98 A.G
Recovery had been fast enough overall, which was the only way Lin ever tolerated it. Her replacement limbs had already been fitted, calibrated, and reinforced. There was still some lingering damage, a bit of strain from the duel still beneath her skin, but her movement had returned to a level she considered acceptable.
She could still feel a bit of pain here and there, but it no longer interfered with her duties, which meant back to work. She spent the early hours of the morning in the training grounds, stretching and testing her balance, noting minor resistance in her right shoulder joint and a slower response in the lower joints of her left leg, even though her chi was flowing correctly.
She mentally flagged both for later adjustment once she returned to the family manor. Lin didn't want to remain in the palace infirmary any longer; it was quite uncomfortable, and the healers didn't know how to help her either.
Still, she was content overall either way. Her demonstration had achieved its purpose, perhaps more thoroughly than she had anticipated. The Fire Lord had seen with his own eyes that the princess no longer required further instruction, and that she was ready to challenge any firebending master.
Lin had no doubts that Azula's training was effectively complete; even if she could still improve with time and experience, Lin was not really needed for that. Now, there was only one more lesson to complete, and she would finally be free.
Lightning generation was not a skill she had ever planned to teach, but the theory was familiar, and Azula was capable enough to handle it. The skill was mostly theoretical for her and required emotional control more than anything else. Lin expected the princess to grasp it quickly with her control over her emotions.
Lin was not stupid; she knew the young royal had perfect control over her emotions, often using them to manipulate and gain an advantage over the people around her. It was a perfect strategy, and one Lin admired in the young princess.
Still, she couldn't deny feeling a sense of quiet relief knowing there was only one more lesson to give. With her obligation to the princess nearing its end, she could finally return to the front. Once the lesson was complete, there would be no justification left to delay her departure.
Her unit needed her, and she had no intention of allowing another campaign to unfold like it had previously under Colonel Xin's command. The south had already proven how costly mismanagement could be.
Before that, however, she had ensured that her return would bring relief to her soldiers. Nearly every coin she possessed had been spent over the past month, supplemented by loans pulled from her family, mainly her father, that she would repay later.
The newer rifle iterations were already complete, with added reliability and ease of maintenance. She also acquired a limited number of cannons that had been finished alongside them.
Smaller, lighter, and easier to transport than the first models, they were designed to be integrated directly into infantry formations rather than treated as siege tools. She had arranged for the shipment to follow her the moment she was cleared to leave the capital.
Now, her main concern was not the weapons themselves but who would carry them. The Fire Nation military still viewed non-benders as auxiliary support at best, and expendable labor at worst, so she didn't think she would have problems recruiting, adding them to her expanded company.
Although Lin had no patience for that thinking, it was a very common occurrence in the Fire Nation Army. For Lin, skill and discipline mattered more than talent or the ability to throw a fireball. She had seen enough men die because of arrogance and conservative thinking.
If she could equip non-benders with firearms and train them extensively, the battlefield would shift in their favor, and even the generals would have to see the value they had. Lin intended to change that quietly, by selecting candidates herself once she returned to the field.
She was obviously correct in assuming recruitment wouldn't be difficult. Non-benders rarely received opportunities beyond basic service unless they distinguished themselves through extraordinary means, as Master Piandao had done. Now she just needed to find good candidates among the so many available.
Lost in her thoughts, Lin didn't realize she was already at the training grounds. The familiar space felt almost routine now, despite everything that had occurred there. She flexed her fingers once, feeling the smooth response of the mechanisms beneath the metal prosthetic, then allowed herself a single steady breath.
It was time for the princess to go electric.
----0000----
War Minister Qin had been awake since before dawn, though the reason had little to do with anything stressful; he was simply too excited to sit still. The stack of schematics spread across his desk represented weeks of correspondence, revisions, and hurried calculations, and for once he felt that familiar pull of progress rather than frustration.
Captain Lin's designs were not complete in the way traditional blueprints were, but they were clear enough that his engineers could study them and make them work as she had explained they were supposed to.
The newest concept bore a simple name, one the captain had chosen without much creativity: 'Cartridge Ammunition'. She had explained it patiently, tracing its purpose through better accuracy, greater round velocity, improved penetration, and faster cycling between rounds.
Unlike the pellets used in their first models, this design relied on a sealed projectile that traveled farther, struck harder, and behaved predictably. Qin had immediately understood the implications, of course; it was the mind of a genius at work, and he counted himself among them.
