Focused Fire (ATLA)

Newly promoted General Hwa had finished up the necessary paperwork and transfer of duties, feeling both concerned and proud of the promotion. That she teetered on the edge of being demoted into oblivion for her aid of Xing did not worry her; after all, the young colonel’s outlandish claim had proven true, and they had saved the world. 

It was entirely her new rank, or rather where that rank sent her that gnaws on Hwa’s mind. It was no secret that the eastern lines were far more eventful than the other regions, yet the harvest of merits there was slim for the commanders stationed there. The closer they got to Ba Sing Se, the tougher the resistance got, and the slow crawl threatened to grind to a bloody halt.

Still, being assigned as General of the East did present some opportunities. Being the one to break the deadlock would bring her great acclaim, and having command of the entire front meant that Hwa would have a freer hand in making that happen.

As general, she could theoretically liaise with General Sho and barter for the loan of several regiments…like the Princess’ Fire Lancers, for example. Young Xing’s unorthodox strategies might be what the eastern front needed. If that meant that she would have to share command (and thereby credit) of the front, so be it. 

Hwa was not the type that greedily hoarded the intangible, nor was she delusional enough to think she didn’t need any help. She’d even tolerate the brute Dao if it meant advancing the war in the Fire Nation’s favor. Maybe she could also reach out to the southern garrisons, perhaps some commanders there might be interested to trade languishing in patrol and guard duties for the danger of the front lines…

The general mulled in silence as she walked through the administration district, but she wasn’t so lost in her thoughts to miss the attention of someone moving in to intercept her. Hwa tensed as she slowed and let a modestly dressed noble girl walk up before her.

Modestly dressed in relation to all the primped up courtiers around here, anyway. The girl’s face was only lightly powdered, and her hair tied back with a simple silver hairpin. Her silk dress was absent of any metal threading, save for the distinct emblem of the royal flame sewn on her left breast.

It was uncommon to see such a simply-dressed courtier.

The girl wasted no time in bowing at Hwa in greetings. “Crown Princess Azula sends her congratulations on your promotion, General Hwa.”

So this was the princess’ lackey? That explains the modest clothing then.

“I’m surprised that news has already reached her highness,” Hwa bluntly said, and the noble girl smiled a bit too serenely.

“The crown princess had foreseen the likelihood of your promotion, and had prepared for the occasion.”

The general raised an eyebrow at that. Princess Azula was far more thorough than she had thought, to anticipate Hwa’s promotion.

Before she could think further on it, the girl before her bowed once more. “Ah, forgive me for my poor manners. I have the pleasure of being Hyunji, handmaiden of the crown princess.”

Hwa nodded at the girl. “What does the crown princess wish of me?” Might as well get straight to the point. Princess Azula wasn’t one to beat around the bush either.

Hyunji smiled, a bit more warmly now this time. “Her highness merely wishes for you to continue doing your best for the Fire Nation. She also cautions you against overworking and overreaching; your merits do you in good stead already and you should not feel like you have to prove yourself.”

That was nice of her. But then again, the princess did have an eye for nurturing talent. Which meant that Princess Azula truly did see something in Hwa to send a message like this. The notion that her ascension to general warranted royal attention, even indirectly like this, filled Hwa with some pride. 

She couldn’t wait to relay this to her parents, uncles and aunties, and not only be the first general on either side of her family, but the first to actually gain royal commendation. Oh, to be able to rub it in the faces of her elders! Mercantile tradition her battleworn ass!

Quickly snapping back to the present before it became too rude, Hwa bowed her thanks at the not-insignificant attention. “Please relay my gratitude for her highness’ consideration of me.”

The handmaiden nodded, and then to Hwa’s trepidation her smile melted away. “However, I’m afraid that I also bear…potentially unwelcome news for you, general?”

Surely the princess wasn’t going to start working her straightaway?

Before Hwa could start guessing though, Hyunji turned away and began to walk, offering only a glance to hint that Hwa should follow her towards the much less busy side of an administrative office. The handmaiden glanced around before she spoke again, her voice softer and edged with some worry.

“It is either fortunate or unfortunate that you have been elevated to General of the East, because I have…news meant for such a general.” Hyunji gave a dry, consoling smile. “You’ve saved me time in delivering messages, General Hwa, but I must apologize for the bad exchange on your part.”

“What’s going on?” Hwa hissed, suddenly wary of her surroundings as she was plunged into some sort of intrigue.

“Are you aware of the War Ministry’s competition, general?”

Hwa quickly dredged up what she knew. “I think so? The candidates are still proving themselves for the post of minister?” 

Supposedly, after Minister Qin’s unfortunate demise, the ministry almost broke down immediately as various assistants and proteges fought to replace him. The Fire Lord encouraged the rivalry within limits, applying the Fire Nation’s meritocracy in a slightly more ruthless manner to decide the next War Minister. As such, the candidates were all doing what they could to stand out.

Allegedly, some administrators and overseers were locked in a destructive cycle of sabotage and outright assassination, while others took to the field with untested prototypes, and a few more deluded individuals took to hunting the Avatar.

Judging from the handmaiden’s grim nod, Hwa guessed that the second group was a cause for concern now.

