บท 56: Advanced Investigation
Macai and a team of 31st troopers travel to Raderalai to investigate the recent attack on Cushaw's diplomatic escort. Cushaw was a Fire Nation diplomat who was killed before meeting with Water Tribe and Earth Kingdom representatives to discuss further collaboration talks. Firelord Zuko has been planning discussions to make the Water Tribes and Earth Kingdom work more with the Fire Nation on economic projects.
Zuko has hopes that such economic collaboration will make the countries become closer and more respected allies. It is obvious that the new group doesn't want this to happen, but at the moment Zuko's administration doesn't even know what they call themselves. It is up to the 31st Company to discover the true identity of this mysterious order.
Macai walks with Dade, Hagenko, Arret, a firebender, two swordsmen, and a spear-wielding shock trooper. The team moves through the village. The sky is royal blue, the ground consists of gingerbread brown soil with long yellow-green grass, and the village consists of several peanut brown straw huts with dark yellow rooftops.
Dade looks around, "Wow, I never knew there were Fire Nation villages that looked this, primitive."
Hagenko comments, "This is an ancient village. Some of the more rural and older lands in the Fire Nation are much less industrialized than the more famous cities."
Dade: "Fair enough, Nyarri is in the middle in that regard but I didn't know there were places much more primitive than us. I doubt this land even has nobles."
Arret replies, "They live a simple life, but that doesn't mean it's a bad one."
Macai looks around as the team strolls through the village. Several citizens disperse as they notice the Fire Nation marines. Macai commands, "Alright team, let's sweep the area. And ask questions regarding the attack. Split up in pairs of two and start asking questions." Macai signals for Dade to go with him and Arret pairs up with Hagenko.
Hagenko looks at Arret, "I see you've done an excellent job of rising up the ranks, for such a young lady."
Arret smiles, "Yea, it took some time."
Hagenko asks, "How old are you?"
Arret comments, "I'm eighteen now. I was just seventeen when I first joined the 31st. I think that's how I was able to get closer to Macai and his leading officers. They made me feel as if I could do anything and like my age wasn't a limitation to my success."
Hagenko nods, "That's commendable. I was just trying to get by when I was a recruit. It wasn't until my mid-twenties that I started making a name for myself. By my late twenties, I had become one of the most trusted troopers in my regiment. My Captain, Yorchannek personally looked after me during my earlier years of service."
Arret: "How old are you now?"
Hagenko: "I'm thirty-eight."
Arret: "That's still younger than Rosier and Cosal."
Hagenko: "How old were they?"
Arret: "Rosier was in his late forties I think and Cosal was in his early fifties I believe. Rosier died during the Battle of Rongor, he was one of our most trusted veterans. I knew him fairly well but not as well as some of the other members in the unit. Cosal retired after the war's end. When my friend Samira died in battle."
Hagenko frowns, "That's terrible. People think war is a joke or something to glorify. While I respect all who served in the battlefield, I can't help but cringe when I hear people speaking about the battlefront like it's something spectacular. I made my best friends in the service, but many of the battle scars we get have lasting damage. War really teaches you about life."
Arret agrees, "I've never felt more alive until after people wanted to chop my head off but that doesn't mean it was a good thing. War made me appreciate the simple things in life. Every time I'm around a bunch of civilians and other girls I can't help but recognize how clueless they are. People whine over the most simple things."
Hagenko looks ahead and notices two civilians, "Ok, let's do our job. I think those two seem like people we could ask." One of them is a relatively short man in his mid-fifties with medium-length grey wavy hair, tan skin, caramel brown eyes, and a large nose. The other is a man of moderate height with dark brown straight hair, a thin frame, thin eyebrows, a narrow nose, medium lips, and peanut butter brown eyes who seems to be in his mid-thirties.
Hagenko waves, "Hello there gentlemen, would either of you be able to supply us with some useful information."
The older man responds, "What sort of information would you be asking for?"
Arret: "We noticed a diplomat and his escort were wiped out. We have no idea who attacked him or why."
The older man leans in, "We don't know anything about that, but we hope you can find your answer." The duo departs.
Arret looks at Hagenko, "Why did you think they'd be of help to us?"
Hagenko: "They were looking at us, but maybe they were just noisy."
Arret: "They may be too afraid to tell us anything."
Macai and Dade walk through the village, looking for people to question. Dade sees a pair of people and smiles, "Hey, would you two like to?" The people immediately go back in their home and slam their front door.
Macai sees another citizen, "Excuse me, would you be interested in..." The citizen immediately walks the other way. Macai: "What is going on here?" A random elderly man moves between the duo. The man has short white hair, yellow skin, thin eyes, a small nose, and a frail body.