It gave the opportunity, with enough training, for even an average soldier to strike a target well beyond firebending range. The issue lay in figuring out how to make a weapon that could fire that cartridge by striking a specific point and priming the ignition within the ammunition.
She had also pressed him to think beyond small weapons or rifles. Firearms were only the first step for her, of course, a young woman after his own heart. The real shift came when the same principle was scaled, when the cartridge was big enough to propel heavier projectiles across extreme distances.
Artillery, she had called it, describing weapons so large they would require entire crews to operate, yet capable of striking enemy formations or fortifications from kilometers away. The idea unsettled and excited him in equal measure.
Qin had absolutely no idea where the name came from, but when he questioned the girl, she had only said 'Old Freanch people' as if he knew what she meant, dismissing his attempt to understand where the name came from entirely.
The inner workings for both weapons were still incomplete, and the young captain didn't seem to have the answers for that either. She had admitted freely that she did not know how to solve every mechanical challenge involved, only that the outcome was possible.
That honesty was part of why Qin trusted her instincts. She understood her limits, and she knew when to hand a problem to someone better suited to solve it. If only more people had the acumen to delegate correctly.
He had already made one decision because of her influence. The drilling apparatus meant to breach the walls of Ba Sing Se had been shelved indefinitely. The cost was deemed too high even for her standards, and she had argued that the deployment was too risky and could be ambushed on the way to the wall.
The chances of failure were unacceptable with the amount of resources it would eat up. Artillery offered a different path to a similar result if they could produce it in numbers. Rather than relying on a single massive machine, they could field many weapons, each cheaper to construct and easier to replace.
The theory was that instead of attacking a single point, they would saturate the wall with so many impacts that the earthbenders wouldn't know where to go or what to repair first. The only issue would be logistical, to carry that amount of ammunition and weapons within a range of five to six kilometers from the city.
Another project lay open beside him, marked with annotations in several hands. The air force initiative had advanced further than he had dared to hope. Through Lin's connections, his team had begun corresponding with the 'Mechanist' in the Northern Air Temple.
Together they were refining gliding machines designed to be piloted by firebenders, lighter and faster than anything previously attempted. Firebending would provide thrust and maneuverability, eliminating the need for heavy machinery systems.
Qin imagined them streaking across the sky, difficult to target and capable of rapid deployment. If both projects came to fruition as envisioned, then taking the Earth Kingdom's capital would be fast approaching.
The pace was exhausting, but he was thrilled to have so many new projects to work on. He was also excited for the future innovations that the young captain, and soldiers like her, would bring to the table in the years to come.
For decades, progress had been slow, conditioned by their resources and needs through the long war. Now, ideas were flowing, one advancement feeding the next and the old families finally giving their own resources willingly to advance the research.
The young captain was truly spirit-sent, and with her ideas, the Fire Nation would dominate the world once and for all. Qin only wished he would live long enough to see her grow into her full potential.
For now, though, there was too much to do. He steadied his thoughts, focused on the task at hand and carried on with his work.
----0000----
Azula had been listening to Lin explain the technique for several days now, and she was beginning to understand why the lesson required so much patience. Lightning generation didn't seem to require firebending at all.
They began with the katas, which, at first glance, seemed pointless. The movements were wide and slow, their transitions exaggerated, and the stance completely different from regular firebending forms.
Azula had questioned them silently while performing each circular motion, noting how little they resembled combat forms or even advanced techniques she had been learning over the past months.
Lin had corrected the stance and movements a few times, but they didn't change at all, and there was not much complexity to begin with, so she had already mastered them quite easily by the second day.
It was only after the third day that Lin explained the technique in more detail. There was no room for anger to fuel it; it required total control of her emotions, as well as balancing her chi along the different movements of the technique.
Firebending, as Azula understood it, relied on drawing chi forward and outward, converting it directly into heat and flames. Lightning required breaking apart that flow instead. Lin described it as bending the flow of chi into two distinct streams, one negative and the other positive, pulling them away from each other in a circular motion.
The space between them created tension, and when that tension grew too strong for the air to contain, the movements would draw them together and discharge as lightning. Lin helped her feel each stream and how to direct them.
Negative chi, Lin explained, felt sharp and cold, almost brittle when held too tightly. Positive chi carried warmth and expansion, the familiar sensation Azula had known since childhood. The challenge lay in keeping them apart without allowing either to overwhelm the other. If the balance failed, the energy collapsed into an explosion.
