It had been months since Amon had been defeated, and the city was in the process of rebuilding. While most residents of Republic City were more than eager to put that chapter behind them, there were still pockets of resistance. It seemed that despite Noatak's lies, a diehard core of Equalists were still determined to rid the city of all benders, starting with the Avatar and her compatriots. What recovery efforts had been made were often sabotaged or met with guerilla warfare. More than half of Lin's police force had been severely injured on duty; so much so, in fact, that Korra had invited Katara to stay on the island to tend to their wounds. The city was divided into zones, occupied by the radical Equalists factions, troops loyal to the Avatar, or a smoking and crater filled no man's land. Many of the city's residents had fled to the surrounding hills to escape the escalating violence, only to be met with Equalist blockades, where the benders were segregated from non-benders and ruthlessly killed. It was terrifying how quickly the violence and anti-bender sentiment had escalated, and very few benders dared to the roam the streets alone.
General Iroh and Commander Bumi had tried to establish law and order along with Lin and what remained of the Council, but to no avail. Instead, they were constantly attacked, bombs blowing up their armored Satomobiles, poison in their rations, and assassins sneaking into their quarters. They were pushed back from the city proper within weeks, finding what little refuge the outskirts of the city and the island could provide. Meanwhile, the air acolytes had taken it upon themselves to care for any wounded, with the guidance of Master Katara, and to keep the airbender children occupied and from underfoot. The island was practically crawling with police and soldiers from the United Federation, the ships anchored behind the swell of the island, hidden from view of the city. There were daily meetings to discuss plans of attack and evacuation, the once calm dining room commandeered and a map pinned to the table, little figurines marching across its printed landscape. Most of the missions were headed by either Lin, Bumi, or Iroh, leaving Korra and Tenzin to be the faces of the recovery effort. Asami was busy trying to find weaknesses in the ever increasing number of machines at the Equalist's disposal, courtesy of her father. She, and a group of trusted engineers, had seized the sky bison stable for their workshop and it was not uncommon to hear a series of explosions coming from within. Mako and Bolin had taken to going on tactical missions with Lin, Bumi, and Iroh, not content to sit on the island. They had grown up in Republic City; it was their home, and they would fight tooth and nail to make it safe once more. They had already lost the pro bending arena to the Equalists and they weren't about to lose the rest of the city without a fight.
At first, they had met with objections on all fronts when they proposed the idea, but when faced with their fierce determination, Lin had been the first one to acquiesce. She had seen both of the young men in action and knew that with fewer and fewer officers and soldiers fit for duty, every willing body could mean the difference between victory and defeat. The first trip had been fraught with disaster, bombs hidden beneath vehicles and tossed from windows, many of the officers not making it back from the city in one piece. In the weeks since then, it hadn't gotten any easier, but they had become somewhat numb to the danger, accepting it as a risk that must be taken.
Everyone gathered in the dining room turned meeting room early that morning, antsy to get their mission over with. It was going to be one of the more dangerous that they had attempted since being pushed back to the edges of the city a month ago. Tenzin and Bumi were pouring over the map, while Lin and Iroh watched from the sides, commenting occasionally about a certain building that had since been destroyed, or a known strong hold that was booby trapped. Asami, rounded up from her workshop, sat at the end of the table with Korra, the two young women eating a small breakfast. Korra looked exhausted, bags under her eyes and hair lacking its usual shine. Asami fared no better: her usual makeup was gone, replaced with smudges of grease and soot, her hair in a messy up do, part of what was probably a mechatank holding it in place. The two had gotten considerably closer since Amon's fall, often talking quietly to one another on the sidelines. Bolin and Mako were on opposite sides of the table, trying to snatch a glimpse of the map. They were both going on the mission today. They made it a rule not to be on the same team during missions so that they wouldn't get distracted, and this time was no exception. Peering up from the map, Bumi pointed at Mako.
"You there, you're going with Lin. We think there are mechatanks to the south of the Council building, and we need your electricity to incapacitate them before Lin puts them down for good." Turning to Bolin, he hitched a thumb towards Iroh. "Rocky, you're going with Iroh. We know they're holing up in the inner Council chambers. We need you to block any means of escape while Iroh and I finish them off. We need to reclaim the Council building at all costs." Both young men nodded, shrugging on their armor and clamoring out of the room and to the waiting barge at the base of the island. The ride into the city was the most nerve-wracking bit, in Bolin's opinion. Sure, they had water and earth benders combing the bay for any bombs, but he had seen too many barges sink too be entirely confident in their efforts.
