Lightning battle

Pov: Kai

It's been three weeks since I started awakening the soldiers' hidden powers. The effort was stupidly exhausting, to the point where I lost consciousness after only two awakenings. The stress turned my hair ⅓ as white as snow.

At the moment, I was awake before dawn, with hardly a trace of sleep on my face. 

I sat on a rock full of ancient firebrands and watched a group of three soldiers who had the ability to bend the earth, practicing their new powers for at least a week, I'm not quite sure since I had spent almost a whole month sleeping off the fatigue. 

- Why do you look like that? - Zoho asked, approaching Kai without invading his personal space.

- I never imagined that my main function was to be a power giver. - I admit, a little annoyed and disappointed. 

- It's a shame that you lose consciousness every time, I admit, I've gotten used to this routine. 

- I won't comment on that. - I say irritated.

- So how are we doing? 

- What did you expect? The idea of bending was never planted in their hearts before, now imagine having to master a power that the enemy uses to kill their brothers-in-arms. It's normal for them to have this delay or rejection, not to mention that it's a warp we have no way of helping them master." - I am giving a simplified report because I do not have the patience to give a more complex explanation.

- I see, if that's what it is, I can fix it. 

Zoho walked up to the sweat-soaked trio, and when they noticed him, they all lined up to salute him.

- Soldiers, I hear you're going through a difficult time. - Zoho walked up to each of them and looked at them as if he could see their souls. - I want you to understand that you have nothing to be ashamed of. It may be difficult for you to think that you have these elemental powers, but understand that your skills will be needed in the invasion of A Ba Sing Se.

The trio raised their heads, believing that they would only be useful on this mission. In their hearts, they believed that bending the earth would make them traitors to their nation, which is why they weren't so enthusiastic about their powers.

- Since you got your powers through the awakening of young Kai, you're not considered enemies, but special forces! - Zoho raises his voice even more. - Remember, your names are already written in the history of the Fire Nation, but it is up to you how you will be remembered. 

General Zoho's speech completely lifted the spirits of the trio, they seemed extremely enthusiastic.

Zoho turned his back on the Earthbenders and walked over to Kai with a superior smile.

Kai and Zoho's relationship had become very pleasant in the time they had been talking, to the point where they had become friends, sometimes playing little tricks on each other to lighten the heavy atmosphere they were still in. 

- Had I known, I would have called you to supervise them. - I commented, irritated by Zoho's ease of communication. 

- You're used to seeing the world your way, but you forget to consider other points in your decisions. - Zoho commented, watching the trio of Earthbenders try to build a wall and then tear it down. 

- I'm someone who likes to follow my instincts, I'm not the type to worry about technical factors. 

- Wasn't it your intelligence that got us here? - Zoho teased.

Zoho and I continued our relaxed conversation until a soldier came running toward them. This soldier looked out of breath as if he had just run the race of his life.

- General Zoho! We have problems, a group of 80 soldiers from the Earth Kingdom have left the enemy base and are heading in our direction! - the soldier said worriedly.

- So they decided to pursue us. - I speak without concern, because this was a foreseen possibility. - They must think we're too weak to fight, because it's been over a month since we attacked them.

- They want to finish the job, too bad they don't have the advantage of the land. - Zoho said in a cold voice, his gaze as sharp as an assassin's. 

- Better to intercept them before they reach our position, shall we stick to the contingency plan? - I asked, waiting for the general's answer. 

- Kai, lead your ambush group, you already know what to do. - Zoho turned to the messenger. - Tell Captain Tizo that we'll have guests for lunch. 

As the sun rose over the horizon, the forest woke up and some birds sang in their nests. However, the natural beauty was ignored by a group of soldiers dressed in black armor with a dominant green color, wearing a hat with the characteristic symbol of their element, some carrying spears, others barehanded, referring to their elemental ability.

With each step they took into the forest, their confidence grew, as each meter they advanced made them believe they were closer to the enemy's position.

Above the Earth Kingdom soldiers, a small group of Fire Nation soldiers were covered in leaves, camouflaging themselves and becoming one with the forest itself. 

Kai lay on a branch nearly 27 meters above the ground, his hair tied back so as not to give away his position. His scarlet eyes scanned every enemy, searching for their leader. Beside him, other soldiers covered each tree, waiting for the unit leader to act.

In the few seconds of tension and silence, Kai focused his vision on a person in the middle of the platoon. This person seemed to be the oldest in the enemy group, and his armor was slightly different from the others, with some details in his armor being more robust. 

Kai raised his eyes to a soldier who was in a similar position to him, two trees away, his armor covered with leaves for camouflage. Kai made a few hand signals to coordinate the attack with his men: [Priority target in the center, surrounded by 4 guards on each side... Eliminate as many as possible in a 3-second window before counterattacking]. After receiving the message, the guard passed it on to his companion in the same way. This action took at least 20 seconds, so all 12 soldiers hanging from the trees were aware of the attack. 