Azula practiced identifying the difference during the katas, isolating each sensation as Lin guided her through, reminding her to control her breathing. At first, the distinction was faint, difficult to separate from the natural flow of bending. Over time, it became clearer, and she learned to hold each charge without letting them mix, doing her best to keep the flow from her chest.
Azula held the final position longer than instructed, her arms relaxing a bit as she committed to memory what it felt like. Her focus narrowed, and before releasing the stance, she spoke, her voice calm but curious.
"Why do you know this if you've never used it?"
Lin did not answer immediately, studying her for a moment.
"My ancestors were there when the technique was rediscovered." she said, "Every generation learns it so the knowledge doesn't disappear."
Azula frowned slightly. "But you don't practice it."
"No… No one from my family does." Lin replied. "We are not allowed to, only the Royal Family now holds that privilege."
She tapped her own metal forearm lightly, the sound dull but unmistakable.
"Also, if you take a good look at me, princess, my body has too many metal parts interacting between each other, with this much conductive material, it would disrupt the flow completely and the discharge would pass through my body."
Azula absorbed that in silence, then nodded once. "So you were trained to hold onto the knowledge, not use it."
"That is usually how techniques like these survive, especially when they are dangerous and only a few firebenders can actually perform the feat." Lin said, her tone even. "By being passed on carefully, we make sure that at least it will remain in the Fire Nation's arsenal."
Lin paused for a second, contemplating if she should continue voicing her thoughts.
"Almost four hundred years ago, the technique was supposedly lost, and the only known lightning user died at the hands of Avatar Kyoshi. Luckily, the Earth Kingdom had tortured that person extensively before he was freed. He was a bandit at the time, and the Earth Kingdom's ruler had allies in the Fire Nation to whom he later sent that information. Alongside the Royal family, the Renshi household helped in rediscovering the technique and everyone present had decided to keep it a secret from the Avatar." Lin continued to explain.
"Ugh… This turned into a history lesson." Azula said, while scoffing.
"I knew that one was coming…" Lin chuckled softly. "The point is, there are other families who know the technique, they are not allowed to use it."
Azula nodded and continued her training. They had finished another round of katas when Lin stopped her.
"You have already identified the flows you need, and memorized the movements. This time, you will push more chi into the flow as if you were about to firebend."
Azula complied, starting the movements again, forcing her chi to split into the two flows she had previously felt. Then a cracking sound came from her arms, and the sensation was unmistakable: a sharp pressure between her palms, accompanied by a faint tingling that traveled up her arms.
Her breath caught as blue light flickered briefly between her fingers. Startled, she nearly lost control of it.
Lin's voice cut through the moment, calm and immediate. "Keep the flows separated, let it rest, and steady your breathing, princess."
Azula obeyed, forcing her body to remain still while the unfamiliar energy eased up.
"Let's try that again." Lin said.
This time, Azula guided the separation consciously, allowing the tension to keep building this time, following the movement through. The light returned, brighter now, accompanied by a low crackling sound that vibrated against her skin.
When she completed the kata as instructed, she knew she needed to release the discharge now. Both her arms were together and she could feel the tension in the middle. Pointing her two fingers upwards, she directed the flow away from the ground and let the tension discharge. The lightning erupted skyward in a sudden flash, followed by a thunderous crack that echoed across the training grounds.
Azula stood frozen for a moment, heart racing as her body was still feeling the cold fire's presence. Her arms tingled, and her nerves felt alive with a sensation she had never experienced before.
Lin stepped beside her, watching the dissipating energy with visible satisfaction. She was smiling, a rare expression on the young captain. Azula was beginning to appreciate it even more than compliments or the praise of her father.
It was a thrilling sensation, and she felt exhilarated. She understood immediately how devastating the technique could be if used correctly.
"Nicely done, my princess. You will master cold fire in no time." Lin said, softly. "Now we just need to do a few repetitions and once you have the consistency down, we will begin to increase the pace of the movements, see if you can generate it faster."
Well, if there was one thing her instructor had, it was faith in her abilities. Still, Azula accepted the assessment without frustration. She was accustomed to aiming for perfection and knew she wouldn't falter before achieving it.
"You will have to find a way to increase the tension with more control and push more chi into it." Lin said, wondering aloud.
