章 9: Chapter 9 Rebel
— Rebel (Spy)(Fugitive on the run)
What exactly do you expect?
A series of unfortunate circumstances has placed your predecessor in a bit of a precarious situation. Your superior officer made a grave mistake due to her own stupidity and defected from the Fire Nation to save her life, leaving you and a whole other bunch to bear the brunt of her actions. Under normal circumstances, your starting point after crossing over should have been the fire nation prison cell. At the critical moment, the connections left behind by your stupid superior finally paid off. Your former teacher, Master Piandao who taught you everything he knew on the art of swordsmanship, and bladed weapons and cherished you as one of his most talented disciples, laid aside his dignity and pleaded with the Fire Lord to give you an opportunity to redeem your honor after a full year of imprisonment. Ozai, with a scheme up his sleeves and seeing your possible value, agreed to his proposal. And so the respected fire Lord found time out of his busy schedule to pay you, an insignificant pawn a visit in the Capital City Prison (Hari Bulkan). The key to your cell was dropped at your feet as the Fire Lord explained what exactly he wanted of you. Faced with imprisonment, a chance at freedom and possible death if you refused, you graciously took the opportunity presented to you and at a suitable date several days later, escaped from the Hari Bulkan with your life and your skills. Two months later, you have been on the run from the Fire Nation. You successfully snuck into a Fire Navy cruiser and dismounted at sea, not far from the territory you currently are . Unfortunately, the weary soul of your predecessor, finally realized after freeing himself from the immersion of false freedom, the extremely difficult task you have been entrusted with and fainted in Hei Bai's burned fields. You took the opportunity to cross over.
Ozai has placed you in a precarious situation. You are a fugitive of the Fire Nation and the scum of the earth in the eyes of the other nations. Everyone is against you. Those who could still find a chance to befriend you will turn against you when they discover your true purpose. So... The scum of all nations. Until you complete your task successfully, chances are your status will remain the same, hunted by both Fire Nation and Earth Kingdom until the day you die or have the strength to turn it all around. Permanent Defection is also an option, as well as successfully completing your mission. Nevertheless, your life may not be guaranteed even if you do until Ozai sees your handiwork.
You are the greatly enhanced version of Prince Zuko. And not in a good way.
...
Yep, that just about sums it up nicely. The memories he just processed confirmed this fact.
Luca's predecessor was visited by the Fire Lord back in prison. Although he knew not that his old master was the one who instigated it.
Ozai had given a task. One that, when he thought of it, was truly difficult to accomplish.
The arrogant words and indifferent expression were clearly etched in his mind, unforgettable as if it were just yesterday.
"If you, Luca, want to return home to the Fire Nation and regain your honor, glory and dignity, you must prove your loyalty…".
Ozai's expression didn't change one bit. His tone cold, as if he were talking to an insignificant ant.
"I am a benevolent ruler ...". Remembering these words, he nearly puked in disgust.
Turns out, all bad guys had their shamelessness stat raised to the max level. Or had they brainwashed themselves to the point where they believed what they said about themselves?
".... So I am willing to give you a chance to do so". His face carried a hint of seriousness.
"If you want to prove your loyalty, then you must do one of two things". At that moment, hope had risen. Was it possible to actually regain all he had lost?
".. Locate and eliminate the Famed Deserter, Ex Fire Nation Admiral Jeong Jeong ...". Yep, that hope dissolved faster than salt into water.
"..... Or …. Locate and eliminate your Former superior ...". At that moment, Ozai's face flashed with a trace of hatred.
"... General Onomu .....". Even if she was the reason for everything that happened to him, at that moment, his predecessor was slightly stunned at those words. For two reasons really.
One, because he was being asked to kill someone who took care of him. And two .... This was a suicide mission.
Hundreds of curses neatly arranged themselves and fired at Ozai within his mind at that moment as he took a look at the bastards' punchable face.
You expect him, a non bender, to kill an ex Admiral and a master Firebender ex General? You might as well just put him to death and stop making roundabout excuses to torture him.
Those two weren't people he could take on. Not to mention, they were well hidden.
Luca didn't know much as he had been locked away for a year, but judging from Ozai's words, his superior was probably still alive.
In that case, she had definitely hidden herself well. How in heaven's name was he supposed to find them when even the Fire Nation found it difficult?
Apparently, Ozai knew what he was thinking. Hence, he responded before he could react.
"I have little hope for you to kill Jeong Jeong. After all, you know your weight". That was an insult, right there. A blatant one.
True, but offensive all the same.
"But your superior on the other hand..... There lays hope". He gave a somewhat sagely nod as he spoke.
"Therefore, you can treat her as your main priority. The last piece of information we could find on her was that she escaped to the Si Wong desert within the earth kingdom a few months ago. That is where you must go"...
Clang! It happened then. Looking down, all Luca saw was the key to his cage being thrown at his feet.
