28 Zar'un

I was a patriot. A patriot should feel overjoyed when he hears that his enemies' defeat is upon them, and maybe I am happy. Proud even, but what victory or defeat of this siege means for Citadel, for the citizens within the inner walls, for me, disturbs me.

I can see things going two ways. One, we somehow breach the walls of Ba Sing Se. A battle ensues and thousands if not tens of thousands of lives are lost on both sides. Maybe we win. Maybe we get through the outer walls with half of our soldiers alive. Then what. There are miles of country land between the outer and inner walls practically devoid of cover aside from some towns near the inner wall. Fire Nation citizens will be subject to catapults, archers, infantry attacks, and Spirits know what else. So if by some miracle the Fire Nation makes past the outer and inner walls alive, the Earth Kingdom will retreat. Sure, they'll hold the city for as long as they can, but they know the terrain, they know the city streets. They'll get out of that city with their lives only after taking hundreds of our own.

And then where does the Earth Kingdom go? From what the reports read, the Fire Nation is besieging the city from the West. They don't have nearly enough men to surround the city. That would take hundreds of thousands if not millions. The Earth Kingdom most likely retreats West, towards me. Towards Citadel. Me and my garrison of no more than 50 men would get slaughtered. Steel walls didn't matter when you had nobody to man them.

Then there was the second possibility. Much more simple too. We fail the siege, the Fire Nation army is shattered, the Earth Kingdom grows emboldened and decides to take their territory back. And what's the closest city built upon "stolen" territory that they can see? Of right. Citadel.

And I had only one weapon against both of these possibilities. This weapon came in the form of the poor and famished. My own personal human shield. The Earth Kingdom wouldn't besiege a city with thousands of their citizens flooding the streets. The inner part of the city was housed by Fire Nation citizens, the outer section, the slums, just kidnapped civilians from Earth Kingdom villages. They made for good protection against any attacks.

But now, however, my human shield was dying. Because the food I used to rely on coming into the city was being diverted to a siege doomed to fail. If I lost me one weapon, my one protection, this city would fall as soon as the Earth Kingdom arrived, and it didn't take a genius to see that.

It was this same deduction that got me here. I had to find a way to feed my people. On way or another. Outside the door leading to my office, I had two representatives of an organization known as "RFA" or "Relief for All" waiting. The Fire Nation wasn't particularly fond of this organization. They had a habit for providing relief for the impoverished, making them less likely to submit to Fire Nation authority, but right now, I saw that I had no choice.

The RFA wasn't affiliated with an nation, but they merely claim to want to help all those in need, hence the name. I looked up from the reports I had been reading and nodded my head to my steward to open the door. The boy did as he told, opening the door and stating that "Captain Zar'un was ready to see them."

The two women, dressed in nuns attire strolled in and sat in the seats I had motioned to them only after bowing out of respect. I wasn't sure if this is how they always acted of it is was a mere play to get on my good side. It wouldn't work. I would wait until I had heard what they had to say and saw what they could do.

There was a silence before anyone spoke. I was expecting thanks for being plowed to come. That's the greeting I usually received. Thanking them for coming first would immediately reduce the authority I had in the room. So I waited.

None spoke. Fuck it. "It's a pleasure to have the nuns of the "Relief for All" organization attending us in our great city this fine day."

The oldest one seated to the right spoke first. "And it is a pleasure to be here. We only hope that we can help the people of Citadel return to good health and safe living conditions."

"Don't we all. No doubt you are aware of the toll the war has taken on my people. I hope to see them return to safe and healthy living. Is your organization up to the task?"

"Our organization does indeed posses large stocks of food donated to us by charitable farmers of all nations, save the Air Nomads of course."

I wasn't sure to take this as a slight or simply a sympathetic statement. "The Air Nation army was a threat to all of us. We took the initiative that was needed to safeguard our Earth's future."

"Of course, but the fruits that had used to come from the Air Nation are no longer a luxury we have access to considering the Air Nomads, our most charitable donators are now extinct."

"If you have a point in bringing up ancient history, I recommend you make it, quickly."

"We require payment to buy new food and medical supplies if we are to preform the task you wish from us."

Of course. Nothing's ever free in this world now is it? "How much are we talking about?"

"50 golden pieces a month is all we need to remained stocked on food and medicine. It's not a high price to ask especially from the Fire Nation"

I kept my posture even though I had wanted to lean back and take the rest of the day to do the math and see how long I could keep paying them. Our coffers were running dry even now. The factories in the military district were having trouble exporting goods to the Fire Nation with an increasing presence of pirates in the Eastern sea.

"Alright. We can handle that."

"Then of course there's the matter of setting up a distribution center which we believe would-"

Fuck that. "There's more than enough abandoned buildings in the slums for you to chose from. Any additional resources you need, you can take from the forest beyond our walls or mine from the hills. You have the money you need for food and medicine. Put it to good use"

They stood up and bowed saying "We thank you very much for you care and consideration" before the reared out the door, heads still lowered, and left.

I never liked nuns.