“One of them, Chief Engineer Gunsou, has decided to bring one of the late minister’s prototypes war machines out into the field.”

Hwa thought of the tundra tanks which performed admirably, and wondered what else could be derived from it. “And he’ll bring it to the east? Is the machine dangerous?”

“Hmm… Not exactly.” Hyunji produced a scroll from within one of her sleeves and offered it to the general. Hwa unfurled the scroll and beheld a precise sketch of a sort of drill on…tracks and spikes? A massive drill on track and spikes, if the numbers attached to every line were correct.

“By all accounts, the Great Drill should be impervious to most external damage.”

With that much steel on it, Hwa could imagine that claim to be true. However…

“It would, however, require a heavy escort. One that would likely be far more vulnerable considering the slow speed of the machine.”

The general frowned as she noted the specifications of the Great Drill, and saw its abysmal speed. Then she imagined trying to stop earthbenders from reaching any part of the drill to climb inside and sabotage it. Because of course something like this would require various entry points.. 

And Hwa imagined doing so for dozens, if not hundreds of slow miles, from the front lines all the way to Ba Sing Se. Because what else could a drill like this be used for besides breaching the Impenetrable City’s walls?

It’d be a daunting task for sure, though not too impossible. One only needed to dedicate…say about a whole army to keeping the drill safe and un-isolated.

“I can see the cause for concern,” Hwa stated as evenly as she could, rolling up the scroll to return it, only for Hyunji to shake her head at the gesture.

“Keep it. We have copies. While the crown princess is more than happy to wish for the success of the many inventions from the War Ministry, investigations up until now have made it clear that this particular system, this Great Drill, might carry a cost of far too many lives to be brought to bear. Building it near Ba Sing Se would expose too many talented engineers, and having it crawl all the way there would tie up far too many troops in its defense.”

Hwa nodded her agreement at the assessment. “So what would the crown princess ask of me?”

Hyunji grinned as she lowered her head slightly, giving her a menacing look. “Chief Engineer Gunsou will likely be making the proposal to begin assembling the drill in the eastern front within a few days’ time.” The handmaiden nodded at the scroll in the general’s hand. “Study the schematics, determine how many spears and firebenders would be required to keep it safe, and then as General of the East volunteer your forces to the drill’s defense.”

Hwa frowned as she tried to find the underlying schemes in that proposal, but she had to admit that her lack of talent for intrigue put her at a disadvantage. What difference did it make, surely the War Council would ask her to guard the drill once it was deployed? It was about the same thi-

Ah.

Hyunji smiled at her reaction. “I see you’ve realized what needs to be done, general.”

“I do,” came the reluctant reply. Hwa didn’t like this first venture into the realm of politics. “Point out the flaws of the machine to downplay the drill’s potency, so that the chief engineer would be affronted and request only a minimal guard to prove his success?”

The handmaiden’s smile grew. “You’d make a good court general, General Hwa. But yes, poke at the man’s confidence, and he’ll likely rely solely on the War Ministry’s own forces to escort the drill.”

“Wouldn’t that be setting them up for failure?”

“It is the crown princess’ belief that compromising the whole eastern front for a mere chance at breaching Ba Sing Se is foolish. A chance at just breaching the wall - not capturing the city because otherwise it’d demand even more manpower - for the virtual guarantee of compromising the eastern territories once the Earth Kingdom grows a brain and decides to capitalize on the emptied out defenses. To say nothing of the potential losses if they simply harass the drill’s supply line and slowly starve it of fuel and manpower.” 

Hyunji’s smile morphed into something more hollow and cold, almost mirroring her royal mistress’ own lethal glare. “Does that sound like a fair trade to you, general?”

It didn’t, but considering the amount of metal on the contraption, maybe the princess was being pessimistic on its chances? Hyunji noticed the unasked question and sighed. “In theory, this drill would be all but guaranteed to do its job, and it would be well worth the cost in lives. However, we are not only fighting boorish earthbenders, General Hwa. Remember, the Avatar has returned, and according to reliable sources, he has already mastered airbending and waterbending. Elements that the drill might not be prepared for.”

Ah, right. The Avatar.

Hwa looked at the raised control bridge of the drill, one meant to keep it out of reach of earthbender attacks, and then imagined the airbender boy swooping in to tear the whole tower down with a flurry of water blades or a localized hurricane.

General Hwa humbly lowered her head and snapped a salute. “Please relay my gratitude for her highness’ compassion for the common soldier.”

*****

Hyunji left the new General of the East with full confidence that Hwa’s loyalty had shifted that much more towards the princess. Military types tended to take either more work or less, usually proportional to their competency. Hwa was competent, so Hyunji had been prepared for patient nudging. She already had some future aid planned out, all above board and reasonable to ensure that there would be no dishonesty to potentially threaten the stoic woman’s joining the ranks.

Crown Princess Azula liked the harder but also more rewarding path of gaining her followers through ‘clean’ means, which had the nice side effect of maximizing their loyalty to her.