The elderly man whispers, "Gentlemen, I have some knowledge that you seek."
Dade: "Wonderful, we have an investigation room where we can talk."
The man shakes his head, "I will do no such thing. I will only speak in a location of my choosing with you two."
Dade looks at Macai and Macai nods. Dade: "Very well, lead the way." The elderly man guides the marines out of the village into an isolated forest. But the forest has a wooden bench and he sits on it to rest.
Elderly man: "Ahhh, we can talk here."
Macai: "There are benches in the forests here?"
The man smiles, "Yes, our people built benches through the more peaceful woods. The Northwestern woods lead to a more dangerous region, but out here we haven't seen any predators in over two decades. A lot of travelers like to stroll around, but they may bring weapons to protect themselves."
Dade: "And you walk through here unarmed?"
Elderly man: "I know this forest, I've known it for years. I can tell when things are off and I shouldn't walk through it. I know the more dangerous areas and where not to go. I'm not a young and daring explorer like yourselves. I also know that I'm too old to worry about such little things anymore. I'll be gone one day, so if I go strolling through my favorite forest then so be it. Your unit is known for going on dangerous missions, but you only brought a small investigation team here."
Macai: "We didn't want the villagers to feel uncomfortable."
Elderly man: "Yet they do, because they aren't used to seeing the presence of famous foreign soldiers."
Dade: "Foreign soldiers? This is a Fire Nation village. It's not even a colony."
Elderly man: "While that may be so, people rarely travel from outside our region. We see people from some of the nearby regions, but we are sort of isolationists in this part of the Fire Nation."
Macai: "To be honest, I never knew much about this region. I was a bit lost with it."
Elderly man: "On occasion, the Firelords of the past would travel here for spiritual wisdom, meditation, and peace. But don't be deceived, they always brought an escort and never stayed too long. This region is different and we hold looser ties to everyone."
Macai thinks, What does that even mean? Macai then questions, "Who are the people who attacked the diplomat? What do they want?"
Elderly man: "They are people who believe that the acquisition of power among a few individuals should be limited. Such like what your mother believed Macai." A chill runs down Macai's spine. The elderly man stands, "They are people who believe that discrimination should be stopped, but their methods are a bit different."
Dade: "I thought you were isolationists?"
Elderly man: "That doesn't mean some of us don't know about important current events. The people who attacked the Diplomat are not native to this region."
Macai: "Do they have some recruits here?"
Elderly man: "They are stronger in the lands where the Fire Nation control is less obvious and where less threats from other nations are."
Dade: "So you mean the rural regions, deep within the Fire Nation."
Macai: "But they don't just operate in the Fire Nation. We noticed attacks in the Earth Kingdom and Water Tribe territories. Perhaps not in the main territories, but they seem to have agents from different nations. They seem to be bigger than you think."
Elderly man: "They are more powerful than anything you could possibly imagine."
Dade: "What? How did they slip through our fingers if they are so powerful?"
The elderly man shouts, "They are the Disciples of Justice!" A volley of darts flies behind Macai and Dade's backs. Macai immediately senses the darts coming.
Macai shouts, "Watch out!" Dade turns and swats several darts away with his sword. Macai leaps right, to avoid being impaled. The commander extends his hands and fires a beam of white flames into the middle of the bush. A white explosion erupts and incinerates two men in the bushes. Dade looks back at the old man and he runs through some bushes.
Dade looks at Macai, "Should we pursue?"
Macai: "YES, after him!" Macai and Dade rush toward the bush and a gust of dirt suddenly blows them both five feet back. Macai leaps back on his feet and a sort Dade gets up a bit more slowly. A man emerges with large muscles, tan skin, black curly hair, a sharp yet wide nose, large lips, attached ears, broad shoulders, massive calves, and yellow-green eyes. The man has light brown armor with yellow-green markings.
Dade: "W-what?"
Macai: "An earthbender, here?!"
(Star Wars: Clone Wars- Durge Theme Extended) [Youtube] (Music Starts)
The earthbender shouts, "I am Beruto!! Legend of the East." Beruto stomps the ground and a shock wave of earth flows toward the marines. Macai and Dade both leap forward away from the eruption. Dade falls flat on his face as he avoids the flattening and Macai lands clean on his feet.
Macai comments, "I see you don't value your life. I'll give you one chance to surrender." Beruto raises his arms and generates a large stone. The earthbending master quickly tosses his stone at Macai. The 31st commander slides left then pumps a rod of white fire at Beruto. The earthbender stomps the ground and a wall of earth intercepts Macai's shot.
