"I can't believe something like this could be sitting practically under our noses…"
"Heh… looks like you weren't the only one who couldn't believe it. That's exactly what they were counting on. Do you think we can eliminate this threat on our own?"
Even though I was still a little shaken after the interrogation, my mind was already working through options and loopholes in line with my plans. Taking out a saboteur base would be a serious achievement for a young captain.
What's more, they might try to hang me out to dry for the mere fact that the enemy managed to infiltrate a ship under my command—especially if the rat in the Admiralty sat high enough to start looking for scapegoats.
But if I crushed that same enemy base…
Victors are not judged—that truth holds in any world.
And I needed a career, glory, and the influence that came with them. Otherwise, I wouldn't be able to change anything.
"Mmm…" the sailor ran a hand along the hilt of his dao. "I'm not so sure. Out in the open sea, earthbenders are relatively helpless and harmless—but the base is set among coastal cliffs. Not only will the cruiser have almost no room to maneuver, but our enemies' combat capabilities will increase nearly tenfold." He shook his head. "On top of that, we're not at full strength. I wouldn't risk it—I'd request at least a couple of frigates from Headquarters as reinforcements."
"But right now, they're not expecting us. By the time the message arrives, reaches the right people, and they get moving and send someone… I'm afraid we'll find nothing but empty walls—and our 'friends' will be long gone."
"That's true. But charging in blindly is too risky."
"Blindly, you say?" I gave another grim smile. "That's exactly how we'll go in!"
"…Captain?"
"These saboteurs-scavengers wanted to capture a cruiser? Well then, let's help them along with their noble endeavor! We'll throw a little masquerade. We didn't throw out their rags yet, did we?"
"Negative, Captain!"
Tandao caught on at once. Now there were two men grinning in anticipation.
***
The saboteurs' clothing consisted of dark blue-green garments, heavily stained with silt. Against the water, they would have been difficult to spot even during the day—and in the evening or at night, even more so. Bloodstains were almost invisible on that fabric, and the fact that the clothes had been taken from the dead and wounded could only be noticed up close—and only if you knew what to look for. We restored the "mud camouflage" over any telltale marks just to be sure. As a final touch, we lowered the Fire Nation flag—mandatory for any vessel, from raider to battleship.
And so, having "captured" the ship and hidden half the crew (there weren't enough clothes for everyone), we moved toward an unremarkable little bay so kindly pointed out by our guests.
A couple of hours later, the bay came into view—and we sounded a cheerful, welcoming blast of the steam horn. Our colleagues—the comrades of the saboteurs we'd captured—came out onto the pier to greet their heroic raiders. Their eager faces were clearly visible even to the naked eye.
"Port side. Zero adjustment. Readiness two—and fire on my command. Ballista crews—free fire after the volley."
"Aye," came the reply from the gun crews—benders and engineers alike, all dressed in saboteur uniforms.
The ship settled onto a straight course, yawing slightly to port as if overthrottled—mimicking the clumsy handling of inexperienced operators at the helm and in the engine room, while positioning itself for a firing angle.
"Fire!"
The projectiles, ignited by the benders, roared—and a second later flew in a direct arc into the crowd.
The welcoming cheers turned into the screams of people burning alive.
The ballista crews held their fire for the moment, carefully aiming at enemy benders. No matter how skilled a bender might be, a heavy steel bolt fired almost point-blank—designed to punch through armor and breach fortress walls—would stop anyone.
Well… unless they were an airbender. Those are notoriously slippery, if the chronicles are to be believed.
"Straighten her out!" I shouted to my XO.
"Engine room—starboard screw, full ahead; port—slow ahead," Tandao relayed into the loudhailer, and the ship, giving a slight lurch, righted itself. "All engines, full ahead!"—and we surged straight toward the piers. "All stop!"
"Landing party—stand by!"
Cruisers aren't meant for landing troops—normally that's the job of dedicated transports, or something bizarrely unique like our latest hybrid of a battleship and the aforementioned transport. But here the depth was enough to run right up to the shore and drop straight onto the enemy's heads. Which is exactly what we did.
The battle that followed was less a fight and more a slaughter.
Those "earth folk" who hadn't been burned, crushed, or skewered by the initial artillery volley were stunned, disoriented, and utterly demoralized—reducing them to targets barely more dangerous than sheep at a slaughterhouse.
Seventy enemy fighters cost us a single broken leg—from an unfortunate landing—and a couple of burns from soldiers who had gotten too close to the impact points of the fire shells. Thirteen dirt-diggers were taken prisoner, including their bender commander, who had been conveniently knocked unconscious by a nearby explosion.
It was a success.
During the search of the bay, we found two partially dismantled hulls. One had clearly once been a frigate. The other… harder to say. Possibly a transport, possibly a war barge. Some clever bastard had taken them apart down to the last bolt—either studying them, stripping them for parts, or both. In addition to equipment, we found a solid stockpile of provisions and weapons. And most importantly—five of our officers, locked behind bars in a cave carved directly into the rock.
Starving, beaten, bearing clear signs of "enhanced interrogation"—but alive, and still fit for recovery. They seemed particularly eager to prove themselves at the sight of their former captors kneeling with their hands behind their heads. And I couldn't say I was particularly opposed to a little less-than-humane treatment of the new prisoners.