Operation: Interception <Wilderness, EarthKingdom>

[vu]

"Big day indeed," Vu begrudgedly replied. Folding his arms and looking down towards the large infantryman, holding back whatever disrespect he held towards the man and merely observed him. Might as well let the barbarian bask in his accomplishments, Vu reminded himself.

The same infantryman who had almost got him roasted, along with getting a close look at Agni herself, merely a night ago. The same man who today, was either making up for his folly a night ago or merely performing his duty as a soldier, had defeated Colonel Bora Gan. Not only had Zilong, this troublemaker as far as he was considered in Vu's eyes, defeated the man who led the Thunderfist Battalion in single combat but had taken the earthbender's tetsubo for a war trophy.

Not even coincidence, Vu told himself. All Zilong all had accomplished today was not merely coincidence. The man had far more than likely done such in order to win a favorable gaze from Agni, if not the rest of his comrades-in-arms for last night's foolishness.

"Soon enough we will have a bigger one than this," Vu eventually foreshadowed. "And if things continue this way," he mused, "we can likely tear down the walls of the Earth King's palace before a royal audience."

[zilong]

Zilong didn’t even notice the other man’s disdain for him. It wasn’t the kind of thing Zilong looked for. After all, social skills didn’t exactly mean much on the battlefield. Besides, it didn’t matter what this man thought of him. It didn’t matter what anyone, man or even god, thought of him. His actions spoke for themselves. What did he need to worry about petty things like this when he was so clearly a loyal and capable soldier of the Fire Nation? Everyone here knew it, so he had nothing to fear.

"Soon enough we will have a bigger one than this. And if things continue this way, we can likely tear down the walls of the Earth King's palace before a royal audience."

Zilong allowed himself to laugh, “Maybe. Let’s just hope its not six hundred bigger days this time.”

With that, Zilong continued to march silently with the rest of the five hundred and second infantry division. Among them rolled the Luck Eighth war crawler division, along with the Princess and her entourage. Many crawlers carried wounded soldiers, and one carried the prisoners: the Kyoshi Warriors, all miraculously alive. With confidence in their steps and the feeling of victory in the air, the war party marched back to the main camp…

[End of Operation: Interception]

[boragan]

The sounds of battle grew dim over the horizon. The sky grew cloudy as each second goes by. The dust started to settle. Pain was around him. Not only his own pain, but the pain of his warriors. Two of his warriors made a make-shift litter for him on the backs of ostrich-horses. The ride wasn't comfortable, but it was all they could think of. They had to retreat with the quickness, so they had no choice.

There was great shame in all of their hearts, mostly in Bora himself. There was a 70% casualty estimate among his own.
"Defeated," he whispered, "How is...it possible?"
He looked up at the sky as it started to trickle some rain.
"If I wasn't so injured from that attack at Kei Lan.....,"
"Sir!" one of his guards spoke, "We've gained enough distance from the battle. What is our next command?"
Bora Gan continued to look upward. He didn't know what to do at this point.
"Do we still have troops in Ba Seng Sei?" Bora asked.
"Yes sir. Around two twousand more of our warriors are stationed there to protect against the seige. Should we accompany them?"
"No," Bora said much to his dismay, "We head back home to Kei Lan. We must regather what remains of our battalion."
"But sir," the guard questioned, "We could do more good going to Ba Seng Sei."
"Don't you realize sergeant?" Bora asked, "Our moral has been struck. More than half of our unit got wiped out from their tanks. Most of us are injured. If we go to Ba Seng Sei looking like this, not only will we lower their moral, but we would get in the way and slow progress down with our injured state. We must leave it in the hands of the regular Earth Kingdom army to defend the capital. If they are smart, they would get that group called the Dai Li involved as well."

Bora grabbed a piece of parchment in his left scouting pouch and handed it to the sergeant.
"Send a message to the commanding officer of the Thunderfist in Ba Seng Sei. Tell them that due to unusual circumstances, we had to pull back some of our troops to the base. No matter the results of Ba Seng Sei, all troops need to report back to the base immediately afterwards. Sergeant, under no circumstance do we tell anyone there of our defeat here today. I do not want their spirits lowered from this."
"Yes sir," the sergeant yelled as he saluted and took off. Bora continued to look at the sky as it rained down upon him. Tears streamed down his cheek as he heard the thunder off in the distance.
"Ancestors," he cried to himself, "Forgive me, for I have failed you all."

Bora Gan has left the thread[/u]

[prodigy]

The Princess, after surveying the results of the battle with the Lucky 8 Platoon, had retreated to her clandestine group of women, the Ladies Mai, Ty Lee and the Lady Agni.. in disguise as a human female. The Phoenix was quiet after the battle, no doubt reflecting on how well her servants had prevailed. The ladies had returned to the basilisk lizards, the large creatures having been rounded up in the decimated area of the forest. The defeated Kyoshi Warriors, as they had learned the emerald clad and made-up women were called, had been gathered up and now sat on the backs of rhinos with Soldiers as their guards, bound tight.

Princess Azula was also quiet, brooding as she rode back to the encampment on her lizard. What would she now do with these prisoners..? They certainly were impressive. Their battle style was unique, and each of them was well trained. Azula had found herself.. mildly concerned and she had been nearly forced to summon the greatest ability of Fire Bending: Lightning. She pressed her lips in a tight line. Now the walls of Ba Seng Sei were their next challenge, and after this show of their strength, defeating out the legendary Thunder fist battalion, the Princess' confidences had improved. Surely.. The walls could be breached again.

[Azula Out]

[aaronaaronaaron]

[Ty lee has cartwheeled out of the thread ;D]