Focused Fire
is an Avatar: The Last Airbender Self-Insert Fic revolving around Xing, sole survivor of an attack on a Fire Nation colony in the Earth Kingdom, and his ascent towards prodigious firebending colonel of the Fire Nation's 11th Regiment... and beyond.
Taking place not long before canon, Xing seeks to keep his adoptive family in the Fire Nation military as safe, sound, and sharp as he can, even as the pieces of the puzzle that is the main story of Avatar: The Last Airbender start to fall in place around him, the biggest of which is Princess Azula joining the 11th in their military duties in and around the Earth Kingdom.
As of 2023 November 23, the story has been marked as completed, with other snippets chronicling loose ends to tie up, among other things.
Focused Fire contains the following tropes:
- Action Survivor: Xing, and by extension, the 11th Regiment.
- A Father to His Men: Colonel Lidai was this. Xing seeks to follow his example.
- Asshole Victim: Long Feng and the Dai Li, after Xing takes over Ba Sing Se.
- Breath Weapon: One of Xing's finishing moves. He even calls it "Atomic Breath".
- Brick Joke: Xing's flamethrower unit consists of individuals all named Han. When finally put into action, Xing gives the order: "Hans, get the flammenwerfers."
- …But He Sounds Handsome: Downplayed when Aang and the others run into Xing himself, and they tell him all the unsavory rumors about the so-called "Scorpion Dragon"; he just smiles off their worry.
- Butterfly of Doom: Xing's schemes change canon in odd ways. For example, it is Iroh who teaches the Avatar firebending instead of Zuko.
- Azula, meanwhile, has had the most Character Development due to her association with Xing and the 11th.
- Chick Magnet: Exaggerated with Mozi. His ability to attract Earth Kingdom women is uncanny, to the point where everyone else just goes "fucking Mozi" whenever a cat fight or stampede happens involving him. Taken further beyond by rumors that he is a "dark weapon that could entrance any woman".
- And when Xing finally does conquer Ba Sing Se, a meet-and-greet with the 11th Regiment turned into an ambush that the 11th barely made out of, thanks to all the Earth Kingdom widows and spinsters gathered there.
- Combat Pragmatist: The 11th Regiment as a whole. Napalm, flamethrowers, night attacks, supply raids are all in their playbook.
- Inverted by the rest of the Fire Nation army after the political brouhaha involving Ozai and his children: they think that due to recent events, all of Xing's tactics are somehow 'tainted', much to their disadvantage.
- Curb-Stomp Battle: Aang battles Xing for the fate of Ba Sing Se in a duel: all Xing needs to do to win the fight is to heat the air Aang is bending.
- Most of Xing's battles are one-sided despite tough odds: this is due to his resourcefulness and outside-context knowledge.
- Death by a Thousand Cuts: Duke Cho's fate at the hands of the 11th, for letting someone like Shiluo become a general.
- The Dragon: Xing towards Azula.
- And yes, Xing and the 11th do end up raising a pair of dragons themselves.
- Harem Genre: Eventually. Xing just has to make it past the troubles involving Fire Lord Ozai, first.
- Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Inverted in one of Xing's stipulations in his duel with Aang, regarding Appa.
- I Surrender, Suckers: Subverted. A group of Earth Kingdom officers try to pull a sneak attack on Xing after surrendering; it ends very badly for them.
- In Spite of a Nail: Zuko still gets mangled by Fire Lord Ozai in an Agni Kai; although instead of his face, it's his chest that gets scarred.
- Kill It with Fire: Xing and the Fire Nation's 11th Regiment, of course. Xing, though, doesn't firebend like usual; he uses focused blasts of white-hot fire to devastating results. The 11th Regiment's non-bending troops also join in the party via the use of napalm and flamethrowers.
- Noble Demon: The 11th Regiment: their charity towards prisoners is in sheer contrast to the amount of brutality they unleash during combat.
- Oblivious to Love: Xing can give neutron stars a run for their money in sheer density when it comes to not noticing Princess Azula's crush on him... at least until Chapter 24.
- Playing with Fire: As they are the Fire Nation's 11th Regiment, it comes with the territory. Xing, however, is an unorthodox firebender, and bends heat more than fire (before the Water Spirit healed his chi pathways, the backlash of his stronger attacks resulted in his body getting cold).
- Pragmatic Villainy: The brutality of the 11th Regiment isn't for its own sake: they do it to limit the amount of wartime casualties from both sides, most of it through intimidating and demoralizing their opponents.
- They also follow the rules of engagement to a fault, as for all their bloodlust, they do their best to keep civilians out of the line of fire.
- Put on a Bus: Jet and his fellow "freedom fighters" are disposed of personally by Azula after their failed assassination attempt on Xing.
- Putting the Band Back Together: Princess Azula recruiting the late Colonel Lidai's comrades into her own Northern Pacification Army.
- The Reveal: Xing's identity as the Fire Nation's brutal Scorpion Dragon is made plain to Aang and the others when he shows up to prevent Zhao from killing the Moon Spirit... by disposing of the admiral in his trademark brutal fashion.
- Self-Insert Fic: Downplayed; the only times Xing shows off his out-of-universe knowledge is with memes and his fighting style. The fic is also mostly written from the points of view of everyone except Xing himself.
- Shout-Out:
- "Hans, get the flammenwerfers."
- Xing has a bunch with his finishing moves: the Saishu Kessen Ougi: Mushiki (used by Kusanagi Kyo) and Ura 524 Shiki: Hamurakegare (used by Yagami Iori) from The King of Fighters.
- His battlecry when using Hamurakegare? The lyrics from "Feuer Frei".
- Xing introduces himself to Admiral Zhao as "a firestartah, twisted firestartah".
- His attack command to his two dragons is Hanzo's ultimate.
- Sole Survivor: Xing, and he almost doesn't make it.
- Took a Level in Badass: The cabbage merchant, to the point where he's cooperating with the 11th by acting as bait for the loyalists to try and take his supplies.
- Unishment: For Zuko's faux pas with Xing, he is punished with starting over as a conscript in the 11th. He is later assigned as part of Princess Azula's bodyguard detail, specifically Mai.
- War Is Hell: Several chapters are devoted to showing just how brutal the 11th Regiment operates... and the aftermath of their operations.