On the ground, some soldiers were under large covers of leaves or dirt, but they weren't wearing their armor. These soldiers were under the command of Tizo, who was expecting a surprise attack from Kai's team. They were only a few meters away from the enemy. Seeing them marching in front of them made them sweat, as any hasty move would lead to certain death. 

Without wasting any time jumping, Kai tilted his body and lost his footing, only to be pulled to the ground by gravity. His soldiers followed their leader almost instantly in a fall that would take a few seconds to reach the ground.

Feeling the wind on my face, I adjusted the position of my body and unleashed my fire warp like a tidal wave at the leader's group without mercy. 

At the same time, screams filled the forest, causing all the soldiers of the Earth Kingdom to turn their heads in the direction of the screams. Some of them with sharp reflexes noticed some figures falling on them, along with a yellow scorching light above their heads. 

Using my fire to slow down the speed of the impact, I successfully landed on the ground and fired at the soldiers least affected by my attack, throwing my hands over their faces, which showed slight burns. When my hands touched their faces, the two young men, aged around 17 or 19, opened their eyes as they felt a strong pain in their skin and, unable to do anything in a second, I fired at them with all my elemental power, consuming their flesh in the same instant. I couldn't say whether it was a painless death or not, I just had to be quick and effective.

As the two bodies fell, their heads completely engulfed in flames, their flesh still burning. Kai launched an almost 180° kick at the ground, sending a torturous wave of fire over the group trying to get back on their feet. The flames towards the leader covered him as if the flame was alive on its own, his bad luck that his eyes were open when the wave of flames engulfed him.

Kai's entire action took less than three seconds, not counting his subordinates, who launched a surprise attack on each of the different groups, blending in among the enemies. 

- We're under attack! - shouted a soldier with a scruffy beard holding a spear. As soon as he understood the situation, his first instinct was to alert his comrades. - They're firebenders...

The soldier was interrupted as he felt his back burn, his clothes and armor roasting his skin, nearly knocking him unconscious. As he fell to the ground, in slow motion before his eyes, he saw people throwing fire with their hands at the edge of the formation, practically realizing that they were being burned from all sides without having time to react.

In just 14 seconds from the start of the attack, 80 Earth Nation soldiers were exposed to a temperature equivalent to the surface of the sun. The smell of smoke and burning flesh hung over the noses of the Fire Nation soldiers.

- AHHHHHH! HELP! - cried a young man, his face nearly melted, unable to comprehend his situation. 

- I WANT MY MOTHER! - pleaded another young man.

Unfortunately, reality was simply cruel. The group of young dreamers who had been so excited to bask in the glory now found themselves on the ground, desolate, their lives in the hands of people they did not know.

Without any mercy, the two teams that had launched a lightning attack on the enemy poured their flames on the pleading young people begging for mercy. 

Kai preferred to follow Zoho's advice and decided to just ignore the screams and hope that they were only coming from the enemy. Looking around, he noticed that the leader had his hands over his face, which was practically burned to a crisp.

- MY EYES, MY EYES, I CAN'T SEE! - The squad leader cried out in despair, tears streaming down his pitiful face. 

Seeing the damage he had suffered, I preferred not to underestimate a prisoner, so I raised my right arm and set it on fire with a blue flame to form the closest thing to a blade of fire. I knew that making a blade out of flame was quite unusual, but it wasn't difficult for me to hold such a condensed flame. 

Approaching cautiously, I grabbed one of his hands that he was using to cover his face and crossed it over unceremoniously. The smell was horrible, but I couldn't let a Bender have the elemental ability, even if he was blind.

- AHHHHHHH!" - The leader screamed and cried and gasped until he lost consciousness.

Tizo, realizing that the ambush had been a success in his eyes, managed to take a breath and thank the spirits for a much-needed victory for his soldiers' morale.

- So this is the guy. -commented Tizo, unconcerned by his companion's action of amputating a person in front of him.

- Were there any wounded? - I asked, lifting the unconscious body onto my back until some soldiers grabbed the enemy leader and took him elsewhere. 

- There was resistance here and there, but fortunately no casualties. - Tizo smiled charismatically, ignoring the heavy atmosphere. 

- You're a scary guy. - I commented, worried by his good mood. 

- Don't worry. - Tizo put an arm around Kai's neck. - I'll buy lunch.

- I'm really worried about your mental state.

Eight hours had passed since the attack, and all the soldiers were in good spirits that their camp had not been destroyed or worse. I accompanied Tizo on his snack break, we both enjoyed some free time before Zoho finished his interrogation.

