and the magistrate gestured for Hanh to stop bowing. “Enough with the formality. I’m just a magistrate after all, and you’re a governor’s aide. At best, we’re of equal rank.”

That was nonsense; Hanh knew how low colonial titles actually ranked by those in the home islands, and how un-prestigious any colonial posting was regarded. A magistrate from the home islands, even more so the capital city, could practically overrule a colonial governor in all things with very little paperwork.

Before he could spiral into that depressing line of thought, the magistrate gestured with an arm. “Come, before we lag behind too much behind the crown princess.”

As they walked, the old magistrate introduced himself as Shima, and apparently was rescued from obscurity along with his colleagues by Princess Azula. “Four magistrates sent to Qulai Island,” Shima lamented, recalling the fallout of being on the losing end in political dealings. “We had to share the two villages there between ourselves. At times, we were reduced to settling arguments between the villagers about who caught the biggest fish, just to have something to file and report.”

That sounded horrific to Hanh, but the crown princess had noticed the gross overreach of politics in Fire Nation bureaucracy after her return from observing the 11th Regiment, and Shima and his colleagues were reassigned to more prominent posts close to the capital city. It made sense then that Shima and his friends were greatly indebted to Crown Princess Azula, as were the small but growing number of disgraced officials and nobles she ‘rescued’.

Without context, it simply looked like the princess was trying to create her own faction, but the people tied to her banner were relatively weak to offer much sway. From the sounds of it, they were all competent, but being caught in the losing side of politics left them with little true influence in higher circles. Which meant the crown princess was doing this out of a sense of justice.

If he hadn’t been aligned to her already, Hanh would’ve been left in awe. And if not for her not-so-hidden ties with Colonel Xing, he’d have fostered some fantasies about gaining her attention somehow.

The young colonel, as valiant and dutiful as he was, was someone Hanh truly did not wish to cross. Everyone in the colonies hailed the 11th Regiment as saviors and stalwart defenders, but also quietly acknowledged that they were more restrained monsters than heroes. Hanh had enough access to unsanitized news (mostly from the soldiers of the 11th themselves) about how the regiment conducted what they considered battle.

They mutilated corpses and threw them at Earth Kingdom lines to scare the conscripts into fleeing. They had no qualms about starving the enemy into submission rather than engaging them head on. They snuck into camps to slit throats, or in one case, leave by the Earth Kingdom officers’ bedsides the heads of the very guards that were supposed to guard their tents.

And all of that was under the orders of Colonel Xing. All of that was Colonel Xing ‘playing fair’.

Hanh did not want to be the first to find out how the Scorpion Dragon handled rivals in courtship. He could settle for more pragmatic options, thank you very much.

Following the crown princess’ procession to the palace gates, Hanh noted how the officials and nobles began to break away from the main group. It was Magistrate Shima that enlightened him as to why.

“The higher ranked you are in court, the closer you get to wait by the gates. Fortunately for us, Crown Princess Azula has made allowances for us to wait close by, otherwise we’d be better off waiting by the alleyways and rooftops to get a good look at her soldiers.”

The mildly malicious smirk the older official gave Hanh was rather infectious, and he found himself smirking too as he passed by the parasites that were forced to break away to wait in their specified places. The smirk threatened to break into a grin as he felt several envious glares leveled on him. By the time Hanh and the favored officials stopped close to the ring of bodyguards separating the princess from almost everyone else, he’d learned to savor the impotent hate and resentment directed at him. He even bothered to throw a lazy glance at a few fidgeting nobles who were unabashedly staring daggers at him.

Truly, thank the spirits for the crown princess and her magnanimity.

The soldiers of the 11th appeared moments later, marching as one under the raucous cheers of the capital’s residents lining the streets. Colonel Xing was at the lead, a picture of silent confidence even with his helmet masking his expression.

Hanh bowed deeply as the colonel’s attention briefly rested on him. Uncle Dae had hammered into him the great debt Zilang will forever owe the 11th Regiment, so paying formal, grateful respect was the least he could offer to the young colonel that had kept Hanh’s uncle from losing anything more than his arm, as well as preserving his governorship.

Surprisingly, a glance to the side showed several of the princess’ officials bowing just as deeply as Hanh.

“Some of my colleagues owe the colonel as much as they owe the crown princess,” Shima had said later, once the princess and the colonel moved into the throneroom to join the royal court and the procession was effectively disbanded. “A few were once allies of the colonel’s predecessor, Lidai. It is no secret that Colonel Xing had petitioned the crown princess to look into lifting those unfortunates out of the pits of obscurity, and put their talents to appropriate use. They might not have the wealth and influence they once did, but at least now they’re not counting turtleducks or overseeing uninhabited islands.”

The disgust must’ve shown, because Shima chuckled at Hanh. “Let this be your first lesson then, Aide Hanh. Merits will take you far in most places in the Fire Nation, but merits alone will not be enough once you earn a foothold in the capital. It is not enough to be great by yourself; you need equally great friends and allies as well to rise here. The wider the network, the better.”

Shima and several of his colleagues then led Hanh and his small team to their quarters while they awaited the princess to summon them. In the meantime, Hanh took the opportunity to socialize with the friendly officials and nobles who were aligned with Crown Princess Azula. They were all hospitable and the small group quickly welcomed the colonial governor’s aide into their ranks. They freely answered many of Hanh’s questions, and provided him useful pointers in navigating the capital’s political labyrinth.

Despite Hanh’s pessimism, it turned out there were actual friends to be made in the home islands. By the time the crown princess summoned him, Hanh had a clearer picture of the limits and possibilities of his goals here.

“I trust you were not too bored during my absence, advisor?”

Hanh bowed deeply before the crown princess. “None at all, your highness. Magistrate Shima and several others were generous with their company.”

“Good. That’s good,” Princess Azula said as she nodded with some satisfaction. “Now then, before I leave you to your vacation, I have a quick task for you.” 

“As you command, your highness.” Hanh kept his head bowed as the crown princess produced a small sheet of paper and offered it to him.

“Here is a list of names. Disgraced officials, and a few ostracized nobles. Seek them out, and convince them to move to Zilang.” The princess sniffed with a hint of displeasure. “I’d see them myself, but it’s supposedly…improper.”

No surprise why. Having a royal all but forcing you to leave to the colonies would be seen as a banishment or exile by everyone, the recipient included. Princess Azula wanted them to migrate in relatively good terms, which meant having to use an appropriate secondary like himself.

“I don’t expect all of them to accept your offer, but do try your best. Despite their pathetic states, these are all able administrators and overseers. Their only real crime was being on the losing end of court politics.”

If the crown princess thought they were useful, then having them in Zilang would definitely be a boon. Having more officials would allow the town to further expand its administrative reach. It might even make it possible to achieve the status of a colonial city.

“I’ll see it done, your highness.”

The princess grinned. “I’m sure you don’t need the motivation, but I’ve spoken to the Colonial Ministry. If Zilang can continue to sustain its prosperity and growth, your uncle Governor Dae might see himself being promoted to colonial overseer for his excellent work. And that’d leave his governorship open for his competent aide…which if I recall, is you.”

Hanh immediately bowed deeply, not trusting himself to hide his own wide grin at the tantalizing promise she had offered him. 

Uncle Dae being a colonial overseer would be a milestone for not only his family, but the colonies as a whole. It’d mean one of their own would have a major role in setting taxes and quotas, as well as being a voice, a representative for all of them.

Having Uncle Dae as a colonial overseer was great enough, but having Hanh fill in the post of governor in his stead…

“Your highness is most gracious.”

“I know,” she replied lightly.