Azula held up a hand as her soldiers went to sprint into action. “Stand down.”
Confusion rippled through the ranks as, slowly, the Burning Legion and its compatriots paused in their assault, resuming their formation behind their fire Princess-Commander. Sergeant Swift glanced back at her unit, muttering for them to shake it off.
The teenage tyrant glanced over her shoulder at her troops. “I’ve heard your whispers,” she said. “We inherited a broken Armada. I aim to fix it, but a revolution can’t be won in a weekend. But it can be won by a skilled leader, with time.”
Just inside the village, the leader of the Babylonian resistance stepped forward. “Gilgamesh laughs at the pathetic girl who stands before you,” he shouted.
Azula bristled, but remained focused on her troops. “None of you will die today.”
The whizz of an arrow racing towards her reached her ears, and she spun around, waving her hands before her face and conjuring a disk of fire that immolated the projectile seconds before it hit her. As the flames before her dissipated, she stepped toward the roughly one hundred ‘Babylonians’ who’d so easily swapped their allegiances, who’d kow-tow’d to Gilgamesh without so much as a whimper. Dogs, all of them, and on a short leash — a leash Azula intended to free them of.
She stepped forward, radiating something like strength or confidence, but probably closer to arrogance. The Babylonians, all squatted into fighting positions, remained still like the worms they were. Yes, they fought for Gilgamesh, but they weren’t soldiers. And she might be sadistic and without remorse, but she knew when there were better uses of her time.
“I don’t plan on killing any of you, either,” she shrugged, “unless you make me.”
Blue flames swirled around the fire princess’ closed fist. “How simply you flocked to the golden boy,” she tsked, moving up and down the line of soldiers. “Was it fear? Did he offer you riches? He certainly didn’t offer you any sense of purpose, if you’re actually willing to stand here and let me and my Legion burn you alive. I won’t say that you all don’t look perfectly capable, but look at your odds. If you fight us, you will die.”
She smirked. “And I’m not above incinerating every single one of you myself, and burning your entire town to the ground,” she continued. “I can, and I will. But, again: I don’t want to. I don’t want this village to go from being nameless to completely nonexistent.”
“Roy Mustang failed you,” she frowned. “He capitulated to a would-be god, more concerned with his own glory than defending you from monsters to the north. I come with a message: nothing is more important than destroying the Unmade Carnaval, and no one here is more concerned with that than me, your rightful Princess-Commander Azula. We’ve tried to reason with the Hell Divers; they chose to engage in petty squabbles and betray us. You’ve seen that Gilgamesh would rather you lay down your lives to me than invest in your own survival.”
The villagers bristled a bit, but remained largely inscrutable. Azula took a breath; she’d grown a little better at giving impassioned speeches over the past few days, but she knew still that she had hurdles to overcome. She was, after all, a teenage girl, and despite her impressive skill, despite her achievements, that was always going to be working against her. Everyone always underestimated her, and always would. It wasn’t unusual.
“So I present to you a choice, Nameless Villagers,” she lifted her flaming fist. “Remember your true allegiance to us, the Miniskirt Armada,” she offered, “or perish. Should you refuse us, I will order my Legion to raze this town to the ground and we will move forward without another thought.”
She crossed her arms. “I don’t want to kill you,” she blinked, “but I will. There is nothing more important than destroying those monsters and protecting everyone -- including you -- from them, and that means that anyone who tries to get in our way is an obstacle. I don’t think you are obstacles. I think you are worthy of our protection.”
“Now, the decision lies with you. Do you think you’re worthy?”
Azula offers the villagers of the Nameless Village the opportunity to save their lives and capitulate to the Miniskirt Armada. If they refuse, she will order the Legion to destroy the town and leave no survivors or remnants of it.
She attempts to use “Natural Conqueror” (Master Skill: Intimidation 4) to accomplish this.