Hyunji herself had been a rescue, so to speak. Her parents had been disgraced from royal court and had to settle for an inglorious posting in a desolate island. The princess plucked them out of obscurity and put Hyunji’s parents to work overseeing a burgeoning colony, all for the low price of competence and loyalty. Hyunji too was offered a role in the palace as the princess’ handmaiden, though it was for the most part a move to snub some of the court officials.

Not that Hyunji would complain; Princess Azula took good care of her pawns, and was not so close minded that she kept them stunted on a tight leash. Like many servants, Hyunji had proven her worth in palace politics, and had earned greater responsibilities and merit for it. Now she did her mistress’ bidding beyond the palace grounds, often acting as a messenger or recruiter in the princess’ interest within the home islands.

Her roles were not strictly limited to that, though.

Leaving General Hwa in a good mood, Hyunji returned to the main street and headed for a shuttered tea house. A grizzled old man stood outside of it, dressed with all the plain finery of a retired merchant. She offered him a smile, and noted the way he folded his arms across his chest - Left over right, with the index and little finger flashing out. 

Wonderful.

Hyunji passed the old trader, and walked past the tea house as if it never was her intended destination in the first place. She easily slipped into the back alley, using the establishment’s back entrance. The merchant’s rather dashing grandson held the door open for her, and Hyunji had to resist the urge to flirt as she entered the kitchen.

Just in time, a couple of pretty noble girls like herself - save for their dresses teetering off their shoulders - passed by, ‘escorting’ an older man into one of the store rooms. It’d have made more sense if this all took place in the brothels, but if a man liked drowning in the smell of dried tea leaves as he fucked, who was Hyunji to judge? It made for a more hilarious discovery, if anything.

The handmaiden waited for the storage room’s door to close and double checked for potential interruptions before she walked up to the room and slowly opened it 

“Oh my,” she said, feigning surprise at the genuinely surprised man and his giggling companions.

He immediately sputtered and his hands gestured in the air. “W-Wait, miss! This is not what it-”

Hyunji aborted the excuse with a sultry smirk - one that took her months to get right because she wasn’t exactly a smiley person - and pushed the collar of her dress towards one shoulder. “Mm… Mind if I join in?”

The target’s shock took on a different flavor, and then he gulped as his two companions before nodding too eagerly with a dirty and greedy grin.

She locked the door behind her, as one of the other girls grabbed a handful of tea leaves from an open sack to mash against his face and the other began to work her hands down between his legs. Hyunji and her accomplices exchanged looks as the man gave a mewling moan.

Really, she shouldn’t kinkshame, but…

“Aww, over already?” Getting back to the task at hand, the two girls giggled and teased their target and easily encouraged him for another round. Hyunji joined along with a vapid smile as they disrobed and made a show of caressing each other before him. The man got hard again (eventually, spirits be praised) and this time both girls got down between his legs, while it was Hyunji who held a handful of leaves.

Except these ones weren’t taken from the many containers within the room.

The man moaned in pleasure as she shoved the leaves into his mouth, but credit to him, he quickly realized something was wrong when he tasted the toxic spores from the moldy leaves. Before he could struggle too much, Hyunji’s accomplices tackled him down and pinned him by an arm each, while Hyunji straddled him to keep him from kicking too much and kept both hands on his mouth to keep him from spitting out the poison.

She also had the pleasure of leaning down to look him dead in the eyes and deliver the princess’ message. 

“Chief Administrator Tsu of the War Ministry’s personnel department… Crown Princess Azula has taken notice of your rude overreach, both in having the hubris to declare yourself Minister, as well as trying to slip your dirty hands into her regiment.” His body bucked and writhed, but the three assassins kept him from breaking free. “For your hubris, know that your remains will be thoroughly humiliated. You might even be posthumously disowned after they discover what we’ve done to you.” 

His futile struggles took far too long for the girls’ liking, but eventually, the poisonous spores did their work, and Tsu’s choked lungs gave out. Hyunji and her colleagues quickly added the finishing touches, and then she left out the back door, while the other two gave her a few seconds before they let out very convincing screams.

Only a little prodding was all that was needed for rumors to spread that the late chief administrator was discovered naked in a tea house’s store room. The details varied very little; Tsu had paid a lot of money to close the shop for the day so that he and his companions could enjoy a private drinking session. Then he left his young escorts to grab some tea, but after he took too long they went to find him, and lo, the man was naked and dead, choked with a literal throat full of tea leaves with signs of…personal intimacy found on the leaves on him. 

And in him. Hyunji found it rather fun shoving dried leaves into his lower body’s orifices. Messy, but fun. Better than trying to smear drying semen on the leaves, anyway. Those girls were consummate professionals to not react at all as they got their hands dirty.

Tsu’s death was quickly ruled as a freak suicide (emphasis on ‘freak’), attributed to him over inhaling the leaves as he did…whatever it was that he did…and then unfortunately choking to death.

The tea house surprisingly thrived after that, capitalizing on the weird incident. ‘Tea so good a man tried to fuck it’ became its unofficial slogan. Hyunji had mixed feelings that the shop did so well; on the one hand, the owner’s grandson now might inherit a thriving business to be considered a viable prospect for her. But on the other, he was getting too busy running the place to have time for her.

Such was the rocky life of a princess’ servant.