As if traipsing through an almost completely abandoned downtown wasn't eerie enough, every block or so was a macabre reminder of what they were fighting against. At the corner nearest the now bombed out police station was what remained of a metal bender, their armor hitched up on a light post, spools of metal hanging loosely from their wrists, head hanging forward. Lin purposely didn't avert her gaze, the only one who didn't do so. She never did.
The next block was no better. The tattered uniforms of the Tigerdillo pro bending team was waving from a street sign, torn and bloody banners marking the street as Equalist territory. The Tigerdillos had been one of the few pro bending teams to stay in the city and actively join to the fight against the Equalists. They had originally fought to keep the Equalists from claiming the power plant a few blocks down, but had been pushed back to this intersection before being surrounded. They had put up a brave fight, but still had succumbed to the mechatanks. Bolin shuddered. He had been slated to help them fight, but at the last minute had been reassigned to another part of the city. He couldn't help but think that if he had been there, his friends would be, at best, fighting with them today, and at worst, recovering on the island. Mako, knowing where Bolin's thoughts had wandered, placed a light hand on his shoulder before veering off to the right, behind Lin, heading to the south side of the Council building. Bolin turned resolutely towards Iroh, who was regarding the younger man with something akin to commiseration. He too had lost quite a few friends, and had faced their remains; he knew it didn't get any easier, no matter how many times you see their abandoned forms. With a nod, the two benders and Bumi mounted the front steps, knowing full well that they were about to bear the brunt of the attack.
As soon as they had approached the large metal doors, an explosion blasted them to the side, a crater smoking where they had once stood. Bumi, unsheathing two large swords let loose a howl before throwing himself into the swarm of Equalists pouring out of the double doors like bees from a hive. Sure to keep an eye on Bumi, Iroh threw volley after volley of fire into the fray, agonized screams piercing the smoke, flaming figures running into the pre-dawn hours, his usually neat hair now disheveled from effort and uniform scorched from his attacks. Bolin, now more confident in his bending abilities outside the arena, launched column after column of stone at the Equalists, slamming many into the solid stone walls of the building. He tried not to hear the sickening crunches or see the red smears left behind, but he knew they'd be in his nightmares that night; they always were. Turning quickly, Bolin kicked up a large boulder and sent it hurtling over Bumi's shoulder where it smashed into the cockpit of a mechatank, crushing the pilot and toppling the machinery over the ledge to land in a pile of smoke and flame. The telltale crackle of electricity set Bolin's nerves on edge, and he whirled around in time to see Iroh go down, chords wrapped around his arms and legs, his now prone from now convulsing from the shock. In his moment of inattention, a masked Equalist bashed Bolin in the head with a baton, the earth bender tumbling to the ground, his vision swimming. Turning, he saw Bumi in the grasp of a mechatank, slowly being squeezed, screaming himself hoarse. A loud thundering sound snapped Bolin's attention back to Iroh, where another tank was rounding the side of the building. In horror, Bolin watched as it lumbered closer to the still twitching general, its large foot raising slowly, ready to crush the prone man.
Time slowed. Bolin's vision narrowed to a single point. His dizziness was gone. The throbbing in his head disappeared. Bumi's agonized screams faded into the background. With a determination and rage that he didn't know he possessed, Bolin hoisted himself off the ground and used the granite floor beneath him to launch himself between Iroh and the tank. Arms raised, Bolin braced himself, stone encasing around his ankles and calves, before reaching towards the tank and twisted. For an agonizing second, he didn't think anything happened, until the mechatank sunk in on itself, the metal twisting and squealing. With a ferocious jerk inwards, Bolin collapsed the tank into a smoking ball of iron before swinging it around in a large arc, crashing it into the Equalists before launching them all into the building's stone siding. The remains of the tank and the Equalists were wedged halfway into the building's façade, about twenty feet above where the panting earthbender, now metalbender, stood. Ignoring Bumi's now excited and relieved cries, Bolin dropped to his knees beside the general, whose eyes were open only a crack, his skin deathly pale, but still very much alive. Running a hand along his cheek, Bolin let out a rough bark of laughter before engulfing the man in a tight embrace.
"You metalbent, Bo. You finally did it," came the weak voice from somewhere near Bolin's broad chest. He held Iroh all the more tightly, burying his face in the tousled hair, tears stinging his eyes.
"Don't you ever scare me like that again, Iroh. Never again."