Beruto swings his arms from left to right as he hurls several large rocks at Macai. Macai moves left to right as he dodges two stones. Macai blocks a third stone with his left arm and it breaks on impact. Macai weaves his head left and barely avoids getting clocked in the face by a fourth stone. Macai spins forward and fires a massive beam of white fire at the earthbender.
Beruto blocks the beam of fire with his arms crossed. Macai keeps firing at Beruto and Beruto slowly slides backward. Most benders would have been launched several feet backward from the force of Macai's charged flames, but Beruto can hold it back with his raw strength. However, the large warrior starts to tire as he continuously holds back Macai's fire.
Dade watches and ponders, "Hmm, maybe I should flank him. Or maybe I should stay here and let Macai do his thing." Another warrior leaps from the bushes behind Macai during the stalemate. It is a female with medium-length black hair that travels to her neck, thin eyebrows, sharp eyes, a small yet pointy nose, light-yellow skin, and round yet small ears. She has black armor with dark purple markings.
Dade turns and notices the female assassin. Dade runs toward her, "Macai, watch out!" The woman leaps right and kicks Dade aside. Dade drops his sword and slides in the grass. Macai notices the commotion then turns and fires two rapid flames at the woman. The female assassin swiftly leaps right as she evades Macai's flame.
The woman is so fast she moves like a shadow. She is faster than even Ty Lee and Kanna. With speed that rivals Mai, but better stealth skills. Macai turns again and fires two firebolts at the woman. The lady jumps in the trees and Macai loses sight of her. Beruto throws a massive rock into Macai's chest. Macai flies three feet backward as he rolls over then Macai starts coughing.
Macai quickly leaps back on his feet and Beruto slams his hands together. Two walls of stone emerge from the ground below and descend toward the commander. Macai evades as he narrowly avoids being crushed. Macai rapidly fires two flames at Beruto but he raises two stones in the air which intercept Macai's shots.
Beruto extends his right arm horizontally and swings it left. Several objects fly toward Macai's face, and he rolls right. The Commander gets back on his feet and the female assassin leaps left of his position again. Macai extends his hands left and fires a white flame into her left abdomen. Female assassin: "Ahhhaaa!" The woman falls backward.
Beruto yells, "Karanga!!" Beruto launches himself forward with a ball of earth under his feet. Beruto accelerates at thirty-five miles an hour and pulls both of his hands back. Several twigs, stones, rocks, logs, and other natural objects emerge from behind Beruto. Beruto stretches his arms and bolts them at Macai. Macai sprints right and grabs Dade, to keep his friend from being crushed by the projectiles.
(Music Stops)
Macai rockets himself and Dade several feet away with a spurt of white fire. The white flames briefly blind Beruto and Beruto crashes into a tree. Beruto falls off his rock and becomes dizzy. The earthbender slowly gets up and Karanga kneels as she attempts to gather her strength. Beruto: "We have failed."
Karanga: "Don't worry, we will have another chance to defeat them later. For now, let us go." Beruto elevates Karanga with an earth platform and launches them both further into the forest at a rapid speed of over ninety miles an hour. Macai and Dade rush back to where they just fought earlier, but notice the trail Beruto's escape left.
Dade: "Should we pursue?"
Macai: "No, we may be heading into another trap if we do. Let's meet up with the rest of the investigation team and tell Zuko what we discovered. When the time is right, we'll get another shot at them."
Dade: "I'll say, I'm going to get that lady for kicking me."
Macai and Dade return to the village with beat-up armor. Macai notices a marine swordsman and spearman in the village. Macai: "Where are the others?"
Marine swordsman: "They are looking at the crime scene."
Macai: "Then let's join them. We have no time to waste, this area isn't safe." Macai, Dade, and the two marines discover Hagenkko, Arret, a firebender, and another marine swordsman at the crime scene. Macai is relieved that no one has been harmed.
Arret: "Macai, Dade, you both look like you have been busy."
Dade: "We were attacked by two crazy people. Some lethal assassin and earthbender..."
Hagenko: "It seems like this cult is the real deal. The bodies have been taken away at this crime scene, but you can still see the destroyed carriage. They also killed two horsemen during the attack, but the horses were also taken away. One thing I noticed with the damage dealt to the carriage and the ground is that several explosions occurred during the attack."
Macai comments, "Then they must have had some firebenders with them. And powerful ones to create such explosions." Macai looks at the ground and notices large black craters.
Hagenko: "We are up against a challenge, perhaps the deadliest foes we have ever faced."
Macai: "I believe we ran into two of the leaders, but they are not the top guns. There are others, I just know it."
Arret: "And with the Avatar gone on his spiritual journey, it looks like we've got a tall task ahead of us."
Macai confidently declares, "Nothing the 31st Company can't handle."
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