Post by Kataang's Supreme on May 28, 2009 10:50:36 GMT -5
Exert from 303rd Journal: All Brothers, All Together
3: Soldiers. Loved and Hated
After our successful mission to take Fort Doshai, The 303rd was given a mission we hoped we’d never be assigned. While the homeland flourished under the reign of Fire Lord Azulon, the colonies seemed to gain the same defiance of the enemies that once inhabited them. The problems were no stranger to my brothers and I. Once, when we made camp outside a colony town, the villagers vandalized our camp and looted our food stores. We were expected to fight a war to defend people like this? No, to us anyway, we were fighting for our friends, families, and all of our people back in the homeland. The warm reverence we received from the young children during military parades was touching, they always seemed to make us smile, even our firebending brothers. Their helmets may have hidden their faces, but we knew the experience warmed their hearts just the same.
The mission was simple. A town of colonials had time and time again stolen supplies from a militia outpost. The Fire Nation’s finest, the 303rd, was called in to discipline the ungratefuls. Some of my brothers, myself included, had mixed feelings about intimidating the colonials. While they certainly had no respect for us soldiers, and were nowhere near as appreciative as the people back home, they were still citizens of our nation. If we turned our weapons and firebending skills on them, would we not be just the same as the Earth Kingdom soldiers and Water Tribe warriors we were fighting on the front? Earth Kingdom soldiers had terrorized our frontier settlements for many years throughout the war, targeting civilians like cowards. Now, we had to terrorize a town we were supposed to protect. Now, can I say with honesty, that we were better than our foes?
Our orders were clear. We forced the colonials out of their homes and out of their town, and forced them to look on as we torched it. I will never forget their faces. They were all mixed emotions. Sad, angry, and something I simply couldn’t describe. One of my firebender brothers later said it was good the firebender’s helmets had face plates, because like us, they couldn’t bare to look them in the eyes.
My brothers and I left the colonials to mourn and weep over their burning homes. I was wracked with guilt, and I knew my brothers were too. We hid it, I’m not sure how well though. Back at base, our commander said job well done. None of us replied to that. We couldn’t.
3: Soldiers. Loved and Hated
After our successful mission to take Fort Doshai, The 303rd was given a mission we hoped we’d never be assigned. While the homeland flourished under the reign of Fire Lord Azulon, the colonies seemed to gain the same defiance of the enemies that once inhabited them. The problems were no stranger to my brothers and I. Once, when we made camp outside a colony town, the villagers vandalized our camp and looted our food stores. We were expected to fight a war to defend people like this? No, to us anyway, we were fighting for our friends, families, and all of our people back in the homeland. The warm reverence we received from the young children during military parades was touching, they always seemed to make us smile, even our firebending brothers. Their helmets may have hidden their faces, but we knew the experience warmed their hearts just the same.
The mission was simple. A town of colonials had time and time again stolen supplies from a militia outpost. The Fire Nation’s finest, the 303rd, was called in to discipline the ungratefuls. Some of my brothers, myself included, had mixed feelings about intimidating the colonials. While they certainly had no respect for us soldiers, and were nowhere near as appreciative as the people back home, they were still citizens of our nation. If we turned our weapons and firebending skills on them, would we not be just the same as the Earth Kingdom soldiers and Water Tribe warriors we were fighting on the front? Earth Kingdom soldiers had terrorized our frontier settlements for many years throughout the war, targeting civilians like cowards. Now, we had to terrorize a town we were supposed to protect. Now, can I say with honesty, that we were better than our foes?
Our orders were clear. We forced the colonials out of their homes and out of their town, and forced them to look on as we torched it. I will never forget their faces. They were all mixed emotions. Sad, angry, and something I simply couldn’t describe. One of my firebender brothers later said it was good the firebender’s helmets had face plates, because like us, they couldn’t bare to look them in the eyes.
My brothers and I left the colonials to mourn and weep over their burning homes. I was wracked with guilt, and I knew my brothers were too. We hid it, I’m not sure how well though. Back at base, our commander said job well done. None of us replied to that. We couldn’t.