"In order to make it as realistic as possible, you will need to escape from this prison with nothing but this key and your own ability. Three days from now, this prison defenses will be deliberately lowered. This will be your only opportunity. You are to escape towards your destination by any means, and you will be branded as an escaped prisoner and hunted by soldiers. Should you fail or be captured, you will be brought back and killed as a public example. But should you succeed in escaping, you are to complete your mission and bring back her head as proof of your actions. When you do, it will prove that you are innocent of all charges, and you will be reinstated in your former post and enjoy all you have once lost".
Seeing Luca stare wide-eyed with a slight daze, Ozai uttered coldly.
"I am the only one who knows of your mission. Until your task is complete, you are to tell no one of this. I do hope you understand, as I will not repeat myself". Following which, he turned and left, but not before dropping the last sentence.
"Prove yourself, young soldier. Your life is in your hands now".
This was what he remembered. Clearly and vividly. And this was what had played out for him up to this point.
He had escaped from the fire nation all the way. Apart from the prison, the rest was all a testament of his own capability.
After the memories fully settled in, Luca realized just how deep a mess he was in. He was wanted by both Fire Nation and Earth kingdom and had to accomplish a nearly impossible task. His predecessor directly gave up the ghost after realizing the gravity of the situation before him.
Perhaps it was the helplessness and frustration that caused it, as he saw no way to accomplish the tasks even if he wanted to. Which meant he could only try or die trying. Or, live a life as a rebel for the rest of his life.
And it would truly be for the rest of his life. Aang wasn't going to save the world, so he would eventually meet his doom. It just depended on whether it was sooner or later.
With his abilities, the predecessor saw no hope. It was different now.
With the perks at his disposal, Luca knew that all he needed was time. Once he was strong enough, he could carry out his plans however he saw fit.
Not to mention, receiving these memories didn't bring only disadvantages.
Luca rubbed his head and brought his attention back to the skill panel. Aside from the status, it had changed greatly in many places.
One invisible advantage that wasn't even reflected in the panel was the fact that he now knew how to read and write the Language of this word. As well as use native phrases and quotes that he once never knew.
Japanese.
Thank God, at least the memories weren't all bad. It appears that the skills of the original owner could be regarded as a form of compensation for this ridiculously hellish start.
Hell mode had benefits.
Then came the others.
Luca took a look at the list of skills that appeared on his panel with a bit of expectation. What was once an empty bar was now teeming with numerous letters.
Mastered abilities: Stealth: 16, Blademanship: 16, Hand To Hand Combat: 13, Poison Mastery: 17, Disguise:16, Tool Creation: 15, Marksmanship: 16, Lock picking: 14, Earth Kingdom Culture: 16, Interrogation: 17, Battle Instinct: 14, Escape and Evasion: 16, Regeneration: 10
Looking at the full skill bar, Luca had one word.
So cool.
Almost completely made up for the death trial he was forced into. Stealth, Marksmanship... Battle Instinct… These were all the skills the predecessor had accumulated throughout years of hard work and practice.
They were high. At least compared to his physical stats, the numbers behind these skills were higher.
Although he couldn't quantify how well these stats were when compared to others, at least it gave him a higher probability of surviving his current ordeal.
Going through them, Luca's eyes couldn't help but light up.
'..... Oh…. My perception has increased ..... Could it be....."?
It happened then. For the first time in …. Well, ever. Luca felt something he had never experienced since his past life combined with the short timespan he had arrived here.
The evening wind was icy, but Luca knew that the chill subconsciously running down his spine at the moment wasn't its byproduct.
No…. This was something else. At the moment, he felt his hair stand on end. Followed by a rather strong feeling.
This one, he knew of. It was the feeling of being watched without your knowledge.
Ignoring the rest of the panel he hadn't explored yet, Luca sat up.
The mental fatigue had disappeared as his gaze followed the combined effect of two different attributes working together to warn him.
Then, he saw what he wanted to see. Once again, for the nth time today, he wished he didn't.
His eyes narrowed into slits as his body stiffened. On a tree branch not far away was a dark creature.
It stood on the branch motionless, so much so that Luca wouldn't know it was there if that strong feeling wasn't continuously hinting to him that something was definitely wrong.
That feeling was confirmed when that thing suddenly moved.
It was large, much larger than any bird he had ever seen in his past life. Luckily, it didn't seem to be attacking him. Instead, it turned around and took to the skies.
If that were all, perhaps he wouldn't think too much. Unfortunately, the moon was shining brightly tonight. So even though it was dark, the subconscious memory instantly recognized what that creature was.
Monitoring Eagle Hawk. One of the best aerial creatures used by the Fire Nation to locate runaway targets within a specific range.
It all came back to him how he ended up in this situation.
He was being chased... Chased by Fire Nation soldiers. And they released the Eagle Hawk, which was now going back to report his location.
They knew where he was.
The elation of the new set of skills was doused instantly like a bucket of cold water.
Logically speaking, the original predecessor should have been miles away by now. With his alertness, the possibility of escaping the Eagle Hawk's range before this was rather high.
Unfortunately, he crossed over. Then he changed direction and headed towards Senlin Village, fell and hit his head, laid in a bed for hours and delayed so much valuable time that could be used for escaping.
Without him knowing, Luca had made a grave mistake. And unfortunately, it was too late to run away.
'Dammit! Can't a guy get a break around here?'
...
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