"It could potentially cause an explosion, you know?" the princess said, looking ahead toward where the lightning disappeared.
"Don't worry, I will not leave your side. Besides, I trust in your instincts."
Azula wondered if there was even anything the young woman feared. Clearly death or injury was not something that rattled her at all. She glanced at Lin again, noting the satisfaction she did not bother to hide.
Azula decided then that she intended to see that expression more often.
----0000----
Lin left the training grounds with a lightness she had not felt in months. The lesson had gone better than she expected; she really ought to stop being surprised at how quickly Azula could understand the mechanics behind a skill or technique; she truly was the prodigy of the decade.
Lightning generation was truly a display of power and individual strength; it required emotional discipline, calm, and an internal awareness that Lin was sure not many would be able to achieve. To be able to grasp that skill so young was truly marvelous.
Still, what truly mattered to Lin was that she was starting to see her role as an instructor finally ending. The thought brought relief more than anything else, and she hoped Colonel Xin wouldn't do anything crazy until her return.
These past eighteen months had been quite boring in comparison to the previous two years in service. She had fulfilled her obligation, trained the princess to a level that exceeded any reasonable expectation, and now, in a few weeks, she would complete the last requested instruction.
There was nothing left that required her presence in the palace anymore. The research and weapons development with the war minister could continue by correspondence and her father could even explain some of her ideas that she hadn't discussed with him yet.
Speaking of which, when she saw the princess generate lightning for the first time, she had a revelation. Electricity was no longer an abstract idea she couldn't explain. Watching Azula generate lightning firsthand reinforced the possibility she had been circling for months.
Having the concept of electricity and the idea of harnessing it into a battery could potentially lead to improved machinery and better technology overall. If chi could be separated, held, and discharged reliably, then it could be studied.
It would provide a commodity she was really missing in this life. Lin understood her own limitations well enough to avoid pretending she had answers she did not. She knew only fragments she vaguely remembered from school and her brief time in the academy.
A battery required two substances with opposing charges, a medium that allowed a circuit to have a connection, and a way to prevent immediate discharge. She knew certain metals reacted differently to energy, and she knew lithium had properties that made it useful for batteries but not exactly how it worked or where to obtain it.
Trying to explain how she knew of a material she had never seen, with a name they likely had never heard, would sound crazy to anyone. But luckily, it was not her job to work that out, so she stopped worrying about it.
Still, having Azula as a living example of controlled electrical discharge changed everything. Her engineers would no longer be theorizing in isolation. They could observe, record, and test. Even failed attempts could provide information.
Lin had seen enough innovations in her short previous life to understand that progress rarely came from success alone. So she knew that it would take its time, and electricity as she knew it would have to wait a bit longer.
She had other priorities as well; she needed to return to the front. The south that she had worked hard to secure was threatened now, and her unit had already been stretched thin recovering from their wounds.
They needed her oversight and she hoped she could push for a promotion as a colonel or commander to take care of all the troops stranded in the south. She had no intention of allowing them to fail and be pushed to the sea.
The weapons she had commissioned were already en route, accompanied by instructions she had written herself. The set of rifles and cannons would give firepower back to her soldiers and most had already been tested as well.
Recruitment had already begun and Lin had identified several battalions where non-benders had been commended by their peers, as well as a few that had been sidelined or ignored entirely. Those soldiers would not be difficult to motivate for better pay or a chance of advancing their military career. Opportunity was often more powerful than loyalty.
As she walked through the palace corridors for what she hoped would be one of the last times, Lin allowed herself a moment to consider what she had achieved so far. The princess was stronger.
The Fire Nation's arsenal had expanded beyond their own imagination. The groundwork for a research and development department had been laid, and her connections to the Royal family and inner circle had given her family prestige.
Lin had truly excelled at her objectives, her family should be proud. She had even made a friend, or at least she hoped the princess would see her as such. Lin liked the princess and she could admit, Azula had grown on her.
She truly appreciated her drive and dedication. Teaching her had been easy, as she poured all of her attention into her lessons without Lin demanding it. She was also fun to be around and her friends were nice.
Lin straightened her posture as she approached her quarters. She would have to come up with a professional way to request a promotion, but she was confident it would work fine for her. If it didn't work and was denied, she could still challenge Colonel Xin to a duel to the death and take command by force.
It would even be justified, given his failure to take proper care of her men.