- How long has he been questioning this guy? - Tizo asked, a little impressed by the prisoner's resistance. 

- I can only imagine it can't be very pleasant. - I replied, almost falling asleep. 

- So you have free time, do you? - said Zoho, appearing behind the pair without them realizing it.

They both almost had a heart attack and jumped out of their seats with a reflex they'd never had before.

- Zoho! I don't have the heart for this! - I complained, almost spitting fire. 

- So... did you get what you wanted?" - Tizo asked, pulling himself together unlike Kai.

- Our prisoner and I had a nice chat, which gave us a lot of information. - Zoho commented calmly.

- What do we do with the prisoner? - I asked. 

- His soul is already with the spirits, so I had to be very persuasive to convince him to collaborate.

- What's the next step? - Tizo asked, noticing the subtle smile on Zoho's face.

The trio went into a tent to discuss the next step in their assault on the enemy base. According to Zoho himself, there was an unpublicized emergency exit that nobles would use if they needed to escape immediately, but it was only accessible to Earthbenders, which fortunately wasn't the problem here.

We spent a few days scouring the area at night with a small group of soldiers, looking for any way out or human traces left at the coordinates of the possible hidden passage.

Luckily, we were at a time when the moon was shining brightest, making it easier to find traces of domination in some rocks on a mountain near the enemy base.

Our advantage in searching at night was that it encouraged the enemy to lower their guard, as it is common knowledge that Firebenders only attack when the sun is overhead. Taking advantage of this knowledge made it easier for us to place our trio of spies in the heart of the enemy base. 

To facilitate our invasion, we used the armor best preserved from the corpses after the ambush. Repairs were necessary, of course, but once that detail was completed, we set out to begin the first step.

Each night, one of our land benders would meet our messengers at the point we had used to invade. They took turns, each scouring and merging with the enemy forces, allowing an absurd amount of information to leak out.

In the weeks that passed, we launched a few attacks to motivate our enemies to believe they had the upper hand. Of course, these attacks didn't reveal the arrival of reinforcements, just a simple distraction while we took the necessary steps to avoid unnecessary casualties.

Nearly three months after my arrival on the battlefield, I had become accustomed to the concept of leadership, as I now had a squadron under my command that was responsible for taking on some dirt benders who had taken the risk of discovering the camp's location. My main mission was to create a false position of our camp, since it was no longer necessary for me to reveal my awakening ability.

That time of leadership meant that my reputation among the troops was quite good, making me both loved and hated by the earthbenders. Fortunately, during the time I commanded my small group of soldiers, I managed to keep a record of no allied casualties, which relieved me because I didn't have to send a letter of condolence to their families.

- Hey boss, have you heard the news? - said an approaching soldier holding a poster with Kai's picture on it.

This soldier was Huzo, a young 23-year-old lieutenant who had an ugly scar on his face, but was proud of the wound. Huzo's hair was jet black, his eyes were golden, and he had a scruffy beard. He wore conventional Fire Nation armor, with no modifications to set him apart.

- I hope you didn't burn down my tent again. - I said, not forgetting to warn you about the last incident that made me sleep in the trees for a few days. 

- You're officially an enemy of the Earth Kingdom, congratulations are in order. - Huzo handed me a poster with Kai's face on it and a bounty of over 2 million on his head.

I stop paying attention to my tasks to pay attention to the poster, which makes me angry. 

- Really? They managed to get the color of my eyes wrong! - I complain, suddenly grabbing the newspaper.

- At least your photo is at a good angle. - Huzo joked.

Huzo was Kai's right hand, one of the soldiers who had received their powers thanks to him. In his heart, he felt grateful without knowing how to repay him, so he decided to follow Kai until the end of his life. The truth is that all the soldiers under Kai's command were ordinary soldiers until they were awakened by him. 

My squad was made up of 40 newly awakened firebenders, and during that time we had to be bait, I had to be an elemental instructor, teaching them how to safely bend fire without putting themselves or their comrades in danger. It's easy to imagine that the repetitive sequence of fires we had to deal with during that time ironically made it easier for us to be bait for the Earthbenders.

- Mr. Kai! - A soldier shouted in the background, catching their attention.

- Isn't that guy Tizo's messenger? - Huzo asked. 

- That can't be good. - I said worriedly. 

- Mr. Kai, at last... I have a message from Captain Tizo. - The panting soldier said. 

- You don't have to call me sir, you're almost three times my age. - I said it casually, but I wasn't lying.

- I can't do that, sir. - The soldier said, noticing Kai's disappointed reaction. - General Zoho has authorized the final attack two days from now at midnight.

- Hmmm... has it been three months? - I asked, looking at Huzo who nodded in confirmation. - Very well... Huzo, prepare our men, we'll start the attack on the main gate.